This morning down here in Costa Rica I headed out birding shortly after 6 am … driving up and over the steep mountain dirt road to Zapotal.  As I descended, I realized I had a flat tire. Ouch. Not what this almost 70 year old guy (birthday only a few days off) wants to attack early in the morning. Ten minutes into my tire changing job I remembered this song from Monty Python … Always Look on the Bright Side of Life! (video link for email subscribers)

Moments later a motorcyclists drove  along the road, and he took pity of the old American guy (me!). Within moments my new best friend was changing my tire for me. Pura Vida!

My morning birding hike was delayed only 25 minutes, and I hiked to Zapotal Beach which is paradise (watch a brief video I took of the beach from an earlier post). While walking back to my car from the beach … I heard it! Yes … an Elegant Trogon was near! Remember, without my birdsong listening device I would not even have known this bird species lives in the “dry forest” near my birding location (see prior post). Anyhow, patience and few a few calls from Merlin (Cornell App) on my phone and the Elegant Trogon was in my line of sight! Life is great. Pure Vida. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

Research also determined that the Elegant Trogon I saw in Medera Canyon some years ago in southern Arizona is now considered a separate species, a Coppery Tailed Trogon (see video from Madera Canyon). Thus, the morning’s find was a lifer!

And a short video I took this morning of the Elegant Trogon (video link for blog email subscribers)