On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
It’s Albatrossity Monday! No birbs, but we do get flowers! Then we have the last of frosty’s 2022 national park trips from 2022 – pssst, frost, is it time to move into 2023? Anyway, it’s the end of the frosty series for 2022, and the beginning of a series from PaulB. Endings and beginnings this week.
Albatrossity
We’ll mostly take a break from birds this week; there are a couple of pretty birds (both * lifers) in this batch, but it’s mostly flowers and butterflies. It won’t replace the Sunday Morning Garden Chat, but it should provide a colorful start to your Monday!
The Pacific coast of southwestern Costa Rica, home to the Corcovade National Park, is a hot and humid lowland forest. As expected for a tropical forest, it is very biodiverse, with lots of hummingbirds, tanagers, and quite a few endemic species found only there or in the neighboring similar habitats of Panama. Insect diversity was amazing, with leafcutter ants, large dragonflies, wasps, and butterflies in abundance. I found three species of longtailed skippers on one small shrub just by watching it for part of a day. Here’s one of those, the Zilpa Longtail (Chioides zilpa). This species does sporadically stray into the US, As for the plant that it is getting nectar from, I think it is Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, aka Blue Porterweed. But if more experienced botanical minds tell me that ID is wrong, I would appreciate it! Click here for larger image.
Another skipper taking advantage of this flower was the Plain Longtail (Urbanus simplicius). This one is a very rare stray in the lower Rio Grande valley of Texas, but its range extends southward all the way to Argentina. Click here for larger image.
The third species of longtailed skipper that I observed on these flowers is, I think, the Double-striped Longtail (Urbanus belli). But it could be U. proteus; I have submitted pics to the BAMONA site, but no ID has yet been forthcoming. I wish I had been able to get a picture of this one with the wings open, because it was an incredible hue of turquoise above. Click here for larger image.
Butterflies were not the only critters attracted to these flowers; hummingbirds seemed to love them too. You may recall that pic of the Bronzy Hermit from week 1 in this series; it was a constant presence at this shrub. Another hummingbird which only visited once or twice while I was there was this one, with the adorable name *Charming Hummingbird (Polyerata decora). This is a male, and he is charming indeed. Click here for larger image.
Another gorgeous flower that was abundant attracted different butterflies. I don’t know the ID of the plant, but I’m pretty sure that the butterfly is the Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale). I don’t know the ID of the fly that is photobombing this shot. The longwings (IHeliconius sp.) are found mostly in the tropics. But some species do reside in the US, and one of them, the Zebra Longwing, is the state butterfly of Florida. Click here for larger image.
Another heliconid taking advantage of the mystery flower was this Erato Longwing (Heliconius erato). These are strong fliers, and there are some vagrant records for this species in US states outside the Mexican border region, including Missouri and Indiana. Time to call out the National Guard, I guess… Click here for larger image.
Time for a bird break before we move on, and here is a good one. This is a *Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) that was feeding regularly in a tree right outside our lodging at the Osa Conservation station. Unlike other toucans that I have heard, this one “yelped” rather than “croaked”. I learned that toucans can indeed be put into two bins, yelpers and croakers. Click here for larger image.
Our next stay was in a lodge near Tarcoles, which was surrounded by forest. But it also had some plants that seemed attractive to butterflies, including this one. I believe it is Phoenix Flower (Delonix regia), and it is a native of Madagascar, but can now be found in tropical countries everywhere. And one can see why; it is simply a gorgeous flower! Click here for larger image.
This butterfly might be familiar to some North American jackals, as it ranges across the US all the way to Alaska. The Clouded Sulfur (Colias philodice) is a rather large yellow butterfly, whose flight is rapid and often jerky or erratic. That flight pattern is a good first clue for differentiating this yellow butterfly from the many other yellow butterflies. Click here for larger image.
Our final butterfly today has the best name – Pink-spotted Cattleheart (Parides photinus). I have no idea how it got that name, but it would pass the sniff test for a good Elizabethan insult. Click here for larger image.
