Tag: Alajuela

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Marigold Pepper Leaf

In November this attractive leaf just popped up in my garden as what I figured was a “weed,” and thus I pulled it up, after photographing with my cell phone, and threw it away. Then I ran this leaf photo through iNaturalist and discovered that it is (was) a Marigold Pepper, Piper marginatum (iNaturallist link). Just another one of the many nature surprises I keep finding in my garden and all over Costa Rica! 🙂 What I read about this is that there are no “peppers” or fruit, but rather people use the leaves for seasoning and extracting a flavorful oil. Hmmmm, maybe I should have kept this “weed!” 🙂

Marigold Pepper Leaf, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more such beauties in my Leaves & Nature Things GALLERY.

¡Pura Vida!

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Welcome Migrant! The Yellow Warbler

Is back in Costa Rica from “up north” and no longer called just “Yellow Warbler” as in the past but has a new official name of Northern Yellow Warbler – Setophaga aestiva (linked to my gallery) and what is used by eBird and iNaturalist. Some older books still say just Yellow Warbler and the Princeton Field Guide says American Yellow Warbler. I’m not sure which names are harder to keep up with, Birds or Butterflies! 🙂 They seem to both be changing frequently. This particular bird showed up on December 1 in my Cecropia Tree. Here’s two shots of him/her . . .

Northern Yellow Warbler, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Another Unusual Bug

The closest I’ve been able to get to an identification so far on iNaturalist is “Subfamily Coreinae Insect.” Then quickly after posting it, someone more knowledgeable narrowed it down to “Piezogaster Genus” (iNaturalist link) which is closer to a species name which hopefully someone will be able to provide there. Here’s two shots from the floor of my terrace from different angles (front & back) . . .

Piezogaster Genus insect, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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White Angled-Sulphur Male

The big yellow patch is what indicates that it is a male, while the female has only the brown spot on each wing. The feature photo is one typical view with a greenish/yellowish hew on the folded wings while the top of wings are usually a bright white like the photo below where the same butterfly is strangely contorted. See more of my photos of this interesting butterfly in my gallery: White Angled-Sulphur, Anteos clorinde. They are found as residents from Argentina to Mexico with migrants going into the Southwestern U.S. and Great Plains.

White Angled-Sulphur male, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Devil’s Trumpet

I found this on one of my walks to town and continue to be surprised with new and unusual species of flowers and just about everything else in nature! 🙂 Just two shots with different looks plus a shot of a “seed capsule” that I saw on the bush 2 weeks later, with the flowers gone . . .

Metel Devil’s Trumpet, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Dyar’s Swallowtail

My second sighting of this species and this time a female while the previous time was a male who is distinguished by a blue-green (turquoise) patch on the topside of his hind wings which you can see in my gallery from the previous sighting, also in my garden! 🙂 See different views of both of these interesting swallowtails in my gallery: Dyar’s Swallowtail – Battus ingenus. Finding unusual species and the differences in them is just one fun part of butterflying along with birding! And I now believe that Costa Rica is the best place in the world for both, with more species per acre than any other country in the world. Just one side-view photo here. Go to the gallery for top and other views of both male and female. And note that with my first sighting I thought it was a Crammer’s Swallowtail, but have corrected that since with the help of experts on both BAMONA and iNaturalist.

Dyar’s Swallowtail Female, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Blue-glossed Skipper

If I’ve identified this correctly, it will be a new species for me. It is similar to one I saw earlier confirmed by iNaturalist as Aroma, aroma, so I hope that the identifiers on iNaturalist will agree with me & the AI on this one too, Blue-glossed Skipper, Onophas columbaria. (Linked to my gallery.) The third photo of one with darker wings was made later on the same day as the other 2 shots of the same insect.

Blue-glossed Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Red-tailed Stingless Bee . . .

. . . on one of my few Golden Shrimp flowers blooming this year (not enough sun I think). This Red-tailed Stingless Bee has the scientific name of Trigona fulviventris and the Spanish common name of Abeja Culo de Vaca. I have 8+ species of bees in my Bee Gallery, with only two other shots of this species, also in my garden.

Red-tailed Stingless Bee, Trigona fulviventris, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Two Looks of the Fiery Skipper

As I’ve said before in this blog, I really try to get both a top view and a side view(or bottom view) of every butterfly because of the sometimes big differences and the clues for good identification. Though not as radically different as some butterflies, there is a difference in the Fiery Skipper – Hylephila phyleus (my gallery link), as you can see in these two photos . . .

Fiery Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Blue-vented Hummingbird

This one with the bright blue tail is probably my second most common hummingbird this year after Rufous-tail, followed by Canivet’s Emerald which I photographed near the same time as this blue-vented, but the photos aren’t good enough to share. And you can see much better photos of this one in my gallery Blue-vented Hummingbird, Saucerottei hoffmanni OR Saucerrotia amazilia. Glad there are a few interesting birds as my butterflies are slacking off a little. Two so-so photos . . .

Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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