charliedoggett.net
My profession is to always find God in nature.
– Henry David Thoreau
My first sighting of one of these, on my bathroom wall yesterday. There are more species of moths than butterflies, but most are nocturnal, thus I see fewer.
¡Pura Vida!
This moth is in the Erebidae Family of moths, the family from which I’ve seen my most moths. See the gallery (linked above) to see some of the others in this moth family.
Rainy Season has definitely started, with rain every afternoon now, BUT it is still windy! Meaning that there are still not as many birds or butterflies as usual. But I did find this anole on my terrace the other day, and fairly confident of the identification of Copper Anole, Anolis cupreus (my gallery link).
¡Pura Vida!
This Banded Peacock (my gallery link) was back in my garden yesterday for the first time in a while. I’ve also seen a couple of species of Sulphurs and the Yellow that flies around high up in the trees. But the only regular continues to be the Polydamas Swallowtail which seems to handle the wind easier than the other. The wind is lessening some now, but there is still wind and those gusts which are difficult for butterflies. I’m trying to be patient. 🙂 And oh yes, another big rain yesterday afternoon! So maybe the rainy season has started early this year! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
And I hope that any readers who live in Residential Roca Verde will check out my new photo book: Roca Verde Butterflies with 180 species photographed in Roca Verde. Click that link for a free preview of every page! Roca Verde seems to be a significant haven for butterflies! Including a couple of species rarely seen according to iNaturalist.
🙂
Looks over the grass (where they feed) from a neighbor’s fence. See more of this interesting bird in my Yellow-faced Grassquit Gallery. They are plentiful in the cow pasture across the street. Grass seeds are their favorite food.
¡Pura Vida!
And that would be “cuidando las macetas” in Spanish! The motivation for this little job was the large flower pot of potted palms at the entrance of my terrace had grown so much (in maybe 10 years) that the growing roots broke the terracotta pot. I had the gardeners plant those palms along the southside palm row for a thicker screen from the street and bought a new smaller pot with smaller palms to still visually separate my outdoor dining table from the driveway to the top of the hill. And while at the Vivero (plant nursery) I got two small red anthuriums for the old white pot that has seen many different flower over about 9 years and the one in it last week had become ugly!
Next project is to paint the Frog Pot and two other terracotta pots, after sanding. Always something that needs to be done! 🙂
“Nature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little, she achieves her work.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Some Americans here probably still call it “Torch Ginger,” the common English name, but I’ve always preferred the Costa Rican Spanish name of El Bastón del Emperador. And since I started walking with a Trekking Pole, most Costa Ricans call it my “Bastón!” 🙂
I noticed the other day, within sight of my terrace, 3 different stages of the ginger flower: bud, baby flower and mature flower. So here the are in that order . . .
On many days it seemed that these were the only butterflies that could manage in the wind, and many had broken or damaged wings. See more of this most frequent Swallowtail for my garden in the gallery: Polydamas Swallowtail. It now looks like it will be mid to late May before the winds slow down enough to allow for more butterflies.
¡Pura Vida!
This little guy with the bright blue tail was the first hummingbird I photographed in this house, in a neighbor’s Mimosa Tree, back in 2015! He now hangs out a lot in my Porter Weeds and is similar to the Rufous Tails that are dominant in my garden, but is more colorful. Blue vs Rufous (rusty-brown)! 🙂 See more in my gallery: Blue-vented Hummingbird.
The wind is slowing down a little and that helps to see more birds and butterflies like this White Angled-Sulphur (my gallery link) photographed day-before-yesterday in my garden. This is a typical folded wings sideview showing a little greenish hue, while the top view is bright white with bright yellow patches under the two dark spots. See that in my above linked gallery, which I was unable to capture this time.
or “El Mejor Clima del Mundo,” is the slogan of the town of Atenas, where the temperature stays in the Fahrenheit 70’s or Centigrade 20’s year around! It is usually windy just January to March, blowing in both regular dust and sometimes volcano ashes, which are black, making them obvious. Dry season is December to April or May and Rainy Season May to November, with April and November called “shoulder months,” meaning that it could be either dry or rainy and this April, also windy, which is not normal.
When I walked out of my bank across the street from Central Park on Tuesday, there were no other people by the city sign (unusual), so I did the touristy thing and made a selfie in front of the sign, which I haven’t done since it was first installed. The ATENAS letters have colorful drawings of places and activities in Atenas, while carved in stone beneath the name is the weather slogan: EL MEJOR CLIMA DEL MUNDO, which is also on the back of all Atenas buses.
We were suppose to have a big rain last night and I hope it will be the early beginning of the rainy season, which is my favorite time of year here with most days having only a couple of hours of rain in the afternoon or evening, and everything is greener and more beautiful! Plus that is when I see & photograph more wildlife including butterflies! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Amateur video in español . . .
Amateurish, but it does show a lot of Atenas including the county villages . . .