charliedoggett.net
Both my gardens and ones I visit
Though Black-cheeked Woodpecker seems to be more common around Atenas for me, this species may be the second most common woodpecker, at least in my garden. 🙂
See my Hoffmann’s Woodpecker Gallery
or read about on eBird.
¡Pura Vida!
And for Halloween see this Tico Times article with video of Spooky Creatures Inhabit Costa Rica’s Jungles.
The other day I needed to walk to our Atenas public Clinic to pick up a “cita” or appointment to see an audiometrics doctor in the Alajuela Hospital for what will probably end up being a government-provided hearing aid for my left ear that I can hardly hear with since the big cancer surgery. They require that piece of paper for the visit but send it to our local clinic to pick up so I can avoid another trip to Alajuela. 🙂
I make that 12 block walk frequently for multiple reasons (my GP doctor, pharmacy, lab, etc.), but on this particular trip I decided to see if I could photograph some contrasting or different flowers with my cellphone and that was after I had already passed the Zinnas. 🙂 Here’s four totally different flowers in various yards over that 12 block walk:
The light fog around this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is maybe what provided a light purple background as a contrast to his bright green top – a nice compliment of colors! Nature as Art! 🙂
It is not often, but occasionally I like to bring a touch of my garden inside and this time added to it some budding lilies from the supermarket. A fun and cheerful spot of color inside my little casita! 🙂
The five spots in that upper short white line on the wing is what makes this a Tanna instead of a Teleus, Brown or Plain Longtail. Otherwise, those four are very similar and often confused. These two were in my garden and are fairly common Skippers here.
See my Tanna Longtail Skipper GALLERY.
And for comparisons with Teleus, Plain & Brown Longtails, browse through all my SKIPPER GALLERIES to see those and many others! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
On September 30 after my house was fumigated for ants, I spent the night at our little neighborhood Hotel Colinas del Sol and though cloudy and getting dark, I got some shadowy shots of 3 birds and two butterflies seen below. Nothing spectacular, but nature is almost everywhere waiting to be seen and photographed! And I love it, even in bad light! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
This one is usually very common in my garden, but not this year! This is maybe the fourth time I’ve seen one this year or at least recently. Here’s three photos, all a little different . . .
This is another new species for me, assuming I have identified correctly. Mine has more tail than those photos in the books and online, but the folded wing pattern is identical and my basis for this identification. Hammock Skipper, Polygonus leo. In my garden in Atenas.
See all my Skippers’ GALLERIES!
Or more of this species on Butterflies & Moths.org.
¡Pura Vida!
I haven’t seen this bird in quite a while, but he was one of about 4 species in my Cecropia Tree the other morning, feeding on the flowers like the toucans sometimes do. And as usual, he was partially hidden by leaves the entire time here! You can see other shots in my Black-cowled Oriole GALLERY showing the same hiding problem always! Except my very first shot here in Costa Rica of one on my window screen inside my house! 🙂 Here’s just two shots . . .
¡Pura Vida!
All the Longtail Skippers are brown, but this one has slightly different markings to give him the color name. 🙂 And you may have noticed that I’m much heavier on Skippers in general this year which may mean that they can handle the different weather better or some other reason I don’t know. And I continue to have fewer birds and fewer of the brighter colored butterflies, whatever the reason may be.
These range from a lighter brown than this to a dark brown as seen in my Brown Longtail GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!