Category: Atenas

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Wildness Disappearing

Well, at least close to towns like Atenas or anywhere within an hour or two from San Jose. But from my porch, or terrace they call it here, I zoomed in on one of the hills nearby that looked undeveloped. The only sign of humans seems to be one small or moderate-sized house at the end of a dirt road, which could be a cool place to live! 🙂

Zooming in on a Nearby Hill, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Of course Costa Rica has more than 25% of all land protected as wilderness national parks, reserves, or wildlife refuges, but in the more populated Central Valley or anywhere near the capital of San Jose, development is growing rapidly. I am very much aware of how many more cars are on the streets and highways now than just 10 years ago! Plus there seems to be construction work somewhere all the time, even in little Atenas! So it was fun to zoom in on one of the Atenas hills and see only one small house! 🙂

See more of my Roca Verde Terrace Views in that gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

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Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak

This Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak or Strymon ziba is another new species of butterflies for me! Also found only in Central America and southern Mexico. See more of him on butterfliesandmoths. Here’s one of my shots and you can see more in my gallery: Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak.

Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak, Strymon ziba, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Blurb is offering a flash sale on all my photo books for 3 days, April 21-23. Use the discount code:  FLASHAPRIL

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Tropical Greenstreak

The Tropical Greenstreak, Cyanophrys herodotus, (linked to butterfliesandmoths) is another new species for me this year AND another one found only in Central America & Mexico! 🙂 It is also earlier than I had been getting new species in past years. This makes about 4 or 5 new species before the month of May this year, which surprises me because it is so hot and windy this year. But then, nature never ceases to surprise! 🙂 There are only a few more shots of this same tiny green fellow in my Tropical Greenstreak GALLERY, but I expect I will be adding more in the future. Heres 3 shots for the blog . . .

Tropical Greenstreak, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Garden Walk

Yes, I know, I’ve done this post before, several times, but every time the flowers are different and I see or photograph them differently. And this time it is a collection of favorite shots from the previous few weeks, late March and early April. Below this one shot for the email version is a gallery of 18 photos, all different flowers and species repeated only when each flower is quite different. Enjoy God’s beautiful jewels from my tropical Costa Rica garden 🙂 . . .

Anthurium
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Dancing Swallowtails!

I’m not sure that I can explain why, but these Polydamas Swallowtails reminded me of flying acrobats or dancers as they swoop in and out of the flowers for their feeding. Fun to watch! 🙂 They are Polydamas Swallowtail, Battus polydamas (link to my Polydamas GALLERY with many more shots of their graceful flying and perching).

Polydamas Swallowtail en mi once de abril flores
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Revisiting the “Chinese Lanterns”

Some weeks back I shared a couple of shots of what I found are Physalis “Chinese Lanterns” growing on a vine over my neighbor’s fence and I have been mesmerized by them! They seemed to have turned red as they matured and then faded before falling to the ground. Here’s 6 shots I made of them recently (the unidentified insect is a bonus!) . . .

Physalis “Chinese Lantern”, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Ceraunus Blue: Corrected Version of Post

I made a mistake on the identification of this photo when this post was first published. I called it a Western Pygmy-Blue, Brephidium exilis which was incorrect. The correct identification of this butterfly is the Ceraunus Blue, Hemiargus ceraunus (linked to my gallery where I have others). And you can see others’ photos from throughout Central America and the southern half of the United States on butterfliesandmoths.

Ceraunus Blue, Hemiargus ceraunus, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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A Rare Butterfly – Leuce Yellow

I’ve seen and photographed a lot of Yellows, but not only is this one new to me, there is only one other on butterfliesandmoths and it was submitted from the Dominican Republic, West Indies. I got several shots almost identical to this one on the tiny wildflower and then he was off, not to be seen again! 🙂

Leuce Yellow, Pyrisitia leuce, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Butterflies of America has photos only of the old-fashion pinned specimens while iNaturalist has several live photos from South America & West Indies, if you click on “View More” after their first little photos. Both of those sites have a little bit of info on the species though they don’t include it being in Costa Rica! 🙂 But that is okay because being in the geographical center of the isthmus between North & South America, we get migrants of all species from both continents! (And West Indies!) Maybe my photos will change the ranges for this butterfly on some of these “official” websites! 🙂 Right now they all say that it is only found in the West Indies (Caribbean Islands) and South America. I fooled them, didn’t I! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!