There are 5 different “Cattleheart” (Parides) butterflies that are very similar to this one but I don’t think any are an exact match, so I’m putting it in the Genus and will hope for an expert identifier on iNaturalist to give it a correct species name. Then I will change it in my gallery. These black, red and white Swallowtails (linked to my gallery where there are about a dozen species of these ). They seem to be quite common in Costa Rica and not easy for me to differentiate all of the species. 🙂
My one photo today through the very slow internet here is probably my favorite from the 6:15 am birding hike today.
Yellow-throated Toucan and Banana Flowers, Punta Leona, Costa Rica
The bird was eating banana plant flowers and interestingly at breakfast this morning a monkey got in and stole a banana of a man’s plate. 🙂
Tomorrow I will share one butterfly shot from the 9:30 am butterfly hike, during which I was not feeling great and will definitely slow down the rest of my time here! By 10 it is almost unbearably hot & humid and I was exhausted, coming back to the room for a nap and then this afternoon another nap. 🙂 I guess I’m an older man than I want to admit. 🙂
Tonight will be the hotel’s “special” Christmas Dinner. Tomorrow I will focus on the beach on Christmas Day with shore birds early morning, maybe a tidepool effort at low tide, and maybe a sunset reflection on the ocean, since the sun sets here now behind the land with the coast at an angle. 🙂 The better sunset place here is at Villa Coleta up the hills from Punta Leona.
To live in a green world, absorbing both the oxygen and the green spirit is one of the greatest blessings of living in Costa Rica. I randomly picked these photos as representative of this spirit, though many others could have represented it just as well . . .
And in 2025 I got multiple new species, mostly in my Garden as are most of these photos! This is just a sampling with my effort to not show 2 of the same species . . .
A regular in my garden, though not recently, and easy to confuse with Esmeralda Skipper, is the Long-tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus (my gallery link). It is found all over the southeastern U.S., the Caribbean Islands and Central America.
Long-tailed Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
And oh yeah, this is the first butterfly I have seen on the Desert Rose flower in the 7 or 8 years I’ve had it. But you can see that he is not eating nectar, just resting. The flower is just too deep for most butterflies and hummingbirds. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Extra Costa Rica News Article:
World’s 2nd Worst Traffic Congestion!
“Costa Rica now ranks second in the world for worst traffic congestion, according to new 2025 Numbeo data, with commute times and CO2-heavy gridlock far above the global average. The report underscores how daily jams are hitting quality of life and the environment, especially in the Central Valley.” Tico Times Article.
Tico Times photo
It is mainly inside and around the capital city of San Jose where I have to go with a driver for most of my medical specialist appointments. Realtors in Atenas will tell you that we are only 45 minutes to an hour from San Jose – well . . . maybe at 2 am! 🙂
It is not unusual for my trips to Hospitals Mexico or Blanca Cervantes to take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on time of day, accidents, or highway construction. It is frustrating that there are not enough lanes on the major highways AND that (like in the U.S.) most cars have only one person in them! Many, if not most, tourists want rental cars for the independence and freedom to go where you wish whenever. But many become very frustrated trying to drive here, especially in and around San Jose traffic, while in rural areas it is the pot-holed narrow roads and one lane bridges (or river fording) that make for an adventure. 🙂 I recommend tourists to stay in one place when here for less than two weeks and use lodge or van services to get to and from the airport. Though there is a sense of adventure when driving in Costa Rica! 🙂
And oh yeah! Who are we second to? Nigeria! And having traveled all over Africa, I would put the whole continent as worse than Costa Rica, but this ranking was based on some kind of research. And perceived paradises do have their drawbacks! 🙂 I handle if my not owning a car and using taxis, public buses, and my professional tour driver to get me wherever I need to be. (And now go to San Jose only for doctors!) 🙂
One of the late hangers-on in the late butterfly season is this Polydamas Swallowtail (my gallery link) and I’m sorry I let the camera focus on the flower more than the butterfly! 🙂
This very common butterfly is the one I keep seeing as many of the others are no longer around. There are much better photos in my gallery: Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima.
One of the most common or often seen butterflies in my garden is the Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima (my gallery link) and maybe also the most common in other places I visit in Costa Rica.
The big yellow patch is what indicates that it is a male, while the female has only the brown spot on each wing. The feature photo is one typical view with a greenish/yellowish hew on the folded wings while the top of wings are usually a bright white like the photo below where the same butterfly is strangely contorted. See more of my photos of this interesting butterfly in my gallery: White Angled-Sulphur, Anteos clorinde. They are found as residents from Argentina to Mexico with migrants going into the Southwestern U.S. and Great Plains.
He’s becoming a favorite among the flowers and not sure he comes to the feeders that are dominated by the Rufous-tailed. See more photos from this week in the GALLERY: Blue-vented Hummingbird.
Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
