With several tourists here from around the world, it seems that one of the first things they want to see is a toucan, and the boldest one here is this Yellow-throated Toucan (my gallery link). Here’s two slightly different views with neither showing his patch of red, but still a handsome bird! We are on the Caribbean Slope here, where this Yellow-throated is more common than the Keel-billed which is more common on the Pacific Slope. Tomorrow I will share another variety of toucans which also has a different “cousin” on the Pacific Slope.
Yellow Throated Toucan, Maquenque Lodge, Costa RicaYellow Throated Toucan, Maquenque Lodge, Costa Rica
In my gallery I have 9 different species of Crescents and this one has been mostly seen here in Atenas. See my GALLERY: Pale-banded Crescent, Anthanassa tulcis (linked). Here’s three different views in my garden this June and the damaged wings you may have noticed on other butterfly photos I’ve shared this year. It is the wind! Though not all the time like January, it is blowing just as hard here in June, which is not normal! I believe it is a part of the human-caused climate change. Also note that this one is on one of my few Milkweed Flowers, which is also attracting other species, so I want to find another sunny spot for more.
Pale banded Crescent, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Earlier this month I was seeing a lot of different butterflies but it has turned windy again and not many can handle that. This is one of my favorites . . . Juno Silverspot (my gallery link).
Juno Silverspot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaJuno Silverspot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
When you live surrounded by both hills and trees, you don’t get to enjoy full sunrises or full sunsets. (I get both of those when I visit the two coasts of Costa Rica + at Arenal.) But occasionally the weather, the clouds and whatever else come together for a reflected colorful sky at sunrise and at sunset, as shown here from my terrace the other night at sunset (June 23). I look forward to my September trip to the Caribbean where I enjoy beautiful sunrises every morning, While my Christmas trip to Arenal Observatory will have semi-indirect (time of year thing) sunsets over Lake Arenal, visible from my choice room. 🙂
Sunset from my terrace on June 23, 2026, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica – Sunsets to the left of this view.
And that is a “Most Likely” identification from iNaturalist and eBird with a definite from Google Lens. 🙂 I photographed it outside the gate of Roca Verde in Barrio Boquerón and we do have a lot of adult Yellow-faced Grassquits here, especially around the cow pasture, so it is a pretty safe ID. 🙂 See photos of adults in my gallery Yellow-faced Grassquit(linked).
Fledgling Yellow-faced Grassquit, Barrio Boquerón, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Visiting places like this here in Costa Rica and making photos is my greatest joy! I hope you enjoy some of the photos! And I may still share a few more on the blog, but they are starting to happen now where I live! And in 2 1/2 weeks I will be at Maquenque Eco Lodge, one of my other favorite places from which to share my love of nature! And there I will celebrate my 86th birthday! 🙂
The question mark is because this strange, edible, vine-growing vegetable has a long list of “Common Names” around the world with “Pepino Cimarrón” the most used one here in Costa Rica says iNaturalist, though they refer people to Wikipedia for more information on the scientific name of Momordica charantia (linked to Wikipedia article). And somewhere you will hear about “Balsam Apple as similar (that’s what Google-Lens called it), but that is a different species in the same family, which by the way, includes cucumbers! 🙂
I photographed this less than a half-block from the front gate of Residencial Roca Verde on my Sunday morning walk to El Fogon for breakfast. It was on a vine growing on a barbed wire fence of a vacant lot in Barrio Boquerón. They originate from Asia and Africa and were brought here in the 1800’s where they grew well in the tropical climate. Some are farmed, but this one was growing wild. They are eaten as a vegetable and used as natural medicines, especially the leaves of the vine. And only God could design a bright orange vegetable with bright red seeds! 🙂 Read more on Wikipedia.
Bitter Melon, Pepino Cimarrón, Momordica charantia, growing wild on a fence in Barrio Boquerón, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
And the next morning I saw something a little different at the same location . . .
One reason Xandari has so many butterflies is they have a huge variety of flowers in their many gardens, one of the best I’ve visited all over Costa Rica. I’m working on the Flower Sub-gallery of this Trip Gallery and it looks like now it will have 35 species of flowers identified! 🙂 Here is just one, the Tiger Flower – Tigridia pavonia (Wikipedia link) with many names and stories about some of the varieties in Middle America.
