Leaving Cano Palma- Day 28

Cano Palma Research Station from the canal

Leaving the Cano Palma Station at 5:20 we had two boatrides, multiple buses and transfers, walking and a taxi ride to finally arrive at Camino Verde Bed and Breakfast in Monte Verde. The buses up into the cloud forest take a long time the roads are fairly badly maintained and the road is winding and barely wide enought for the bus let alone cars to pass it.


Camino Verde is a nice place and the owner is a young man who has inherited the family businesses. They own two Bed and Breakfasts across the road from each other and a hostel in downtown MonteVerde. The only complaint I had about the bed and breakfasts are that there is no place you can hang out past 9pm. The kitchens and any manner of place where you could be social close at this time.

After walking around town Chris and I lazed around our room and went to bed. It has been a long journey to get here and this is the last part of our trip. A place where we can enjoy all of the spoils we get in North America (like hot showers and dry clothing) and have a holiday from our holiday.

Last Day at Cano Palma- Day 27

Our last day at Cano Palma started our bird banding. The rain delayed us until 6am and then we were able to band until around noon without breaks.

White-collared Manakin

White-collared Manakin

Red-crowned Manakin

Black River Turtle (Rhinoclemmys funerea)

Wood thrush
Swainsons thrush
Olive-backed Euphonia
Ringed Kingfisher
Green Ibis

Also while mist netting we found a Black River Turtle and a Green Tree Anole (Norops bipocatus). A large male green basilisk was sitting on the dock as we released the turtle. 

Green Tree Anole (Norops bipocatus)

Our last night reptile and amphibian survey of the plots was fairly standard. We tried the futile efforts to keep dry as long as possible and eventually the water crept up above our knees.

E. bransfordi
E. fitzingerii
L. malanotus
D. pumillo
Norops bipocatus
N. lumifrans
Stream Anole

And as if the world was mourning our leaving the jungle shook and the clouds cried as we left the jungle. In less dramatic terms the thunderstorm came in as we walked home and continued for most of the night.

Cano Palma- Day 26

Today was a chores day. We helped with the destruction of the old furniture in the rancho building and constructed new bunk beds.

We went for a night walk around San Fransisco and down the road towards the lagoona. There were large ponds by the road where smokey jungle frogs and olive treefrogs were. Frogs seamed to exist in these ponds at all stages of life at once.

Egg masses weighed down the thin branches of small palms while tadpoles scattered at our wading feet. Among the bushes and growth still above water in the pond I noticed another stage of life. A stage in between tadpole and frog. Tiny froglets still retaining their tails but also able to cling to the plant life and hop about awkwardly on their new limbs. The mating calls of the adult frogs only deafened when you got a few feet away from the caller. More would start up calling again from the way you passed. We were surrounded by frogs.

Drinks by the pool table

One of the many games of pool

 Although the Red-eyed Tree Frog which we were searching for eluded us we still enjoyed the games of pool and drinks at the Vista bar before turning into our beds for one of our last nights at Cano Palma Research Station.

Cano Palma -Day 25

Measuring a Fer-de-Lance

Measuring the juvenile Salmon-bellied Racer

Today was a slow day where we measured the snakes caught yesterday for one of the ongoing research projects. The Fer-de-Lance was exciting to see processed and luckily it went without any issues.

As usual the salmon-bellied racer escaped us a few times but was quickly caught

Our plant survey that afternoon was cancelled and we returned the snakes back to the cerro before nightfall.




The night walk of the cerro found Blunt-headed snakes, Helmeted Iguana and brilliant scarlet wedded treefrog.

The juveniles of this species have two white lines from their nose to down their backs and lack the red webbing. The adults lose the white stripes and gain a more speckled pattern on their back with prominent red webbing between their toes.

Scarlet-webbed Tree Frog (Hyla rufitela)

Scarlet-webbed Tree Frog (Hyla rufitela)

Scarlet-webbed Tree Frog (Hyla rufitela)

 The spectacular frog posed on a Lady of the Night orchid.

