My most frequent visitor of the Doves & Pigeons looks like he/she owns that tree! 🙂 See more of my photos of this species, including a nest, in my Gallery: White-winged Dove.
This photo from my terrace was made on December 16, so maybe by now those few little gray rain clouds have already disappeared from our skies here. 🙂
December 16 vista from my terrace.
The “Rainy Season” which is sometimes called “Winter” (el invierno) here is generally from May to November, but there can be an overlap of rainy and dry seasons in December with pretty much no rain from January through March or April called “Summer” (el verano) here and then in late April or May the rain starts again to keep beautiful Costa Rica green! (With climate change we’ve had a lot more rain this December!) And that description above is mainly for the Central Valley or center of this little country with both coasts, coastal lowlands, and a few internal low areas called rainforests have rain year around as do some of the cloud forests high in the mountains.
And then there is the northwest part of the country, called Guanacaste (that province name), which is dry most all year with some deserts and only a few really wet areas like Palo Verde NP or Rincón de la Vieja. So if you don’t like the weather one place, go somewhere else! 🙂
Plus a little interesting trivia is that here in the Central Valley our two rainiest or wettest months are usually September & October while the year-around wet and rainy Caribbean Coast has their least amount of rain during those two months. Thus I usually travel to the Caribbean side in September or October! 🙂 But it’s not the same on the mid & south Pacific Coast which can have rain year around like the Caribbean. 🙂
CLICK IMAGE ABOVE to go to the report or click address below (assuming they allow non-members in). AND YES! All those photos in the montage above are ones I submitted to iNaturalist. Their A-I work I guess. 🙂
The above-linked report includes lots of data, graphs, and the actual photos or you can go to My Observations page (linked) to just see which ones I submitted. Just beginning!
I have for 10+ years submitted my bird observations to eBird and in the last 2 or 3 years my butterfly observations to butterfliesandmoths.org, but in May of 2024 I started submitting all of my nature photos to iNaturalist Costa Rica (en español, Naturalista Costa Rica) including the birds and butterflies (double reporting them). 🙂 Though plants are included in iNaturalist, right now I’m only submitting the unusual ones or ones that I need help identifying! 🙂 My online gallery and website/blog will disappear after my death, but photos I submit to these organizations will be there for posterity! 🙂 Maybe that will be my legacy? 🙂
Merry Christmas from Charlie Doggett in Costa Rica! And this unusual tropical flower I photographed at Arenal Observatory Lodge in Costa Rica is a Trimezia gracilis (scientific name), and in English variously “Walking Lily, Walking Iris, Apostle’s Iris or Apostle’s Plant.” One of my favorite photos of this year.
¡Pura Vida!
A Two-Day Christmas Celebration in Nature . . .
I’m spending today and tomorrow at Xandari Nature Resort in Alajuela as my Christmas celebration, so you can expect photos from there over the next few days! 🙂 The day after Christmas I go directly from Xandari early to Hospital Mexico for an ultrasound scan of my neck to continue monitoring any possible spread of the cancer removed 2.5 years ago. That and continued removal of small skin cancers (like the one on my nose in November) keep me totally cancer-free! ¡Gracias a dios! And this nature blog continues as always! 🙂
I’m also pleased with my nature-centered photo Christmas Cards over the ten years here and you can see all of those photos in the photo gallery “My Christmas Cards From Costa Rica” (linked). Just one more of my “Nature as Art” creative outlets! 🙂 Merry Christmas!
One of the neighbor couples, Russ & Holly, had their second Solstice Party yesterday and it was cloudy (but never rained) meaning no really good photos, but an example of expat life in Costa Rica. 🙂
Solstice Party, Roca Verde, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Solstice Party, Roca Verde, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”
– John Muir
An inspiring overlay of leaves in one corner of my garden. Something new each day! And this time with red, green & gold for Christmas! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Postscript Prayer Request
My little sister, Bonnie (12 years younger than me), has just been diagnosed with Colon Cancer and had surgery yesterday to remove the blockage and receive a colostomy bag. Once that heals, in about 6 weeks, she will begin chemotherapy with hopes that it has not already spread very far. A difficult way for her to begin Christmas! Your prayers for her and the doctors in Independence, Missouri will be appreciated by all!
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” ~Philippians 4:6
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 . . .
Colorful in both design and colors, this longtail skipper is anything but dull! See more in my GALLERY: Spot-banded Longtail. And here’s three shots from the other day . . .
