charliedoggett.net
Don’t ever be afraid of to standing out. Fear fitting in because you can get lost in the crowd, but standing alone you’ll always find yourself.
~Unknown
These two photos of budding Torch Gingers or Baton del Emperador are each seemingly lost in a crowd of other like plants and yet both of their developing shapes and bright red color make them stand out to me.
White Peacock – Anartia jatrophae – I always prefer photos of the tops of their wings when open and spread out, but we have so much wind this time of year that they won’t risk being blown away by keeping their wings folded every time they land and even then their folded wings are like a little sail sticking up. :-) Though not as common for me as the Banded Peacock, they are fairly common all over Costa Rica on both slopes as you can see in my White Peacock GALLERY, though so far only at lower elevations. Here’s two shots from my garden the other day . . .
From my terrace the Oró Tree across the street is hidden by my big Higueron Tree (Strangler Fig or Ficus) but when the light is right, I can see glimpses of the orange flowers through the foliage. There is another one up the hill above me that I’ve shown here before, seen more from a distance. Historically, these trees were planted on coffee farms to provide partial shade to grow better coffee beans. They flower between December and April all over Costa Rica, sprinkling the hills and forests with their bright red-orange flowers. See Google Search Photos. :-)
This tiny little butterfly was new to me in a September 2022 sighting at Hotel Banana Azul in Caribbean Costa Rica, which I saw again there and in my garden in 2023, Ceraunus Blue, Hemiargus ceraunus! I liked it so much I chose one of my garden shots for the cover of my newest butterfly book, Pura Vida Butterflies, Second Edition released last month.
Of course I also have a Ceraunus Blue GALLERY with shots from all four sightings. Now here’s what I saw the other day in my garden, with two shots, even though not as good as my earlier photos :-) . . .
This past Christmas I got a potted poinsettia for my terrace as usual, but the only one they had at the time I purchased it was the strange red with white flecks or variegations in the petals. :-)
More of my flowers in My Home Gardens GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
Sometimes people don’t see shadows . . . but I noticed these shadows and I knew it meant it was sunny.
~David Hockney
¡Pura Vida!
More pix in My Home Gardens GALLERY.
Another interesting butterfly not often seen, the Eastern Tailed-Blue, Cupido comyntas, in my garden. I have seen him once before in my garden as shown in my Eastern Tailed-Blue GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
I continue to find what appear to be “new” species for me, though this one is pretty much identical to the “Plain Longtail” with the exception of a slightly shorter tail (he could have broken off the tip as he did the 2nd tail) and the “orange smudges” on the wings, large on top and smaller on bottom or side view. I’ll label this the Plain Longtail, Urbanus simplicius and let one of the coordinators at butterfliesandmoths correct me if they believe otherwise. These little detailed differences continue to be an ID challenge for me! 🙂 Here’s 2 shots, one side view & one top view . . .
Saltbush Sootywing is the common name and the scientific name is Hesperopsis alpheus. This is a new species for me. And my ID is based on the Glassberg book where it is an exact match, but my photos don’t match the ones on butterfliesandmoths.org for this species, so I will probably be flagged and if so, I hope whomever can give a good identification for this butterfly, IF this ID is not correct. Note that the two photos are of the same insect on the same leaf within seconds apart, but the changing light or capture of the camera has them as two different colors. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Pheraeus covadonga is the scientific name and the website uses “Covadonga Skipper” as the common name, while the Glassberg book uses “Etched Solar-Skipper” as the common name. The “etched” in that name refers to the black and white spot that is barely seen in my photo, but that’s what separates it from all of the other little yellow Skippers. And this is a new species for me! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!