The most commonly seen dove or pigeon in my garden in Atenas is also one of those seen & liked on my first trip to Costa Rica in 2009. That photo is included below along with today’s photo. It was the first bird I ever photographed in Costa Rica, right after taking a taxi to Hotel Aeropuerto near SJO Airport in Alajuela. As the sun was setting in the hotel garden, I went out just before dinner and this was the first bird I found! 🙂 Our birding tour group had dinner together and the next morning we flew to Puerto Jimenez where I photographed that Tropical Kingbird I shared a couple of days ago. Good memories! 🙂 See more and better photos in my GALLERY: White-winged Dove, Zenaida asiatica.
At Hotel Aeropuerto, SJO Airport, Alajuela, Costa Rica, 1-31-09, my first night in Costa Rica.White-winged Dove, photographed a week ago in my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
This brilliant orange butterfly, Julia Heliconian, Dryas julia (my gallery link) sometimes reminds me of my beaming special needs daughter, Juli, who died of kidney failure in 1997. She too was brilliant, hyper-active and unpredictable! 🙂 And only parents of other special needs children know what I mean. 🙂 She was the only true love in my life at that time and I will always miss her! Pura vida!
Julia Heliconian, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaJulia Heliconian, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
My living room remembrance of Juli from “Compassionate Friends” support group.
. . . is one of the many birds I loved discovering on that first trip to Costa Rica in 2009 and still smile every time I see one! This one sort of looks like a little guard watching over my garden! 🙂 See more of my photos of this charming CR bird in my GALLERY: Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus. Including that first one at Lookout Inn, Carate, Corcovado National Park and another one on that same trip in Puerto Jimenez. 🙂
Of course there are other looks of this Florida White, Glutophrissa drusilla (my gallery link), but I kind of liked this one captured in my garden in July. See the above gallery for more looks. And I will now start posting August photos, but if the photo ops run thin, I may go back to some more like this from July! There were a lot! 🙂
Florida White, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
Folk Music in Atenas Central Park
I’m not even trying to make it to all the colorful activities in our little farming community’s Central Park, but thanks to Facebook sending me links to posts they think might interest me, here’s a video from the Atenas FB Page of a folklore musical performance this past week . . .
This Marcellina Sulphur, Phoebis marcellina (iNaturalist link) has had only 56 observations in Costa Rica on iNaturalist and was my 3rd new species in July. I had a total of 31 species of butterflies photographed which could make it a near-record month! I haven’t been counting by months before, but have now started doing all my uploads to 4 websites by months, keeping a record now of each month for birds, butterflies and other wildlife. But with the recent bout of all-day cloudiness, it has slowed down with the less flowers. But who knows what tomorrow holds? 🙂
. . . is the Rufous-backed Wren, Campylorhynchus capistratus (my gallery link) with youngsters recently born and all chattering around everywhere it seems. Their chattering makes me think that they are miniature Chachalacas! 🙂 Two shots, one from above & one from below . . .
Rufous-backed Wren, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaRufous-backed Wren, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
We have continued to have strange or different weather this year with July usually bright sun until mid-afternoon when the showers start. Well, the showers have been mostly the same with somewhat more this year, going all night occasionally, and even a few times into the morning. Which is OK, but, the mornings and early afternoons have had much less sunshine which is simply required for many of the flowers. It has been cloudy most of each day until the rain starts every day for over a month now!
My Porter Weeds are blooming less, the Lantanas have quit blooming as has the Golden Shrimp and the new Golden Dewdrop and Tropical Milkweed, all of which attract butterflies. The Zinnias that K planted next to my yard are blooming, but smaller or dwarfed by less sun. The only two things that seem to thrive in the dominant shade are my Maraca Plants (Shampoo Ginger) and the Anthuriums which I added some more of just to have some color.
The Desert Rose did poorly for awhile, which I blamed on repotting, but it is coming back strong now with blooms on each stem! (But it’s not a butterfly flower!) 🙂 It does need sun though, and I have it on the east side for morning sun, which is when we get what little we may get now.
Here are 6 shots of the ones that are blooming in July & August with another new one that I might not keep, the Ginger Lily. A shot of the “Garden Man” for the emailed version and then 5 more below that with explanations . . .
Like most skippers, he is not very colorful or exciting, and you can’t see his purported “purple wash” on my shots, but – he is a new species for me! Right here in my garden! And that long row of white dots was what made him easy to identify! 🙂 No other shots in my gallery, but you can see others from Costa Rica in the iNaturalist CR Purple-washed Skipper, Panoquina lucas, where there are only 17 other observations of this species in Costa Rica! 🙂 You can see the “purple wash” on some photos there! Here’s two shots from my garden . . .
If you look close, you can see the grooves in his bill. And yes, there is a “Smooth-billed Ani” found only in the South Pacific of Costa Rica, while this one can be seen in the northern 2/3 of the country. They are semi-regular in my neighborhood and you can see my other photos of this bird in my GALLERY: Groove-billed Ani, Crotophaga sulcirostris from several locations in Costa Rica. Here’s 3 shots from my garden 2 days ago . . .
This is one of the lesser seen species of the 6 Motmot species in Costa Rica, found here only on the northwest coast, north of Manuel Antonio. I have photographed most in my neighborhood with two in Puntarenas Province at Jaco & Tambor Bay, plus one in Guanacaste at Hacienda Guachipelin, Rincon de la Vieja. See my other photos in the Turquoise-browed Motmot Gallery. Or read about them on eBird. Found from Southern Mexico to Northwestern Costa Rica only.
Turquoise-browed Motmot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaTurquoise-browed Motmot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
Health Update . . .
Doing well, just a little low energy and sleeping 8-10 hours at night. 🙂 But the continued oral antibiotics are working, I’m sure, and soon I will be back to a “normal” old man! 🙂 Catching a few photos in garden now and have a backlog from July, so the blog will continue! 🙂
