| Common in the shallower, west fringes of the wetland, I hadn’t encountered more than N. amazonum and N. pulchella prior to this year at Palo Verde. There are at least four other lily species I’m missing that have been documented in the Tempisque basin according to Crow. |  |
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This ostracod (seed shrimp) was stuck swimming in a pool formed atop a water lily. In general, they appear quite abundant, and this particular species/group are relatively large. That said, in the photograph to the left, there is a plant called Wolfiella next to the ostracod that is one of the smallest ‘macrophytes’ out here. In the other two photos you can see the legs or antenna the animal uses to propel itself.
I’ve collected many and may be able to say more about them in the future. |
I encounter leeches commonly in the wetland, particularly associated with decomposing macrophytes. I’ve never seen one attached to me, sucking blood, so I think they aren’t out for blood. Bernald has requested I catch a few, although this one got away after the second photograph…
| You may recall Trimorphodon from the photo I posted here (almost exactly 1 year ago!) and the BioGSC calendar this past year. Again, a fairly aggressive snake, but also very beautiful. This year, I discover that it’s had a name change (T. biscutatus to T. quadrupex). |  |
| A new snake species for me, I had misidentified this juvenile Senticolis (formally Elaphe) triaspis as Trimorphodon quadrupex (now distinct from biscutatus) (Savage and Bolanos 2009 Zootaxa), but the reddish color and round pupils didn’t sit well with me. When I keyed the snake out, I discovered that the juvenile is very different than the adult. Although it’s a very pretty, young constrictor, it’s fairly aggressive and has bitten several times – luckily, I didn’t misidentify a poisonous snake… |  |
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With the photographs I took of the snake, I discovered some anomalies on its head – Ticks! It’s a bit difficult to see here, but there are two ticks, buried deep behind its head. I’ve removed them, but the snake was completely ungrateful. |
Much more active than their adult counterparts, juvenile Ctenosaura seem to occupy the same habitat here as some of the Ameiva (maybe leptophys). Additionally, given that juvenile iguanas are more insectivorous than adults, they share some of the same food sources.
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As I stated before, it’s quite easy to see the rain coming (here and here and here and here too). Huge sheets of rain cloud views of the distance mountains and hills. Although I wasn’t able to photograph it because I quickly shoved my camera in a dry bag, the sheets climbed and draped over the mountain to the right and headed straight for me. They were so heavy, not only was it impossible to see the mountain, but it was difficult to make out a birding tower about 100 m away.
Additionally, I’ve been taking a number of panoramas in the field and quickly stitching the photographs together using Microsoft ICE. They make amazing backgrounds for the new wide-screen displays that are standard on today’s laptops and desktops!
With an f-stop of 1.8, I can start to get some photographs in the understory without the picture turning out completely blurry. It would have been nice to have this lens on the Osa trip last winter, where a dense canopy inhibited my ability to photograph the trail. Here, in Palo Verde, a fast lens isn’t quite a necessary, because the canopy is less dense and it’s always sunny.
I love the clouds.
