Across the street from me, the first house is an Airbnb rental owned by a German man who comes himself about once a year. And at his entrance gate is an Oro Tree, the tree that is scattering orange splotches across the many landscapes of Costa Rica in January-February, making the hills & valleys beautiful! And it is all orange flowers, no leaves yet. They come after the flowers. Well, to see his Oro Tree from my terrace or windows I must peer through my Higueron Ficus Tree. The feature photo is from me zooming in through the tree limbs from my terrace and other photos below show how thick my Ficus tree is to try and focus through! 🙂 So I went out in the street to get a pix of the whole tree and it has lost all its flowers except on that one branch I can see through my Ficus, so not sharing that, plus it is butchered on one side by the power company to protect their lines. So just these 3 photos here . . .
Oro Tree Flowers seen through the branches of my Ficus Tree. Oro Tree Flowers seen through the branches of my Ficus Tree. Oro Tree Flowers seen through the branches of my Ficus Tree.
Here’s a closeup of an Oro Tree I made in Orosi Valley several years ago. It is in my Trees gallery which has other photos of Oro Trees and many other species.
Not real common, though I’ve seen at least 3 other times in my garden, the Eastern Tailed-Blue, Cupido comyntas (linked to my gallery) has before been almost totally blue on top with less brown than this one, but with research, I’m confident that this set of photos is properly identified, even though Ceraunus Blue has more brown like this, it has a totally different set of black dots. Plus one article says that females are more brown, so maybe this is a female! 🙂 And all photos are of the same individual. Plus, interestingly, every time I’ve seen this species, it has been in grasses and never yet on a flower. 🙂 Here’s 3 photos . . .
The Parrot’s Beak – Heliconia psittacorum is one of several subspecies of this one family of the many Heliconias! It is small and adds a delicate touch to any garden. Plus it is purely tropical and I like it! 🙂
This Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus (linked to eBird) is perched proudly on the powerline cable in front of my house like so many do. He is common in both South America and Central America and one of the many little joys of living in Costa Rica! 🙂 See more of my photos in the gallery titled Tropical Kingbird — Tirano Tropical with that second name being the Spanish name for this bird along with the unofficial local common name of “Pecho amarillo.” 🙂
Tropical Kingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
Hope you’re happy America!
UPDATED Monday, 8:33am after reading similar, more detailed article in the Washington Post:
Another one of your deportee planes just landed in Costa Rica’s San Jose Airport with 135 Refugees (Tico Times link) after a 4 hour flight from California, they faced an 8 hour bus ride to a migrant camp near the Panama border (Darien Gap). That included 65 minors and several senior adults & 2 pregnant women. All will be cared for lovingly by the Costa Rica people and helped to get to either their birth country or, because many can’t go back, will be helped to residency in another accepting country like Costa Rica. The refugees are from all over the world including Asia who are being sent here and to Panama, two countries who agreed to be intermediary locations for persons forced out of the U.S. The same day these 135 came here, 300 arrived in Panama. The richest country in the world kicks out people it doesn’t want and lets other, poorer countries like Costa Rica & Panama take care of them. Hmmmmmmm. While at the same time talking about taking over the Panama Canal. You guys really chose Trump as your president?
The U.S.A. kicks out its refugees & immigrants. Some here have landed in Costa Rica for help. –Photo taken from Tico Times was made by Patricio Bianchi/AFP/Getty Images.
I guess those Republican Evangelicals have forgotten what the Bible says about accepting refugees and migrants. So sad! And it is also sad to watch from a distance as Trump (“Perched like a king!”) and his evil cohorts (the Republican Party & Rich People) destroy my birth country. But I guess we will all eventually get used to China & Russia as the new world leaders.
This has been one of the most common butterflies in my garden and maybe they are starting to return early! 🙂 For at least two years I called it a Carolina Satyr, which most sources say appears only in the Eastern U.S. while from Mexico south the almost identical butterfly is the Hermes Satyr and I have yet to learn the difference in the two, other than their locale. I expect to see a lot more in the coming months. See more of my photos of this beautiful work of “brown art” in my Gallery Hermes Satyr.
Possibly a migrant, this Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula (linked to eBird) was in and out of several trees in my garden Sunday. We do have some resident Baltimore Orioles here, just like some of us humans from up north! 🙂 But this time of year they are likely to be migrants. And I’m still amazed at how far birds fly!
Baltimore Oriole, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
See also my Baltimore Oriole Gallery for more photos of this northerner made in many places all over Costa Rica! And you might also be interested in some of his relatives who are also down here . . .
And there are 3 other species of Orioles in Costa Rica that I have no photos of. 🙂 They are: Streak-backed Oriole, Spot-breasted Oriole, and Yellow-tailed Oriole. Orioles are in a bigger family that includes Blackbirds.
This sailor (one of several “sailor” species) has been seen in my garden before and one other place in Atenas (8th Ave) plus my last previous sighting was in Cahuita National Park in Caribe Sur last October. See all my photos of this species in its own gallery: Pale Sailor, Dynamine agacles core. And yes, it seems to be a little rare with only one other person posting on butterfliesandmoths dot org and only 6 people on iNaturalist Costa Rica. So not an everyday butterfly! 🙂
Here’s three shots of one last Saturday in my garden . . .
I continue to photograph dying palm fronds and other leaves because, to me, there is a different and simple beauty in each one, kind of like people! 🙂 And the colors vary greatly from bright yellows and oranges to rusty browns or coffee colors, and yes, even almost black sometimes. Then there is the overall shape of a frond, slightly different with each species of palms and the multiple lines and shapes that each frond forms. Oh well, I guess “Simple Beauty” says it best! 🙂 Enjoy!
This one is one of about 30 different green-colored Hairstreak butterflies in my main book, but has several characteristics that make him different from the others. And yes, I had one about a month ago, but since there are not a lot of butterflies now (and even fewer birds), I’m sharing this find in my garden the other day. I’ve had this one several times over the last year, as shown in the GALLERY Tropical Greenstreak, Cyanophrys herodtus.
In a neighbor’s garden, snapped with my telephoto lens from my own driveway. In a tropical place like Costa Rica I seem to find something new and wonderful to photograph every few days, even while standing in my own garden! 🙂 I love it here!
Or perhaps you would enjoy my “Trees” GALLERY which I just noticed has had 3,000 views since February 2022, in just 2 years! Seems that someone else likes trees too! 🙂
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson
