This tiny butterfly appears at first to be plain beige with dark patches showing through from the top side (they are dark brown patches). But if you look close you can see a faint yellow band along the edge of the forward wing. The only ones I’ve seen have been in my garden and on the nearby Calle Nueva dirt road. See my other shots, including one top view showing those dark brown patches and at least one with a more obvious yellow band! 🙂 All in my gallery: Banded Yellow, Limoncito de Faja, Eurema elathea.
One of the few unique butterflies I saw in May, the Pink-spotted Cattleheart (my gallery link) is found only from Mexico to Costa Rica. They like my garden. 🙂 But this one would not come out in the open like a few in my above-linked gallery. All but one in the gallery were seen in my garden, with the one exception being at Villa Caletas, Jaco, just an hour west of here. Like with a few other butterfly species, I am the #1 observer of this in Costa Rica on iNaturalist. 🙂
Pink-spotted Cattleheart, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaPink-spotted Cattleheart, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
My sick stomach is slowly getting better with meds & careful eating.
Starting today, I will spend a couple of days at Xandari Nature Resort on the outskirts of the city of Alajuela, our provincial capital. It is not exactly cheap, so two nights is enough for one of my top 3 or 4 butterfly locations while I hope they have less wind there than we do in Atenas, less than an hour away. We will see! Oops! I just had to cancel because of a sick stomach and asked if they could move my special price to another date. Hope so! Though not suppose to make changes on pre-paid specials. 🙂 Well, they did make the change to June 8-10, same reservation, just two week later and hopefully with a healthier old man! They told me that I was a special guest and they were happy to postpone the reservation. 🙂
Garden Art, Xandari Costa Rica
Here’s links to the “trip galleries” of my earlier visits to Xandari, in a resort chain with headquarters in India, adding to the exotic nature of the place with waterfalls, forest trails, birds & butterflies and some of the best flower gardens in the country, plus a small farm for their restaurant. A cool place on a hilltop overlooking downtown Alajuela and the San Jose Airport from a lush tropical forest.
One of the more common birds seen in my garden has always been the Great Kiskadee (linked to my gallery) and here are 2 shots of this tropical bird common all over Costa Rica.
Great Kiskadee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaGreat Kiskadee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
This Great Spreadwing Damselfly (my gallery link) has the scientific name of Archilestes grandis and the Spanish common name of Caballito Crucifijo Mayor. The name refers to the fact that it is one of the few damselflies that always lands with wings spread out. And this is my 4th sighting of one in my garden. It must like Atenas too! 🙂 See more photos in my gallery linked above.
¡Pura Vida!
It is still windier than usual for May, but less frequently now. I’ve photographed a lot of birds in my garden but no great photos yet. And fewer butterflies. 🙂 I’m staying home and resting this weekend because of a little stomach virus (taking medications) and want to be full of energy for my Monday to Wednesday visit to Xandari which has been a good butterfly source in the past.
One of the most seen butterflies in my garden was seen the first time this year a couple of days ago, so maybe we are about to get back to normal (if the wind will just stop blowing!). 🙂 See my photo collection at Laverna Metalmark.
As butterflies slowly return, even in the wind, I welcome another former regular, the Juno Silverspot(my gallery link) even if not really good photos. I’ve seen him flying by more than landing anywhere, but barely managed to get these two shots, side view & top.
Juno Silverspot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaJuno Silverspot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
The rainy season here is believed by many to have been “sung in” by the Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush. Rain usually starts around the middle of May, while this year it started in early May. And sure enough, the Clay-colored Thrush sang almost constantly throughout April and the rains started the first week of May! I think this image of a Yigüirro in one of my Nance Trees has that look of a “job well done!” 🙂 And it continues to rain almost every afternoon.
Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
See more photos of this National Bird of Costa Rica in my gallery: Clay-colored Thrush.
I’m trying to be more patient, just sitting on the terrace long enough to see something like this hairstreak land on one of my flowers for maybe 20 seconds, meaning that one then has to be quick to snap a photo! 🙂 This one is not a stranger to my garden as you can see in the gallery: Ziba Scrub-Hairstreak, Strymon ziba. The former English common name was “Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak” and the Spanish common name still is. I guess some committee somewhere makes all these name changes for both birds and butterflies.
And, with it still being quite windy, I’m forced to be patient and wait for one to show up in the lulls of the wind. And the same patience is needed for an interesting bird to land in a tree too, as they eventually will, even on windy days. 🙂
Ziba Scrub-Hairstreak, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
