Costa Rica, part 2: Rara Avis, August 2012

[moloch05]

(part 1 is here: http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...es-5373/trip-costa-rica-august-2012-a-192095/)


I will continue next with photos of Rara Avia, a magical place located at about 700m elevation on the same watershed as La Selva. It is situated on the boundary of Braulio Carillo NP, a huge preserve that is not open to the public. Rara Avis is located next to one of the few trail heads into this pristine national park.

This area was extremely wet with a high annual rainfall. Because of this, branches and tree trunks were totally covered with epiphytes. Trails were also difficult and I sometimes sank knee deep in mud. This wet forest was home to a number of localized birds and I hoped to add a few of these that I missed back in 1980. On this trip, I did see a single Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, many Emerald Tanagers and a few Ashy-headed Tanagers but birds like the Yellow-eared Toucanet, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Blue-and-Gold Tanager and Black-headed Antthrush continued to elude me.

The journey to Rara Avis commenced from this small office in the village of Horquetas.

A four-wheel drive tractor ride was necessary to reach the lodge. The road was not bad at first but was absolutely shocking for the last few kms. I did not realize that a tractor could tackle such conditions. We had to hang on continuously and there was little chance to birdwatch or to take photos. Our driver did stop once to point out a King Vulture that was circling high overhead. Ted later saw another at low level at the bridge next to the lodge.

The road crossed farms at lower levels but higher up there were more extensive patches of forest.

We spent five nights at Rara Avis. The first night was in a cabin that was situated a few hundred meters up a trail from the headquarters in a secluded patch of forest. It was a lovely place with the sound of the Sarapiqui River roaring in the background. We shared the cabin with big native rats that chewed on the walls during the night. More concerning to me was awakening with a Blood-sucking Conenose (big reduviid) on an adjacent window screen. These can be vectors of Chagas Disease so I am never pleased to sleep with them.

The trail to the cabin was wet and slippery. Even though I was careful, I fell nearly everytime that I made the walk between the cafeteria and the cabin. This was not good for Ted who was recovering from an ankle injury so we relocated to "the hotel" on our second night. The balcony on the second floor had a great view of the surrounding forest and we often sat there and birdwatched during wet weather. We observed flocks of tanagers including Bay-headed, Silver-throated, Emerald, Golden-masked and Black-and-Yellow at close range. We also watched a small troop of White-faced Monkeys one day as they foraged in the nearby forest.

Here is a shot of the cafeteria. It was a great place for seeing animals. We watched many mixed flocks of tanagers as they passed through nearby fruiting trees. At night, we heard Kinkajou, Least Pygmy Owls, Pauraque and saw large forest rats. A Baird's Tapir walked into the clearing near the lodge a few times during the week before our arrival. We were not so lucky and only observed tapir tracks in the mud.

This Coati Mundi was often sighted near the cafeteria. It was not exactly tame but it was used to seeing people so would only run a short distance before continuing with its search for food.

Rara Avis was a beautiful place. One of the nicest views of the area was of the waterfalls from the Mirador lookout. This area was about a half-hour walk from the cafeteria.

River and habitat:

For me, the highlight was walking into Braulio Carillo NP. It was just so lush and beautiful. Here are a few shots of the area.

Branches and tree trunks were totally covered:

wet forest

Bromeliads were numerous:

... as were the lovely Heliconia flowers including a species with yellow flowers:

I very nearly stepped on a Fer-de-Lance here about noon one day. There had been a torrential shower for an hour or so earlier in the morning. Finally, there was a break and the sun re-emerged. I was about an hour's walk into the park and was heading back quickly towards the headquarters. I put my boot down right next to a Fer-de-Lance that was crossing the trail. These are normally nocturnal snakes but this one was perhaps disturbed by the rain. The snake fortunately crawled rapidly into cover without biting me.

Fer-de-Lance were certainly hard to see. After nearly stepping on this one, it headed into a sheltered area and the coiled while still keeping an eye on me:

I saw Cope's or Blunt-headed Vine Snakes (Oxybelis brevirostris) on a couple of occasions.

I saw this big Bird-eating Snake (Pseutes poecilonotus) one afternoon along the "El Plastico" trail.

Water Anoles (Norops oxylophis) were common along creeks and even at the cafeteria. One of these displayed at me while I took its photo.

