Category: Photography

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A Challenging ID!

When I first studied these photos of another brown Skipper in my garden I focused on those distinctive 3 white dots located near the apex of the forward wing on both top and bottom sides. That led me first to the “Three-spotted Skipper” (Cymaenes tripunctus) which seemed logical, but it has more spots on the under side, thus not a real match. Next with 3 spots was the Cobalopsis Nero which I’ve seen before, but he too had additional spots that my photos did not show and it seemed another unidentified Skipper might be the case . . .

. . . until I checked my own butterfly gallery and there it was! Guerrero Sootywing, Bolla guerra! I’ve seen it two other times, once at the nearby Reserva Madre Verde in Palmares and on the Caribbean Coast at Hotel Banana Azul. Sooo . . . another mystery solved! And believe me! They are not all this easy – nor do I always even achieve an identification. But this one turned out nicely and here are the 3 photos used in that circuitous search . . . 🙂

Guerrero Sootywing, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Another New Species!

To be so windy and the lesser time of year for butterflies, I keep being amazed at the number of new butterflies I find in my garden, mostly the tiny ones. Depending on my source of information, this one has two common names, Halcyon Hairstreak or the one I have to use: Halciones Hairstreak with all sources using the same scientific name of Ostrinotes halciones. All Hairstreaks have that wiry tail to make predators think it is the head.

This species is found in both Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil, but my photo will be the first on butterflies and moths dot org, if they add the species that I’ve requested. I have about 5 requests waiting to be approved like that. The huge number of species of everything in Costa Rica continues to amaze me! It is one of the most diverse locations on the planet! The exact middle location between North & South America. I’m posting 4 photos of this new-to-me species . . .

Halciones Hairstreak, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Phyllira Tiger Moth – Grammia phyllira

I got this identification first from BugGuide.net which has a different scientific name of Apantesis phyllira along with the same common name of Phyllira Tiger Moth. Because I volunteer for butterfliesandmoths dot org, I’m using the scientific name they use: Grammia phyllira It was alongside the street on my walk to town the other day, right outside the Roca Verde gate on Avenida 8. It is in the Family Erebidae. Two cellphone pix . . .

Phyllira Tiger Moth – Apantesis phyllira, Atenas, Costa Rica
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2 Art Museums Saturday

This past Saturday I went on a van with a group from the Art House Atenas to visit two art museums in San Jose (and there are many more!). The first was the National Museum of Costa Rican Art where all the exhibits are rotating except for the statue garden. Then after a lunch in the city, we visited the world-famous Jade Museum in San Jose which of course has a lot of jade carvings, but is more about Pre-Columbian Art and culture.

I have a gallery completed of photos of some of the art with my cell phone camera which is allowed in both museum as long as you don’t use a flash. The feature photo is from the “Dark Valley” exhibit by Costa Rican Adrián Arguedas Ruano, mostly of traditional uses of masks here in the earlier indigenous cultures, though my favorite CR exhibit was “Dream World” by Costa Rican Flora Sáenz Langlois with her nature paintings of what she calls her “Magical Forests”(one below). And my favorite things in the Jade were the pottery or ceramic work and the human indigenous panoramas of pre-Columbian life.

I’ve seen both museums in the past, but there is always something new and enjoyable about any museum visit! 🙂

One of the “Magical Forest” paintings by Langlois at the National Costa Rican Art Museum.

See more photos in the gallery: 2024 Jan 17 – Two Museums or there are 3 more shots below as samples . . .

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The Gratifying Guarumo!

It is definitely one of my favorite trees in Costa Rica, if for no other reason, an opportunity to photograph their beautiful leaves, both dead and alive as in this photo. They attract many birds from the tiny Euphonias to the Toucans and their openness makes them great “galleries” for photographing birds and sloths! Some of my best bird photos were made in the Guarumo or Cecropia Tree that I planted in my yard the first year here, 2015.

I have them pictured in several popular photo galleries:

Here’s one shot I made the other day from my terrace . . .

Guarumo or Cecropia Tree Leaves in My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Jimmy Durante Bug?

At first, when I saw this insect in my bathroom, I thought it might be the ol’ “stink bug” I’ve seen in many places since a child in Arkansas, but I’ve learned that this insect, sometimes commonly called a “Snout Beetle,” is not a beetle at all, but one of 83,000 species of weevils world-wide or a part of the total 300,000 species of insects in Costa Rica. I could not find the number of weevil species in Costa Rica, though a lot is said here about Palm Weevils, but no book or website to identify. For now, this one will go into my insect galleries as an “Unidentified Weevil.” Click that link to see 3 different types I’ve photographed here. 🙂

Unidentified Weevil, Atenas, Costa Rica
Unidentified Weevil, Atenas, Costa Rica

See my photo galleries of More Insects (other than butterflies).

¡Pura Vida!

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Kinkajou Killed by Car

Kinkajou killed by car, Atenas, Costa Rica

Warning! The second photo is graphic! The Kinkajou is the size of some smaller monkeys (but unrelated) and has a prehensile tail with which he hangs from tree limbs when harvesting fruit. They look similar to the smaller Olingo (but again unrelated). They are found in lowland forests in Central & South America and are nocturnal.

He/she was probably hit by a car in the night. I photographed on the bridge over a small stream on Avenida 8 just outside the Roca Verde main gate on a walk to town. It saddens me that humans continue to remove the forests and trees that keep such unique animals alive. I have never seen one alive in the wild but of course that is partly because they are nocturnal and I am not! :-) Just one more of the thousands of unique species found here in Costa Rica. ¡Pura vida!

Kinkajou killed by car, Atenas, Costa Rica
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