Laughing Falcons All Around Me . . .

. . . but none up close. For the last couple of days I’ve heard the call or song of the Laughing Falcon, Herpetotheres cachinnans (my gallery link) coming from one of the many big trees on the hill north of me. Yesterday I was trying to find them from a distance when at least 3 of them flew overhead, possibly to K’s, above me, since he got photos of some in his trees. 🙂 I have usually had to go to national parks to see this interesting falcon, but now they are here. They are the same size as many hawks and I think an attractive bird. Another neighbor, Steve, has had one in one of his trees. Here’s two shots of one flying overhead . . .

Laughing Falcon, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Western Wood-Pewee

The Western Wood-Pewee – Contopus sordidulus (my gallery link) is not seen very often, but more so than the Eastern or Northern Tropical Wood-Pewee and is found in all parts of Costa Rica while the other two or mostly in the lowlands along both coasts. Plus it is usually “taller” or longer than the other two and in this case the iNaturalist AI labeled it “Western” which matched my presumed ID and it matches my previous Western photos better than my photos of the other two, so I’m pretty confident of this identification, even though Merlin (the eBird AI) said that it was unable to identify. This one landed in the dead tree behind my house on the hill and was there less than 30 seconds, so I got few photos and sharing only this one . . .

Western Wood-Pewee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Julia Heliconian

The Julia is turning out to be one of the most colorful butterflies in my garden this year with some other past butterflies not back. Here’s just two shots from my garden the other day and you can see more in my gallery: Julia Heliconian, Dryas julia with shots from literally every area of Costa Rica on both slopes, though, because I’m home more than anywhere, the most shots are from here in Atenas. 🙂 And the featured photo was chosen because it is an unusual view of one flying toward me and not because of the quality of the photo. Below is the most common view of this very orange butterfly . . .

Julia Heliconian, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Tropical Kingbird + No Kings Rally

This guy is more of a “regular” this year and one that I always like seeing, the Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus (my gallery link).

Tropical Kingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

No Kings Rally Saturday

Thanks to Steve for this image. No Kings Rally, U.S. Embassy, San Jose, Costa Rica, 18 Oct 2025.

And of course the demonstration had nothing to do with Kingbirds! 🙂 And not in the photo were persons in costumes, including a frog & a chicken! 🙂

I did not go because I’m having bathroom issues (like incontinency) and there was no way the embassy would provide their bathrooms, plus they are closed on Saturday anyway and no option nearby. 🙂

About 100 Americans showed up for the demonstration out of the approximately 120,000 American citizens living in Costa Rica. 🙂 And if wondering about Atenas, we had a bus load of 48 there from the approximately 3,000 Americans living in Atenas Canton (county). That 3,000 figure is from the Municipality of Atenas and is approximate. FYI, the U.S. Department of State says that approximately 9 million U.S. Citizens live in other countries around the world, so we are just a fraction of that in Costa Rica or Atenas. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Eurema Genus

My first inclination is Eurema westwoodii (my gallery link), but this one is almost as close to Eurema dina (my gallery link) and Eurema leuce (my gallery link), so my plan at this time when I make my submissions to iNaturalist (at the end of each month for that month’s observations), I will simply use the genus and hope one of the gung-ho butterfly specialists there will identify and give a reason. While with BAMONA I may just submit as “cannot identify” and see what one of the coordinators there says, since they don’t have genus buckets to submit to. And hopefully both sites will have someone to give me a reason for the correct identification. 🙂 Here’s just two shots, a side view and a top view.

Eurema Genus butterfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Mimosa Skipper

This “one more brown Skipper” is not very exciting and thus not as many “observations” posted on iNaturalist, where I am the lead observer. 🙂 But like every human being, every butterfly is important to ecology and he/she has it’s own beauty and purpose. There seem to be a lot in my neighborhood as you can see in my Gallery: Mimosa Skipper, Cogia calchas.

Mimosa Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

To see how many other “brown skippers” there are here, check out the gallery level above this one, Hesperiidae – SKIPPERS (106+ species) where the majority are brown or mostly brown. The unloved family of butterflies. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Laverna Metalmark or Laverna Calephelis

This species, Calephelis laverna (my gallery link) was seen almost daily last year but only a few times this year and it is one I have had trouble identifying with none of the expert identifiers responding to my submissions on iNaturalist or BAMONA. With the Glassberg book I gave it the Rounded Metalmark, Calephelis perditalis, identification. Later with more photos to compare with on iNaturalist, I changed to Calephelis laverna (mainly because of the bits of white on the border). iNaturalist doesn’t use a “common name” while Butterflies of America calls it Laverna Calephelis (reversing the scientific name word order which they generally do when there is not a known “common name” and BAMONA always follows Butterflies of America.

But I am still hoping for an “expert” to confirm or change this identification. Until then, this is my best effort at identification. It is found from Mexico to Brazil, so the location fits. Just one photo from my garden on October 1 and thus the beginning of October nature photos . . .

Calephelis laverna, a tiny Metalmark butterfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And Me Photographing in my Garden . . .

One of my gardeners snapped this shot of me trying to photograph another butterfly! 🙂

Inca Dove

I’m glad that one of my favorite Doves was still around in September, even though this is not a great photo! 🙂 See more and better photos in my GALLERY: Inca Dove, Columbina inca.

Inca Dove, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Preparing this post two weeks and a day earlier I have decided that it will be the last of my photos made in September and tomorrow I will start posting only October photos! 🙂 And the October ones will most likely overlap into November. 🙂 I’m thankful to live so close to so much nature to keep my attention and bring me joy in my creative outlet. Share my posts and tell your friends about my nature photography obsession, this blog, and my unique photo gallery! ¡Pura vida! Retired in Costa Rica!

Broken Silverdrop – New View

Most of my photos of this species and most in online systems show side views of the Broken Silverdrop, Epargyreus exadeus cruza (my gallery link) with this top view being the second top view on both iNaturalist & BAMONA, so a unique photo! And I have 2 top views in my gallery! 🙂 The feature and two other photos here . . .

Broken Silverdrop, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica (unusual top view)
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