On the morning of the 23rd, our classes moved more outdoors for the weekend. Or as Milton would say “Away from America (the ecolodge) and into Costa Rica”. During our time there, we catalogued over 50 bird species that we observed mostly from the deck of our refuge. My personal favorites were the Blue-Grey Tanager, Scarlet-Rump Tanager, and (I think this is the name) Crimson-Collared Tanager. Early the second morning we spotted some type of White Hawks perched on a dead tree a good distance away. We were able to spot them in Miltons 47x scope, and I got a decent picture (considering that I put my camera up to the lens of the scope) that is reproduced for your enjoyment below.
The highlight of the trip, for me, was the spectacular view of the Arenal Volcano, which is one of the most active in the Western Hemisphere. On the first night, most of the girls went to bed, but the guys stayed up later and we saw and heard the volcano erupt many times. The lava streamed down the side like a river of fire. I can’t even describe what it is like to see an erupting volcano and hear it go “Boom!… Boom! Boom!… Boom!Boom!Boom!”. Although it was dark, I was able to take a few 15-second exposures with my camera to caputure the fiery glow of the lava on film. The quality isn’t great, but it should give a small clue to what I saw. The real thing is much more amazing. We could see it again on the last night, and it was even more active… some of the lava streamed all the way to the bottom… but I decided to save those images in my head.
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Volcano Arenal lava flow
Volcano Arenal lava #6 (the morning after)
Lake Arenal, just to the left of the volcano
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The rainforest around San Gerardo
Bryophytes
If there’s one thing I really enjoy, it’s Bryophytes — moss, liverworts, hornworts. I don’t know why… maybe it’s that they are so primitive and tiny. The forests here are full of them. Enjoy the pics!
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Ferns
Ferns are also some of my favorites. You can really see the diversity in the following pictures, and I got only a small sampling. Tiny ferns as small as mosses, ferns with leaves as big as your hand, and tree ferns that open up tall and wide into the canopy. Truly amazing. And sometimes, yes, you see where the red ferns grow.
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Flowers
Surprisingly, there aren’t that many flowers in the rainforest that are easily visible. And the ones that you do see are often quite numerous. Here are a few of the most colourful varieties.
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Plants in general
Plant #1 — A member of the Fabaceae family. Notice the extra-floral nectaries on the main stem, between where the secondary stems connect (it’s a tiny brown circle at almost dead-center in the pic). I pointed this out to Diana, because extra-floral nectaries are generally found only on the Inga genera in this family… but this is not an Inga, because the leaf pattern (not shape) is closer to what you would see on a mimosa. She said this is the first time she has seen this, and she has been studying tropical forests for decades. Nice find, if I do say so myself.
Plant #2 — A member of the Araceae family (Aroids). This is related to the type that we studied in our research project, although the leaf shape is different, and this variety does not have natural holes as far as I can tell.
Plant #3 — A new leaf (still curled up like a tube) grows through a hole in the leaf of a plant above it.
Plant #4 — The fruit / seed pod of some type of tree that I have forgotten. I especially liked the shape, and the firm texture.
Plant #5 — Epiphytes, or, plants that grow on top of other plants. These are everywhere. In this particular picture you can see Liverworts, Lichen, and some species of Orchid (I think) near the background.
Plant #6 — The vicious spines of a member of the Aracaceae family (Palms). Rob grabbed one of these on accident. Ouch.
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The forest at large
Tree #1 — A particularly large tree being overtaken by a Strangler Fig (the vine-like growths on the outside of the trunk). Strangler Figs start out as an epiphyte growing in the top branches of a host tree, then extend to the ground. There it multiplies, surrounding the host tree, stealing sunlight from the top and nutrients from the soil. Eventually the host tree dies, rots away, and you can find really old Stranglers (100+ years) that are hollow in the middle. Due to the vine like structure, you can sometimes get inside them.
Tree #2 — I don’t know what type of tree this is. I initially thought it was dead due to the bare branches and the moss growing all along the branches. Then I noticed that the very tips of the branches held perfectly healthy leaves. Do you see them? I need to look this one up.
Forest view #4 — I really liked this root.
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The dead tree
Dead Tree #1 — There was a gigantic dead tree hanging over the trail. You can’t tell how big it is in this picture. Just try to guess, then take a look at the next picture.
Dead Tree #2, with me underneath
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Insect and other small life
I’ve seen some of the most incredible insects, spiders, and other microlife since coming to Costa Rica. I wish I had pics of them all. Here are a few of the best that I was able to capture on camera while at San Gerardo.
Millipedes — Are they sexing it up?
Baby spiders — So cute, and so small they were difficult to get into focus.
My Anole — We had a scavenger hunt where we had to find various types of plants, insects, and “something else”. This guy fit in the last category. He was so cute I had to take several pictures.
A triangle-shaped spider — This guy looked gnarly! I wish I could have gotten a better angle, but if you’re nerdy, you’ll understand what I mean when I say that he looked like a Star Trek communicator badge.
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The people and the trip
These pics are of us, in various stages of learning. We didn’t really have time to relax. I took a (hopefully) nice panoramic pic from the deck of the refuge, but I haven’t had time to figure out how to use the software to stitch it together. I’m hoping I can somehow make a Quicktime VR movie out of it to post at a later date.
The hike in and out…
Hiking In — Roadside photo-op. L-R: Harris, Adriane, Maggie, Tiffany, Brittany, Rob, Me, Mollie, Susie.
Hiking in #3 — Stopping for a break.
Hiking out #1 — We’re still happy, because we’ve yet to endure the long (and mostly uphill) hike out. Needless to say, there is no photo of what we looked like an hour and a half later. L-R: Milton, Maggie, Diana (sitting), Me, Rob, Adriane (sitting), Tiffany, Brittany, Mollie, Harris.
At the refuge…
Mollie #1 — Mollie decides to take a nap.
Hiking…
Hike #1 — Milton tells us something important, as Oscar (our friend and professional bird guide) finishes eating a Guava fruit off the tree.
Hike #2 — Off we go!
Of course, a trip out into the remote rain/cloud forest wouldn’t be complete without several hikes. Mostly I saw plants, but some people in the other group saw monkeys. I went on an evening hike, in the rain, on the final night… saw glow worms, glowing fungus, and most interestingly, a long vertical bird nest, hanging from a vine just above the trail. Inside we could see the little green bird (a Wren?) sleeping. The nest was intricately weaved, completely enclosed, and kept her dry during the downpour. Amazing. I wish I had a picture.