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October Flowers

I saved what photos of flowers I made in my garden this month to share all at once on the last day of October. So below this introductory photo for the emailed version of the post is a gallery of 14 different flowers, just one shot of each species with 2 of those being wildflowers or “weed flowers” some will say. 🙂 That includes the intro photo below! Enjoy! As I have enjoyed the flowers and remember that I have a photo gallery of “My Home Gardens” (linked) that I keep adding photos to every month, thus it is always fresh or has new photos. 🙂

Red Tasselflower – Emilia fosbergii
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Red-tailed Stingless Bee . . .

. . . on one of my few Golden Shrimp flowers blooming this year (not enough sun I think). This Red-tailed Stingless Bee has the scientific name of Trigona fulviventris and the Spanish common name of Abeja Culo de Vaca. I have 8+ species of bees in my Bee Gallery, with only two other shots of this species, also in my garden.

Red-tailed Stingless Bee, Trigona fulviventris, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Two Looks of the Fiery Skipper

As I’ve said before in this blog, I really try to get both a top view and a side view(or bottom view) of every butterfly because of the sometimes big differences and the clues for good identification. Though not as radically different as some butterflies, there is a difference in the Fiery Skipper – Hylephila phyleus (my gallery link), as you can see in these two photos . . .

Fiery Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Streaked Flycatcher

This striking flycatcher I’ve see on 3 trips, 3 times in my yard and once on Calle Nueva here in town. See the pix in my gallery at Streaked Flycatcher, Myiodynastes maculatus. Here’s two shots from my garden this month . . .

Streaked Flycatcher, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Falcate Skipper

Not gorgeous, but another good pollinator! 🙂 This is my second time to see and photograph the Falcate Skipper, Spathilepia colonius (my gallery link), one of the many Skippers here, found from Argentina to Mexico. Here’s 2 shots, a top view and a side view, which is what I want of all butterflies! (You need both views for easy identification.) 🙂

Falcate Skipper, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Blue-vented Hummingbird

This one with the bright blue tail is probably my second most common hummingbird this year after Rufous-tail, followed by Canivet’s Emerald which I photographed near the same time as this blue-vented, but the photos aren’t good enough to share. And you can see much better photos of this one in my gallery Blue-vented Hummingbird, Saucerottei hoffmanni OR Saucerrotia amazilia. Glad there are a few interesting birds as my butterflies are slacking off a little. Two so-so photos . . .

Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Green Palm Berries

These green palm berries will eventually turn red and the birds will eat everyone of them, as you can see a Boat-billed Flycatcher doing in my October 11 post. 🙂 Just one of the many little interesting bits of nature found in my Leaves & Nature Things Gallery.

Green Palm Berries, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Laughing Falcons All Around Me . . .

. . . but none up close. For the last couple of days I’ve heard the call or song of the Laughing Falcon, Herpetotheres cachinnans (my gallery link) coming from one of the many big trees on the hill north of me. Yesterday I was trying to find them from a distance when at least 3 of them flew overhead, possibly to K’s, above me, since he got photos of some in his trees. 🙂 I have usually had to go to national parks to see this interesting falcon, but now they are here. They are the same size as many hawks and I think an attractive bird. Another neighbor, Steve, has had one in one of his trees. Here’s two shots of one flying overhead . . .

Laughing Falcon, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Western Wood-Pewee

The Western Wood-Pewee – Contopus sordidulus (my gallery link) is not seen very often, but more so than the Eastern or Northern Tropical Wood-Pewee and is found in all parts of Costa Rica while the other two or mostly in the lowlands along both coasts. Plus it is usually “taller” or longer than the other two and in this case the iNaturalist AI labeled it “Western” which matched my presumed ID and it matches my previous Western photos better than my photos of the other two, so I’m pretty confident of this identification, even though Merlin (the eBird AI) said that it was unable to identify. This one landed in the dead tree behind my house on the hill and was there less than 30 seconds, so I got few photos and sharing only this one . . .

Western Wood-Pewee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!