Maybe a little posed but I like it

Cano Palma- Day 24

Turtle census this morning was rainy and uneventful. The excavated nests were predated and we found no hatchlings. A brief patch of sun in the afternoon brought out the American whiptails in the garden but the rain started again before the afternoon herp surveys that night and we only found strawberry dart frogs and stream anoles in the plots.

That night we decided to get to higher land. This is exactly what I would do if I was a scaly creature in the rainy season. Our night walk around the cerro was led by Charlottes husband a local Costa Rican. It was amazing how such a slight difference in elevation made our night.

A Speckled-bellied Narrow-mouth Toad was seen in the leaf litter and managed to escape the four anxious herpers trying to catch it. But that odd creature wasn't the most interesting of the night. A Casque-headed lizard clung to tree. This bizarre lizard looks like a combination of a basilisk and iguana all in one!

Casque-headed Lizard (Corytophanes cristatus)

This lizard has many names such as helmeted basilisk, helmeted iguana and casque-headed lizard. It is more closely related to the iguanas than to basilisks or anoles.

 

Yellow spotted Night Lizard (Lepidophyma flavimaculatum)

The yellow-spotted tropical night lizard was a more traditional looking reptile.These are the largest of the night lizards and despite the fact this one has lost a chunk of his tail he was still about 12 centimeters long. These lizards like to live in wet climates and find homes in decaying logs during the daytime hours.

Yellow spotted Night Lizard (Lepidophyma flavimaculatum)

 A few commong sights were the Strawberry dart frogs, Brown basilisk, White-lipped anoles, Rain frogs, Jungle Frogs, Tink frogs

Even after all these wonderful sightings we were craving more. We wanted snakes and we were determined to find them! Our first stroke of luck was a juvenile Salmon-bellied Racer sitting on a palm leaf beside the trail.

Juvenile Salmon-bellied Racer (Mastigodryas melanolomus)

The speckled brown snake wasn't in it's characteristic adult colouration yet so we weren't quite sure what it was at first and handled it with hooks and tongs. This was a quick moving snake and was obviously very well adapted to escaping predators. It was hard to catch and hard to keep a hold of with hooks and tongs because of it's size and speed.  But as the saying goes patience is a virtue and we were so happy to find a snake after so much searching that we kept at it. After a while the snake tired and we were able to get a better look at it.

Juvenile Salmon-bellied Racer (Mastigodryas melanolomus)

Fer de Lance (Bothrops asper)

The next snake was waiting for us as we finished the loop of the cerro. On the side of the trail a snake sat in waiting for prey to cross it's path. Heat sensors compensating for vision in the pitch black darkness of the forest at night.

This species is called terciopelo by the locals and it is a snake to be wary of. It has a reputation to be responsible for the majority of venomous snakebites within it's range. This is likely due to it's cryptic colouring and it's proximity to humans. As with many snakes the large rodent populations near humans are attractive places to hunt and they get drawn into close contact which can be dangerous to them as well as people who are not expecting or prepared for an encounter.

The one Fer-de-Lance we encountered tonight was not fully grown (less than 3 ft) but it was big enough to be considered sexually mature. It was an amazing and thrilling experience to find one of these snakes.

Fer de Lance (Bothrops asper)

Cano Palma- Day 23

White-lipped Mud Turtle

 Another mourning we woke up bright and early. The special occasion was turtle census. The day was overcast but the rain was holding back. It was a very nice temperature to be hiking. Within a few minutes of a walk down the beach I discovered a white-lipped mud turtle. The dark brown shell blended in well against the seeds and driftwood along the beach. It was just the distinct shape of the shell that is similar in size and shape to the Stinkpot turtles in Ontario.

But what would a freshwater turtle be doing on an oceanside beach?! 

