Category: Atenas

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White Angled-Sulphur & Atenas Weather

The wind is slowing down a little and that helps to see more birds and butterflies like this White Angled-Sulphur (my gallery link) photographed day-before-yesterday in my garden. This is a typical folded wings sideview showing a little greenish hue, while the top view is bright white with bright yellow patches under the two dark spots. See that in my above linked gallery, which I was unable to capture this time.

White Angled-Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

“The Best Weather in the World”

or “El Mejor Clima del Mundo,” is the slogan of the town of Atenas, where the temperature stays in the Fahrenheit 70’s or Centigrade 20’s year around! It is usually windy just January to March, blowing in both regular dust and sometimes volcano ashes, which are black, making them obvious. Dry season is December to April or May and Rainy Season May to November, with April and November called “shoulder months,” meaning that it could be either dry or rainy and this April, also windy, which is not normal.

When I walked out of my bank across the street from Central Park on Tuesday, there were no other people by the city sign (unusual), so I did the touristy thing and made a selfie in front of the sign, which I haven’t done since it was first installed. The ATENAS letters have colorful drawings of places and activities in Atenas, while carved in stone beneath the name is the weather slogan: EL MEJOR CLIMA DEL MUNDO, which is also on the back of all Atenas buses.

Charlie Doggett, Central Park, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

We were suppose to have a big rain last night and I hope it will be the early beginning of the rainy season, which is my favorite time of year here with most days having only a couple of hours of rain in the afternoon or evening, and everything is greener and more beautiful! Plus that is when I see & photograph more wildlife including butterflies! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Amateur video in español . . .

Amateurish, but it does show a lot of Atenas including the county villages . . .

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About my “Miracle Flower” & Change in My Blog

¡Buenos dias! Good Morning! I hope you missed my blog post yesterday! 🙂 It was not more computer problems or too much AI, but I simply did not make a post yesterday and will not every day any longer. Some people wonder what old people do with their time while I wonder why I seem to never have enough time! 🙂 Just daily life seems to fill every moment, not to mention the many appointments and daily tasks I must complete, a lot related to my health and basic things that just simply have to be done! 🙂

Lately I have also been strained to see enough birds and butterflies in the continued high winds to have enough photos for a daily blog along with the busy schedules and sometimes just being tired. Plus I don’t want to force a poor photo into a blog post which has been done. So I will continue to share nature photos when I have some that I really want to share, which just may not be every day. Though when I travel there will always be photos to share every day for a while! 🙂 Now today’s share . . .

History of my Desert Rose Plant that has bloomed every day for 9 years!

In 2017, in this same month of April, my next-door neighbor and artist friend, Anthony, left to go back to the states, hoping to get an art teaching job (never happened). I bought his small flower pot with a small Desert Rose in it. Unfortunately I made no photos of it until this one in 2020 (3 years later) when it was still small as seen here between the larger Crown of Thorns and Bougainvillea, both of which have since died and the Desert Rose has more than tripled in size! 🙂

The small middle plant was my Desert Rose in 2020, between a Crown of Thorns & Bougainvillea.

Today most visitors I have at my house are amazed at the growth, beauty, healthiness and longevity of this Desert Rose plant that has always been on the east side of my casita in direct morning sun until maybe 1+ pm. My head gardener has never seen such before! And he stares at it on his every-other-week visit. They are hard to find in any plant nursery here. The photo below was made yesterday. And it keeps blooming every day, 365 days a year for nine years now! 🙂

Desert Rose, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica, April 16, 2026.

Note that in the above two photos you can see a sort of bulbous base to the plant. That is to hold water for when no rain as this plant is native to dry North Africa and the Middle East. And also in the 3rd photo or feature photo, there are almost always buds next to each flower ready to replace it when that flower wilts or dies. Google’s AI summarizes this plant as follows:

“The Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) is a succulent originating from arid regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Madagascar. It thrives in full sun (6+ hours) and requires extremely well-draining soil, such as succulent or cactus mixes. It is best grown in pots in warm, sunny, and dry conditions, with minimal water in winter.”

