Category: Places

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3 New Species Today!

And another lovely sunrise! The two new birds are called “lifers” by birders, while the one new butterfly species is just generally called a new species! 🙂 And it is my favorite! The two new birds were identified by Merlin for the sake of any birders reading. 🙂 After I submit them to eBird, they will be reviewed and someone will notify me if they think misidentified. 🙂 The markings on both of these two birds are similar though their body builds are different and a tan color with white wing stripes is common to many species as is the white eye ring, but I’m trusting Merlin on these. 🙂 I’m now up to 10 bird species on this trip and 6 butterfly species, with there simply not being as many butterflies here this year or in October compared to my usual September trip. But I’m happy with what I’m getting and the sunrises alone are worth the trip, though I do miss hiking in Gandoca-Manzanillo & Cahuita! “Being old is not for sissies!” 🙂

Gold-bordered Hairstreak – Rekoa palegon, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón, Costa Rica
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This Morning’s Sunrise

Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón

No two are alike and none disappoint me! 🙂 And they may be the highlights of my time here this year as my aches and pains are keeping the beach road walks short and have caused me to cancel my planned hikes in the two national parks nearby. But the hotel manager said he would take me to the end of the beach road in his car tomorrow morning. 🙂 This morning’s short walk on the beach road gave me very few bird or butterfly photos, which I will share in another blog post tonight. Here’s a slide show of 8 sunrise shots from this morning (no 2 of them alike either!) and I will be sharing more from each morning plus non-blog photos will be in a gallery later.

SLIDE SHOW . . .
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
  • Sunrise Wed, 2 Oct 2024, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón

¡Pura Vida!

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Rainy Day in Paradise

I flew out of San Jose Airport at noon in the rain and through clouds most of the 25 minute flight to Limón. The taxi drive to Banana Azul was off an on rain and it continued solid until about 4 when I made these cloudy shots of my room and it continued to fade until there is not rain at about 5:30. Three shots today: first leaving San Jose, then my room deck & office where I will prepare all blog posts this week and the view from my deck toward the ocean under clouds. Hopefully nature shots tomorrow!

Rainy Day in San Jose
My upstairs room’s deck & my tropical office.
Cloudy view from my deck toward the beach.

¡Pura Vida!

Tonight I will watch the Walz-Vance Debate on either CBS internet streaming or on a TV here on CNN International.

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Gray Cracker

I have recently been scanning the trunk and larger limbs of my Cecropia Tree and the big palm, looking for one of the several species of Crackers which almost always land on trees where they are well-disguised. And sure enough, yesterday morning one came to my Cecropia Tree – This one a Gray Cracker – Hamadryas februa (linked to my gallery). This is my second Gray Cracker with the other one seen at Hacienda Guachipelin, Rincón de la Vieja NP.

In my Brushfoots Galleries you will find that I have photographed 6 different species of Crackers, most at Xandari Resort in Alajuela, but two in my garden, one at Danta Corcovado Lodge and one in a reserve in Nicaragua.

Gray Cracker, My Garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

And yeah, I know, it is more brown than gray, but that is the way it is with several of these “official” names! 🙂 Though on butterfliesandmoths you can see that some or more gray. My six different species of CRACKERS in the above linked Brushfoots Galleries are . . .

  • Red Cracker
  • Gray Cracker
  • Variable Cracker
  • Orange Cracker
  • Glaucous Cracker
  • Guatemalan Cracker

¡Pura Vida!

About this Week’s Blog Posts

In the morning I’m flying to Limón Province for five nights at my best butterfly hotel, Hotel Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca where I walk the sandy beach road for a large variety of butterflies. I usually go in early or mid-September, so I’m hoping there are still a lot of butterflies there the first week of October! 🙂 STARTING TOMORROW, BLOG POSTS WILL BE DONE AT NIGHT for the next 6 days. All from Limón Province, Caribe Sur. I always include a visit to Gandoca Manzanillo Refugio and one to Cahuita NP, both of which are very good for both birds and butterflies! And sometimes other nature spots, but at 84 I’m slowing down and walking with a cane, so maybe not as much this time! 🙂

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2 Charlie Photos in Auction Tomorrow!

for the Democrats Abroad Fundraiser & Voter Help . . .