White-lipped Mud Turtle

The previous lagoona now turned into a brackish river

Since the town had began to flood heavily the locals dug a trench from the lagoon to the ocean and many freshwater fish and other creatures were being washed out into salt waters. The mud turtle and black river turtles were seen on the beach further down from the lagoon and a few turtle tracks led back towards freshwater with the obvious claw marks of these freshwater turtles.

Green Sea Turtles

The change in water levels were quick and drastic. In town the water levels dropped over the course of the day and at the station we were able to walk on the paths with only a few inches of water instead of a few feet. 

One the way back we excavated two turtle nests. The first had no hatchlings but while digging out the second my hand touched something... and it moved! Gently brushing away sand revealed many more hatchling green sea turtles. We left these in the nest since they were not ready to emerge and the nest will be re-excavated in a few days to complete the research and count the numbers of hatched eggs and infertile eggs. 


 On on way back from turtle census we noticed a black river turtle and a large green iguana basking nearby the dock. Chris was sitting at the front of the canoe and at the urgings of people watching on the dock we steered over and he caught the large lizard.

Chris and a Green Iguana

Cano Palma - Day 22

Bright and early this morning we went across the canal to the cerro for the mammal transect. The survey was highly based on animals tracks. Our local expert identified which animals they were from and which direction they were going. The tracks mostly belonged to armadillo and red brocket deer. The only live mammals we saw on the transect were bats rooting under logs and cliff overhangs. On our way home we saw spider monkeys near town.

We walked down to the lagoona before lunch along the only road in town. It was one of the few times it didn't rain and butterflies and birds were out in force.

Indigo bunting
Common black hawk
Tenessee warblers
Great crested flycatcher
Common Tody flycatcher
Little blue heron
Broadwing hawk
Turkey vulture
Plain breasted wren
Collared aracari
Black-cheeked woodpecker

Caiman

The night before, Wawa (the German Shepard owned by the station manager) had bit a porcupine. Chris and a few of the other guys at the station were recruited to restrain this large and normally very unfriendly dog. During this time I went our for an afternoon kayak trip. The aracari and mealy parrots were loudly chatting in the trees with green iguana basking up high in the branches. This was quite contrasted with the silent yellow-crowned night heron on the branches of fallen trees.

Caiman and Black River Turtles were basking in the afternoon heat.

Epidendrum fragrans

Orchids seam to thrive in the well lit areas on the canal. They cling to branches and trunks with roots winding across the bark. As well as some familiar species there were many new species. Again the diversity in shape, size and colour amazed me!

Some were large with curly white flowers others of the Stelia genus were tiny  plants with leaves a few centimeters long and the flowers a few millimeters.

Epidendrum fragrans

Standing up in a kayak was challenging but it allowed for this mediocre photo of a new species of orchid for the trip.

Maxellaria sp.

Epidendrum cf rigidum

 The largest plant was an epiphyte with bulbsand leaves over a foot in length. The white flowers had an orange lip and were emerging on short stems from the base of the bulbs.

Mormolyca hedwigiae (Maxillaria hedwigiae)

Mormolyca hedwigiae (Maxillaria hedwigiae)

The weather turned nasty before dark and by the time we started caiman census it was pouring. Any caiman in the right mind would retreat farther into the flooded forests. We saw no sets of eyes glaring back at our flashlights that night. Ringed kingfishers, little blue herons, green herons and oragami herons were roosting in the branches trying to stay warm and dry.

Cano Palma- Day 21

View from bunkhouse during flooding

It continues to rain! The water rose another 10mm yesterday and 4mm overnight. There is water spilling into the kitchen and when boats go past the waves flood in. We do still have power so far today. Mammal transect this morning was canceled due to the fact we wouldn't be able to see any tracks in over a foot of water. 

