Tag: Alajuela

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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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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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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!

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Blue-vented Hummingbird

This is one of the few hummingbirds not totally chased off by the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, though he is only an occasional visitor to my Porterweed Flowers.

Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more of this species in my gallery: Blue-vented Hummingbird.

And two more totally different shots . . .

Continue reading “Blue-vented Hummingbird”
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Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

POSTSCRIPT:

OOPS! The eBird Checker just told me I’m wrong on this ID and that this is actually a Turkey Vulture with no red showing and that the little yellow showing on the head is due to light and a blurry photo. Oh well, I’m leaving the original post below but moving this photo to my Turkey Vulture gallery, Plus it is interesting to note that the iNaturalist AI called this a Yellow-headed and three people on iNat agreed with that ID. So once again, IDs are difficult! (Especially with weak photos!) 🙂

A Lifer or first-time-seen bird for me! And he was in the sky above my garden! 🙂 In Costa Rica they are found only on the Pacific Slope (which I’m on), but usually more on the coast and in the marshes, says my bird book. They look a lot like the Turkey Vulture with a shorter tail and more contrasting white on outer primaries. The book also says they usually stay closer to the ground and the marshes than this one, which was flying in circles in the valley hills like a Turkey Vulture. This one has only a little yellow on his head which indicates an immature one, as they get more yellow when they age. Also, my observation was that he was flying with raised wings more than the Turkey Vulture who seems to always be gliding with flat wings stretched out. Since this is my only photo, I will not link to my gallery but rather to eBird where you can find more information and much better photos! 🙂 And the iNaturalist CR observations page and map shows where they are seen mostly, including in the marshes of the north along the Nicaragua border where I will be again in July and will look for them this time. 🙂

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Variegated Squirrel

The most common species of squirrel in Central America is this Variegated Squirrel, Sciurus variegatoides (my gallery link). Here’s 3 shots of a very active one in my garden who, in one photo, is gathering material for a nest. And I’m back to doing posts in real time with just a few more photos from March when I was staying 10 days ahead on posts. Hoping the winds will die down and more birds and butterflies will be visible.

Variegated Squirrel, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Variegated Squirrel”
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Clay-colored Thrush

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 or Yigüirro, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Clay-colored Thrush”
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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.

Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!