Category: Wildlife

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Hanging on in Off-season

This Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima (my gallery link) is the most obvious butterfly to still be around during these months of fewer butterflies. Here in the Central Valley the best time for the most butterflies is May-October which is the bulk of the Rainy Season, which I cannot explain, because they do not usually come out when raining. But now, the wind is just as big a problem and it is more frequent than the rain is during rainy season. The irony is that this is the peak tourist season until May and thus tourist see very few butterflies except those captive in the butterfly gardens. 🙂

Banded Peacok, in my gardens, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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And the Runners Up are . . .

Yesterday’s blog post was my 12 favorite photos of 2024, allowing myself only 2 pix for each of 6 categories. The Birds Category was the most difficult to narrow down, choosing a Toucan and a pair of Green Ibis. Here are the other 9 bird photos that made my next-to-last cut, presented in a static gallery below this one photo for the email notice of the post . . .

Inca Dove, Atenas
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2024 Favorite Photos

As every year on New Year’s Eve, I am trying my best to narrow down my favorite photos to just 12 – pretty much impossible! 🙂 But I always do it anyway and never by the months. This year I created 6 categories of photos and chose 2 pix in each. As usual, the birds category was the most difficult to narrow down, so tomorrow I am publishing another post with the 9 runner ups in the bird category. 🙂

The Categories this year are: 1) Birds, 2) Butterflies, 3) Other Insects, 4) Other Wildlife, 5) Flowers, 6) Landscapes. And the ones labeled from “Atenas” are all from my garden except the vista from Casita del Café.

My twelve choices for 2024 will be below this one photo for the email version. They are a slideshow in the online version, so email recipients please click “Read More” below for 12 great photos! 🙂

Yellow-throated Toucan, Arenal Observatory Lodge & Trails, Costa Rica
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Xandari Gallery is Ready!

Christmas 2024 @ Xandari

Click this image of the first page or go directly to this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2024-December-24-26-Xandari-Resort-Tacacori-Alajuela

CLICK this image of first page to go to the gallery.

Yes, Xandari is expensive, but it is worth it for me as I think the photos tell. Enjoy my “Nature as Art” photos that are different each time I visit there.

¡Pura Vida!

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Seldom-seen Butterfly

This Yellow-patched Satyr or Starred Oxeo, Oxeoschistus tauropolis (my gallery link) is not one often reported on the scientific websites, and though I’ve seen it three times now, it was always in the same place! 🙂 This one on Christmas Day 2024, again at Xandari Resort which has always been one of my better butterfly locations.

Yellow-patched Satyr or Starred Oxeo, Oxeoschistus tauropolis, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Yellow-patched Satyr or Starred Oxeo, Oxeoschistus tauropolis, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Yellow-patched Satyr or Starred Oxeo, Oxeoschistus tauropolis, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Philadelphia Vireo – A Lifer!

Yes, on Christmas Eve, in the tree by my terrace at Xandari, I photographed another new species for me! This Philadelphia Vireo, Vireo philadelphicus (linked to eBird) was identified by the Merlin app from eBird and is probably a non-breeding immigrant from Canada who passed through Philadelphia on his/her way to Costa Rica. 🙂

Philadelphia Vireo, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Philadelphia Vireo, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Philadelphia Vireo, Xandari Resort, Tacacori, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Other Vireos, for you birders reading, that I’ve collected in Costa Rica linked to my photo galleries of each:

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Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl (linked to eBird) is a Central American bird overlapping only into the northern edges of South America and found literally all over Costa Rica as can be seen in my GALLERY, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. It has long been the dominant hummingbird in my garden, often chasing off other species, though now I am seeing just as many or more of the Blue-vented Hummingbird. Here’s two shots of this species in my garden recently, the first a juvenile or immature adult (smaller) and the second a mature adult . . .

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Tropical Kingbird

I remember seeing this bird on my first trip to Costa Rica back in 2009, down on the southern end of Osa Peninsula near Corcovado NP at Lookout Inn, Carata. He’s a handsome bird without the extravagant colors of many tropical birds. And now he’s a regular in my garden! 🙂 See more photos in my gallery for the Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus from literally all over Costa Rica and that first I saw is at the bottom of the gallery. 🙂

Tropical Kingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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