Words about Life, running an Inn in Santa Fe, Veraguas, Panama
Come join the town of Santa Fe, Veraguas for the FIRST (of hopefully many) monthly clean ups or limpiezas!
When: Friday, May 3rd 8AM
Where: Start at municipio de Santa Fe. Brindis (and chicha) to follow.
Who: Anyone is welcome.
What to bring: Yourself. Trashbags will be provided by the municipality.
What if I wasn’t invited: You are WELCOME to come anyway! Please feel free to give my husband (the instigator), Celestino, a call 6988-0921 if you’d like more information.
Our passion fruit (maracuya) almost ripe on the vine, and a bird Cele calls a catana who unwisely decided to make her nest right outside of our office window.
Unwisely because Celestino has a passion for his plants and doesn’t let a little thing like baby chicks stop him from watering. Perhaps that’s why the momma bird is giving him a particularly suspicious look (flood today, no thank you!).
First Question: Can you see him?
Though this Great Potoo is considered a species of least concern by the IUCN, Cele says that this is only the second time in his life that he’s gotten a glimpse of this nocturnal bird. When he was walking on the Girasol Trail, he saw him and had to take this picture. The bird camaflagues so well into the tree, that it took me a bit to find him in the picture!
Cele says when he was a kid, his dad told him that this birds nocturnal cries were “The man who lives in the Valley”. If he didn’t go to bed by the time the man from the valley started calling for him, the man would come looking for him. When he was about 13, he was out in the fields and heard the man from the valley, saw the bird, and put two and two together.
From Wikipedia – listen to his call
Celestino captured this picture of a Motmot this week. He (the bird, not my husband) was hanging out near the creek towards the back of our property.
Motmots are a type of neotropical bird. I was trying to find a bit more about them online, and one interesting fact according to the Rainforest Alliance – they hang out in rainforests, secondary growth (forests that have been cut and are regrowing)….and coffee farms – near creeks! Check, check and check!
If you don’t know, we’ve replanted coffee on some of our land, at a small scale. Though our plants are just 8 months old, I am hoping that we’re seeing some benefit of the habitat friendly structure. The shaded canopy of trees with plants underneath lets birds rest and search for those yummy insects is what they appreciate. Evidently they also nest in tunnels, often in creek banks. Hope they keep on coming back.
