Category: Garden

Both my gardens and ones I visit

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MOVING SALE!

It is coming together and I will continue to add more items over the next week I’m sure, but the website Photo Gallery Listing of Items For Sale is well underway and can be seen at this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/MOVING-SALE

It is of course mostly for local people in or near Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica, but if someone anywhere in the world is willing to pay the shipping cost for anything (like some of the art or the stamp collection) then I will get it shipped to you once paid. If you have any questions, use the CONTACT menu item at the top of this page.

This is all happening very fast for me! It has to end no later than November 20 and probably sooner as I have to get rid of everything one way or another.

¡Pura Vida!

And THANK YOU! Blog Readers!

My blog/website host just reported to me that I had 11,000 views or visits in the month of October 2026! That just makes me want to do a better job, but be patient with me while I make this big move in November, then I’ll settle down to an even better nature blog! 🙂

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Banded Peacock

One of, if not the most frequently seen butterflies this year for me (a down year for butterflies). See my collection of them in the gallery: Banded Peacock (linked). It is another of those butterflies found only in Central America and the lower edges of Mexico.

¡Pura Vida!

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Monarch

What seems like everyone’s favorite butterfly, the Monarch (my gallery link), will probably be in my garden as long as I have these Milkweed Flowers, the favorite of the butterfly which also eats other nectar, but it is the only plant leaves that Monarch Caterpillars will eat! This one might even have come from one of those caterpillars that ate all the leaves off of one of my Milkweeds back in August! 🙂

Monarch on a Milkweed Flower, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Barred Antshrike

Not your every day bird! And I’ve seen more here in Atenas than anywhere. This one in my garden a week or so ago. See my other (better) photos in gallery: Barred Antshrike. And read more about them on eBird. It is found only in Central & South America.

¡Pura Vida!

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Lesson’s Motmot

The first seen in my garden since December 2025, plus I saw one earlier the same day on my morning walk up the hill, but it was in bad light and thus no good photos. See my earlier photos at Lesson’s Motmot from different Costa Rica locations. This is another purely Central American bird with the usual overlaps into Southern Mexico.

Lesson’s Motmot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Click title to see post online.

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Zilpa Longtail

An unusual and brilliant Skipper that only a few of us have reported on iNaturalist. See my other photos in the gallery: Zilpa Longtail.

Zilpa Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See how others have reported this species on iNaturalist and on BAMONA.

¡Pura Vida!

Click title to see post online.

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Blue-vented Hummingbird

This Blue-vented Hummingbird (my gallery link) is right now in October more frequently seen than the usual dominant one, the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird.

¡Pura Vida!

Click title to see post online.

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Orange-barred Sulphur

This Orange-barred Sulphur (my gallery link) is a colorful yellow butterfly found from Florida and South Texas south through Central America to Brazil, including every low altitude place in Costa Rica. Read more and see other people’s observations on BAMONA and for specifically Costa Rica on iNaturalistCR.

Orange-barred Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Orange-barred Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Click title to see post online.

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Malachite

One of my many “favorite” butterflies is this Malachite (my gallery link) which I recently shared one of from Hotel Colinas del Sol nearby and this one was one of the few in my garden this year, on a Lantana flower.

¡Pura Vida!

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Brazilian Red-Cloak

This is another one of those “international migrants” in Costa Rica that grows well here but is native in this case to Brazil, Surinam, & Venezuela. At first glance I though it was a Red Ginger, but on a closer look, there are several differences! It is just one more species I’ve added to my Under Construction CR Flowers by Species with only this photo in the Brazilian Red-cloak gallery now. You can read about and see where others have seen this flower in Costa Rica on iNaturalistCR by clicking “View All” under TOTAL OBSERVATIONS where there is a map showing where. Or read more about them on Wikipedia (en español) or shorter one in English.

¡Pura Vida!