Or Yigüirro in Costa Rica Spanish, as the national bird that sings in the rains every May. See more of this simple but iconic bird in my GALLERY: Clay-colored Thrush, Turdus grayi (gallery link).
Clay-colored Thrush
Polydamas Swallowtail
It was still windy when I captured this very determined butterfly feeding on the flowers. Maybe the worse part of the January to March constant winds blowing here is no butterflies! And somewhat also my allergies to the constant dust blowing in! 🙂 But the Polydamas Swallowtail (my gallery link) seems to be one of those few tough (or strong) butterflies who can fly in the winds and is maybe the most seen butterfly during this time period. I do also see some Banded Peacocks and tiny brown Skippers in my garden, but only occasionally, plus way up in the trees are some Yellows that seem to stay high, with almost no other butterflies. But that will start changing in April & May as the winds stop and my peak of butterflies in my garden is May to September! And yes, that is the rainy season. Just one shot of this Polydamas.
¡Pura Vida!
Full Moon on March 3
Yeah, I’m that far ahead on scheduling blog posts right now, but it won’t last. 🙂 That is one of my drivers, Alex, who picked me up at 4:30 am and decided to snap the full moon on his cell phone in front of my house, so I captured the scene on mine! 🙂 There was the possibility of a “Blood Moon” at about 2 am that date, but I was not motivated to get up any earlier than I already had to for this trip to the public geriatric hospital in San Jose for a fasting blood laboratory workup to prepare for my geriatric doctor visit on the 17th. Costa Rica’s free public healthcare system takes good care of me now!
I could have gotten a better photo of the moon with my Canon Camera and Tamron Zoom Lens, but was just not motivated that morning. And it was just a regular full moon that I’ve photographed before, not a “blood moon” at that time.
¡Pura Vida!
White-winged Doves
During this very windy time of the year (Jan-Mar) there simply are not many birds on my little hill, but in February I got photos of this pair of White-winged Doves (my gallery link) in the overlapping Nance Tree & Palms adjacent my terrace that I could photograph from my outdoor rocking chair. 🙂 This species is a little larger than some and seems to handle the wind okay, but others have simply disappeared to who knows where? And of course virtually no butterflies.
A wonderful thing — a tree!
“No matter how beautiful architecture men can make, they will never create such a wonderful thing as a tree.” ~Pier Luigi Nervi
¡Pura Vida!
And of course I have a Trees gallery!
Yellow-faced Grassquit
I usually see this species out in the cow pasture grass, but here he is in one of my Nance Trees! See more of this seedeater species in my gallery: Yellow-faced Grassquit – Tiaris olivaceus. Just one shot from this sighting in the middle of March . . .
¡Pura Vida!
Squirrel Cuckoo
One of those semi-rare birds that I don’t see very often at home or on trips, though the most common of 8 different cuckoos in Costa Rica . This one was hiding in the shadows of a Nance Tree earlier in March, never showing the front of his/her bright B&W tail, thus no great photos like with the one that posed for me back in 2017. 🙂 But in nature photography you take what you get and try to make the best of it! 🙂 See my collection of Squirrel Cuckoos, the gallery! Just 3 shots here . . .
February Flowers
I’m rather late with my monthly flowers report, but that is because of all the photos from the 3 day trips with my Canadian friends. Below this one email photo is a gallery of a dozen shots. Click one to see it larger. Enjoy my tropical paradise!
Sunrise Atenas
One of many shots of the Atenas hills at or near sunrise found in my gallery: From My Roca Verde Terrace (gallery linked) . . .
¡Pura Vida!
Augochlorine Sweat Bees, Tribe Augochlorini
This tiny little bee on the Spadix of an Anthurium (not a large pistil) was, I first thought, a Green Orchid Bee, but the AI of iNaturalist says no, it is one of many different species of sweat bees and once I post it on iNaturalist, it may or may not be given a species name, just the Tribe Augochlorini. He will go in my general Bees Gallery with only this tribal name for now. 🙂 He is less than half the size of yesterday’s orchid bee.
¡Pura Vida!
My First 2026 Photography Day Trip Today
Early this morning Walter will take me and a group of 4 Canadian friends to breakfast at El Jardin on our way to a birding boat trip on Rio Tarcoles to its mouth on the coast followed by a birding hike in nearby Carara National Park, then lunch somewhere on our way back to Atenas. This is the second time I’ve arranged this always productive birding trip for this group.
Then on Thursday we go, at their request, to a mountain Cloud Forest Reserve north of San Ramon. There will not be as many birds there but all will be different from what was seen on the coast. Plus that 6:30am guided hike will be followed by a great “farm to table” breakfast at the Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort. I spent a couple of nights there during my earlier years in Costa Rica (2017) and it is nice, but I photographed only 9 species of birds that one time there. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!