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Volcano Irazu
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Kingdom Plantae
No match for the machete.
Man-O-War
This is what likely stings us while in the ocean in front of Campanario, according to Helena Molina. In that part of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, they don’t get much larger than this (about the size of a silver dollar), so they aren’t very dangerous. They still hurt…
A caterpillar
I first though this glob on the underside of a leaf was an egg mass from a frog, maybe a centrolenid. I took a picture, and it appears that there is a caterpillar in the center. Is it alive?
A Leptodactylidae
I didn’t have a chance to key this frog out using Savage, but my best guess is Pristimantis (formally Eleutherodactylus) caryophyllaceus. We encounter it at San Ramon.
We also encountered and keyed a tadpole from Duellmanohyla rufioculis, a beautiful red-eyed hylid.
Ochre-bellied Fly catcher
Right, Mark?
This little bird was caught at Campanario and died as we attempted to release it from the mist net. Only two other bird species were caught in the mist net: Black-cheeked ant-tanagers and tawny-backed woodcreepers.
Another Hog-nose Pit-viper
The third species of Porthidium I’ve encounter, P. porrasi is found on the Osa Peninsula. I discovered P. nasutum in La Selva a few years ago, and P. ophryomegas in Palo Verde last June. I’ve yet to see P. volcanicum though…
Finally
First time sighting one of the classic frogs of Costa Rica: the red-eyed leaf frog, Agalychnis callidryas. Absolutely beautiful.
Agua dulce
Marc works on a presentation while sipping warm aqua dulce at the cabin near Cerro de la Muerte.
Osa, Here We Come.
We’re leaving for our trip today…