Costa Rica, August 2012

[Blue Jay]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip with us, Uncle David.

[moloch]

Thanks very much, everyone, for the feedback. I have many more shots to post and I am sure that you will agree that Costa Rica is worthy of a BC trip someday.

Khew, I also especially like the clearwings and glasswings. They are so unusual and also so hard to follow on the floor of the rainforest.

Aaron

Lycaenids are Calycopis cerata and Panthiades bitias, respectively.

That is impressive! Thanks very much for the identifications. Are you using De Vries' book or have other sources?


Regards,

[moloch]

Thanks, Anthony!



These interesting hairstreaks were fairly common in the secondary growth (Arawacus togarna -- thanks, Aaron)



Another of the Flat Skippers:



These day-flying moths fooled me many times. In flight, they closely resembled Glasswings.



I tried baiting butterflies with over ripe bananas and mangos along the edge of the secondary growth. A few of the small satyrinae were attacted along with the single Moon Satyr (Pierella luna), the only individual of this species that I observed on the trip.



This moth of family Castniidae was really odd with the clubbed antannae. It was day-flying and resembled a large Nymphalid as it raced back and forth along the trail through the secondary growth.



Here is a highly cropped shot of another metalmark, a Nymphidium sp., that was perching on leaves several meters above the trail.



I found this big, aggressive spider one night (Cuppienius coccineus).




Stream Anole (Norops oxylophus)

[moloch]

Restaurant. This was an excellent place for birding with many nearby fruiting trees. Flocks of tanagers, thrushes, manakins, grosbeaks, finches and flycatchers often moved through the area. Hummers including Rufous-tailed, Crowned Woodnymphs and Long-tailed Hermits visited flowers in the nearby garden.

One morning, army ants raided the area. The ground was covered with ants that investigated all the nooks and crannies beneath the chairs and tables. We watched small insects running for their lives. Scarlet-rumped Tanagers and others came into the area to catch the arthropods distrubed by the ants. After an hour, the ants completed their raid and disappeared back into the forest. Antbirds, antwrens, wrens, flycatchers and a Bright-rumped Attila joined the swarm once the front returned to thick cover.



My friends, Ted and Cindy. Ted and I went to high school together in the early '70s and we spent many weekends in the deserts of CA and AZ while searching for reptiles. Later, we travelled many times to Mexico. Ted has visited me several times in Australia and went with me on the the trip in March to peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Ted is now retired but was a US Fish and Wildlife Biologist who specialized in the management of endangered species in Arizona.


Violaceous Trogons were common by call and occasionally seen.



White-collared Manakin: We watched this adult male and a juvenile male doing the manakin wing-snap and rapid flight between saplings on a number of occasions. They often displayed right next to the restaurant.



Birds at restaurant
1. Golden-hooded Tanager (top)
2. Palm Tanager (left)
3. Social Flycatcher (right)
4. Blue-grey Tanager (left)
5. Black-faced Grosbeak (right)




We stayed in this house just across the river from the reserve.



Leptodactylus pentadactylus were frequent on the lawns at night.

[moloch]

In the old days, access to La Selva was by boat from Puerto Viejo. Now, it is just a matter of walking across the bridge.



This metalmark (Euselasia cheles -- thanks, Aaron) was resting on a cable of the bridge. I disturbed it and it would fly out over the river but then return to the cable. The upper surface was mostly orange with black wing tips, a little like a Malay Yeoman.



Big Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) were a frequent sight in trees near the bridge.





Ted took this photo of a Prehensile-tailed Porcupine that was crossing the bridge one morning.



Ted's photo of a Ringed Kingfisher, a large kingfisher that is at least as big as a Stork-billed. The New World kingfishers are a rather sombre lot when compared with their dazzling Asian relatives.



... Rara Avis will be next

[Painted Jezebel]

Beautiful photos, David. I am very envious. I can not wait to see more!

[atronox]

Aaron

That is impressive! Thanks very much for the identifications. Are you using De Vries' book or have other sources?


Regards,

You're welcome. Lycaenids are always a pleasure to identify

I'm using d ' Abrera (1995); his figures are very clear although his classification is not updated.

[Bluebottle]

I want Clearwing too!
Any puddling butterfly shots? I think it will be spectacular seeing hundred and thousand of them congregate together.

[moloch]

Thanks, Les and Loke.

Loke,
I did not see any puddling butterflies at all probably because it was so wet everywhere. I emailed Adrian Hoskins (learnaboutbutterflies website) who has visited Central America a number of years back. He found that puddling was the most frequent in the dry months. I think that he had the best results on the Pacific slope which is a little drier than the Caribbean side of the mountains.


Aaron,
You would probably be a little disappointed with the Lycaenid diversity in Costa Rica. I saw very few species, hardly anything when compared to the incredible variety that you have in Singapore and Malaysia.


Regards,
David

[Angiud]

David, amazing location, wonderful nature and impeccable pictures.