2 posts tagged “home”

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Geckoland

Apr 26, 2008
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Let me say up front that I don't have anything against geckos. I LIKE geckos - they're cute, they've got bright little eyes, funky splay-fingered hands and feet, and they make this adorable chirping sound in the middle of the night. It's hard to be afraid of something that cute that's only 2 1/2 inches long. Plus they eat mosquitoes - which BELIEVE me, I appreciate.

But enough is enough. This isn't the occasional gecko hanging out on a window, chirping. This is like some sort of horror movie: Day of the Gecko

It's a plague of geckos.

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They're on the wall, on the sink, behind the light switch, hanging out by the trash can, scuttling across the ceiling, perched on top of the knife block so they fling themselves off and land with a little "thwap" sound every time I reach for a knife. (There's something very disturbing about that thwap).

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I can't leave a glass on the end table for five minutes without a small lizard investigating the little puddle of juice at the bottom. I almost swallowed one once because I went to take a drink without looking first and ended up spitting out a mouthful of gecko and juice -- leaving the poor gecko paddling around in it like it was doing some sort of demented doggy paddle. There are two of them that chase each other up and down the legs of my end table hissing at each other (fighting over the best juice stalking spots I imagine).

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I'm tempted to try and catch them and put them outside but 1) they're territorial - they'd probably find their way back or else new ones would move in. And 2) I'm afraid their little tails will fall off if I touch them. Pathetic, I know, but I'm squeamish.

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Right in my backyard...

Apr 21, 2008
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I was incredibly lucky to find my house - I looked for almost three months at one overpriced, badly decorated, high-rise apartment with a pokey kitchen after another before finally deciding to take my current house - I originally thought it was too big for one person (it kind of is) but it was way better than any of my other options. So in addition to having cool neighbors like Drude, La Pirata de Panama, and the eejit, I'm surrounded by green space even though I'm smack in the middle of Panama City. My landlord is inordinately fond of fruit trees - which attracts lots of birds. These are just a few of the things I've seen in my backyard - nothing particularly rare or exotic, but after having grown up in the north-east US, the variety just amazes me.

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Two of my favorites: this is the Barred Antshrike and his wife. They're both pretty shy - it took me forever to get this pic of him and you can see that blurry and mostly blocked by leaves is the best I've been able to get for her. I just think they are so pretty! And they really like my orange/limon tree.

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I'm totally cheating with this one - it's a Blue-Grey Tanager - of which there are TONS in my yard, but I actually took the picture while on vacation on Isla Grande.

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There's lots of woodpecker species in Panamá - I think this is a red-crowned woodpecker. They are very common. They also seem to love the Avocado tree - probably because it's completely termite infested. I've lived here for three years and this is the first time I've ever seen the poor thing produce fruit.

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Random little finch or seedeater that I caught in the avocado one day. Anyone able to ID it?

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I can never remember what these guys are called - Crimson Backed Tanager, I think? There's a couple of different morphs with varying amounts of red and black. This one is either a female, a juvenile or a hybrid, since it's markings are pretty muddy. The males are bright red with black wings and tail and striking white patches on the sides of their beaks. I haven't been quick enough to catch one with the camera though.

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This little guy is some sort of flycatcher - there are ton's of species of those though.

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This butterfly sat and posed for me on the trunk of the mandarin orange tree for more than half an hour. Click on it and look at the full size version - it has the coolest eyes.

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These are Grey-Headed Chachalacas. They're normally forest birds - I've had people express outright disbelief when I tell them we get them in the city. They're really primitive looking - my friend R once described them as what you picture Archaeopterix looking like - you know if it had a beak instead of teeth. They also have the weirdest call - somewhat like a combination of someone knocking two blocks of wood together and someone killing a chicken.

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And finally my favorite friends of all - the hummingbirds.

I call him Earl.

Actually there's probably a few Earls- all the same species. It's hard to tell humming birds apart but I think these are what's known as Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds. According to most of the guidebooks they are the most common ones. They're also pretty brave and aggressive so they don't have any problem visiting feeders (or driving other birds away from feeders). There's lots of other flowers they like in the garden, which is good because I'm always forgetting to fill the feeder.

Anyway, Earl likes to sit on my clothesline right outside the window in front of my dining table (look at those tiny feet!). I see him almost every day for breakfast. He's probably my most regular visitor.