Holguin Cuba

I've always been spontaneous but this trip takes the cake. I found out the night before leaving that I was going to Cuba the next morning. I obviously couldn't turn down the last minute and off season deal.

Arriving to a Cuba on a rainy night would have been perfect for looking for frogs but the forecast was rain every night for the next three days so naturally after the plane ride I relaxed and drank. Our resort (Rio Sol de Luna y Mares) was quite remote and each side had a different wild ecosystem. One side had a wide but somewhat deep lagoon with mangroves and the other had a park with forest and scrub on the rocky coast.

The morning saw us at the lagoon where Snowy and Great Egrets had amassed in numbers. We saw many waterbirds that morning just visiting the Lagoon and walking around the resort.

Northern Shoveler
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
American Coot (There is no way I could tell from a Carribean Coot)
White-crowned Pigeon
White-winged Dove
Common Ground Dove
Cuban Green Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
Loggerhead Kingbird
Red-eyed Vireo
Black-whiskered Vireo
Cuban Martin
Red-legged Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Tawny-shouldered Blackbird
Cuban Blackbird
Greater Antillean Grackle
House Sparrow

What I didn't know at the beginning of this trip is that the night I arrived would be the ONLY night it rained for the entire trip. That is great for most people but I hopelessly tried to find amphibians every night with very little luck.

That day was a very nice warm sunny day with reptiles crawling all over the resort.

A Snowy Winter

Female Snowy Owl

One of the many perks to surviving the cold Canadian winters in the Ottawa area are the owls that come down from the north in search of food. When their food is in shortage or there isn't enough space for owls making territories up north many (mostly juveniles) move south in search of 'greener pastures'.

Female Snowy Owl

Really what they find are snow covered farm fields along the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers down to the Kingston area.  Last year Ottawa saw a lot of boreal species of owls including great gray, hawk owl and boreal owls. This year over 42 snowy owls have been seen in the Ottawa area. These owls are one of the heaviest owls in North America.

Juvenile Male Snowy Owl

Birding for these diurnal (daytime) owls is one of the easiest ways to look for birds. Drive down country back roads keeping an eye for a large white bird on a telephone pole or in the middle of a field. Even on cold cloudy days you can see them along roadsides and in farmers fields from the warmth of a car. I was lucky enough to see 4 of them in one morning/afternoon, but other days I was not so lucky.

The big bright yellow eyes are characteristic of diurnal (daytime) owls. Females are larger and more patterned than males which can appear completely white as adults.These birds will soon be returning north to create breeding territories and make their nests (which they create on the ground) in early spring.  I am always very excited to see when these spectacular birds will return to Ottawa next.

Juvenile Male Snowy Owl

Thanksgiving Herpetologist Style

Yet again I have had the chance to visit a wonderful place where reptiles and amphibians are abundant and so are the herpetologists! A large group of fellow Canadians ventured to Illinois for our thanksgiving long weekend.

The purpose of this trip is simple- Have a great time camping, make new connections and see as many reptiles and amphibians as we can in one weekend!

This year was perfect weather for our trip. The first day was raining lightly which didn't discourage our group. Within a few minutes at our first stop I had flipped my first marbled salamander.

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

As the marbled was a lifer for me I was ecstatic about this but about 2m away from me we also discovered an adult and juvenile cottonmouth. Cottonmouths were the most common snake we found on the trip. Many of the juveniles were quite brightly patterned while the older snakes appeared much more uniform dark in colouration. 

Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

The rain brought out frogs and salamanders in huge numbers. I found many lifers including smallmouth, marbled and mole salamanders. These are all species I missed out on last year because it was to cold and dry on the weekend we went. Warm-ish and wet is perfect for these!

Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)

Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum)

A few reptiles were out and about despite the rain. I finally got to see an Eastern Box Turtle that hadn't been frightened into it's shell for hours on end. One downside to going in large groups is that many people want to touch animals which ruins my chances of getting natural photos. Box turtles are especially tricky since they will hole up inside their closed shell for an extremely long time if they are disturbed to much or picked up. But.. everyone was great this year and there we a lot of things to be seen!

Eastern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus)

Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

Nightfall found us watching our step carefully as frogs and salamanders were at our feet frequently. In one place we discovered over 100 cave salamanders mixed in with long tailed salamanders and newts.  This was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. A single dull cliff face with many small cracks was speckled with these long elegant orange creatures.

Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)

Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)

My favorite toad, the Fowler's toad, made an appearance that weekend which is always very exiting but even more so where the new species of frogs I had the chance to see! Juvenile Bird-voiced treefrogs and green treefrogs also loved the misty wet night and we found many through the forest. They showed up with their bright green skin standing out very nicely against the brown/yellow leaf litter. Not many were found on any vegetation.

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

The next day was bright and warm- a perfect day to look for reptiles. We saw many things that day but for me the highlights were a Mississippi Green Watersnake, Smooth Earthsnake, Rough Greensnake and a Slimy Salamander.

Smooth Earthsnake (Virginia valeriae)

Most of these wonderful creatures we just found with luck as they crossed the paths infront of us. But others were much trickier to find and took hours of searching before we were rewarded.

Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus)

Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus)

As the gorgeous Mississippi Green reminded us all- Snakes like to be left alone and this aggressive posture is a warning that it is ready to bite. Even if you just want to move a leaf out of the photo they don't have any sympathy.  But none the less this was probably my biggest highlight of the weekend. This snake was big, sleek and posed wonderful for photographs.

Mississippi Green Watersnake (Nerodia cyclopion)

Mississippi Green Watersnake (Nerodia cyclopion)

Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)

The only things that could have made this trip better would have been a mud snake or a timber rattlesnake but, that is asking a bit much since it was already an absolutely amazing weekend.

