Nothing is Really Small

Almost alone in the garden yesterday morning were 2 or 3 of these tiny butterflies, the size of my thumbnail, flitting from flower to flower. Nature never ceases to amaze! 🙂 The English name of this one is the Double-White Satyr. (Link to my gallery of more photos.)

Nothing is really small; whoever is open to the deep penetration of nature knows this.

~Victor Hugo

¡Pura Vida!

My Costa Rica Butterflies Galleries.

Imagining Shapes in the Garden

Earthquake Tremors

Sometimes it is fun to look for something different as I walk through my garden, and yesterday I was looking for shapes, patterns or textures. Naturally, with different imaginations we all see different things, whether it be in the clouds or the plants! 🙂 So see what shapes, patterns or textures you find in these plant photos . . . (share in Comments if you wish) 🙂

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Six on Saturday

One of the other blogs I’ve encountered because of their “like” of mine was “The Compulsive Gardener” who copied another blog’s “Six on Saturday” garden blogging phenomena with her own “Six on Saturday–A Flurry of Flowers.” If you want to learn more, go to the originator’s blog: The Propagator. Or to his 6 on Sat collection and Participant Guide. I don’t plan to do this every Saturday, but thought it would be fun to do it at least one time to help propagate the idea! 🙂 And ohhh, is it hard to limit myself to just 6! 🙂 But here is 6 of my favorite from My Garden Gallery:

1. Triqui-Traque or Flamevine Closeup

Triqui-Traque or Flamevine

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Mid-Morning Flutters

After breakfast, Spanish Class, and some reading I decided to walk through my garden with the camera at a little after 9 AM. For a long time the birds have been scarce and the butterflies up and down, but in about 20 minutes this morning I photographed 2 birds and 7 different butterflies all fluttering through my gardens and trying to avoid me and my camera. All nine photos are in a slide show at the bottom of the post with the featured photo at top being a Southern Broken-Dash Skipper and the photo below a Yellow-rimmed Skipper. The garden was alive this morning! 🙂

Yellow-rimmed Skipper
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Broad-banded Swallowtail

Broad-banded Swallowtail, Papilio astyalu, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

This is a new species for me. Many swallowtails are similar but the distinction of this one is the large cell spot on each upper wing, backside. Similar ones are Giant, Thomas, and Ornythion Swallowtails. In fact, the first one I photographed was at Monteverde that I had labeled as a Thomas Swallowtail. But I was wrong. It is now in my Broad-banded gallery, based on those two cel spots again.

You can read about the Broad-banded Swallowtail or Papilio astyalus on Wikipedia or see more photos I’ve made in my new Broad-banded Swallowtail Gallery. I base my ID on photos in the book A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America and particularly the two big cell spots on the upper wings. Butterflies continue to amaze me! And below are 5 new shots of this new one for me . . .

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Unknown Black Butterfly/Moth

Another new one today! And like those Skippers, I can’t identify with my books or the internet. This one is possibly a moth but not necessarily! 🙂 Since June 24 I’ve been trying to photo a new/different butterfly every day. I missed 3 days, but have posted 10 almost in a row and all 10 different. 🙂 Doesn’t take much to entertain me! 🙂 And that shows the vairety of butterflies in my garden!

Unknown Black or Charcoal Butterfly/Moth
https://www.cafepress.com/charliedoggett

¡Pura Vida!

I’m going to put this one in my Unidentified Moths Gallery, but you will see almost similar in my Unidentified Skippers Gallery and some identified Skipper Galleries. Or peruse all my Costa Rica Butterflies & Moths Gallery.

Flowers! – what more could I ask?

When I walk through my garden of by others in the neighborhood, I think of Victor Hugo’s statement in Les Misérables . . .

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in–what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.”

― Victor Hugo

Torch Ginger or El bastón de emperador, My Garden contrasting dead and vibrant one.

See my little Gallery of Saturday’s walk among the flowers, 8 in my garden and 3 from the neighborhood . . .

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Female White Angled-Sulphur

Three days ago I had a photo of a male which includes the 2 bright yellow splotches on upper wings and four little brown dots. The female of this species is all white but different from the all-white Florida White because of the very strong veins. Often the males and females are like two different species in butterflies and birds. 🙂

Female White Angled-Sulphur, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

See my White Angled Sulphur Gallery or the bigger CR Butterflies Gallery.

Unnoticed Browns & Golds

And unidentified for me! Skippers take up almost half the pages in my butterfly ID book, 119 pages with only 161 pages for all the other butterflies! Plus browns & golds are a dominant color on possibly most of them, so you will forgive me for not finding these two Skipper butterflies in the book for identification. In my galleries I have identified seventeen different specific Skippers and have only one gallery for Unidentified Skippers with only 7 in it. 🙂 There is a general article on all 3,500 known Skippers on Wikipedia.

Skipper, Atenas, Costa Rica
Skipper, Atenas, Costa Rica

You thought I was going to run out of unique butterflies didn’t you? 🙂 Well, when I do I will go to other nature and the birds have been mostly away from my house the last week or so. And I will keep looking for more butterflies! My Costa Rica Butterflies Galleries. I have all the Skippers together alphabetically, Skipper, name; Skipper, next, etc.

¡Pura Vida!