Notice the buds ready to open when the older flowers begin to fade. A continuous cycle! Always blooming!

In some ways, it is a good model for retirement life! And I hope I continue to “bloom” in whatever way possible for the rest of my life here in beautiful, tropical Costa Rica! 🙂

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anais Nin

More flower photos: My Home Gardens GALLERY

¡Pura Vida!

And how you can grow a Desert Rose . . .

¡Pura Vida!

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Singing in the Rains

The Yigüirro (CR Spanish name) or Clay-colored Thrush (Common English name) became the national bird of Costa Rica because early residents gave it credit for the beginning of Rainy Season in May, since they seem to be singing constantly during April before the rains start. Two shots from my garden a few days ago or see more from over the years in the gallery: Clay-colored Thrush or Yigüirro

Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Rufous-backed Wren

One of the more common and often seen birds in my garden is found in Costa Rica Rica only on the Pacific Slope and mostly Northern and Central Pacific, while otherwise it is found only from Mexico to Costa Rica also only on the Pacific Slope, but fairly common in those areas. It is a boisterous or noisy, chattering wren mostly on the ground and in low shrubs and trees. I see almost every day and thus don’t often bother to photograph. See more photos in my Rufous-backed Wren Gallery. When I first came to Costa Rica he was called the Rufous-naped Wren, but like too many birds has had his name changed during my 11 years here.

Rufous-backed Wren, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Unidentified Skipper

Neither the AI nor I could positively identify this tiny little Skipper, but it is another encouraging sign that the wind was slowing down a week ago when photographed and soon I will be seeing many more species, though it will probably be May before a lot of them! 🙂 This one was maybe the size of my thumbnail, which is too small for any of the Longtails he looks a like and I just chose to not identify.

Unidentified Skipper Butterfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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South American Cloudless Sulphur

We haven’t always had the “South American” part of this one’s English name, but just like with birds, names of butterflies are always changing and that challenges the hobbyist to keep up with the names! 🙂 See the others I have photographed in my Cloudless Sulphur Gallery with some from many locations on both slopes of Costa Rica, but as with everything, the more recent ones are from my garden. 🙂

South American Cloudless Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Blue-gray Tanager

Still somewhat windy here, but at least the birds are coming back out, though not many butterflies yet. This Blue-gray Tanager (my gallery link) is well-known on both slopes of Costa Rica and from Mexico to South America. The powder-blue and white plumage make him distinctive with the closest look maybe being his cousin, the brown and white Palm Tanager. See more of my photos from all over in the above-linked gallery.

Blue-gray Tanager, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Buff-throated Saltator

Fairly common in humid lowland forest edges, farms and gardens all over Costa Rica and is found from Mexico south through most of South America. When you get a front view, you see the unique buff-colored (beige to pinkish) spot on his throat with a black border. There are many examples in my Buff-throated Saltator Gallery, just did not get that view with this one in my garden last week.

Buff-throated Saltator, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Buff-throated Saltator, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Fawn-spotted Skipper

With the wind still blowing I found this little guy in my garden 6 days ago along with the tougher Polydamas Swallowtails. Not an every day butterfly, but I’ve seen 4 or 5 as shown in my gallery: Fawn-spotted Skipper, Cymaenes isus

Fawn-spotted Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Residential Roca Verde Butterflies . . .

. . . is what fills this latest of my photo books and maybe my last, at least for a time. Blurb killed their old design software and I don’t like their new one, so definitely fewer and maybe no more books. Too much work and frustration with a poorly designed software!

You can preview every page of this newest book for free by clicking the book cover photo below or going to: https://www.blurb.com/b/12835485-roca-verde-butterflies

CLICK the above book cover for a free preview of all pages.

¡Pura Vida!