charliedoggett.net
My profession is to always find God in nature.
– Henry David Thoreau
The Cerulean Dancer, Argia anceps, is a Central American Damselfly found on both coasts and in the interior. This is a male, darker blue, while the female is a lighter blue. Photographed on the tile sidewalk in my garden here in the Central Valley town of Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
See more photos in Damsel & Dragonflies CR GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
It seems to be taking me longer to complete my trip galleries – just a slow old man! 🙂
But one reason was that it is slow identifying 32 species of butterflies (several new to me), 29 species of birds (1 lifer), and 13 species of other wildlife with lots of nice frog shots this time! These trip galleries are my main photo galleries to which I link for photos in the bird, butterfly and other subject galleries. If you are considering different lodges in Costa Rica as a visitor or one who lives here and travels like me, these trip galleries are a good source of real information about what you can see in a particular place. Enjoy!
Or click this linked address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2022-December-22-28-Arenal-Observatory-Lodge
¡Pura Vida!
And this will be the last of my Arenal posts for a while, realizing I’ve done more than 3 weeks worth! And this final post will be considered the weirdest one by some or what I used to call “Leaves and Nature Things” and now refer to as “Designed by Nature” or “Nature as Art” which is also my photography brand. I debated about naming each photo and then decided to let your imagination flow! 🙂 I will give physical identities to most items when I get them in my gallery – but for now, watch the slide show as a fairy tale! But first an image for the email! 🙂
I just can’t quit talking about all the neat things you can see and photograph at Arenal Observatory Lodge! And another one are trees, all of their trees, but maybe the most unique are their Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees that were a part of their early development reforestation program which you can read about in an article on their website: The Rainbow Trees of Arenal, Costa Rica by Shannon Farley, my friend and fellow Atenas resident! 🙂 You will be amazed as you read the article and probably want to visit this favorite lodge of mine too! Where I could spend months hiking their 7+ miles of well-maintained hiking trails and never be bored! 🙂
Well, just 2 photos this time, then I encourage you to read my longer post of 2 years ago on all the trees of Arenal that I love!
And read my blog post on Arenal Trees I wrote two years ago titled: Enamored by Trees!
¡Pura Vida!
Lake Arenal was the first first man-made lake built in Costa Rica to create electricity with a dam, famous for having covered the town of Arenal and its cemetery with water. The town’s residents moved to a “Nuevo Arenal” which is now called Castillo, where the Butterfly Conservancy is located. It is also a popular local fishing lake and is surrounded by tourist attractions, Arenal Volcano National Park (La Fortuna) on the east, Monteverde on the west and Tenorio National Park nearby along with Caño Negro and many lodges/hotels & hot springs. And yes, some expat retirees have built homes on the lake! 🙂
My earlier May trip to the Observatory Lodge was better for lake shots because the sun sets over the lake that time of year! No really good shots this time, but sort of what a lake looks like in cloudy and rainy weather. 🙂
Here’s 5 shots from this trip, two of which are multi-shot panoramas . . .
Though I always go to the lodge that is closest to the volcano (and surrounded by the most forest!), this trip Christmas week was the first time the volcano was covered in clouds most of the time. The only clear day, all day, was Christmas Day, with clouds and rain all the rest of that week! But with all the photos I’ve been sharing, you can see that the rain or clouds didn’t dampen my spirits too much! 🙂 Here are four different views of the volcano from four different locations including the one sun-shiny day shot! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Arenal Observatory Lodge Website
Or for what the volcano looks like this very moment:
And note that the camera is mounted on the side of the lodge building just above my room 29 or my room deck, so basically the same view I got from my room or would now if there. 🙂
There was more than this, but these are the ones I have useable photos of beyond the birds and butterflies already shown. All wildlife is so interesting and varied anywhere you go in Costa Rica. One pix for the email announcement and then a gallery of all 9 photos.
The Butterfly Conservancy in the village of Castillo on Lake Arenal near Arenal Observatory Lodge is very good with multiple greenhouses for the different butterfly habitats plus outside natural butterflies with all being native to Costa Rica. And for the history-lovers, this is the little town that was once called Nuevo Arenal after the lake was flooded to make electricity and covered the original town of Arenal. 🙂
I only got useable photos of 14 species with 15 photos here because the White-spotted Prepona is so different with folded wings and open wings. 🙂 And I will just start with him as the first two photos followed by 13 more:
Archaeoprepona amphimachus (above)
Today I’ll just share 5 butterflies that I have only one view of and then even though I have another dozen or so from the lodge, they are not identified yet and and I’m behind on that ID work! So tomorrow I will start on the identified butterflies from the Costa Rica Butterfly Conservancy in Castillo on Lake Arenal, not far from the lodge and where a lot of lodge employees live.
¡Pura Vida!
And my Photo Galleries for these five species . . .
You may remember that I posted a photo of this poinsettia in my garden before Christmas last month (Dec. 18) with only 3 large red petals. Well, those tiny ones near the center kept growing, and I believe they will even more!
It was my indoor potted poinsettia for Christmas ’21 that I planted in the garden last January and someone told me that those potted ones would never bloom again when put in a garden. Well, maybe some don’t, but this one did! 🙂 And it just keeps blooming with a smaller flower coming in beneath this larger bloom, that I’ve been told are actually leaves that turn red. Just another fun experience with flowers and a garden! 🙂 One of those “little things” in nature that a retired old man finds joy in – while “Retired in Costa Rica!” 🙂
And I’m not finished sharing photos from my Christmas trip to Arenal Volcano National Park, but I may continue to throw in an occasional “local” blog post to keep Atenas in the news! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
For more flowers, check out my Flora & Forest GALLERIES! And stay tuned for more butterflies+ from Arenal!