Pollution on the Way to a Jungle

I love flying on the little planes across Costa Rica which I get to do occasionally and on my way to Tortuguero this time I observed a heavily polluted river and saw where it merged with an otherwise clear and clean river which at the merge became polluted too! And all the junk from either farming or manufacturing is dumped into the already filthy ocean. Our world is in deep trouble ecologically, even in a country that supposedly thinks green like Costa Rica!

The feature photo is of an undisturbed forest compared below with how farming is replacing forests. Then a shot of a “clean section” of Tortuguero Nacional Park that doesn’t show one of the lodges which may be a small pollution, but I’m afraid even that diminishes the wildness of what was once all wild.

A polluted river merges with a clear, clean river, ruining both.
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Common Mylon

This is another new species for me! And I keep finding them in my own garden! The Common Mylon – Mylon maimon (linked to Wikipedia) is found from Mexico to Argentina. One of the many Skippers. And on iNaturalist Costa Rica my observation is only the 13th in Costa Rica and I’m only the 10th person to report seeing one. But one of those others has the best photos I’ve seen and on his own website: Dr. Heiner Ziegler, MD (Switzerland). Costa Rica attracts nature lovers from all around the world!

Common Mylon, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Hidden-ray Skipper

Is another new species for me this month, right here in my own garden! And I’ve had two sightings of this “another brown Skipper!” 🙂

Hidden-ray Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

It is said to be found from the southwestern U.S. to Argentina, but only two of us have posted photos on iNaturalist CR and only two on BAMONA. So it must be a little rare! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

The Motmot’s Back!

This colorful bird is not always around but seen more this year than usual and the other day in my big Strangler Fig or Ficus Tree, called a Higuerón in Spanish. See more of my photos in the gallery: Lesson’s Motmot, Momotus lessonii. Interestingly to me is that since February 2022 (when a counter was added) I’ve had more than a thousand visitors to that gallery. 🙂 Just this one photo here . . .

Lesson’s Motmot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Broken Silverdrop

Another nice Skipper Butterfly is this Broken Silverdrop,  Epargyreus exadeus or Epargyreus cruza (my gallery link) a unique butterfly found in both Central and South America. Here’s two shots made recently in my garden . . .

Broken Silverdrop, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Black Spiny-tailed Iguana

One of my interesting garden lizards is this Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, Ctenosaura similis (my gallery link) who lives only on the Pacific slope of the continental divide. One week from today I will be in Tortuguero on the Caribbean Slope where I will definitely see some of the Green Iguanas, similar but different. Watch for those photos next week. 🙂

Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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White Satyr

I’ve not seen as many Satyrs this year as in the past, but maybe they are starting to appear now. In my BRUSHFOOTS Galleries you can see that I have photographed 22 different species of Satyrs (at the end of that folder) and this White Satyr, Pareuptychia ocirrhoe (my gallery link) is one of the more frequently seen species for me. Just this one photo from my garden last Saturday . . .

White Satyr, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Carrion Fly

This fly photographed on an outside wall of my house is the Moscas Carroñeras, Flesh or Carrion Flies (linked to iNaturalist CR).

Carrion Fly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See my growing gallery of interesting insects at More Insects CR. It’s titled “more” because there’s a whole folder of galleries on Butterflies & Moths of CR and another one on Dragonflies & Damselflies CR. There is just so much nature to see and photograph here! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Clay-colored Thrush – Yigüirro

The national bird of Costa Rica, believed to “sing in the rain” in April and May, beginning the Rainy Season. An ever present bird you can find in most of Costa Rica is one that I never tire of photographing. Just one shot from my garden a week or so ago.

Clay-colored Thrush or Yigüirro, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See my gallery of Clay-colored Thrush for many more photos! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Ironclad Beetle

This Zopherus jansoni (iNaturalist link) is one of multiple species of the Ironclad Beetle, this one found only in Central America and just photographed on my terrace. Here’s four shots from different angles . . .

Zopherus jansoni – An Ironclad Beetle, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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