Category: Atenas

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Pompeius Skipper

This Pompeius Skipper or Pompeius pompeius scientific name is a new butterfly sighting for me! I continue to be amazed that during this El Niño Year of radical climate change when I’ve been seeing fewer birds and butterflies that I am still seeing new species for me! It is fun! 🙂 And it demonstrates the huge number of species here in Costa Rica! 🙂

My two photos below show one to be lighter in color than the other but both the books and the websites indicate such variations plus different light does that in photos of anything. Plus these are different individuals at different times on different flowers! 🙂

Pompeius Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Pompeius Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Banded Peacock’s Back!

At one time in the past this was my most numerous butterfly, but not this year! So I was glad to see one in my garden the other day! Here’s three photos I made . . .

Banded Peacock Butterfly, Atenas, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Banded Peacock’s Back!”
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Baby Iguanas

The iguanas are multiplying around my place! 🙂 This first one I snapped on the railing of my terrace which is only 5 cm or 2 inches wide and he used about half that width, to give you an idea of size. Small! Two shots, one from distance and one zoomed in. And then a couple of days later I photographed one on the asphalt driveway that is even smaller and greener. They are born green. Here’s two shots on the railing and then two of the smaller one on the driveway, both with full-body shots and close-ups of the face and upper body.

Baby Spiny-tailed Iguana, Atenas, Costa Rica
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Hummingbird in Ficus Tree

The other day I caught a few shots of this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (the dominant and thus only species in my garden) in an unusual place for me, the dark shadows of the Higueron or Strangler Fig or Ficus Tree. I had to really work at lightening the shadows in these two shots but think the second one is particularly interesting because of how his head and neck are twisted around, unlike any photo yet of one of these, while this first shot is pretty traditional! 🙂

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Costa Rica
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Costa Rica

See more in my Rufous-tailed Hummingbird GALLERY.

¡Pura Vida!

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Hills from My Terrace

The Hills of Atenas seen from Roca Verde Phase 1

I’ve made so many of these panorama shots of the hills across from me and they are all very similar and yet all quite different because of angles, directions, light, weather, sky, etc. See some of my other shots in GALLERY: From My Terrace.

¡Pura Vida!

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Fine-spotted Roadside Skipper

Not a jaw-dropping beauty, but another important part of ecology! The Fine-spotted Roadside Skipper, Amblyscirtes folia (link to my gallery) is one I’ve seen twice before, once in my garden and once at Xandari Resort, Alajuela.

Fine-spotted Road-Skipper, Atenas, Costa Rica
Fine-spotted Road-Skipper, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Little Yellow

This is my second time to see a Little Yellow, Eurema lisa, with the other being in the Butterfly Conservatory in El Castillo and this time in my Garden in Atenas.

Little Yellow, Atenas, Costa Rica.

My Little Yellow Gallery.

¡Pura vida!

POSTSCRIPT: Today I am at El Silencio Lodge in Bajos del Toro and will return home tomorrow. Reports from this short two-night trip will be coming later. I’m staying about 2 weeks ahead on my blog posts, but if something spectacular happens here, I’ll double up and report it immediately! 🙂

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Great Southern White

You can see my photos of the two other times I saw this butterfly by going to my Great Southern White GALLERY. They were at such different locales as Tambor Bay and Rancho Naturalista near Turrialba. The scientific name is Ascia monuste. This is a first for my garden.

Great Southern White, Atenas, Costa Rica
Great Southern White, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Art Gallery Coming Behind Calle 2 Boat!

Calle 2 Plaza is under construction and could open within the next month or so! One of the 5 shops will now be a new Atenas Art Gallery, the name of which can’t be published until it is registered. So keep reading this blog for more information and see photos of the under construction Calle 2 Plaza and its flower murals below these first two shots . . .

Old land-locked boat on Calle 2, Atenas between Linea Vital & Calle 2.
7 of the 10 local artists opening a new art gallery in Calle 2 Plaza. Meeting here at the gallery location.
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Gray-capped Flycatcher

Not the first one this season, but he is always nice to see in my garden! Check out my Gray-capped Flycatcher GALLERY or read about him on eBird. He lives throughout Central America and in northwestern South America. He is smaller than the Tropical Kingbird (though similar) and the same size as Social Flycatcher without his head stripes. Here’s a couple more shots from a few days ago . . .

Gray-capped Flycatcher, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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