This is the most frequently seen “large” butterfly in my garden and here are a couple of shots from the other day . . .
Polydamas Swallowtail
Juvenile Black Spiny-tailed Iguana
It is tempting to call this a Green Iguana, but those do not live in my garden and these do! 🙂 The babies and juveniles of both species are very much alike, so location determines this ID. I see them in my garden a lot! And their parents & big brothers & sisters walk around on my roof and climb the trees! 🙂
See more of my many photos of this species in my GALLERY: Black Spiny-tailed Iguana. And oh yeah, the scientific name is: Ctenosaura similis.
¡Pura Vida!
Julia Heliconian
The Julia Heliconian, Dryas julia (my gallery link) is a favorite butterfly of many here and is found from Brazil north to South Texas and the Florida peninsula. A lot more photos in my gallery linked above.
¡Pura Vida!
Common Scarlet-eye
My photos of this new species will also be the first photos submitted to butterfliesandmoths dot org. The common name may confuse you if the eyes look black to you, which has to do with the light, but they are a deep red color. The Common Scarlet-eye, Nascus phocus (My gallery link with more photos from this sighting) is found from Argentina to Mexico. Here’s 2 photos (top & side views) . . .
¡Pura Vida!
Apricot Sulphur
Many yellows & sulphurs are similar and difficult to identify, but sometimes getting even a bad photo helps to make the identity. That was the case for this Apricot Sulphur, Phoebis argante (my gallery link) that I photographed in my garden recently. The first shot of the side view or folded wings is a light yellow with brown spots like a dozen or so of the yellows and sulphurs, but then he flew to another plant with the top of his wings showing in the second photo below which is out of focus, but the solid orangy-yellow top makes him an Apricot Sulphur. 🙂
See more photos in my Apricot Sulphur Gallery. He is found from Paraguay north to Mexico.
¡Pura Vida!
Lesson’s Motmot
Another purely Central American bird is the Lesson’s Motmot, Momotus lessonii (my gallery link) is found from Southern Mexico down through Panama. There are different species of Motmots in South America and we also have another one called the Turquoise-browed Motmot (my gallery link to it). They are mostly seen in the shadows of a tree and thus difficult for good photos. Here’s a shot of the one in my next-door neighbor’s Cecropia Tree last Wednesday morning and there are many more in the above-linked gallery. Read more about them on eBird.
¡Pura Vida!
Two-barred Flasher
A colorful Skipper, the Two-barred Flasher, Astraptes fulgerator (linked to my gallery) is in the Hesperiidae Family of butterflies, found from Argentina north through Central America to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Here’s just one shot in my garden recently and you will see many others in the above linked gallery.
¡Pura Vida!
Inca Doves
Inca Doves, Columbina inca (my gallery link) is one of several common doves in Costa Rica. Here’s a recent shot in my garden . . .
Birds of a feather? Flock together?
Well, in this case, two totally different “feathers” are flocking together or at least sharing the same tree in a neighbor’s yard on a hill above me. First time I have seen the Keel-billed Toucan and the Gray-headed Chachalaca sharing a perch tree. (Names are linked to my galleries of each species.)
My landlord “K” texted me to say he looked down (his house is above mine on the same hill) to tell me that there were two toucans in my Cecropia Tree. I went out with my camera and as I looked up the last one of the two flew off. But fortunately both flew up a different hill into someone else’s tree which they shared with a Gray-headed Chachalaca. 🙂
And thanks to my telephoto lens I managed to get this shot of friendly neighbors of different species about a hundred yards away! 🙂 Maybe it’s an object lesson for us humans! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Yigüirro
The national bird of Costa Rica is the Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush (linked to my gallery) and one of the most seen for me in my garden and most other places I visit in Costa Rica. A November shot . . .
¡Pura Vida!