“The Tarzan Effect” on Me

Amazon Kindle had a special on the electronic Tarzan books, all 10 of the original stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, for only 99¢ (1.08 with tax) and I grabbed them!  🙂  The early Tarzan movies had

CLICK cover image to see on Amazon.com.

a big effect on me as a child, while most of the later ones I did not consider as good and since books are almost always better than their movie counterparts, I decided for the first time in my life to read the original stories by the author. Glad I did!

I have finished the first three books and boy is it true that, in this case, the books are so much better than the old or new movies. It is hard to believe how cheesy some of those old movies were that I remember liking so much as a child!  🙂  You can watch most of the old Tarzan movies free online now. And the newer movies made up their own stories, ignoring the books!

Then last week I read a climate change article in The Washington Post that really “clicked” with me and merged with my book readings caused me to decide there was a definite “Tarzan Effect” on me in my childhood of Saturday matinee Tarzan movies and that motivated me to start writing again. I now have a new set of web pages under ABOUT on my website simply titled The Tarzan Effect. They share some of the ways I think Tarzan affected me for the better and at one point I even link to stories and essays on how he affected several other people including Jane Goodall who is reported to have said “I fell passionately in love with Tarzan — this glorious creature living out in the jungle doing all the things I wanted to do, and what did he do? He married the wrong Jane.”  🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Tortuguero 2023 GALLERY

I have finally cleaned up my many photos and organized them into a “trip gallery” for this year’s trip to Tortuguero (my 4th) to a new lodge that I will evaluate in another blog post later. To see the gallery, click the linked image of the first page below or use this linked web address:  https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2023-February-12-16-Tortuga-Lodge-Tortuguero-NP

First page of Tortuguero 2023 Trip Gallery by Charlie — CLICK image to go there!

¡Pura Vida!

Rainforest Floating Reflexions

I’m up to photos of about 40 bird species plus at least 20 other animals and I don’t leave until noon tomorrow, so it will be a while before I report on all of those, thus here’s a few representative shots from the different boats I floated on through the Tortuguero rivers and canals . . .

The 6 am trip was rainy more than half the two hours but we still saw a lot of wildlife!

Here’s 10 more shots, some of which could be considered art (I think) . . .

Continue reading “Rainforest Floating Reflexions”

Polydamas Swallowtail

I see many more of these large butterflies during the rainy season, but the other day this one was flitting about the different flowers in my garden in spite of the wind! He has to eat, windy or not!  🙂

Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Costa Rica
Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Costa Rica
Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Costa Rica

Check out my other shots of this species in my Polydamas Swallowtail GALLERY.

¡Pura Vida!

Late Butterflies – #4 of 4 – Tropical Checkered Skipper

While this is not a common one for me to see, I did see it this month in my garden, so I’m counting it as the fourth “late butterfly.”  The Tropical Checkered Skipper, Pyrgus oileus, has been incorrectly called “Tropical Checkerspot” though it is clearly identified as a Skipper, found throughout Central America and the Caribbean Islands and in most deep south states of the U.S. Here’s two shots from my garden in Atenas:

Tropical Checkered-Skipper, Atenas, Costa Rica
Tropical Checkered-Skipper, Atenas, Costa Rica

See all of my SKIPPERS Galleries.

¡Pura Vida!

 

Late Butterflies – #3 of 4 – Banded Peacock

More like the usual size of butterflies, these Banded Peacocks, Anartia fatima, are the only larger butterflies around my house now unless you count speeding Yellows which are really smaller. I see this species year around and all over Costa Rica. Here’s a couple of shots of two possibly trying to mate and one traditional shot showing their colors and patterns.

Band Peacock, Atenas, Costa Rica

Continue reading “Late Butterflies – #3 of 4 – Banded Peacock”

Late Butterflies – #2 of 4 – Rounded Metalmark

Thel Rounded Metalmark or Calephelis perditalis is one of several Metalmark butterflies still around my yard late in the season. Like the Satyrs, they stay close to the ground and seem to prefer grass over flowers, thus the wind blowing is not as much of a bother to them. This one is quite colorful and with intricate design work on sides, thus I include a top view, bottom view and a folded-wings or side view.

Arenal 2022 GALLERY Finished

It seems to be taking me longer to complete my trip galleries – just a slow old man!  🙂

But one reason was that it is slow identifying 32 species of butterflies (several new to me), 29 species of birds (1 lifer), and 13 species of other wildlife with lots of nice frog shots this time! These trip galleries are my main photo galleries to which I link for photos in the bird, butterfly and other subject galleries. If you are considering different lodges in Costa Rica as a visitor or one who lives here and travels like me, these trip galleries are a good source of real information about what you can see in a particular place.  Enjoy!

Index Page of my Arenal 2022 TRIP GALLERY. — CLICK IMAGE TO VISIT GALLERY

Or click this linked address:  https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2022-December-22-28-Arenal-Observatory-Lodge

¡Pura Vida!