charliedoggett.net
are starting to land in my Higueron Tree more often now (always chattering) but this time were hiding from me behind the limbs and leaves. Here’s a couple of poor efforts to capture a photo of one of these turkey-like wild birds. See more in my Gray-headed Chachalaca Gallery.
It has been a while, yet this bird is one of the regulars in my garden, though I’ve had to go other places to see and photograph the male, who is strikingly solid red! See my collection of Summer Tangers Gallery. Or you can read about them on eBird. They are found everywhere from southern Canada to northern South America.
Two more photos . . .
Continue reading “Summer Tanager Female”
When I first studied these photos of another brown Skipper in my garden I focused on those distinctive 3 white dots located near the apex of the forward wing on both top and bottom sides. That led me first to the “Three-spotted Skipper” (Cymaenes tripunctus) which seemed logical, but it has more spots on the under side, thus not a real match. Next with 3 spots was the Cobalopsis Nero which I’ve seen before, but he too had additional spots that my photos did not show and it seemed another unidentified Skipper might be the case . . .
. . . until I checked my own butterfly gallery and there it was! Guerrero Sootywing, Bolla guerra! I’ve seen it two other times, once at the nearby Reserva Madre Verde in Palmares and on the Caribbean Coast at Hotel Banana Azul. Sooo . . . another mystery solved! And believe me! They are not all this easy – nor do I always even achieve an identification. But this one turned out nicely and here are the 3 photos used in that circuitous search . . . 🙂
Another beautiful butterfly in my garden that I have only occasionally is the Mexican Yellow, Eurema mexicana. Here’s 3 slightly different shots of this soft, simple and pastel butterfly . . .
To be so windy and the lesser time of year for butterflies, I keep being amazed at the number of new butterflies I find in my garden, mostly the tiny ones. Depending on my source of information, this one has two common names, Halcyon Hairstreak or the one I have to use: Halciones Hairstreak with all sources using the same scientific name of Ostrinotes halciones. All Hairstreaks have that wiry tail to make predators think it is the head.
This species is found in both Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil, but my photo will be the first on butterflies and moths dot org, if they add the species that I’ve requested. I have about 5 requests waiting to be approved like that. The huge number of species of everything in Costa Rica continues to amaze me! It is one of the most diverse locations on the planet! The exact middle location between North & South America. I’m posting 4 photos of this new-to-me species . . .
I got this identification first from BugGuide.net which has a different scientific name of Apantesis phyllira along with the same common name of Phyllira Tiger Moth. Because I volunteer for butterfliesandmoths dot org, I’m using the scientific name they use: Grammia phyllira It was alongside the street on my walk to town the other day, right outside the Roca Verde gate on Avenida 8. It is in the Family Erebidae. Two cellphone pix . . .
Flora & Forest GALLERIES.
Leaves & Nature Things GALLERY
¡Pura Vida!
Well . . . they sort of look like little fairies, the White Peacock Butterfly, Anartia jatrophae, which have been one of my staple butterflies this year. Here’s 3 of my shots of these lacy-like butterfly the other day.
This past Saturday I went on a van with a group from the Art House Atenas to visit two art museums in San Jose (and there are many more!). The first was the National Museum of Costa Rican Art where all the exhibits are rotating except for the statue garden. Then after a lunch in the city, we visited the world-famous Jade Museum in San Jose which of course has a lot of jade carvings, but is more about Pre-Columbian Art and culture.
I have a gallery completed of photos of some of the art with my cell phone camera which is allowed in both museum as long as you don’t use a flash. The feature photo is from the “Dark Valley” exhibit by Costa Rican Adrián Arguedas Ruano, mostly of traditional uses of masks here in the earlier indigenous cultures, though my favorite CR exhibit was “Dream World” by Costa Rican Flora Sáenz Langlois with her nature paintings of what she calls her “Magical Forests”(one below). And my favorite things in the Jade were the pottery or ceramic work and the human indigenous panoramas of pre-Columbian life.
I’ve seen both museums in the past, but there is always something new and enjoyable about any museum visit! 🙂
See more photos in the gallery: 2024 Jan 17 – Two Museums or there are 3 more shots below as samples . . .
Continue reading “2 Art Museums Saturday”
It is definitely one of my favorite trees in Costa Rica, if for no other reason, an opportunity to photograph their beautiful leaves, both dead and alive as in this photo. They attract many birds from the tiny Euphonias to the Toucans and their openness makes them great “galleries” for photographing birds and sloths! Some of my best bird photos were made in the Guarumo or Cecropia Tree that I planted in my yard the first year here, 2015.
I have them pictured in several popular photo galleries:
Here’s one shot I made the other day from my terrace . . .
¡Pura Vida!