The herp walk at night we found two Green basilisk and a few Common Rain Frogs but it was very flooded "Balls deep and not in the good way" quickly turned into nipple deep. We decided to walk the boardwalk trail in hoped of seeing another caecilian. Wading through the water to get there there was a 4ft long Caiman on the trail! The boardwalk trail was still above water but the strawberry dart frogs, litter frogs and rain frogs were all becoming increasingly arboreal. We saw everything climbing on large buttress roots.

Herpetofaunal survey

Tink Frog sp.

Cano Palma- Day 20

Bruno sitting on a chair when the water
flooded the kitchen

The large amount of rain the the past few days has caused the garden to flood by over a foot. Everyone is spending time indoors and on computers. I am going a little stir crazy and bored but as I was reading in the crows nest above the dock I saw some familiar birds.

Ringed kingfisher
Chestnut-sided warbler
Great Blue Heron
Scarlet-rumped Tanager

Around the kitchen I found strawberry dart frogs and yellow headed geckos. As the day went on the water kept rising and we have been talking about evacuation. If we lose power for a longer period of time or if the cookhouse floods to the point where we can't cook food we will need to move across the canal and stay at Vista for a while. The garden has plenty of fish in it now and as Chris and I were walking through it I stopped him from stepping on an eel he thought was a stick!

The herp plots were flooded above our waists but the rain stopped long enough to find 42 individual herps for an overall great night. The Litter Skink, Coffee Snake and Orange-tailed Gecko were cool to begin with but the Purple Caecilian was by far the highlight of the night!

Purple Caecilian (Gymnopis multiplicata)

Purple Caecilian (Gymnopis multiplicata)

Orange-tailed Gecko (Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma)

Cano Palma- Day 19

The dock is starting to flood over a little because we have bee having so much rain lately. Bird banding was canceled due to rain so I helped make some bird bags that the station desperately needs. In the house there were a few Yellow-headed Geckos in the cookhouse. They were various sizes and males and female were identified by the bright yellow heads on males and dull brownish colour of females.

Yellow-headed Gecko

A kayak ride down the river was very rainy but well worth the beauty. More epiphytic orchids (including Trigonidium egertonianum and Brassavola nodosa) were along the trees hanging over the canal. Many birds were out despite the bad weather:

Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Kingfisher
Prothonotary Warbler

The garden was alive right before dinner. We found Cane toads, Common Rain Frogs, Strawberry Dart Frogs and... A Green Climbing Toad in a tree! This lifer species stuck out among the brown leaf litter clinging between branches.

Green Climbing Toad (Bufo coniferus)

Strawberry Dart Frog (Dendrobates pumilio)

Strawberry Dart Frog (Dendrobates pumilio)

We did our first night walk across the canal from Vista into San Fransisco. Cane toads were mating the the flooding soccer field. An Olive Tree Frog calling from vegetation nearby drew our attention and we noticed the Wolly Opossum climbing overhead. Long-nosed bats and Short-tailed Fruit Bats were seen roosting

Olive Tree Frog (Scinax elaeochroa)

Olive Tree Frog (Scinax elaeochroa) showing green leg bones

Litter frogs and Rain frogs were out as usual. House geckos were crawling on the pool house. As we were finding the calling frogs in the bushes, Mark saw something high up in a tree. A thin brown snake was crawling high up the the tree right above my head. This Blunt-headed Snake almost went unnoticed but luckily having many keen eyes paid off. 

Blunt- headed Snake

Green Iguana and Brown Basilisk proved to be much slower moving at night when we saw plenty out in the bushes and got some very nice looks at them as they slept. The large number of these arboreal lizards was a great sign since it meant there was a good chance of seeing arboreal snakes that feed on them.The highlight of the night was definitely a juvenile Boa Constrictor found near town in the bushes searching for these arboreal lizards. Brilliant colouration and shiny iridescent scales showed that it was a freshly shed snake. Although it was a juvenile it was about 4 ft long.  Although we don't like to interfere we relocated this snake to the field station where it will hopefully not get killed for eating someones chickens.

Juv. Boa constrictor

Juv. Boa constrictor