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I’ve photographed 7 species of butterflies so far and 10 species of birds with rain coming down most of my time here (it is a rainforest!). 🙂 I’m sharing this one tonight because it is my only “lifer” or first time seen wildlife here so far this trip. For those who know the lodge, it was seen on the “River Trail. “
¡Pura Vida!
I’m bringing 21 photos printed on metal with a special mounting piece to give your wall art a contemporary 3-D look or a nice little shadow. In many sizes and subjects!
Plus three other product categories . . .
Continue reading “What will I Have at the Art Show?”
I’m suddenly getting a lot of spider webs all around my yard and we still have rain almost every afternoon. Not sure what it means. This particular web did have its spider in the center, a little white spider.
¡Pura Vida!
And my Spiders GALLERY for more.
In addition to the Satyrs, several of these Banded Peacock butterflies are staying around while the bulk of butterflies seem to have gone from my gardens.
This one is more “normal” or typical of spider webs than the strange one taking over a plant the other day. If you look close, there is one insect trapped in the web but I do not see the spider.
¡Pura Vida!
See my Spiders (& webs) GALLERY!
Or at least it seems like they are the last two to be active this season, though I know I will have more soon or by January. The most active time for butterflies in my garden has been May to November, roughly the time of our “winter” or Rainy Season, though I do have some year around and see even more at the lodges I visit during our “summer” or Dry Season, December to April. But these two Satyrs, Carolina and White Satyrs, are the only two I’ve been able to photograph on my little hill recently, while thankfully more birds are returning! 🙂 And the rain is slowing down with less of it less often, like we are getting ready for dry season early? I hope not too early! The rain with the sun is what makes it so green and beautiful here!
And, oh yeah, there’s a lot more of these thumbnail-sized Carolina Satyrs than the Whites! 🙂 I have no explanation for why.
¡Pura Vida!
My Carolina Satyr GALLERY
My White Satyr GALLERY
Coming down the driveway in early morning I noticed something white in the tops of my neighbors Red Palms or Palmas Roja, an ornamental plant, not a tree and snapped this shot on the cell phone . . .
Then I go get my camera and go for a closer look seen in the next three photos with not a single spider seen anywhere! I will try to research these online to learn more about them, but it looks like a huge “spider city” is being built! 🙂
Continue reading “Strange Cobwebs”
Again I photograph one in my garden that I cannot positively ID. The white fringe on the wings makes it a Cloud-forest Poan or Snow-fringed Skipper (Poanes niveolimbus) while the back and shoulders are more like the Inimical Poan (Poanes inimica) and the red-orange coloring overlaps with many of the Poans and other Skippers too, plus the tail on this one doesn’t match any of the above, so much to my disappointment, I may have to mark it “Can’t Identify!” Though I’m leaning toward the “Snow-fringed Skipper!” 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Check out some of my other Skippers in my GALLERY: Hesperiidae – SKIPPERS (37+) where there are more unidentified plus many more named. And so far, the online websites have been no help to me on this one.
I never before thought of my garden as a place of carnage, but insects eating other insects is quite normal and helps with the balance and ecology – then I witnessed it first hand this past Tuesday morning as I focused my camera on what I hoped was a new butterfly species (it was!). This, my first Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak (Strymon istapa) was flying and landed on one of my Heliconia flowers (1st photo below) and when I snapped this photo that tiny Jumping Spider (Salticidae) down below him in the photo jumped up on the little butterfly (with attached silk thread) and grabbed the butterfly by its head, biting it with a venomous bite that instantly paralyzed and will soon kill the butterfly which the Jumping Spider will eat. I did not stay around for the full meal, but photos of three stages follow this one. 🙂
3 more photos below of the capture, paralyzing and preparing to eat.
Continue reading “Jumping Spider Eats Butterfly!”
That is my best effort identification and the closest match in my book, Dragonflies and Damselflies of Costa Rica, A Field Guide by Dennis Paulson and William Haber. But for those who care about ID, note that this one is very similar to Calvert’s Dancer female and the wings just like the Cerulean Dancer female, though mine here has a darker body and tail. I’m finding Dragon and Damselfly ID pretty difficult as I haven’t learned the subtle differences in body parts yet. 🙂 This one was in my garden the other day.
¡Pura Vida!
See also my GALLERY: Dragonflies & Damselflies