Thanks, William and Aaron. I will make the change to the name, Aaron.
William, Costa Rica is a beautiful place as you know. I wish that the photographers here on the BC forum would make the trip. I would love to see the images that they would produce!
Here was another skipper that fed from the Verbenna flowers:
Here is what I think to be a male Green-celled Cattleheart (Parides childrenae):
Ninia maculata. We saw this small species of snake on several occasions.
We found this Cope's Vine Snake asleep on the upper surface of a palm frond while we were on a night walk.
Geophis hoffmanni exhibited the most incredible anti-predator behaviour. When I disturbed it, it would literally cartwheel off the trail into cover. Somehow, it could rapidly throw itself end over end.
Ameiva festiva
One of the small rainfrogs?
Rana warszewitschii were nicely marked frogs.
Smoky Jungle Frogs (Leptodactylus pentadactylus) were seen on the banks of a tiny pond.
Bufo melanochloris: a nicely marked toad found at night in the primary forest.
Hummingbirds are diverse in Costa Rica. One of the most colourful and quite common was the Crowned Woodnymph. Here is a shot of male. In the second photo below, it was sunning itself after a heavy shower.
... another family with many confusingly similar species is that of the woodcreepers. These are passerines but they act a little like woodpeckers and hitch up trees to probe within epiphytes such as the bromeliads. They often are hard to identify since they are on the move but remain in the dark forest interior. The following shot was of a Spotted Woodcreeper.
PALO VERDE RESERVE
Before wrapping up, I thought that some of you might be interested in shots of another part of Costa Rica. These photos are scans of shots from one of my prior trips to Costa Rica Dec 1980 and Jan 1981. I spent 6 weeks at Palo Verde biological research station in Guanacaste Province. This area is in the monsoonal northwest of Costa Rica. The area is vaguely like that of Kakadu NP in the Northern Territory of Australia with limestone escarpments and seasonal swamps. I was there to study Black-bellied Whistling Ducks that gather in enormous numbers before the swamps become dry. It was a wonderful experience and I saw so many butterflies, birds, reptiles and mammals. Unfortunately, I did not photograph butterflies at the time but can remember a number of beauties.
This building was my home for visit. It once was an old ranch but had been converted to the headquarters of the reserve.
Dry, deciduous forest. These trees would loose most of their leaves and then flower at the end of the dry season.
The resevere protected a seasonally flooded area that bordered the Rio Tempisque. These wetlands were the home of thousands of waterfowl. Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were the most numerous species but other ducks were also present including Fulvous Whistling Ducks, White-headed Whistling Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Muscovy and Masked Ducks.
Bare-necked Tiger Heron were fairly common in the marsh.
Black Ctenosaurs lived right around the headquarters. They were fairly tame and would walk into my room in the afternoons, see me and then turn and walk away. They are members of the iguana family.
I saw snakes from time to time. The Central American Coral Snake on the left had fallen into a depression and drowned. These snakes are beautiful but elapids with toxic venom. The snake on the right was one of the Parrotsnakes (Leptophis sp.) that loved to eat frogs. I often heard the screams of frogs that had been captured by snakes and were in the process of being eaten alive.
Scarlet Macaws were common and nesting not far from the headquarters.
Other birds includes species like the Olivaceous Woodcreeper (left) and Bar-breasted Wren (right), a species with a beautiful and loud song.
Long-tailed Manakins were common and gorgeous birds. They usually displayed in groups of three. Two young males would work with an adult male and go into a strange spiralling dance. They would slide down a branch then flutter over the other two and slide down again. It was an amazing sight to watch. This bird was a sub-adult. The adult males were velvety black.
Lastly, here is a shot of me in 1980 but more importantly, a shot of Rodrigo Carazo, the president of Costa Rica at the time. The president visited the reserve while I was there and I had the privilege of meeting and talking with him. I was able to take him bird watching one morning. President Carazo was very interested in nature and he, along with others, realized that eco-tourism was a means of protecting the remaining forests of the country. He and others after him successfully turned Costa Rica into a model country for ecotourism.