Rainbow Ameiva (Ameiva festiva) were common near our accommodation

Rara Avis produced a couple of species of frogs that I really wanted to see on this trip. The top of my frog wish-list was for a Crowned Tree-Frog (Anotheca spinosa). I was lucky and found one of these rare frogs on my first night. It was about the first frog encountered and wow, what an amazing creature it was! It hardly moved at all while I took photos.

Glass Frogs (Centrolenella ilex) were also high on the wish list. We hired a guide who showed us several of these gorgeous creatures. Their bodies are translucent, hence the name.

Strawberry Dart Frogs (Oophaga pumilio or Dendrobates pumilio) were seen a few times. Their body size was noticeably larger than those at La Selva. These little guys were quite wary and usually jump away and then hide beneath leaves when disturbed.

These pretty Smilisca phaeota were seen near the cafeteria is a small pond.

Coqui Tree Frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui) were seen once:

Common Tink Frog (Diasporus diastema)

Mimic Leaf Frog (Craugastor mimus)

Brilliant Forest Frog (Rana warszewitischii)

Pygmy Rain Frog (Pristimantis ridens)

Common Woodnymphs were the most abundant butterfly near the verbenna flowers. This was a male. In the second photo, the bird was drying itself after a heavy thundershower.

Woodcreeper. I saw many of these but they were often hard to recognize.

More flowers from Braulio Carillo:

"Hot Lips"

One of the most exciting encounters was with this animal one afternoon. I walked about an hour from the headquarters to a small stream. I stopped just before reaching it to check for butterflies. A Puma suddenly jumped onto the rocks from the opposite bank. It had not seen me and was walking towards me. I thought that it might panic if it was too close when it detected me so I clapped once. The animal heard the sound but did not know the sou
rce. It looked up and down the creek and this gave me the chance to lift the camera and focus. I took this shot when it looked in my direction. The flash frightened the lion and it turned and raced away. What an experience! I could not help but look over my shoulder often on the return trip. My imagination also was animated when on lone night walks.

These Satyrs (Pierella helvetia) were one of the most common butterflies in the forest interior. They tended to fly just a few cms above the surface of the ground and were hard to follow. They had lovely rose patches on their hindwings but usually would snap their wings closed after a beat or two following landing.

Rusted Clearwing Satyrs (Cithaerias pireta) were fairly common in the forest understorey.

... more tomorrow

 

[Dash667]

Some fantastic photo's!! Your seriously making my feet itch! Off to Costa Rica next, me thinks!

 

[PythonOwner25]

Stunning shots!

 

[WomaBoy]

Lovee the vine snakes

 

[saratoga]

incredible post and images. What a fantastic adventure.

 

[Womagaunt]

Wow great photos!!!

 

[Rob]

Awesome post and pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RSPcrazy]

That little Glass Frogs eyes are amazing, it kind of has that "if you loved me you would do it" look in its eyes.

That big cat must of been a highlight for the trip, I bet their was a lot of "what if's" running through your head at the time.

Great shots, thanks for sharing.

 

[thals]

Absolutely amazing!!

 

[moloch05]

Thanks very much, everyone. RSPcrazy, I did wonder about any sound that I heard off the trail while heading back to the headquarters. I never expected to see a Puma, especially as such close range.





This member of satyrinae was sometimes seen on the grassy lawns at the headquarters

... a forest satyrinae:

Here is one of the beautiful Glasswing Ithomiinae. I only saw them a few times and generally, they stayed to high for photos. As with the clearwings, they were very hard to follow in the darkness of the forest interior.

This Cydno Longwing (Heliconius cydno) was found asleep at night on a branch that was overhanging a small stream.

These metalmarks were by the far the most common butterfly in the forest interior. I often flushed them from beneath leaves as I walked along the trails. They would zip back and forth for a minute or two before realighting beneath another leaf. I occasionally saw a species with mostly blue upper wings and another that was mostly white but I never was able to obtain a photo. Here are shots of males and a female. I believe that these are all the same species (Mesosemia asa) but that may not be correct.

Here is another species of metalmark. This male would land on the tops of leaves, dance about for a moment and then zip off to another leaf. Sometimes, it would creep backwards until it was haning over the edge of a leaf. It seemed as if it was displaying to another butterfly but I did not see others of this species in the area.

Beautiful butterfly with translucent wings but I cannot find a name. I believe that it is an ithomiinae but am not certain. It unfortunately only allowed this quick snap before it flew up into the canopy.

Skippers with swallow-tails were abundant along the ride up the mountain. I did see a few at Rara Avis but I think that they were more common in the open country further down the mountain. This one landed next to the trail in the half light of an overcast dawn.

