charliedoggett.net
My profession is to always find God in nature.
– Henry David Thoreau
I got only half as many butterfly species this October as I did in September of last year at Hotel Banana Azul (16 vs 33), but even then I photographed 5 new species for me, all kind of plain and brownish, and all but 1 Skippers. But they still add to my butterfly photo collection with now about 305 species in my Butterflies & Moths of Costa Rica Gallery. Here’s those 5 new species from my recent Caribe trip . . .
I’m still planning on some more posts from this first week of October trip, but you can see all of my acceptable photos in the trip gallery by clicking this linked title or the image of first page below. 2024 October 1-6, Hotel Banana Azul, Caribe Sur
¡Pura Vida!
And to learn more about Hotel Banana Azul, click that name link! Note that the header photo on their web page was made from “my room,” the one I get on each visit, called “The Howler Suite.” 🙂
There are no big chain hotels or resorts on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica (like the Pacific side). All are small, locally-owned, very friendly and helpful people (muy amable), with simplicity and tranquility. The Caribbean side is not for everyone, but I like it; both the laid back Jamaican atmosphere of the south or the Amazon Jungle atmosphere of the north Caribbean at Tortuguero National Park. The south has Cahuita National Park and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, making the south also a great place for nature photographers in a different way than Tortuguero where you are mostly on the water. I encourage my fellow expats living in Costa Rica to give this side a try as something different from the Pacific Coast or the mountains. I love every area of Costa Rica because each is different! That is just the way I am! 🙂
Throughout Central America and the northern half of South America you can find this beautiful tropical bird: Blue-gray Tanager, Thraupis episcopus (linked to my gallery) where there are 84 of my photos from 18 different locations in Costa Rica. You can also read about on eBird. This was a favorite shot at Banana Azul this year . . .
I now have the Banana Azul BIRDS 2024 Gallery completed with 19 species this year without going to any of the parks or reserves! 🙂 Just click that linked title above to see them all!
¡Pura Vida!
This is probably one you have seen, found in most of the Eastern and Southern U.S. all the way south to Argentina, the Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus (my gallery link). Like many butterflies, the top and folded wings views are different and distinct. Here’s a shot from the Caribe of both views, and of course the one with a bee in it made me smile! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
These were not a particular goal for me and of course there were many others, had I spent more time at water’s edge of the beach or on any nearby stream, but here are 5 very common ones I did see, with the Cormorant being the most frequently seen this time, though not always the case. And note that all of these can be seen inland on fresh water except the pelican, though all are more frequent near the ocean or nearby mangroves and estuaries . . .
This swallowtail is the species of swallowtails that I see most often in my garden – and I still like it! 🙂 You can see the many that I’ve photographed in my Polydamas Swallowtail Gallery (linked). The scientific name is Battus polydamas and even though most of the other swallowtails are more colorful, he/she is striking! (Male & female are basically identical). Here’s a front view and a side view and you can see several top views in the above-linked gallery which is all black with a yellow dot row. This is my first one to photograph outside my garden. He is found from South Texas and Florida south to Argentina.
¡Pura Vida!
This Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Melanerpes pucherani (my gallery link) is possibly the woodpecker I’ve seen the most of in my 10 years in Costa Rica, out of 13 species found here, and in the above-linked gallery I have photos of this one from 9 different locations (all on the Caribbean Slope). And none from my garden, where the Hoffmann’s Woodpecker is the most common. That may be because they are more common on the Caribbean Slope and I live on the Pacific Slope. 🙂 But they are found on both slopes from Southern Mexico to Ecuador.
In my CR Birds big gallery you will find galleries for 9 of those 13 species (I’m missing 4!) and one Olivaceous Piculet, which is really a tiny woodpecker without the name! 🙂
If interested in more info, see the Black-cheeked Woodpecker eBird Page.
¡Pura Vida!
The Africanized Honeybee, Apis mellifera (Wikipedia article link), was introduced from East Africa into Brazil and it migrated north throughout Central American and into Texas. I’m pretty sure of this ID and that is what Google Lens called it. Photographed on a wildflower along the beach road, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica.
All of the bees I’ve photographed in Costa Rica are in a general Bees Gallery, with several species and most unidentified so far. 🙂 They were photographed before Google Lens! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
This is one of my favorite butterfly species and I keep finding them almost everywhere I go in Costa Rica. See more of my photos of this beauty in my gallery: Julia Heliconian, Dryas julia.
¡Pura Vida!
All natural beaches around the world have driftwood, which usually changes during every tropical storm or other reason for big surf! 🙂 The exception is a rare few beaches near big rich corporate hotels that have driftwood removed to maintain their “pristine” beaches. 🙂
This particular piece of driftwood was on Playa Negra (“Black Beach,” named for the dark volcanic sand there) directly behind Hotel Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo and is more like a simple log, partially buried, but it had a nice glow in the early morning sunrise last Saturday along with the color and texture. Of course there are more interesting shapes of driftwood, usually older and often sun-bleached to a light gray, nearly white.
In some coastal towns people display large, unusually shaped pieces of driftwood as works of art in their homes, restaurants and other businesses, both here and in every other coastal area I’ve visited around the world. See the driftwood links below these 2 photos . . .
Here’s some driftwood-related websites I found online:
¡Pura Vida!