Or one of the many other brown skippers! 🙂 This one was on the glass-top table on my terrace this morning and I snapped him/her with my cellphone. Interesting and my first for this particular species.
Costa Rica Brown Skipper
African Tulip Tree
There are several African Tulip Trees (Wikipedia Link) in Roca Verde which I have highlighted before with their bright orange flowers, but the one on the hill above me is such a bright spot, it is hard to not keep featuring it! 🙂 Another sign that summer is beginning.
Wild Poinsettia Tree?
Or maybe just a big cousin? 🙂 I passed this tree walking home from town this morning and it certainly made me think of poinsettias, though you can see that the bloom is a little different from the typical Christmas flower – though similar! 🙂 Online blooms like these were labeled “Wild Poinsettia.” Either way, they are categorized as shrubs or small trees.
Merry Christmas!
My Flora & Forest Gallery.
My 2021 Christmas Photos Gallery
¡Pura Vida!
Blue Grosbeak Female – A “Lifer!”
My cellphone App “Merlin” (from the eBird folks) tells me that this is a Blue Grosbeak Female (eBird description link) but it is not an exact match to the photos in my bird books or even online. It is similar to but larger than a female Blue-black Grassquit which in the past has never had that much black or rufous on the wings and the same for sparrows or juncos (which are otherwise similar). So my often experienced conundrum of identification continues, especially with “little brownish birds!” 🙂
I have posted these two photos on the Facebook Group “Cost Rica Bird ID” and I will add here any helpful results if received from that group – sometimes a knowledgeable person is very helpful there! 🙂 We will see what happens. 🙂
UPDATE: On the FB group Patrick O’Donnell, one of my past guides and the official guide for the Costa Rica Birding Club, answered my request with this:
Hi Charlie! Merlin is right, growing new feathers makes it look funny. Note the big bill and rufous wing bars.
~Patrick O’Donnell
So I’m hereby declaring it officially a Blue Grosbeak female! and a “lifer” for me! 🙂
Rocking Chair + Book + Terrace
Reading my latest book in the rocking chair on the terrace . . .
And when I look up from the book, one of these two views . . .
Continue reading “Rocking Chair + Book + Terrace”Flowers on Walk
Just 4 flowers that I liked on my walk this morning down “Shady Lane.” This flatter walk doesn’t have the vistas of the hill yesterday, but some nice close-ups! 🙂
Chisos Banded Skipper
The last of the butterflies it seems, this common skipper is still flitting about my garden. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
TWO GALLERIES to check out:
All My Costa Rica Butterflies
Cachicama or Carton Wasp Nest
The other morning after breakfast on my terrace I discovered this wasp nest on a limb of my Cecropia or Guarumo Tree. After a lengthy bit of research on the web I discovered this ID on the “What’s That Bug?” website. It’s a really interesting and well-built nest! I think it might be a type of the more generic “Paper Wasp.” The curls on top are just dead leaves from my Guarumo tree.
¡Pura Vida!
And check out all My More Insects CR Gallery.
Grackle for Breakfast
Well, not to eat! 🙂 But this male Great-tailed Grackle (eBird description) stopped by and stayed awhile during my breakfast (I always eat outside) where I could see him while other birds are going higher in the tree above the roof line and my line of sight. 🙂
This common bird is found from the Western U.S. south throughout Central America and into northern South America. In my Great-tailed Grackle Gallery I have photos of both the male and female from 11 different locations in Costa Rica.
Anthurium
“Anthurium, (genus Anthurium), genus of about 825 species of herbaceous plants in the arum family (Araceae) native to tropical America. Several species are popular foliage plants, and a few species are widely grown for the florist trade for their showy long-lasting floral structures.”
~https://www.britannica.com/plant/Anthurium
Bright red Tropical Charmer
Read about the
Symbolism and Meaning of the Anthurium.
¡Pura Vida!
Check out my Flora & Forest Gallery.