Category: Nature

My profession is to always find God in nature.

– Henry David Thoreau

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A Little More Progress on Website Today

Banded Peacock Butterfly

I continue to see more butterflies which is part of June & July here and want to keep my nature theme even on posts about the website.

Today was the day for my online video visit with a specialist or “concierge” who was Nancy and very helpful, answering all my questions and giving me a boost forward in my understanding of technical things that can be frustrating. And one of the best things she did was recommend WP101 help videos online. I have already watched 6 of them and again got another boost forward making me more hopeful that this site will be successful eventually. She claims that moving my blog from Blogger to WP is “pretty straightforward.” But I will get the site working a little smoother before I try that.

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West Indian Buckeye

IMG_4073-A
West Indian Buckeye Butterfly, My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

It is June and the butterflies are filling my gardens! I like that. I have one other photo of this particular species, but not as good as this, so pleased to get it today. Plus I am still experimenting with my new website and want to see if adding the category of WILDLIFE to the tags on this post will place it  on my WILDLIFE page like I think it is supposed to do. So here goes.

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West Indian Buckeye

West Indian Buckeye Butterfly
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
I am glad that we are getting a lot more butterflies now! I had forgotten that it was mainly in June & July that the butterflies were numerous. I have a bad photo of one of these West Indian Buckeys, but this is my first good photo that shows the beauty of its coloration and design.

PREPARING NEW WEBSITE/BLOG AT WORDPRESS

I will be working on my new website at charliedoggett.net for a long time it seems, though my phone appointment with a specialist Tuesday may move me forward a little quicker. That may be when I move this blogger.com blog into WordPress. We will see. I have started a practice blog in WordPress, but it will not be the main one until they are merged there. The merging is suppose to include moving my subscriptions, but I never totally trust computers or programmers, so be prepared to sign up again if necessary!
Then I will consider moving my photo gallery into the same website so everything is together.  ¡Poco a poco! Little by little!
¡Pura Vida!
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Experimenting with New Book Binding

This is a “heavy paper” special binding so all pages “lay flat” with none of a two-page photo lost in the gutter. I am experimenting and will decide if it is worth the much higher cost when I do a book like this with all 2-page spreads or panoramas. You can review every page electronically online in the bookstore by clicking the link or click the cover image above. Best seen “Full Page” as always.
¡Pura Vida!
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A Sphinx Moth?

One of the Sphinx Moths maybe – specific variety not found
La Coope Supermercado Auto Repair Shop
Atenas, Costa Rica

During my first year or so here I was finding new butterflies or moths nearly every week but have not in months if not a year or longer recently. On the last two trips I saw several Banded Peacocks which are kind of common butterflies to me now and nothing else that would land. Both Arenal and Corcovado had several fast-flying butterflies that never landed or slowed down for a photo. That included several Blue Morphos at Corcovado. But this is my first photo in a good while and I cannot positively identify it. If you know, please leave a comment! Or email me. Cell phone shot.

And see my similar photos in gallery  Butterflies & Moths.

¡Pura Vida!

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Seeing Between the Leaves

Back in November 2016 I did a similar post on seldom seen spots of a garden and wrote: 

“In the forest or my garden, one must look through tiny windows to see behind the leaves.” Again I share what I see in my garden, plain & simple yet full of fantasy!

I’m always astonished by a forest. 
It makes me realise that the fantasy of nature 
is much larger than my own fantasy. 
I still have things to learn. 
~Gunter Grass
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The flowers have to be sisters of the birds..!!

My favorite birding group here now is a Tico Facebook group called:  Asociacion Ornitologica de Costa Rica

The one photo I posted there from my Arenal trip was this Keel-billed Toucan that I also used on the cover of the book about Arenal Observatory.

Several comments were made but the most interesting was from Diego who said,

Las flores han de ser hermanas de las aves..!!

ENGLISH TRANSLATION: 
The flowers have to be sisters of the birds..!!

It is possibly and old saying or even a quote from some writer (though my Google search did not find an author), but I thought it so interesting and true especially with some of the many colorful birds here in Costa Rica and I appreciate Diego’s comment! 

Toucans are difficult to photograph even with the tower at Arenal putting me up on their level! But they certainly are a lot like flying flowers!   🙂


If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes. 
~Charles Lindbergh
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Arenal Tropical Flowers & Plants

This is just a small sampling of many more photos in Arenal Observatory trip gallery:
Flowers & Tropical Plants. Arenal Observatory Lodge grounds are a Botanical Gardens!

Arenal Observatory Lodge

 
¡Pura Vida!
 
 
-o-

And if you like tropical plants but live “up north,” check out how you can go tropical in your house, year-around, 16 Tropical Plants to Grow Indoors. A reader wrote and suggested this.

Top 10 Most Welcoming Countries for Expats
An online article by Expat Organization InterNations
They put Costa Rica at #6. 

 
 
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Last Day in this Paradise – Arenal Observatory

A sign in the lodge property that is my motto for travels all over Costa Rica.
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Variable Seedeater male
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

I tried again this morning and will again this afternoon and tomorrow morning, but have not found

my two target bird, Bare-necked Umbrella Bird and Yellow-eared Toucanet which I have a lousy dark photo of from Tenorio National Park, but I really want a good photo of one! Both birds are supposed to be here but you can never guarantee a find! As of Tuesday afternoon I do have photos of 27 different species of birds and 5 of those are new photo-finds for me! So not bad! They are:

4. Gray-capped Flycatcher  (with a fly in his mouth)
5. Piratic Flycatcher

Links are to my photo of that bird on this trip. 

And the big treat for today was monkeys! I went back to “The Nest” or observation tower at 4:00 PM and it was surrounded by both Howler Monkeys and a few Spider Monkeys, but I have 300 photos to go through and pick just a few for you in tomorrow’s post. So Expect monkeys tomorrow!   🙂
And now for tonight’s last sunset at Arenal for me: 
Sunset over Lake Arenal at Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!

And My Photo Gallery for this Trip is being added to daily while on the trip! 
There you can see all the birds together, etc. plus photos not on the blog.


Tomorrow morning at 11 AM I reluctantly leave Arenal for my return to Atenas. 
This is definitely one of my favorite getaway places, but then I have so many!