These Radiant Skippers (Callimormus radiola) were tiny.

These day-flying moths were very colourful. I often mistook them for Glasswings in flight but then they would land with open wings beneath leaves.

Ted took a photo of this nice lycaenid with blue upperwings. I saw them a few times but could not obtain a decent photo.

Banded Owl Butterflies (Caligo atreus) were seen a few times. These were the same species as I flushed at La Selva.

Army Ants were occasionally sighted. There often were mixed flocks of birds that moved with the front of a raiding party to capture animals disturbed by the ants.

Leaf-cutter Ants were very common.

Katydid

Phasmids:

Nicely marked Weevils (second photo was by Ted)

Interesting harvestman:

I saw small tarantulas a few times:

Net-casting Spider

huntsman?

The streams supported several species of fish including this pretty species:

... Volcan Arenal will be next

 

[saratoga]

David what camera setup are you using nowadays? It seems to cover everything from macro, through wide angle to telephoto, flash and obviously stands up well to rainforest conditions as well as producing great images in your hands.

 

[wasgij]

Wow, jealous as always. Feeling very green indeed

 

[JasonL]

Oh man those frogs are crazy!!

 

[moloch05]

Thanks, Greg, wasgij and Jason.

Greg,
I use a variety of lenses. The butterfly shots are usually with a Tamron 180mm macro, reptile shots usually with a Canon 100mm macro and habitat shots either with a Sigma 10-22mm wide angle lens or a Canon 50mm lens.


Jason,
The frogs were incredible and often so nicely coloured/patterned. I found out elsewhere that I had 2 species of glass frogs. The first photo was indeed a Centrolenella ilex but the others were the smaller Dwarf of Spined Glass Frog (Teratohyla spinosa).


Regards,
David

 

[RobynTRR]

Love that Crowned tree frog!

 

[JM1982]

Amazing photos, nice work David.
Thanks for sharing.
-Jay

 

[GreenLuke]

Pictures of frogs are amazing !

 

[moloch05]

Thanks very much, everyone!


We spent a single night at Suena Azul while awaiting the transfer to Rara Avis the following morning. The grounds were nice and we saw a number of birds, butterflies and a few herps on our single afternoon noon and the following morning. The lodge was near the Rio Sarapiqui and there were patches of tall forest (secondary?) in places.

There were several ponds on the grounds of the lodge. These were the home to numerous caimans that we saw at night.

The adult male Brown Basilisk (Basiliscus vittatus) was basking in the early morning sun near our room. It seemed quite tame and allowed us to approach for photos.

We also saw what I assume is a female Green Basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons). She was shy and we could only take shots at a distance.

These large frogs were common on the lawns at night. I think that they were Rana vaillanti.

Butterflies were numerous especially near a stand of lantana. One of the common species at these flowers was the White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae):

Banded Peacocks (Anartia fatima) were the most numerous butterfly.

I watched a single Banner Metalmark (Thisbe lycorias) as it rested beneath palm fronds and then fed at the lantana flowers.

This checkerspot (Chlosyne janais) was particularly colourful.

This rodent was sheltering beneath the canopy over the walkway near our unit.

Giant Squirrel:

These bats were seen a few times.

nice moth:

... Volcan Arenal will be next

 

[Bananapeel]

Wow! Must have been an amazing trip. Can't wait till I leave home (still a couple of years yet haha! Year 8 - it sucks) Those are some of the most amazing animals I have ever seen. They are absolutely stunning! fuming with jealousy!
Those frogs are gorgeous and that puma must have been a big shock. I wouldn't have been able to contain myself! the puma would be gone in an instant.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[moloch05]

Thanks, Bananapeel.




VOLCAN ARENAL

After La Selva, we moved to the Observatory Lodge of Arenal. This was about a 3 hour ride. Arenal supports patches of primary and secondary forest mixed with agricultural lands. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge and I highly recommend it to anyone travelling to this part of Costa Rica. The grounds of the lodge were enormous and it reminded me a little of walking at Fraser's Hill with paved walkways and manicured gardens. Many of the plants were flowering and butterflies were abundant.

Here are a couple of shots of the Volcano. It has been quiet since 2010 and at the moment, it is just venting steam and other gases from the summit.

There were areas with primary forest within a km or two from the lodge. Here are shots of such areas. This was again a wet forest although not as wet as that of Rara Avis and Braulio Carillo NP.

