Animals were abundant near our hotel in Costa Rica. We would often see monkeys, sloths, plus many, many birds.
One bird that we started to see near our dining room was an owl. Mark and I saw him for the first time just a few months after our perfect storm.
The word for owl in Spanish is búho.
According to some spiritual traditions, seeing an owl is a sign that you are being guided or watched over. After that storm, I sure felt like we needed some watching over so having that owl appear was comforting to me.
I had only ever seen an owl before in a zoo and this one began showing up nightly at our hotel!
He’d perch on a branch high in a tree near our dining room, or swoop over the pool to catch a flying insect, usually a moth, for his dinner and then fly right back and sit in the tree like he was really watching us.
Sometimes we’d hear his hoot before we could spot him in the trees.
A few weeks after we started seeing the owl, we had a photographer at the hotel to take some pictures, and he was able to capture this shot of the owl.
Isn’t he amazing?!
He showed up so often that just like our ‘resident’ sloth, Linda, we decided he needed a name.
We polled our staff, our family and some friends. The best response for a name came from my friend, Jeff. He suggested the name Thurston Owl after Thurston Howell III from the TV show, Gilligan’s Island. We loved it, and it stuck!
Thurston was a Black and White Owl. Before living in Costa Rica, I didn’t know much about owls but having this beautiful bird living in our ‘yard’ made me want to find out more!
Here are some tidbits about Black and White owls: 1
They are mostly found in rainforests (like ours!), or wet deciduous forests.
They live at an altitude between sea level and 2400 meters. (We were at about 800 meters)
They are not afraid of living near human habitations. (And I thought he just liked us!)
They are found in 12 countries ranging from Mexico to Venezuela which includes Costa Rica!
They stay faithful to its range all year long as it is a non-migratory bird. (I knew he liked us!)
They are nocturnal hunters foraging mostly at the canopy level of its habitat. It will examine its surroundings by perching on an elevated branch, then make short, silent flights to catch its food. (Yes! Just like I saw!)
Months later during our hotel remodel, I didn’t see Thurston for a while, and I was convinced we wouldn’t see him again. I was wrong.
He returned!
The trees near the dining room were still his favorite spot to perch. But now the design of our new common area’s high ceiling allowed Thurston to be able to fly through the dining room to catch moths that were illuminated by the lights. If you were a hotel guest eating dinner, you might have had him fly right above your head!
We also had an expansive green terrace with moths and sometimes bats flying around. A few times after Thurston flew above the terrace, and returned to his tree, we could see ‘something’ in his talons. Dinner!
Another favorite place for him to perch was our red-beamed pool shower, closer to the dining room. From that perch there was better viewing – both for him to find his dinner, and for us and the hotel guests seated in our dining room to see him better!
Guests loved seeing the owl as much as I did!
Now that we’re not living in Costa Rica anymore, seeing our amazing owl almost every night is one thing I certainly miss!
Thanks Thurston for watching over me!
What do you think about owls? Do you have a spirit animal? Let me know here below!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-and-white_owl
I have always had a thing for owls! This was a great retelling of your adventure. How lucky were you to have made friends with this particular owl! I love his name. I hope the other hotel guests are still enjoying his presence.
A true beauty, Marlo! Love Thurston. It must have been such an extraordinary feeling when you knew that you all connected. Love the photos!