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Merry Christmas!

Common names in English for the Trimezia gracilis (scientific name) are:
walking iris, apostle’s iris and apostle plant.
Lirio Caminante (“Walking Lily”) is the Spanish name.

“The native range of this flower species is W. Central & SE. Brazil to Paraguay. It is a rhizomatous geophyte and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.” And of course in Costa Rica! 🙂

And with this unusual flower comes a very

“Merry Christmas” from Charlie Doggett in Costa Rica!

Keep reading my blog for more pura vida! 🙂

On this Christmas Eve I will celebrate 10 years of living in Costa Rica and will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in one of many favorite nature lodges, Xandari Resort in Alajuela. Close to home and San Jose because the morning after Christmas I go to the nearby Hospital Mexico in San Jose for an ultrasound image of my neck to help the doctors continue monitoring any possible spread of cancer to the thyroid gland and lymph nodes (which is common for my type of cancer). The great public health system in this wonderful little country is taking good care of me in my old age! (Even with an appointment the day after Christmas!) 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Artisan Birds Christmas Tree

My collection of artisan bird ornaments got pulled out of storage this year and stuck on an ugly artificial tree or bush, but I think that the Latin American Artisan Birds are beautiful, so I created a slideshow of about 20 closeup photos of some of my collection. See them in the online version of this post . . .

ÅS

See 20 (not all) of my artisan bird collection in the slideshow online . . .

Continue reading “Artisan Birds Christmas Tree”
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Blue-gray Tanager

Here’s just two of the shots I made in November of this frequently seen tropical bird, the Blue-gray Tanager, Thraupis episcopus (eBird link) is found only in tropical Central & South America and is one of the more frequently seen birds for me in Costa Rica as my Gallery: Blue-gray Tanager will show.

The feature photo at top is what most of this species looks like and I am guessing that the more rotund one below is a pregnant female, with several eggs to lay. 🙂

Blue-gray Tanager, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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A Sulphur that’s White, Green & Yellow

For the White Angled-Sulphur, it depends on which side and angle you are viewing it, with the top of open wings (didn’t get this time) it is bright white with two bright yellow patches and four brown spots, but the folded wings views can be either green, as one of these shots sort of is, or a more yellow look as two of these three photos appear and one shows a sliver of the bright white top. See all of the many looks in my White Angled-Sulphur, Anteos clorinde GALLERY.

White top and greenish/yellowish bottom of wings: White Angled-Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “A Sulphur that’s White, Green & Yellow”
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Lineated Woodpecker

This species is becoming more frequently seen for me, with the last one shared November 1 this year. He is very similar to a more rarely seen Pale-billed Woodpecker with not only the pale bill being different but also his black and white coloring is different, but both have the big bright red pointed head like Woody Woodpecker. 🙂

Lineated Woodpecker, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more photos of this species in my Lineated Woodpecker Gallery or you can read about them on eBird where you will see that they are found only in the tropical forests of Central and South America.

¡Pura Vida!

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Bird & Butterfly Bench

Just the day before yesterday I had my gardeners install a new garden bench up the hill beside my house at roof level and beside “K’s Little Zinnia Patch” (linked to an earlier blog post) under a palm tree with easy photography of butterflies in both the Zinnia Patch and in my row Porterweeds which also attracts hummingbirds. PLUS a view of the trees and the hills around me for birds. It will become one of my morning rituals to go sit and photograph nature around me! It is a challenge to hike up the steep driveway and then I needed a place to sit. So I installed one! 🙂

A secluded nook in the shade by the Zinnias

And see more photos of the bench and its vistas in this slide show online:

Continue reading “Bird & Butterfly Bench”
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Hoffmann’s Woodpecker

Possibly the most seen woodpecker in my garden is this Hoffmann’s Woodpecker, Melanerpes hoffmannii (eBird link), distinctive with it’s gold nape and for the male (this photo) a bright red crown! It is exclusively in Costa Rica and Nicaragua with a few strays into El Salvador and Honduras. See some more of my photos in my Hoffmann’s Woodpecker Gallery made over the years literally all over Costa Rica. Here’s three shots from my garden recently that I’m adding to that gallery collection . . .

Hoffmann’s Woodpecker in my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Hoffmann’s Woodpecker”
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Two New Species in November

Whether a bird, butterfly or other animal or plant, photographing a new species is always special for me! And living in the country with the most species per square kilometers makes that a continuous possibility, even after 10 years of living here! 🙂 During the week of a visit from Nashville friends, Gary & Kenna Eaton, I got photos of two: a butterfly and a moth caterpillar, with still some uncertainty on the ID of the caterpillar, while hoping for a confirmation of my ID by a scientist or naturalist on iNaturalist or on butterfliesandmoths.org. Here’s the two photos . . .

Silver-studded Leafwing, Hypna clytemnestra, La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park,
Sarapiqui, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica

Read more about this butterfly on iNaturalist Costa Rica which calls it a “Brightwing” butterfly (in Spanish of course) where you can see many other photos of this “uncommon” butterfly in Costa Rica. There are also two more photos on butterfliesandmoths.org, one other from Costa Rica and one from Cuba, where incidentally it appears on a postage stamp! 🙂

Now the humble little caterpillar . . .

Spotted Apatelodes Moth Caterpillar – Apatelodes torrefacta,
Carara National Park, Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

See all of my 313 identified Butterflies & Moths of Costa Rica GALLERY.

¡Pura Vida!

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Gallery Completed of the Eaton’s Visit

It takes me a while to process the many photos I usually take and then label and get into galleries – but it is done! for the November 10 & 17-22 Visit by the Gary Eaton’s. Linked to the gallery or click on the image of first page below . . .

CLICK ABOVE IMAGE to go to the gallery.

I placed it in my “CR TRIP GALLERIES” because it was their trip and much like a trip for me with a variety of photos, many of which are okay even if not my best! 🙂 After all, I had cancer surgery on my nose in the middle that week and was dealing with feet & leg inflammation from the new blood pressure medicine, but in spite of all that, I had great time Gary & Kenna! And I hope you are able to return to Costa Rica in the future to see other areas and different National Parks! I love it all! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Carara National Park

The featured photo above is a Masked Tree Frog and just two more photos below from my visit with Gary & Kenna Eaton to the transitional forest Parque Nacional Carara (linked to official website in English.) I have many more photos in my gallery: Nov 22 Carara National Park. 🙂

Northern Black-throated Trogon, Carara National Park, Costa Rica.
Gary & Kenna sludging through mud and giant trees, Carara National Park, Costa Rica.

Carara is just an hour from my house and one of my better close birding places along with the nearby Tarcoles River. They were originally scheduled to go there with Walter on their way to Punta Leona, but heavy rain closed the park that day. Some of the trails were still muddy, but our excellent guide, Franklin, provided high rubber boots for us, so we didn’t return with muddy shoes! 🙂 I usually see many more birds there than on this trip, but the unusually heavy rain this November has affected many such activities as birding! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!