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| Giant Banded Anole, new in my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica And I think he is different from the Green Tree Anole I posted earlier. Maybe not. But I think larger and the stripes different. |
“Open Bird” Garden Art by Anthony Jeroski
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| Vertical View of Garden Art from front door. |
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| Arrival View or First Impression from the Driveway In some ways I like this view best – more subtle. |
The fired clay sculpture was made of Costa Rican clay by my former next door neighbor Anthony and was fired at the University of Costa Rica the week before he left for his new art experiences in Spain. I wanted it to be like one of the flowers growing out of my garden. At first I looked for driftwood to mount it on but couldn’t find what I had in mind. Then I found this tree stump just tall enough to bring it up with the taller flowers. I think it is just right! Here it is on the stump before installed in the garden:
Little Yellow Sulphur
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| Little Yellow Sulphur is one of many yellow ones all around now. Note that this is different than the other two yellow butterflies I’ve shown. On my Plumbago flower, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
And I have a PHOTO GALLERY of Costa Rica Butterflies that you might enjoy. Peace & Love!
Common Rain Frog
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| Common Rain Frog (probably), though similar to Wet Forest Toad and Rain Forest Toad. There are more frogs/toads here than anywhere, ID is difficult! This one from my garden is waiting at my front door! About 3-5 inches, 10 cm. +/- Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica Click to enlarge photo. A third the size of Giant Toad shown earlier. |
Maraca Plant Added to Garden
| Zerumbet Zerumbet Ginger, Maraca Plant in Costa Rica, and in other places Shampoo Ginger or Pine Cone Ginger (links are to Google photos of flowers) |
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| It is the tall plant, two spears now with the little yellow flower on ground at base. They grow 7 to 8 feet tall and can have a large cluster of flowers at base. Click photo links under top image. |
I’m really excited about this addition to my garden which I requested in the beginning, but they are very difficult to find. They surprised me the other day! In a year or two it will be developed more with multiple shoots and multiple flowers. The flower starts small and yellow like this one and by October will be more like a pine cone and will have turned red or sometimes orange. This may be the neatest addition to my garden yet! A Heliconia plant was in that location and they moved it to my front yard for more color there! It is fun to live in a garden! Plus I start traveling next week.
White-stripped Longtail
Postscript: Back in 2015 I knew almost nothing about butterflies and incorrectly named this a “White-striped” (not stripped!) 🙂 But today I know that it is a Teleus Longtail. 🙂 But you can see the others in my White-striped Longtail Gallery.
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| Teleus Longtail, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Teleus Longtail, Atenas, Costa Rica |
And actually, I still have trouble identifying the many longtails, but know a lot more now than that firs year here in Costa Rica! 🙂 20 April 2025.
What’s a butterfly garden without butterflies?~Roy Rogers 🙂
See my Costa Rica Butterflies Photo Gallery. Or the Teleus Longtail Gallery.
My Nature Garden Photo Book
You can thumb through it electronically for free! My very first book in Spanish! 🙂 Be sure to click the “Full Screen” button bottom right.
Banded Peacock Butterfly
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| Banded Peacock Butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Banded Peacock Butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Banded Peacock Butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Banded Peacock Butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.” ― Ruskin Bond, Scenes from a Writer’s Life
See my Costa Rica Butterflies Photo Gallery.
House Wren?
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| Rufous-naped Wren, Atenas, Costa Rica (On the back of the couch in my living room! Looking out the screen window.) |
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| Rufous-naped Wren, Atenas, Costa Rica Making himself at home on a drink coaster. This is what happens with doors left open. |
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.
~Psalm 104:12 ESV
See my CR Birds Galleries or specifically this bird with a new name: Rufous-backed Wren (my gallery link). Updated note made in 2025, 11 years later. 🙂
Dione Juno Silverspot
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| Dione Juno Silverspot butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Its top side looks much like a Julia, but underside (folded wings) different. Sorry – not a good image, but only one made of top side. Dione Juno Silverspot butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Dione Juno Silverspot butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Dione Juno Silverspot butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica |
My garden is getting to be about as good as one of these butterfly houses or farms! It has been like a new species every few days! But the book says June and July are the two best months for butterflies in Costa Rica, so this show may start tapering off soon! I’m enjoying it while I can and don’t miss my Costa Rica Butterflies Photo Gallery!
The average butterfly life is between 5 and 14 days. And I think I don’t have enough time?
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
~Rabindranath Tagore
Enjoying the moments in Costa Rica! -Charlie

























