Views from Cerro Chai
Tag Archives: Costa Rica
500,000 hectares
Zak, the station director at Las Cruces OTS, talks about La Amistad Biosphere Reserve atop Cerro Chai. The NAPIRE students from the Pacific Islands were surprised at the summit: there was just more forests and mountains at the top… not ocean!
The first hike around Sendero Chai
Jason and Alice hike down the mountain near Sendero Chai.
Hike Down Sendero Chai
Down Cerro Chai, some students spotted a dark-morph Crested Owl. Daniel (aka Bird) takes a photo through binoculars with his iPhone.
Hiking with other mentors at Las Alturas
A climbing fern
The ends of these ferns have a small hairy, root-like structure that may be used to attach to nearby growing plants.
Moss forest
Cecropia and Ants
Upon disturbing the leaves, Azteca ants rush out to protect their host plant, which provide food and shelter for them. I’ve posted a little about Cecropia before here and here.
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Stonefly exuvia
The molt or exoskeleton left over after an aquatic stonefly emerged as an adult from a river in Las Alturas.
Brown, leaf-mimicking, katydid
Edit: Tip of the hat to Pat Lorch for communicating a likely sub-family (Phaneropterinae) and genus (Orophus) of this katydid. The white, flattened structures on the forelegs are tympana (eardrums).