... that is all. I will add logistics, costing and a bird report later.
David, thanks for sharing. This is a wonderful thread and an eye-opener for me. I really enjoyed all the photos . I'm normally not a fan of skippers but the skippers over there are really nice...Love that gorgeous Flashing Flat ! I must plan and hope to visit this place one day .
I will update the identities of those butterflies, Aaron. Thanks for tracking down the names.
Chng,
I hope that you visit the place. You will certainly have a great time and see so much.
Here is a summary of the costs for the 12-night trip. These costs were divided among the 3 of us so weren't too bad. Costa Rica would be expensive, though, if you were not in a small group. Now is a good time to go since they set their prices in USD. The AUD is strong at the moment and I imagine the same would be true of the Singapore dollar and Malay Ringgit. USD are accepted everywhere so there is no need to convert to Costa Rican Colones.
TACA flights: $500 LAX<-> San Jose
20 Aug: Suena Azul (1 night stay awaiting transfer to Rara Avis). Suena Azul was a lodge in the little town of Horquetas. Great place for butterflies with big gardens. Pricey place but the grounds were great for butterflies.
$156/night + food ($20/dinner)
21-25 Aug: Rara Avis: remote lodge that is at the end of a horrible 3-4 hour tractor ride up into the mountains. Unfortunately, it may close in the next few months since they have lost their primary customer. The location is too remote for most ecotourists. It will be sad if it shuts down since it is such a great place and many range restricted animals can be found here.
26-28 Aug: La Selva Biological Station. I spent nearly 6 weeks here in 1980 so it was great to see the place again. It was hardly recognizable with so much construction. Now, a village has been constructed for the the biologists and is the premier site for biological studies in the Central American tropics. It has an excellent trail system that resembles paved "sidewalks" for the first 2km or so out from the headquarters. After that, the trails were muddy and more difficult. Las Selva is located in the lowlands of the same watershed as Rara Avis. They have succeeded in protecting the entire watershed from the top of the high Volcan Barva to the lowlands. This is important for the long-term conservation of many birds in particular that move in rainforest from the upper montane areas to the lowlands depending upon weather and food. Species like Bare-necked Umbrellabirds and Three-wattled Bellbirds are examples of these altitudinal migrants.
$20 taxi ride from Rara Avis headquarters (Horquetas) to La Selva
29Aug-1 Sep: Arenal Observatory Lodge, Volcan Arenal. Top place that is much like Fraser's Hill with extensive gardens and lots of butterflies.
$285 for a room with 3 bunks, communal facilities. Included a superb buffet breakfast but lunch/dinner were extra ($20 each). http://www.arenalobservatorylodge.com/index.php
Transfers from airport -> Suena Azul, La Selva -> Volcan Arenal, Volcan Arenal-> airport: We used "Anywhere Costa Rica". They were efficient and always arrived on time.
$440 for the 3 transfers that each were 2-3 hour drives. "Anywhere Costa Rica" can do all bookings but we only used them for the transport portion of the trip. We made all other bookings directly with the lodges. http://www.anywherecostarica.com/
I was told by the various people at the resorts that April is probably the best time for butterflies on the Caribbean slope since it is the hottest, driest month. April is also peak season with regards to tourists so places would be much busier than what I experienced. The wet season was not as difficult as I had anticipated and there were always a few hours of sun each day before the torrential rains arrived. I enjoyed the dramatic thunderstorms and sometimes was caught out in these. I just put on my raincoat and sheltered under trees until the storm passed. These usually did not last more than an hour or two. After the rain, there was a surge of activity (birds, butterflies ... and a Fer-de-Lance!) when the sun re-emerged.
Young Member
. I'm normally not a fan of skippers but the skippers over there are really nice...Love that gorgeous Flashing Flat ! I must plan and hope to visit this place one day
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