Or Yigüirro in Costa Rica Spanish, as the national bird that sings in the rains every May. See more of this simple but iconic bird in my GALLERY: Clay-colored Thrush, Turdus grayi (gallery link).
Clay-colored Thrush
Polydamas Swallowtail
It was still windy when I captured this very determined butterfly feeding on the flowers. Maybe the worse part of the January to March constant winds blowing here is no butterflies! And somewhat also my allergies to the constant dust blowing in! 🙂 But the Polydamas Swallowtail (my gallery link) seems to be one of those few tough (or strong) butterflies who can fly in the winds and is maybe the most seen butterfly during this time period. I do also see some Banded Peacocks and tiny brown Skippers in my garden, but only occasionally, plus way up in the trees are some Yellows that seem to stay high, with almost no other butterflies. But that will start changing in April & May as the winds stop and my peak of butterflies in my garden is May to September! And yes, that is the rainy season. Just one shot of this Polydamas.
¡Pura Vida!
Yellow-faced Grassquit
I usually see this species out in the cow pasture grass, but here he is in one of my Nance Trees! See more of this seedeater species in my gallery: Yellow-faced Grassquit – Tiaris olivaceus. Just one shot from this sighting in the middle of March . . .
¡Pura Vida!
Squirrel Cuckoo
One of those semi-rare birds that I don’t see very often at home or on trips, though the most common of 8 different cuckoos in Costa Rica . This one was hiding in the shadows of a Nance Tree earlier in March, never showing the front of his/her bright B&W tail, thus no great photos like with the one that posed for me back in 2017. 🙂 But in nature photography you take what you get and try to make the best of it! 🙂 See my collection of Squirrel Cuckoos, the gallery! Just 3 shots here . . .
February Flowers
I’m rather late with my monthly flowers report, but that is because of all the photos from the 3 day trips with my Canadian friends. Below this one email photo is a gallery of a dozen shots. Click one to see it larger. Enjoy my tropical paradise!
Augochlorine Sweat Bees, Tribe Augochlorini
This tiny little bee on the Spadix of an Anthurium (not a large pistil) was, I first thought, a Green Orchid Bee, but the AI of iNaturalist says no, it is one of many different species of sweat bees and once I post it on iNaturalist, it may or may not be given a species name, just the Tribe Augochlorini. He will go in my general Bees Gallery with only this tribal name for now. 🙂 He is less than half the size of yesterday’s orchid bee.
¡Pura Vida!
My First 2026 Photography Day Trip Today
Early this morning Walter will take me and a group of 4 Canadian friends to breakfast at El Jardin on our way to a birding boat trip on Rio Tarcoles to its mouth on the coast followed by a birding hike in nearby Carara National Park, then lunch somewhere on our way back to Atenas. This is the second time I’ve arranged this always productive birding trip for this group.
Then on Thursday we go, at their request, to a mountain Cloud Forest Reserve north of San Ramon. There will not be as many birds there but all will be different from what was seen on the coast. Plus that 6:30am guided hike will be followed by a great “farm to table” breakfast at the Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort. I spent a couple of nights there during my earlier years in Costa Rica (2017) and it is nice, but I photographed only 9 species of birds that one time there. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Yummy Cicada for Breakfast?
That is what this Tropical Kingbird (my gallery link) was eating one morning last week. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
¡Pura Vida!
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
The most often seen bird in my garden with a lot of photos in the gallery: Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
2 Lizards, 1 Genus
Two days in a row I photographed lizards on my terrace that I cannot identify as species, though on iNaturalist both are accepted as the same Genus, Anolis, but obviously different species, though none of the “experts” have yet to identify the species of either one. Hopefully they will both eventually get identified! 🙂
If this one has a dewlap, he did not display it for me. I think the eye markings will be the identifier.
I have 21 species identified in my LIZARDS GALLERY and another 15+ unidentified. The genus identifications of the above two are not confirmed yet and hopefully I will get even the species name later from identifiers on iNaturalist. Books sometimes give me identities, but not always.
¡Pura Vida!