Keel-billed Toucan photo by Charlie Doggett, 16×20 printed on metal.
Pura Vida Butterflies, 2nd Edition by Charlie Doggett –
Photos of 250 species of butterflies with index of common names in English and scientific names in Latin.

Both of these have a minimum bid well below the retail price, but of course the fundraisers hope you will bid much higher! 🙂 The silent auction is from 1-4 tomorrow, 30 September 2024, at Huaraches Atenas Mexican Restaurant, with auction winners announced promptly at 4 pm. If you are a U.S. citizen and don’t know how to vote from abroad, people will help you. And if you have prepared your overseas ballot for mailing but don’t trust the post office, then people can take your mail-ready ballot and deliver it to the U.S. Embassy for their mail pouch to the states. And while you are there, bid on some of the many wonderful things in the auction including one of my wall art photos and one of my photo books! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Highest Point in Atenas

Walter Ramírez and his 97 year old Great Aunt.

Two days ago Walter took me and another customer/friend to see the “Real” Costa Rica near the highest point in Atenas Canton where a high percentage of the people are his coffee-farming relatives, showing us his mountain-top lot with the view seen in the feature photo, along with meeting some of his relatives and going to the Atenas Highest Point Mirador, called “Piedra La Zopilota,” because the rocky outcropping of the mountain top is where vultures hang out and raise their children. 🙂 It is a steep mountain gravel road that required his 4-wheel drive vehicle to get there. I made a lot of neat photos of the gorgeous scenery, wildlife, lunch at a relative’s restaurant, and the three of us adventurers which you can see in the Trip Gallery: 2024 September 26 – Highest Point in Atenas. Check out these “real” Costa Rica coffee farming hills! It might even make you want to visit or move here yourself! 🙂

Vista from Walter’s mountain-top lot!

You might also be interested in these links . . .

¡Pura Vida!

Note: Walter is my best friend in Costa Rica, also my driver, translator, healthcare assistant at most doctor appointments, and thus sometimes substitute son! There are multiple pix of him in the above linked Gallery and a few of me and Julia, his other friend on this day trip. 🙂

Postscript: Architect’s Drawings of the future mirador

Facebook page with several images like this . . .

Read more: Highest Point in Atenas
Architect’s drawing of future Mirador Piedra La Zopilota.

¡Pura Vida!

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Bordered Patch

One of the many “Patches” and “Crescents” that I love, the Bordered Patch, Chlosyne lacinia (my gallery link) is found from Argentina to much of the western portion of the U.S.A. They can vary in colors from a rich gold or yellow through all the oranges to a bright red along with the black & white. You can see some of the variations on butterfliesandmoths and just a few in my linked gallery above. Another Costa Rica treat! 🙂

Bordered Patch, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Tulip Tree Beauty

This large moth in the Geometridae Family is nocturnal and attracted to lights which may be why he came to my terrace sliding door and was on the insect screen when I went to prepare breakfast one morning last week. While writing this at about noon on the same day, he was still on the screen and I don’t know if he is sleeping there or dead. In my gallery at Tulip Tree Beauty, Epimecis hortaria, you can see that I got two shots on the screen, the lighter one was on my Canon 750D with more detail and the darker one was on my Samsung Cellphone which is more the color brown that my eyes saw. The third photo in the gallery is the same species that I photographed back in July 2016, also on my terrace, and is the best photo! 🙂 Here’s just one of this year’s photos with the other one (Canon) at top as the featured photo . . .

Tulip Tree Beauty, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica (Samsung phone photo)

¡Pura Vida!

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Tiger Mimic-White

I’ve seen this one only one other time and the side view or folded wings view was more brown/tan than this one in my garden which is common, though the top of the wings always stay bright orange, yellow & black. It is the Tiger Mimic-White, Dismorphia amphione (linked to my gallery). It is another Central America only butterfly, found from Mexico to Columbia. Here’s two shots from my garden . . .

Tiger Mimic-White, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Golden Melwhite makes me Smile

This is one of the many “high-energy” butterflies and has a crisp bright yellow contrasted with a bright white most of the time, flitting through my garden and beyond! The Golden Melwhite, Melete polyhymnia (linked to my gallery) is found only in Central America with a few strays seen in Columbia, South America. iNaturalist shows a subspecies for only Central America named Melete polyhymnia florinda, Mariposa blanca crema de borde negro Centroamericana. Here’s three shots recently from my garden . . .

Golden Melwhite, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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