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Conservancy Butterflies

The Butterfly Conservancy in the village of Castillo on Lake Arenal near Arenal Observatory Lodge is very good with multiple greenhouses for the different butterfly habitats plus outside natural butterflies with all being native to Costa Rica. And for the history-lovers, this is the little town that was once called Nuevo Arenal after the lake was flooded to make electricity and covered the original town of Arenal.  🙂

I only got useable photos of 14 species with 15 photos here because the White-spotted Prepona is so different with folded wings and open wings. 🙂 And I will just start with him as the first two photos followed by 13 more:

Archaeoprepona amphimachus (above)

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Arenal Butterflies 2

Today I’ll just share 5 butterflies that I have only one view of and then even though I have another dozen or so from the lodge, they are not identified yet and and I’m behind on that ID work! So tomorrow I will start on the identified butterflies from the Costa Rica Butterfly Conservancy in Castillo on Lake Arenal, not far from the lodge and where a lot of lodge employees live.

¡Pura Vida!

And my Photo Galleries for these five species . . .

Arenal Observatory Lodge Website

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Poinsettia Growing!

You may remember that I posted a photo of this poinsettia in my garden before Christmas last month (Dec. 18) with only 3 large red petals. Well, those tiny ones near the center kept growing, and I believe they will even more!

It was my indoor potted poinsettia for Christmas ’21 that I planted in the garden last January and someone told me that those potted ones would never bloom again when put in a garden. Well, maybe some don’t, but this one did!  🙂  And it just keeps blooming with a smaller flower coming in beneath this larger bloom, that I’ve been told are actually leaves that turn red. Just another fun experience with flowers and a garden!  🙂   One of those “little things” in nature that a retired old man finds joy in – while “Retired in Costa Rica!”  🙂

Garden Poinsettia, Atenas, Costa Rica

And I’m not finished sharing photos from my Christmas trip to Arenal Volcano National Park, but I may continue to throw in an occasional “local” blog post to keep Atenas in the news!  🙂

¡Pura Vida!

For more flowers, check out my Flora & Forest GALLERIES! And stay tuned for more butterflies+ from Arenal!

 

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4 “Smaller” Birds at Arenal

With 4 birds in today’s post and 4 more tomorrow I will have shared all that I got useable photos of on the Christmas trip. And no, I got no “lifers” or first-time seen birds on this trip, but that is expected when you have photos of more than 359 species of birds in Costa Rica!  It’s getting harder to find a new species!  🙂

Chestnut-sided Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

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Toucan’s Sunset Visit Today

Yes, I’m still working on all my photos from Arenal, but with so few Toucans in my Guarumo Tree this year, I had to share this afternoon’s rapid stop by two Keel-billed Toucans to snack on some Cecropia Flowers before flying off to wherever they spend the night!  🙂

Keel-billed Toucan, Atenas, Costa Rica
Keel-billed Toucan, Atenas, Costa Rica
Keel-billed Toucan, Atenas, Costa Rica
Keel-billed Toucan, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And you might enjoy my Keel-billed Toucan GALLERY.

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5 “Medium-sized” Birds at Arenal

Trying to group birds by size is not real accurate, but now it leaves me with 4 “smaller” birds for tomorrow and 4 others for the next day!  🙂  Then I will get on to other wildlife and the many butterflies photographed at Arenal Observatory!

Buff-throated Saltator, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

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The 5 BIG BIRDS this trip

Yes, you can sometimes see a hawk at Arenal Observatory, but I did not this time nor the two larger toucans, Keel-billed and Yellow-throated, which I have every other visit. But these 5 are still impressive birds and there’s six photos because the male and female of the Great Curassow are so different. I debated about putting the Collared Aracari here, since he’s the smaller toucan, but he seemed too big for the “medium birds” post that’s next.  🙂  And despite their bad reputations, both vultures are beautiful (when flying) and so important to the ecology of our lands!

As usual, one photo for the emailed notice with the others in the online post . . .

Crested Guan, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

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