Anoles and crickets were abundant within the channel of the Río San Lorencito. The two pair here were commonly seen, and I watched one pair pictured for nearly an hour in hopes that the anole would pounce on the cricket. Unfortunately, the anole was too fearful of being prey itself to make a move. I believe the anole is Norops humilis, but since it´s a juvenile or female, I can´t be sure. As for the cricket, perhaps I can consult Pat Lorch…
Hugo is the head cook, handyman, and trail blazer at San Ramón. He’s been smoking for over 50 years (he said he started when he was seven), calls his cigarettes ‘mi agua’ on long hikes, and put us to shame whenever on such a hike. On top of displaying extreme elegance with a machete in the field (we referred to him as the ‘Manchete’ [Man + Machete]), Hugo is a phenomenal cook and naturalist. That said, I may have found a fault… he mis-identified the picture here as a pizote when looking at the picture through my camera’s LCD. I took his word for it, since I wasn’t aware that pesote is the Spanish name for Coati. After being laughed at in a lab at UCR, some student identified the mammal as a Martilla. Who knew a sixty-some year old man would have trouble looking at a picture on a 2″ camera screen…
A couple students at UCR had an entomology examine Friday on Coleoptera (beetles). They identified a couple beetles I had taken photographs of but I forgot to show them this one. Perhaps I’ll ask Monday, but they may have already put Coleoptera out of their minds by then.
Two crabs peeked out from their respective homes in the intertidal zone near Campanario. The hermit crab (right) was pulled from an intertidal pool.
Another marine decapod, this crab hunkered down while I moved the camera closer to get a shot. Fascinating camouflage.
We may have found a new cichild species for the Osa during a trip to Rio Claro. The book Mike used for identification appeared to recognize only one cichlid as inhabiting the Osa, and picture are two distinct species we caught in Rio Claro. I currently don’t have their full IDs, but I believe the one on the right is A. sajica, which was previously known from Osa.
I haven’t seen all that many birds yet and I’ve captured even fewer with photographs, likely because I am usually preoccupied with ground dwelling herps. Here are two that I’ve gotten photographs of though. One is a fly catcher that I have yet to identify (mostly because I’m writing in a bed and the bird book is in the closet…. I guess I’ll call it a Great Kiskadee, although it’s a bit small for that), and the other is a Cherries tanager. Maybe I can get some help on the identifications… Update – it´s a great kiskadee…lame.
A fish caught in Río Tortugo with a hilarious common name.
Allison and Erin handle one of their first freshwater shrimp out of Rio Drake, a river draining agricultural land on the Osa Penninsula that Mike wanted to sample for fish.
Maybe I’m feeling crabby this morning.