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One of the most common birds in my garden is this Rufous-backed Wren, Campylorhynchus capistratus (my gallery link) and this one used to be called the Rufous-naped Wren, but just like with butterflies, “they” are always changing names of birds, making it hard to keep up with the latest names sometimes. Here’s a shot of one on my neighbor’s roof. And you can read about them on eBird. Found only from Southern Mexico south through Costa Rica.
¡Pura Vida!
I do still see birds in my garden even though the butterflies greatly outnumber them! 🙂 And of the four I am sharing these next four days, this is the least-seen of them: Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus (linked to my gallery) and as always, you can read more about them on eBird. They are seen throughout Central America and most of South America and are sometimes known as one of the “telephone wire birds: or “fence birds,” as they like open areas and catch flying insects, including my beloved butterflies. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
See more in my gallery of Tulcis Crescent, Anthanassa tulcis.
¡Pura Vida!
One of those beautiful butterflies with its simplicity I think, the Golden Melwhite, Melete polyhymnia (link to my Gallery).
¡Pura Vida!
I’ve seen this one only one other time and just the top of wings then, which are a bright blue, while this folded wing view shows the underneath side of wings to be brown. He is the Red-headed Firetip, Pyrrhopyge zenodorus (linked to my gallery). Photographed yesterday across the street from where I live.
And yeah, I know, the top of this one seems to be more brown than blue, so maybe one of nature’s exceptions. You can see a bright blue one in my gallery linked above. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
. . . are a part of the often unseen beauty in nature and have become a regular category of photos for me when I trek in the forest. Here’s 2 photos plus the feature at top, but you can see several more in my Lichens, Leaves & Nature Things GALLERY from the Caribe Sur this month.
¡Pura Vida!
And beyond this recent trip to Hotel Banana Azul, I have a bigger gallery of collected Leaves & Nature Things pulled from many trips and my garden that just might interest you and another of Just Fungi (lichens, mushrooms, etc.). Both are from all over Costa Rica. 🙂
Since I first wrote this I have completed the entire Trip Gallery for Hotel Banana Azul, Playa Negra, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón Province! 🙂
And though I could continue sharing photos from Banana Azul, I think I will stop for now and come back to photo shares from my garden in Atenas, Alajuela Province, starting tomorrow. But you can see more in the above-linked Trip Gallery. ¡Pura Vida!
Becoming world famous for hikers is the coast to coast (Atlantic to Pacific) hiking trail titled El Camino de Costa Rica (WEBSITE link), a 280 kilometer hike through forests, mountains, farms and small villages with many suggested overnight stays in homes, camping or even a few luxury hotels nearby. 🙂
Two of the four basilisks in Costa Rica are easy to identify, the Green or Emerald Basilisk is rather obvious! As is the Helmeted Basilisk! 🙂 But the two I have never been able to easily identify are the Basiliscus basiliscus, Common Basilisk and the Basiliscus vittatus, Striped or Brown Basilisk which is further complicated by many calling both Common Basilisk, all in Spanish of course! 🙂 Then colors and patterns vary according to local and age of the lizard, from baby to juvenile to immature adult to adult and of course some slight differences in the sexes. So, for years my gallery has had just one basket for all of “Common, Brown and Striped Basilisks,” even though the scientific names are two.
I now found a simple way to separate the two species and now have two separate galleries for the two scientific names. Thanks to iNaturalist Costa Rica, I suddenly realized that the easiest to identify difference is where they live! 🙂 One on the Caribbean Slope and one on the Pacific Slope.
The one in this photo made on the Caribbean Coast is a Brown or Striped Basilisk, Basiliscus vittatus (my gallery link). Note that even though most locals say one or the other (Brown or Striped), most books and websites use both for the common name of this one species, Basiliscus vittatus. And similarly, the Spanish common names are two, Basilisco Café or Basilisco Rayado, and the people on the Caribbean Slope often use a shortened name of “Common Basilisk” (“Basilisco Común“), even though that is the official common name of the one on the other coast! See my confusion about what to call these little lizards? 🙂
The one that is officially called Common Basilisk is Basiliscus basiliscus (my gallery link) and is found only on the Pacific Slope! The Spanish name for it is Lagarto Jesucristo Común, and thus the only one to legitimately use the name “Common Basilisk” (“Basilisco Común“). And by the way, even though only in the official Spanish common name of this one, both of these, plus the Green Basilisk, are regularly called “Jesus Christ Lizards,” because all three walk on water! 🙂
And if you are confused, welcome to the club! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
I do have this photo in an “Other Wildlife” sub gallery of my trip gallery, though the bee I shared earlier is the only other good photo, with a so so one of Leafcutter Ants. Since I first wrote this I have completed the entire Trip Gallery! 🙂
I got only half as many butterfly species this October as I did in September of last year at Hotel Banana Azul (16 vs 33), but even then I photographed 5 new species for me, all kind of plain and brownish, and all but 1 Skippers. But they still add to my butterfly photo collection with now about 305 species in my Butterflies & Moths of Costa Rica Gallery. Here’s those 5 new species from my recent Caribe trip . . .
I’m still planning on some more posts from this first week of October trip, but you can see all of my acceptable photos in the trip gallery by clicking this linked title or the image of first page below. 2024 October 1-6, Hotel Banana Azul, Caribe Sur
¡Pura Vida!
And to learn more about Hotel Banana Azul, click that name link! Note that the header photo on their web page was made from “my room,” the one I get on each visit, called “The Howler Suite.” 🙂
There are no big chain hotels or resorts on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica (like the Pacific side). All are small, locally-owned, very friendly and helpful people (muy amable), with simplicity and tranquility. The Caribbean side is not for everyone, but I like it; both the laid back Jamaican atmosphere of the south or the Amazon Jungle atmosphere of the north Caribbean at Tortuguero National Park. The south has Cahuita National Park and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, making the south also a great place for nature photographers in a different way than Tortuguero where you are mostly on the water. I encourage my fellow expats living in Costa Rica to give this side a try as something different from the Pacific Coast or the mountains. I love every area of Costa Rica because each is different! That is just the way I am! 🙂