Western Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis proximus)

PS: Fun fact > Western Ribbonsnakes have two dots on the top of their heads (which allows you to tell them apart from Eastern Ribbonsnakes) but this can appear like a heart because they look to be fused.

My first rarity

I definitely would not consider myself a good birder but I do get by and can recognize a fair number of species without field guides, HOWEVER, this morning I was stumped completely.

There was a western grebe offshore of south point in Rondeau Provincial Park. Many second glances later I was convinced that it could not be anything else but confused since this bird has never been reported in Chatham-Kent county before.

Western Grebe at Rondeau Provincial Park (Photo courtesy of Allen Woodliffe)

Being that I have never identified a rare bird by myself and that I am very cautious about misidentifying things I was texting my birding friends like mad! With this wonderful advance in technology I was able to get confirmation from iphone to binocular photos that what I was seeing is IN FACT a very lost western grebe. With this I could confidently say that I got my first rare bird in Ontario that other birders would flock to see.

For the next few days this gorgeous and elegant bird stayed at the point. It hunted, groomed itself and all around just floated around looking pretty until Friday when boat traffic drove it away from Rondeau.

Western Grebe at Rondeau Provincial Park (Photo courtesy of Allen Woodliffe)

Thankfully this gave other birders the chance to confirm my sighting and get much better photos than I managed through my binoculars.

Western Grebe at Rondeau Provincial Park (Photo courtesy of Allen Woodliffe)

Orchids of Costa Rica (Winter 2012)

Orchids of Caribbean Costa Rica

Brassavola nodosa

The lady of the night is one of the most spectacular orchids that I saw in Costa Rica. Large epiphyte plants with large white and green flowers.

Brassavola nodosa

A similar looking orchid, Epidendrum parkinsonianum had a divided lip instead of a solid one. These were in various stages of blooming to seed pods the entire two weeks I was at Cano Palma research station (Nov 15th-30th).

Epidendrum parkinsonianum

Epidendrum parkinsonianum

The smallest flowering orchid I discovered on the east coast of Costa Rica was budding when I fist discovered it on Nov 18th. It was fully flowered within a few days.

Stelis sp.

Stelis sp.

Stelis sp.

The oddest orchid in the Cano Palma garden was Catasetum maculatum. With different male and female flowers the sexes appear to be different species all together. This male flower discovered while budding on Nov 20th took a long time to fully bloom, lasted a few days and was finished by the time we left on Nov 30th.

Catasetum maculatum

Catasetum maculatum

This unknown specie was quite small. Leaves were slender. Flower stalk was short and coming from the base of the leaf.

Unknown species of epiphytic orchid

This Epidendrum radicans was the second tallest orchid I saw in Costa Rica, topped only by the Bamboo Orchid which was often taller than me!

Epidendrum radicans

Trigonidium egertonianum was a very common species of orchid lining the canals and rivers in northeastern Costa Rica. The epiphyte has quite sizable plants with medium sized flowers.

Trigonidium egertonianum

Pleurothallis cf quadrifida

Pleurothallis cf grobyi or microphylla

There were many species that are VERY tiny and are beyond my current skill level to identify from photos and memory. The above species was the smallest leaved orchid I have seen in Costa Rica. The leaves being almost as long as the flowers and less than 1cm in length approximately.

Maxillariella variabilis

These two Maxillaria species were also fairly common and almost appear to be frequently 'planted' on trees since they were mostly found in populated areas with a lot of disturbance and light.

Christensonella uncata (Maxillaria u.)

Christensonella uncata (Maxillaria u.)

Lockhartia amoena

Lockhartia amoena was one of my favorite species to watch bloom. Over the course of a few days the flower changed drastically in appearance.

Lockhartia amoena

A kayak trip down the canal of palms for an afternoon allowed me to find many orchids that were growing on the trees that were fallen over or leaning over the canal. These trees had a lot more light on them than the ones in the forest making this a great place for plants.

Epidendrum fragrans

 

Epidendrum fragrans

This small pink orchid was the hardest one to photograph. I had to stand up in the kayak to get close enough to get a picture and even then I couldnt get a great look at the plant.

The species which I identified as Epidendrum cf rigidum was found alongside many other orchids but only on a few trees.

Epidendrum cf rigidum

The orchid named after a famous fictional owl (from Harry Potter)... Or maybe the other way around? No idea just liked the name.

Mormolyca hedwigiae (Maxillaria hedwigiae)

Mormolyca hedwigiae (Maxillaria hedwigiae)

Orchids of Monte Verde

Pleurothallis cf rowleei

Pleurothallis cf rowleei

Pleurothallis cf rowleei

Monteverde is no doubt one of the must see places in Costa Rica for orchid lovers. The park boasts ridiculous numbers of orchid diversity and I do not doubt it at all. Many Pleurothallis sp. were blooming along the trails.

Pleurothallis cf cardiothallis or oncoglossa

Even the small orchid garden near the front gates was very impressive. These four species were the most interesting of the ones in flower at the time.

Epidendrum sp.

Masdevallia  cf chontalensis

Epidendrum cf parviexasperatum

 Orchids of Santa Elena

Pleurothallis sp. with seed pod

A growing seed pod is always a good sign of a healthy plant that not only met the conditions to flower but is also getting enough energy and nutrients to reproduce.

Pleurothallis sp.

Stelis sp.

Maxillaria  sp?

Epidendrum endresii (Oerstedella endresii)

Epidendrum endresii (Oerstedella endresii)

Pleurothallis cf floribunda

Stelis sp.

Stelis sp.

Pleurothallis sp.