Here is a shot of a waterfall in primary forest. This area was about a half-hour walk from our accommodation.

Colourful flower near the falls.

I saw this butterfly near the falls. Eresia ithomioides alsina

I saw this nicely coloured butterfly a couple of times. This group is difficult but I think that it is an ithomiid, possibly a Mimic Tigerwing (Melinaea lilis). These species are so hard to identify.

Another one of the hard-to-identify species. Its pattern resembles that of Tithorea tarricina

I saw Cydno Longwings (Heliconius cydno) a few times in the forest. They don't usually land low enough for photos.

I was pleased on this trip to see several Great Currasow. This female with two young were observed along the trail to the falls in primary forest. I watched the female pluck and eat leaves. Back in 1980, this was a hard bird to see and I only saw a few in the remote Corcovado NP.

Spotted Antbird. I saw these fairly often at Volcan Arenal. They usually fed at army ant swarms in mixed flocks. Spotted Antbirds usually kept near the front of the advancing swarm of ants and would drop down to catch invertebrates that were trying to escape from the ants. At Arenal, I saw birds like Carmiol's Tanagers, Plain Xenops, Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers, Slaty Antwrens, Spotted Woodcreepers and others at the swarms.

Here is a shot of Ted and Cindy at the cabin where we stayed. We had a nice view of the surrounding garden and primary rainforest further down the slope. This place was said to be good for the gorgeous Lovely Cotinga but we were not lucky enough to see one. We did hear the incredible, metallic song of Three-wattled Bellbirds. Tanagers, euphonias and hummingbirds were abundant in the gardens. The second shot below is of a male Passerini or Scarlet-rumped Tanager.

Here is a shot of the primary forest below our cabin:

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.

There were nice gardens near our cabin and near the headquarters. The flowering plants attracted many butterflies.

Flashing Flat (Celaenorrhinus aegiochus). Isn't this skipper fantastic? It was one of my favourites and so brightly coloured when in good light. These were big skippers.

Here is another skipper without the white markings of the Flashing Flat. The body shape and size were the same but I assume that it must be a different species. I was not able to find anything like it on the butterfly website for North and Central America.

Guava Skippers (Phocides polybius) were seen early every morning near our cabin. After that, they vanished.

Nigrescens Skipper (Phocides metrodorus) were stunning. These were huge and colourful skippers.

Here is a shot of one of the swallow-tailed skippers (Chioides sp). Skippers with swallowtails seemed to be the norm at Volcan Arenal.

Long-tailed Skippers (Urbanus proteus) were nicely marked.

I think that this must be another species since the wing spots are different from those of the Long-tailed Skipper above.

Polythrix sp.

Spineless Silverdrop (Epargyreus aspina). This was another large species of skipper. I only saw it twice.

Swallowtails in the genus Parides were abundant. They were so hard to photograph since they rarely stayed at a flower for more than a second or two. The following species was the most abundant.

1) I believe that it is a True Cattleheart (Parides eurimedes)
2) Iphidamas Cattleheart (Parides iphidamas) were fairly common
3) Green-celled Cattleheart (Parides childrenae) were very common. I attempted many photos but this was the best that I could come up with. They just don't stop moving and seem to bounce from flower to flower.
4 & 5) This Parides was tiny. I only saw a few of these from time to time
6) Here is what I think to be a male Green-celled Cattleheart (Parides childrenae):

Doris Longwing (Heliconius doris) was a new species to me. I think that the Parides must be mimicing the colour pattern of this heliconiinae. I initially that that this was another Parides when I spotted it but thought it strange that the behaviour was so different. This one flew slowly and remainded for much longer at a flower than did the frenetic Parides Swallowtails.

Banded Peacock (Anartia fatima) was seen a few times.

Satyrinae:
1) This Gold-stained Satyr (Cissia pseudoconfusa) was beautiful. I only encountered this single individual.
2) I think that this was a Blue-gray Satyr (Magneuptychia libye)
3) Wide-banded Satyr (Pareuptychia metaleuca)?

Pierids:

Four-eyed Possum. This little guy became confused with the bright light so it just sat down.

Cindy took this shot of an Armadillo as she was walking back to the cabin from the headquarters one morning.

Montezuma Oropendola: these giant icterids were a frequent sight and sound.

We did not see many interesting insects at night but did find a few interesting animals. The following katdyds were crytically coloured.

Sprouting fenceposts were a common sight in rural Costa Rica.

Here is a final shot of the lovely Volcan Arenal.