A Busy Yigüirro

Yigüirro is the Costa Rican Spanish name for the English-named Clay-colored Thrush, like “the Robin of Costa Rica” (and Americans used to call it “Clay-colored Robin”). It is also the national bird of costa Rica because the early indigenous people said it was this bird that called in the rain at the beginning of rainy season, April-May, with its beautiful, melodious songs. Nice!

I’m not seeing as many birds anywhere this year which one naturalist said was because of the change in weather (El Niña) and a much wetter rainy season this year – I don’t know. But I thought the photo below of a wasp pestering the bird and another photo of the bird eating a berry were interesting enough to share, even if not high quality photos (bad light). But first a traditional portrait . . .

Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Xandari Resort, Alajuela.
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Last of Xandari Butterflies . . .

. . . and I think one of these 9 is actually a moth, but I can’t find an ID. The immense variety of butterflies and moths here in Costa Rica can be overwhelming at times but is also one of the joys of being here! 🙂 It depends on which website or book you read, but with more species still being discovered here, some say there are now 1,500+ known species of butterflies and over 12,000 species of moths (not all identified), so it is not surprising that I can’t find an ID for everyone I photograph. 🙂

And as is my practice, one photo here for the emailed announcement of this post, followed by a gallery of all 9 final butterflies (maybe 2 are moths) from my visit to Xandari Costa Rica last week. I may still share some other photos from that very unique hotel in Alajuela and then back to nature shots around where I live for the next two weeks before my Caribbean trip the 19th of September. Pura vida!

Blue-vented Mimic-White
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Second Group of Butterflies . . .

. . . from my brief two-night trip to Xandari Resort in Alajuela continues to show the amazing number of butterflies at this forest hotel less than an hour away from my house! I’m still not sure of the total and have four I can’t identify, but I will share 9 or 10 more tomorrow as the final batch of butterflies from Xandari before focusing on those around my house again.

As usual, one photo here for the email announcement of the blog post, then followed online with a gallery of all 10 butterflies. And again 11 photos because I want to show the big difference in the top and bottom side of the wings of one, the Starred Oxeo, even though almost all butterflies have different patterns on top and bottom, with this one just being a more drastic difference. Enjoy!

Ochre-patched Gemmed-Satyr
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First 10 of 30 Butterfly Species!

I already knew that Xandari was good for butterflies, but really didn’t think I would photograph this many species! And I’m still processing the photos and identifying, but it now looks like about 30 species. I could share one a day for the next 30 days but that would not be fair to you who are faithful readers of this blog, so just 3 days of Xandari butterflies! 🙂

One shot for the email notice of the blog and then a gallery of all 10 with actually 11 photos because one is so different with folded wings that you must see both views! 🙂

Julia Heliconian
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Little Banner

Another new butterfly for me today! I first saw him/her from my kitchen on the outside of the window screen. I snapped a couple of shots and went outside for a different view in the garden but he quickly flew away. This is another tropical butterfly found in Central and South America. These shots will be just the second ones to be posted on butterfliesandmoths, when they are up (they were not a few minutes ago). 🙂 Here are four different shots:

Little Banner, Nica flavilla, Atenas, Costa Rica
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Orange-barred Sulphur

The Orange-barred Sulphur, Phoebis philea (Link to butterflies&moths website) is one that does not land with open wings very much, meaning you seldom see the orange bars! And when he lands with folded wings I think he looks a lot like the Cloudless Sulphur, having similar spots on the bottom of both their wings, though Clouded has a faint brown border to help you see the difference. My Orange-barred Gallery includes these plus the first one I photographed back in 2015 at the Yorkin Bribri Indigenous Reserve in Limón Province.

Orange-barred Sulphur, Atenas
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Frosted Flasher

The Frosted Flasher, Astraptes alardus (butterflies & moths website) is found from Argentina throughout Central America to Mexico and Cuba. This is my first record of one in my garden, though several flashers can look alike. 🙂 The “frosted” is that wide white band on the underneath side of his wing. Here’s 4 photos from yesterday and you can see more in my Frosted Flasher Gallery. The butterflies are abundant here this year! 🙂

Frosted Flasher, Atenas, Costa Rica
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White Angled-Sulphur

The White Angled Sulphur, Anteos clorinde (link to butterflies&moths site), is not new to me and when I get my photos loaded to that website I think I will have some of the better photos there, but I haven’t gotten to my White Angled Sulphur GALLERY yet. 🙂 Check it out!

I’ve been very busy with so many butterflies to photograph in my garden daily (and almost no birds for some reason) plus I still haven’t caught up with identifying and approving all the submissions from Costa Rica to the butterflies & moths website (very time-consuming!) that I don’t have time to get my own photos submitted! 🙂

Here’s 3 shots of today’s White Angled-Sulphur . . .

White Angled-Sulphur, Atenas, Costa Rica
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Pura Vida Inspiration

I read three things today that helped me realize again how fortunate I am to be living in such an amazing little country as Costa Rica! AND how much I have slowed down, calmed down, and embraced nature since I’ve been living here, eight years this coming December! Here’s links to the three inspirational articles I read today . . .

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