Category: Photography

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My Arrival Yesterday on Flooded River

I did not do a post last night because I’m way behind on processing photos. I photographed 15 bird species just while eating lunch in partial rain yesterday and more yesterday afternoon and even more this morning on a pre-breakfast birding walk with guide Ronald! We were fortunate to have no rain for that hour and a half! 🙂 It is raining off and on just a little so far today, but so far nothing like yesterday!

So Walter would have a companion for talking with on his 4 hour return trip to Atenas yesterday, he brought his cousin who has a digital radio station in Atenas and here is the video he posted on the station or its Facebook or WhatsApp page (not sure how it works). It is of them leaving me at the boat dock on the flooded Rio San Carlos with Maquenque across the river. The first speaker in black is Walter’s cousin (forgot his name) and then Walter in the bright green cap speaks. My brief appearance is just waving at the camera from the boat. 🙂 I’m hoping that a WhatsApp Video works on this blog/website. I’m not a tech kind of guy! 🙂

Nope!

Well, it did not work, saying I’ve already used my one free video and must enroll in “VideoPress,” which I’m not doing, so I will just share two of Walter’s cellphone photos of their difficult return trip in a hard rain yesterday.

A tree blocked the highway for a while and then . . .
. . . they had a flat tire!

All that trouble just to get me to a favorite nature place! I’ll soon start sharing photos of the immense amount of nature here! 🙂

¡PuraVida!

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Maquenque Lodge Tonight

Today I will travel for about 4 hours to one of my favorite lodges and best birding place, Maquenque Eco Lodge (their link) near the Nicaragua border in Boca Tapada, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela Province, almost directly north of where I live in the center of the country. It will be my 6th trip there and 3rd time to celebrate my birthday there, which is July 4 and this year number 86! 🙂

3 years ago I planted an Avocado Tree there to help the endangered Green Macaws at Maquenque.

I may or may not do a post tonight from there, but otherwise a daily post from Maquenque reporting on my nature finds there for the next 5 days and as always a few more days after a trip. This will be my 6th time at Maquenque with, of course, lots of photos and a “Trip Gallery” from every visit there . . .

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Mexican Fritillary

There are so many orange with black trim butterflies and most of them are distinctly different, as is this Mexican Fritillary, Euptoieta hegesia (my gallery link).

Mexican Fritillary, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Pale-banded Crescent

In my gallery I have 9 different species of Crescents and this one has been mostly seen here in Atenas. See my GALLERY: Pale-banded Crescent, Anthanassa tulcis (linked). Here’s three different views in my garden this June and the damaged wings you may have noticed on other butterfly photos I’ve shared this year. It is the wind! Though not all the time like January, it is blowing just as hard here in June, which is not normal! I believe it is a part of the human-caused climate change. Also note that this one is on one of my few Milkweed Flowers, which is also attracting other species, so I want to find another sunny spot for more.

Pale banded Crescent, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

And two more different view photos . . .

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Mimosa Yellow

Mimosa Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Above is a crisper, traditional shot while below is another “soft look” shot as with the feature photo . . .

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Juno Silverspot

Earlier this month I was seeing a lot of different butterflies but it has turned windy again and not many can handle that. This is one of my favorites . . . Juno Silverspot (my gallery link).

Juno Silverspot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Juno Silverspot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Reflected Sunset

When you live surrounded by both hills and trees, you don’t get to enjoy full sunrises or full sunsets. (I get both of those when I visit the two coasts of Costa Rica + at Arenal.) But occasionally the weather, the clouds and whatever else come together for a reflected colorful sky at sunrise and at sunset, as shown here from my terrace the other night at sunset (June 23). I look forward to my September trip to the Caribbean where I enjoy beautiful sunrises every morning, While my Christmas trip to Arenal Observatory will have semi-indirect (time of year thing) sunsets over Lake Arenal, visible from my choice room. 🙂

Sunset from my terrace on June 23, 2026, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica – Sunsets to the left of this view.

For the “real” sunsets, see my galleries: VISTAS, BEACHES, SUNRISES, SUNSETS Costa Rica which includes a sub-gallery of other sunrises & sunsets from my terrace.

¡Pura Vida!

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Barred Yellow

June has become the usual big butterfly month in my gardens and here is another nice one, the Barred Yellow (my gallery link) . . .

Barred Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Barred Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Orchid Bee

One of the most common bees in my garden is this particular Orchid Bee. There are several kinds of Orchid Bees. All of my Bee photos are in one gallery called Bees — Abejas.

Here are two shots of one in my garden recently as they join the Hummingbirds and Butterflies in spreading nectar around . . .

Orchid Bee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Orchid Bee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Streamside Forest

When you fly anywhere in a small plane you can easily see how trees grow thickly along almost all streams, even in urban or developed areas and that is certainly so for the little stream across the cow pasture from me. I zoomed in on it with the camera from my terrace and I like the thick forest look, even in a highly populated town or small city. 🙂

Streamside Trees, Roca Verde, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”

~Khalil Gibran

¡Pura Vida!

And check out my Trees Gallery!