Category: Flowers

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Fading Flowers & Butterflies

Banded Peacock on Fading Zinnia, Atenas, Costa Rica

The little Zinnia Patch in my uphill garden is fading just as are the number and type of butterflies with the Banded Peacock being the most numerous butterflies now, along with the less-noticed Skippers and a few Yellows that seldom land. Below is a slide show of my images of the fading Zinnias and Banded Peacocks in front of my “Bird & Butterfly Bench” as I will now be more focused on the birds than butterflies for a while, though we do have some butterflies year around in our “forever Spring!” 🙂 Rainy Season has pretty much ended with only a few straggler showers in December and it’s Dry Season from now until May when things turn back to green and are covered in butterflies! While dry season has us covered in tourists! 🙂

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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
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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:

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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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La Paz Waterfall Gardens

Just two shots here with this link to my gallery: Nov 18 La Paz Waterfall Gardens, where there are 11 species of birds and 6 species of butterflies, including a new or first-time seen species, the Silver-studded Leafwing – Hypna clytemnestra. And I included the waterfall photos I made on an earlier trip since I did not feel like that mountainous trail in the rain this time. The feature photo at top is of Templo Falls, also in the rain back in 2015! 🙂 Because it was raining most of the time there this trip too, I did not try to photograph the many beautiful flower gardens this trip and the rain had most of the usual hummingbirds hiding under leaves. 🙂 But hey! Cloud Forests and Rainforests need rain! 🙂

A wild Northern Emerald or Blue-throated Toucanet, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Common Scarlet-eye

My photos of this new species will also be the first photos submitted to butterfliesandmoths dot org. The common name may confuse you if the eyes look black to you, which has to do with the light, but they are a deep red color. The Common Scarlet-eye, Nascus phocus (My gallery link with more photos from this sighting) is found from Argentina to Mexico. Here’s 2 photos (top & side views) . . .

Common Scarlet-eye, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Common Scarlet-eye, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Apricot Sulphur

Many yellows & sulphurs are similar and difficult to identify, but sometimes getting even a bad photo helps to make the identity. That was the case for this Apricot Sulphur, Phoebis argante (my gallery link) that I photographed in my garden recently. The first shot of the side view or folded wings is a light yellow with brown spots like a dozen or so of the yellows and sulphurs, but then he flew to another plant with the top of his wings showing in the second photo below which is out of focus, but the solid orangy-yellow top makes him an Apricot Sulphur. 🙂

Apricot Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Apricot Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more photos in my Apricot Sulphur Gallery. He is found from Paraguay north to Mexico.

¡Pura Vida!