Love Is In The Air...

For the past couple weeks, loud squawks from our local scarlet macaws could be clearly be heard all over town - all day long.  It is mating season! The flock that arrives in Esterillos Oeste about 6 am from the near by mountains where they sleep at night, now averages at least 30.  By 5 pm, all of them have returned to the hills.

According to Wikipedia - mating season is early spring - March/April and lasts about 5 weeks.

Here are a few other facts about these amazing birds that help make Esterillos above and beyond special!

-Scarlet macaws mate for life.  The hen lays 2 or 3 white eggs in a tree cavity.  The female incubates the eggs for about 5 weeks - the chicks fledge from the nest about 90 days after hatching and leave their parents about a year later.

-Scarlet macaws eat mostly fruits, nuts and seeds including large, hard seeds which is exactly the reason they are here in Esterillos - the almendros trees that grow abundantly here!

-Scarlet macaws make very loud, high and sometimes low-pitched, throaty squawks, squeaks and screams designed to carry many miles to call for their groups.  

-Scarlet macaws can live up to 75 years in captivity, although a more typical lifespan is 40 to 50 years.  

-Scarlet macaws live in Central America and northern South America to Amazonian Peru and Brazil. 

When I came to Costa Rica in Sept. 2006, as I was reading my Lonely Planet book on my first flight here - I saw a photo of this magnificent bird in the book.  At that moment, my greatest desire coming to CR was to see this bird.  I had no idea I would actually be living in a small town on the coast where these birds are a major presence every single day.  When I went back to CA in Dec. 2006, after those first amazing 3 months - shortly after the holidays I knew I would return with a one way ticket.  Before I came back I went to a local tattoo shop in Pismo Beach, gave the artist a photo of a macaw I had taken myself here in EO and that was what I had carved onto my thigh - my first tattoo ever.  It became my mission statement.  The totally unexpected joy and love I had found in this little beach town changed my life and.......6 1/2 years later, I am still here.  Grant it - I am now considering other options.  I have my house up for sale however no matter what happens, where ever I may go, EO has played a significant part in my life!  I will often come back.  Esterillos is in my heart and in my soul......and it is the macaws that have played a major part in making all this happen:)

Pura Vida

Tortuga Island, Costa Rica

Esterillos Oeste, Costa Rica

Bocas Del Toro, Panama - 2008