Lapassionara
Wow. Lovely. thanks for sharing these photos.
I planted 4 Tithonia this year, in hopes of seeing lots of butterflies, but no blooms yet.
JPL
Such beautiful pictures and thank you for sharing.
JPL
I have a butterfly bush outside my kitchen window. It’s so much fun watching the butterflies and bees.
Anyway
Toucan! So over the top – I love it!
HinTN
@Lapassionara: Tithonia and zinnias always rewarded us with butterflies. They are visually very attractive, too, and last a good while. Enjoy!
That black, white and red butterfly is amazing! Please don’t call out ther Guard. If they can make Missouri surely they can make it this away, too.
Geo Wilcox
I’ve seen the erato longwing here in Indiana about 15 years ago. No pictures so I cannot publish it but I did see them.
SteveinPHX
A hummer and a toucan! Thanks!
Trivia Man
Do butterflies have a unique jiz to help identify the way birds do? Those 3 look awfully similar to me.
You mentioned it for the yellow fellow, is that common?
Albatrossity
@Trivia Man: Maybe ace butterfly folks can tell those skippers apart by flight or other behaviors, but I sure can’t
Wombat Probability Cloud
Thank you, as always, for your wonderful photo diaries.
Your “mystery flower” is Hamelia patens (Rubiaceae), a common native shrub in Costa Rica.
Albatrossity
@Wombat Probability Cloud: Thank you!
Pink Tie
Gorgeous pictures!
I think the flower in the last few is Pride of Barbados, aka peacock flower. We had one growing in our front yard for a long time and they are spectacular. I’ve been waiting for more pollinators in my backyard, where there are a couple of beds dedicated to their favorite flowers (plus a ton of wild trumpet vines overrunning the back fence) but haven’t noticed as many this year. People around here use mosquito control systems and I’m worried my neighbors have been spraying.
J.
Amazing shots! That yellow-throated toucan doesn’t look real. (What a beautiful bird!)
OzarkHillbilly
Flutterbys!
Betty
I am pretty sure the purple flower in the first pictures is Vervaine. It grows wild around our property in Dominica. It has multiple uses as an herbal remedy.
Albatrossity
@Betty: It is in the vervain family (Verbenaceae), yes
See this wikipedia article for some of the names given to this plant.
S Cerevisiae
Beautiful pictures as always, thanks again! We hope to get back to Costa Rica next year.
Rob
These photos are gorgeous, as usual. I’ve given a link for this page to my wife, who has been on a few Costa Rica birding/natural history trips.
eclare
Gorgeous photos, thank you!
StringOnAStick
The bird I remember the most from our trip to Costa Rica was a pair of toucans, they are so amazing! Thanks for a better view!
pieceofpeace
Delightful! Thank you for a terrific set of photos with my morning coffee.
stinger
Thank you for the long-awaited fulfillment of the promise of Olivia Newton-John: “Let me take you to that wonderland that only toucans share”!
BigJimSlade
I saw toucans when I was at Tikal a few decades back. Seeing them in the air is just… well, it doesn’t seem like they should be able to avoid doing a nose dive all the time. I was watching them and thinking, “you’re kidding me.” Lol.
And nice moth and butterfly pictures :-) they can be tricky as they often don’t prefer to sit still for more than a few seconds.
Albatrossity
@BigJimSlade: Yeah, toucans look pretty front-heavy, but if you have ever handled a specimen or a live bird, that bill weighs almost nothing!
BigJimSlade
@Albatrossity: Trickery! :-)
Yutsano
@Albatrossity: It’s amazing how the bills are hollow. You had me with all the flutterbees but that toucan is a scene stealer!
Albatrossity
@Yutsano: Yeah, the hollow insides, as well as the styrofoam-like structure around that hollow space, is pretty good engineering, And it does not need to be heavy for biting anything; they basically grab fruits and berries and gulp them down whole.