charliedoggett.net
Both my gardens and ones I visit
It is probably not unusual, but it was my first time to see a bird eating from a Bird of Paradise Flower, in this case a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (linked to my Rufous-tailed Gallery). It was before breakfast this morning near the end of our birding hike as we walked through some of the lodge gardens on our way to the restaurant.
Arenal Observatory Lodge (their website)
¡Pura Vida!
This morning my usual transportation of Walter Ramirez Tours and Taxis is taking me away from my home “garden” or “mini-jungle,” featured above, to one of my favorite forest getaways for 5 nights . . .
Arenal Observatory Lodge, the only hotel inside the Arenal Volcano National Park, where I will spend 5 days hiking the trails of a forest with a great variety of plants and animals! Tree Ferns to Toucans and more!
Below are four shots of my little mini-rainforest garden in Atenas that I am proud of and in which I photograph much for this blog! Then following that, another 4-shot gallery from my last trip to the Observatory in 2022. I chose to go in May this year because that is the month I got good sunset photos over Lake Arenal in 2018 and my most monkey shots that year, though anytime is a good time to visit Arenal Observatory Lodge! (lodge website link) 🙂 Looking forward to just being there!
Continue reading “From Mini-Jungle to Rainforest!”
This is just my third time to see this unusual Yellow (among the many Yellows!). The Barred Yellow, Eurema daira (linked to my gallery) is found from Argentina north to the deep south of the U.S. It’s uniqueness is the brown, orange & yellow bars on the top of wings. The side view is similar to many Whites & Yellows. I’ve seen it twice here in Atenas and once at Arenal Observatory (where I’m headed tomorrow). See photos from other countries including the U.S. at butterfliesandmoths.
This one I’ve seen multiple times in my garden but still love him: the Tropical Checkered Skipper, Burnsius oileus. You can see my other photos in my gallery or what others have submitted to butterfliesandmoths.
The Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak, Strymon bazochii, (butterfliesandmoths link) is a new species for me and a nice one! I have these same 3 images in my gallery, so I won’t link to it. But I was fortunate to get both the side view and a top view, which really helps with the identification! And with all the wind this year, few ever land with wing open and it is very difficult to catch one in flight on the camera as I did here! 🙂
are the two common English names for this beautiful tropical flowering shrub or small tree that comes in white, pink or red varieties. This white one that I pass on my walks to town one website called the “Plumeria rubra var. acutifolia.”
When I lived in West Africa it was called Frangipani by both English and French speakers and by most tribal languages. In Spanish, frangipanis are also referred to as alhelí, alhelí cimarrón, and suche, though in Costa Rica they are called frangipani, plumeria, juche or cacalojoche. Every Central American country seems to have a different name! 🙂
Here’s 2 photos of the one at a house on 8th Avenue in Atenas . . .
A new butterfly for me and like most now, in my garden! 🙂 The Cymaenes trebius or common name of Fawn-spotted Skipper which I think was a poor choice (many others look more like fawns) but I didn’t make the names for these little jewels! 🙂 Here’s one photo and you can see all four of my shots in Fawn-spotted Skipper GALLERY or see photos that others have submitted from Central America, Mexico and South Texas in butterfliesandmoths.org where you too can submit your butterfly photos for research and sharing with the world! Please share!
¡Pura Vida!
One of four species of Saltators in Costa Rica, Buff-throated Saltator, Saltator maximus (my gallery link), is one of the more common species quietly eating fruit, berries and seeds in the trees from lowlands to 1800 meters on both slopes of Costa Rica and found from Mexico to South America. Read more about on eBird. Here’s 3 shots from my garden in Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica . . .
The old regular Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima (linked to my gallery), is back and I will see him regularly now throughout the rainy season, one of the most numerous butterflies in my garden, but also seen all over Costa Rica as the above link to my gallery will show. These 4 shots are from two different days recently.
Not new for me, but an understated, simple beauty, I think – the Great Southern White, Ascia monuste (my gallery link) and here are 3 recent photos from my garden . . .
