Category: Garden

Both my gardens and ones I visit

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Yellow Warbler

I used to see a lot more of these but that was back when I saw a lot more of all birds than now. It is the Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia (eBird link) which is found in all of the lowlands of Costa Rica but be aware that some books are now separating the American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva) and the Mangrove Warbler (Setophaga petechia) which is the one that is a resident of Costa Rica while the American are migrants from the north and also here. The Mangrove Warbler is best known to birders as the one whose male has a chestnut red head. The females seem to be identical. You can see both in my Gallery of Yellow Warblers. And eBird has kept them together as I do in my gallery. Here’s 3 shots from my garden . . .

Yellow Warbler, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Blue-vented Hummingbird

A new regular that’s seen about as much as the Rufous-tailed! See more photos in my GALLERY: Blue-vented Hummingbird.

Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Birding Today!

I’m out birding with friends from British Columbia, Canada today and expect to have a lot of photos to share over the next week or so. Stand by! Starting with blog in two days. 🙂

Our plan is to have breakfast in Orotina, which is not far from Tarcoles where we will check in at 8am for the birding river boat trip on the Tarcoles River. I usually get a lot of birds on that trip with my prefered “Jungle Crocodile Safari” boat. They generally do a lot better job finding birds than their several competitor boats who focus mostly on the crocodiles. 🙂

After two hours on the river we will go to the nearby coast and beaches of Punta Leona which is a private development and hotel, but the government requires all beaches to be public and Walter knows how to get in free. At these beaches he has seen sloths and monkeys in the past plus the usual seabirds. We will then eat lunch somewhere and travel the hour or so back to Atenas. That is the plan.

Hope you have a happy day too! 🙂

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Hanging on in Off-season

This Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima (my gallery link) is the most obvious butterfly to still be around during these months of fewer butterflies. Here in the Central Valley the best time for the most butterflies is May-October which is the bulk of the Rainy Season, which I cannot explain, because they do not usually come out when raining. But now, the wind is just as big a problem and it is more frequent than the rain is during rainy season. The irony is that this is the peak tourist season until May and thus tourist see very few butterflies except those captive in the butterfly gardens. 🙂

Banded Peacok, in my gardens, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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White-winged Dove

My most frequent visitor of the Doves & Pigeons looks like he/she owns that tree! 🙂 See more of my photos of this species, including a nest, in my Gallery: White-winged Dove.

White-winged Dove, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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2024 Favorite Photos

As every year on New Year’s Eve, I am trying my best to narrow down my favorite photos to just 12 – pretty much impossible! 🙂 But I always do it anyway and never by the months. This year I created 6 categories of photos and chose 2 pix in each. As usual, the birds category was the most difficult to narrow down, so tomorrow I am publishing another post with the 9 runner ups in the bird category. 🙂

The Categories this year are: 1) Birds, 2) Butterflies, 3) Other Insects, 4) Other Wildlife, 5) Flowers, 6) Landscapes. And the ones labeled from “Atenas” are all from my garden except the vista from Casita del Café.

My twelve choices for 2024 will be below this one photo for the email version. They are a slideshow in the online version, so email recipients please click “Read More” below for 12 great photos! 🙂

Yellow-throated Toucan, Arenal Observatory Lodge & Trails, Costa Rica
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Lots of Exotic Flowers!

And this featured photo is of a Natal Lily or Bush Lily – Clivia miniata that I have seen at only one other lodge, Playa Cativo in Puntarenas Province. Xandari has different flowers blooming every month, so you can expect different ones if you go at different times of the year. For this December trip my Xandari ’24 FLOWERS Gallery has photos of more than 30 species! Enjoy! And it is the first sub-gallery I have completed for this latest “Trip Gallery” that I will announce when finished. The Butterflies’ identifications are slowing me down this time! 🙂

Natal Lily or Bush Lily – Clivia miniata , Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And if you like flowers, check out all mine in the Flora & Forest Galleries. where there is a big gallery for just Xandari!

Flash News!

I finished the entire “Christmas at Xandari” GALLERY last night, so all my photos from this little 2-day retreat are ready to view! Click that link!

CLICK this image of first page to go to the gallery.

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Xandari Gallery is Ready!

Christmas 2024 @ Xandari

Click this image of the first page or go directly to this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2024-December-24-26-Xandari-Resort-Tacacori-Alajuela

CLICK this image of first page to go to the gallery.

Yes, Xandari is expensive, but it is worth it for me as I think the photos tell. Enjoy my “Nature as Art” photos that are different each time I visit there.

¡Pura Vida!

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Philadelphia Vireo – A Lifer!

Yes, on Christmas Eve, in the tree by my terrace at Xandari, I photographed another new species for me! This Philadelphia Vireo, Vireo philadelphicus (linked to eBird) was identified by the Merlin app from eBird and is probably a non-breeding immigrant from Canada who passed through Philadelphia on his/her way to Costa Rica. 🙂

Philadelphia Vireo, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Philadelphia Vireo, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Philadelphia Vireo, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Other Vireos, for you birders reading, that I’ve collected in Costa Rica linked to my photo galleries of each:

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Cloudy Days Christmas Retreat . . .

. . . was a wonderful experience in spite of the “off-season weather!”

“A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.”

~William Arthur Ward

Christmas Eve Dinner was super good! 🙂
Fountains throughout the gardens.

Read on for more pix and about the grand experience I had with my wonderful friends who run Xandari Resort . . .

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