Flutter by

Costa Rica has some 1250 species of butterflies and more than 8000 species of moths -- and we're seeing big numbers of them on our current tour. Perhaps the country's drought has something to do with that (maybe fewer are succumbing to fungal infections), or perhaps the fact that we're having lots of sunny days this year just means they're flying more. Whatever the reason, we're certainly reveling in the  subtle and the splashy, the large and the small, the cooperative (and photographed) and the flighty (and seen only).

Banded Peacock (Anartia fatima)

Highway birding

[Sorry for the delay in posting my Guyana pictures/diary. Internet connections here are very slow and uploading even small picture files is problematic.]

For those of us who live in the busy parts of the world (particularly the crowded northeastern corner of the US), it's hard to imagine standing for long in the middle of a country's main north-south highway without being squashed flat. But here in Guyana, where the "highway" is a twisting, potholed ribbon of mud (on wet days) or iron hard earth (on dry ones), it's possible to wander for hours without seeing a single vehicle.

These butterflies were clustered along the road, slurping some mineral from a damp patch of soil.

A Taste of Summer

This morning, I wandered through the extensive gardens of our hotel, looking for pictures to take. It was like being in a time machine, fast forwarded to summer. A profusion of flowers bloomed, and the smell of warm earth and growing things wafted over the lawns. Butterflies flapped everywhere, and I spent long minutes trying to get the perfect snap. Strong winds buffeted butterflies and plants alike, testing my camera and my patience. But as I stalked my quarry, trying to creep within close focus range of various targets, I began to notice how many of them were battered and frayed, their wings a tattered fringe with beak-shaped chunks missing. And yet, they still flew. They didn't give up -- they flew, they sipped nectar, they pollinated. And though they might not have looked quite as snazzy as their younger, fresher cousins, they still got the job done. A good thing to remember, I suppose, on those days when I want to lie around feeling sorry for myself!

Tropical Buckeye (Junonia genoveva) and Crimson Patch (Chlosyne janais) share a plant.