Category: Atenas

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Neighborhood Flower with Funny Name

On one of my walks to town I used my cell phone to snap a photo of this yellow flower along the side of the road. iNaturalist AI labeled it a Be-still Tree – Cascabela thevetia (linked to iNaturalist). “Be still” was appropriate on that day as the wind was blowing strongly and this flower would not be still for a photo! 🙂 There is another species in this genus known as Yellow Oleander (Cascabela thevetiodes) and thus some people call this one Yellow Oleander too. They are similar.

Be-Still Tree, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And for a look at other things I photograph on my walks in Atenas, see the gallery Walking in Atenas.

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Four-spotted Sailor

A new species for me! Or my first time to see and photograph, thus these 2 photos are the only ones today in my Gallery Four-spotted Sailor, but who knows, I might see another one tomorrow! 🙂 And a fun fact about this one is that I photographed him through my kitchen sink window, where I spotted him while washing dishes! 🙂 There are several kinds of “Sailor” butterflies and I’ve seen only one other, the Pale Sailor, which I’ve seen 2 different years in my garden plus nearby on 8th Avenue near Hotel Colinas del Sol, so a lot more photos!

Four-spotted Sailor, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Four-spotted Sailor, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Yellow-crowned Euphonia

This is the first time I’ve seen any Euphonia in quite a while, maybe more than a year and usually somewhere else other than my garden. And I got both the male and the female, though the male was in the shadows and thus not as good a photo.

Male Yellow-crowned Euphonia
Female Yellow-crowned Euphonia

¡Pura Vida!

See more in my Yellow-crowned Euphonia Gallery where I have photos from 3 other locations, with this being the first of this species in my garden.

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“A longing fulfilled . . .”

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” ~Proverbs 13:12

Cortez Amarillo Trees blooming, Arenal Observatory Lodge & Trails,
Arenal Volcano National Park, Alajuela, Costa Rica

My blog/website administrative page has a bucket for “Drafts” and occasionally I put something in there that I think I might work into a blog post later (like yesterday’s). Back in 2022 I placed the above quote from Proverbs that I picked from one of my Daily Bible Readings to comment on later and here I am, about 3 years later, commenting on it (with photos!). 🙂

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In Awe of Leaves

I continue to photograph leaves that give me a moment of awe. Here’s five shots from 3 plants in December that awed me . . .

One of my Fern Gardens
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December Flower Shots

Almost every day of every month (when at home) I walk through my garden with camera in hand looking for birds, butterflies or other wildlife. When none are seen, I usually snap a photo of a flower or an interesting leaf. And recently I have been presenting some of those photos at the end of the month or in the next month. So here are last month’s flower shots not already shown. I do occasionally have a post on one of my flowers, like the Desert Rose for my Christmas Card in December! And I won’t repeat those images. 🙂 Below this introductory photo is a gallery of 7 flower shots from December.

Potted Petunias
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Idiarthron Genus

I know, it looks like a grasshopper and it may be, but the AI on iNaturalist would only go so for as the genus in identification, so I will wait for a bug expert to identify which grasshopper this is! 🙂 Here’s two shots, the top view with my cell phone and the side view with my telephoto lens on a Canon camera. And I do expect it to be identified eventually.

Idiarthron Genus Insect, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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African Trees?

I like looking up the big hills on two sides of my little house on the side of a small hill. The other day I snapped photos through my zoom lens of two trees that I liked the looks of: First is an African Tulip Tree which I know the identity of, but the second one and my feature photo is labeled by Google LENS as a Ficus Thonningii Tree which is native to Africa, though the iNaturalist AI would not specify a species, it just said that is is probably one of the Ficus Trees or one of the Squirrel Trees. (First I’ve heard of squirrel trees!). 🙂 But anyway, I like both trees and I’m sharing these two by photos. And if both are from Africa, it is not that unusual here for people to plant trees and shrubs/flowers from other tropical continents.

African Tulip Tree, Residential Roca Verde, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Gray-headed Chachalaca

This large bird usually moves around my trees in groups or families and always “chattering.” 🙂 Here in a Nance Tree. See more photos in my gallery: Gray-headed Chachalaca.

Gray-headed Chachalaca, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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A New Lizard in My Tree!

After breakfast on new year’s morning, January 1, a small lizard appeared in my Cecropia Tree (Guarumo en español). Almost immediately he flashed a bright red dewlap (the flap of skin that fans out on the neck of most anoles) as he went for an insect to eat. Later, as he moved along one limb, his dewlap changed to orange and then yellow and back to red. A new experience for me! All the other anoles I’ve seen have only displayed one color of dewlap. 🙂

And when I finally got him identified, that was a surprise too! He is the only lizard I’ve got in my photo collection of 21+ lizards that is named after a person, the Charles Myers Anole, Anolis charlesmyersi (my gallery link with more photos). Here’s a shot without the dewlap displayed, followed by three shots with 3 colors of dewlap, orange, yellow and red . . .

Charles Myers Anole (no dewlap displayed), Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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