Tags
Frizztext Story Challenge U, Large blue birds in Costa Rica, Loud birds in Costa Rica, Magpie Jays, Spanish words that start with U, Urracas
“Sunday Picnic” Urracas – 24″ x 48″
Frizztext’s alphabet challenge has reached V, and I”m tardy with U! Today’s internet was too slow to make progress on the web. Alas, I need my sleep, so now that it’s working fast enough to load pages, I hurriedly introduce you to the raucous, gregarious urracas that color the landscape in Costa Rica.
Urracas often raid the tables at open-air restaurants! This acrylic, Sunday Picnic, was painted on site in my backyard, though I relied on photos to capture the essence of these beautiful birds. The urracas love bananas, and those particular plants provided enough for the urracas and me!
Urraca also means chatterbox!
“Sunday Picnic” – detail
That’s it – short and sweet for this week’s Spanish post!
Now for that sleep session…
ZZZZZZZZZZ
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
How beautiful are the Urracuas….I have not heard of this bird before. Lovely painting, Ms. z
thank you! without the reference photos, it would have been much more difficult. i suppose i’d have to resort to killing the birds like audubon did in order to study them!
z
Gorgeous! The birds and your depiction of them! Haven’t heard of them either.
Gorgeous birds, Lisa. Love that shade of blue.
thank you! the birds are quite comical as well! some people don’t care for them b/c they are raiders, but i love them!
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beautiful, haven’t seen those around our place and love the painting… Surprise for you Thursday, John decided to try his hand at sketching, he did awesome. He did use a “learn to draw” book for the basics, but you certainly can tell he’s got the groove…:)
good morning! those urracas live in costa rica i’m not sure how far their range is, but i don’t think they have journeyed over the equator.
oh boy ooh boy! i look forward to seeing john’s drawing! i was just thinking that i should get busy on a post before i lose internet speed for the day. that’s so frustrating… it is so slow that the draft won’t save, so if i shut down windows, i lose my work!
well, at least i can pull up a compose page and work ‘offline’ – but i won’t be able to manage any images.
ah, but i have beautiful birds to watch with eyes that work and legs that transport me where i want to go and — yes, i have much to remind me to be grateful for this day!
legs that transport the body – O.K. – and fast internet to transport the soul: maybe go back to USA? Opening a school for painters there?
i miss the people that i love, but i don’t miss the life that owned me!
there’s a new plan brewing here that i hope to see through; it will take me to even slower internet options (zero options) but the heart-warming benefits will be worth it! it’s still incubating!
We certainly hope it doesn’t mean a total disappearance!
hey! no, but i’m hopeful to work with a couple of communities that are ‘off the map’ but near here.. great people who are craving a bit more in their daily lives.. why not an artist who sweeps in on the magic carpet and helps them transform their villages, starting with doors and windows, then fences and such with paint, lots of paint, while learning to upgrade their ‘tourist’ five dollar art into stronger works that will bring more as pieces of art? it will take us a year…but as they say, ‘poco a poco’ – and i will still be using home on the river as my base, slow internet and all.
now let’s hope that this leaves z airspace~
What an excellent name for a bird “chatterbox’. Love their blue plumage.
yes, and i didn’t know that urraca meant that until i checked to be sure it meant magpie… now i can say that someone is an urraca if they’re chattering too much!!!
Gorgeous! Many thanks.
thanks! i just read your ‘road rage,’ and you presented a unique perspective on why instant gratification is not always a good way to respond. i’m so sorry that there are mean impatient people who feel justified in screaming at strangers, no matter what the reason. thank you for sharing your reaction to that road rage.
i’m glad that you take the road less traveled, even if there are fools in that paradise.
i’m glad that i read your post earlier, for now the page went white and won’t open again! alas, i have birds to watch and colors to paint! have a good day, one without rude insensitive bullies. you’ve earned the right to take as long as you’d like to drive to ‘town’ and back on that road less traveled!
Z….U get some rest. Take care, BTG
buenos dias!
i awakened early to inspect the river – wow the birds were amazing and worth the short sleep/long nap! the internet is already getting sluggish. in another half hour i’ll lose that ability to ‘like’ and comment!
i’ll take another nap soon!
thanks! have a great day! z
A beautiful work,Lisa 🙂
Beautiful blue bird…lovely post. Thank you!
Oh the Urracas! They drive me crazy. They eat all of our papayas and we have to guard the eggs from our hens.They are such ladrones! Beautiful paintings of them, though. 🙂 I’ve been thinking about your internet issues. I can’t remember if you told me before, but what kind of internet connection do you have? We have a little modem stick from Claro and we always had a poor signal until I made a woktenna. I bought a 10 cent wok lid at a second hand store, pushed the stick ( dongle) through the hole where the knob was attached to the wok lid, and nailed the whole thing under the eave of our roof. Then, I bought a long USB cord to connect to the stick and strung it into the house. I covered the whole woktenna with a strong piece of plastic to protect it from the rain and dust, and voila. I have a strong internet connection. If you have a stick, would something like that help?
a huge smile just transformed my solemn face! you are too funny and resourceful! i’d rread about usiang a soft-drink/beer can for the same effect.. yes, i have a little receiver on the roof that catches a signal from town… there are lots of users, so in the daytime, the service is horrible. at midnight it’s fast, and by two it’s amazing… by seven in the morning, it’s slow, and by nine, almost nothing left to open or upload or – gasp send, i hope this sends!
thanks so much!
z
Hope that you had a good nights sleep! What a lovely bird! Very colorful! Have a wonderful Tuesday Z!
thanks.. the internet is again at a snail’s pace.. off for the day,z
Amazing how much they remind me of our bluejays – not just the color, but the behavior. Chatterboxes. Hoarders. Thieves. But capable of beautiful song, and absolutely devoted as parents. I know I have babies around – the parents are back and forth, back and forth, picking up the nuts I put out for them. Soon there were be awkward, gangly, half-feathered babies around. They’re hilarious to see!
once i retrieved a live cicada from the beach and carried it home to do a study… just as i neared the house, the cicada started ‘vibrating’ and making that noise.. two urracas flew within a few feet of me – wow, i didn’t realize that they considered the cicada as a delicacy!
how sweet that you give your jays nuts!
Beautiful work!
thank you! the birds were easy inspiration!
Beautiful indeed 🙂 !
Better slow internet than no internet, Zee. Love your pretty snippets. 🙂
thank you so much! you’re so right, but it prevents me from keeping up with other posts! z
I still struggle even with the internet. I think it’s that life business getting in the way, Lisa. And so it should. Your visits are always appreciated. 🙂
hey
at three thirty in the morning i’m still working on a post. it’s gotten so slow in the daytime that i cannot pull up pages – i just get the masthead and a white page!
whenever i get faster internet, i will cherish it! surely one day a competitor will come along!
z
I hope so! Sleep till mid afternoon. 🙂
i will! the internet works until about 6:30 and falls off fast!
z
Love the black crest on its head. Beautiful color of blue and the markings are striking. How soft you paint the banana leaves, all in “plein air.”
yes i look at that painting and recall how HOT it was while i worked on that painting!
z
Fantastic. As close to a birdwatcher as I get…for now.
ha! thank you! you’d enjoy watching the urracas! z
Difficult painting, with spectacular results! The blue urracas just pop against the green leaves. You painting has a beautiful, delicate feel to it.
Gorgeous. He does look like he could yak yak yak up a storm. 😉
I cannot believe we did not see this lovely bird during our travels in Costa Rica. Thanks for sharing Z. 🙂
Beautifully done! Thank you for sharing, z!