Home on the River

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Frigates, Herons, Ibis, kingfishers, Mangroves, night herons, Pelicans, snowy egrets, WordPress Weekly Challenge HOME

How many birds?  Frigates, egrets, herons, cormorants, ibis, terns, ducks -and about 50 more call this last bend their home!

While flipping through photos, I realized how lucky I am to have sights like this every day that I am home on the river.  The 2013 rainy season kicked off with a strong start, so the river now resembles cafe con leche instead of the colors from a few weeks ago!   The bird life remains phenomenal, and how could I not share some images of those amazing birds that punctuate this last bend of the river ?!

Those amazing frigate birds perch near the tops of the mangroves and suddenly leap into a swan dive that takes them near the surface of the water.  They might swoop lower in pursuit of fish, or they might soar high above and ride the air currents in lazy spirals throughout the day.  During nesting season, they often perch in the mangroves for most of the day.

This & That – October

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balsa boats of Playas Ecuador, Ecuador, high energy and rain, High Fives & Flutterbys, John and Mary McDonald, painting concrete floors, Pelicans, Playas Ecuador, San Clemente Ecuador, This & That

Amigos!  How great it feels to be well and 100% Zeebra again!   Your get-well wishes surely helped speed my recovery!  Thank you!

Zeebra Frog – Copyright Lisa Brunetti

I am recharged and in full-throttle creative mode!  On Sunday and Monday I prepped five or six large panels for painting – (three to five coats each!)  With a wheelbarrow, I moved a dump truck load of earth and then transplanted small trees and flowers to better locations. These bursts of energy* usually precede heavy rains.  Over the years, friends have witnessed this strange occurrence and stated, “You might have warned us.”    (*Do you think that a subtle change in barometer triggers my creative output, or does my creative output discharge into the atmosphere?!!!)

Tornadoes, straight-line winds, 30 inches of rain in one week – those are some of the most memorable storms that followed an energy binge!  Many times after painting for ten or twelve hours, I put down my brush, and half an hour later the rains begin.  The rain seems to diffuse my energy, and later I have little desire to paint or shovel or scrub the house spotless!  Every so often when I realize that I’ve been rolling for hours, I pull in my reins and say, ” Uh-oh… prepare for rain.”

We received a barely-noticeable drizzle last night, and I smiled.   It’s the first in months.  Typical for the first rain after the dry season, we also lost power!    We will lose power a lot in the next six months, so when I vanish from cyberspace, suspect lack of electricity!

A repair & maintenance and improvement project kicked off today at the river house.

Who, Me? Passionate about Nature?!

Tags

Birds of Manabi Ecuador, Cocoi heron, Egrets, frigate, Living in Harmony, Mangrove Destruction, Pelicans, This Man's Journey, Weekly Image of Life: Passion

5 a.m. Playa San Miguel Costa Rica

“The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour, and for a moment, something awakens which slumbers the rest of the day and night…   (Thoreau/Walden)

Dawn – Republic of Panama – Balboa

…it matters not what the clocks say or the attitudes of man.. morning is when I am awake, and there is a dawn in me.” (Thoreau/Walden)

Black Crowned Night Heron and Green Kingfisher

This morning I awakened to the blissful stillness of life on the river,  just minutes of latitude south of the equator.   The rat-tat-tattling of a lucky kingfisher announced his score on an early-morning breakfast just beyond the deck of the house!  Crickets chirped,  herons squawked, faraway ibis whimpered and even-further-away ocean waves crashed with the ebbing tide.  Humpback whales surely cruised the deeper waters in the distance.

My neighbors the birds

  This Man’s Journey/The Island Traveler asks this week,  “What makes you feel alive? What inspires you and keeps you motivated?”

When home on the river, I awaken  with a profound awareness of nature .  

Croaking Ground Doves

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Vermilion flycatchers, wrens and finches serenade from the garden landscape while flocks of seagulls, pelicans, ibis, comorants and frigates add a cacophony of ecstatic joy from the river.

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A pair of croaking ground doves add their unique melody to the morning’s serenade.  All sounds of modern man are removed, and I ponder that I could be awakening a thousand years in the past – or a thousand in the future.