Pura Vida 6: Lizards and Turtles of the Bosque

A Thecadactylus rapicauda found outside of a lab building one night.

Sphenomorphus cherriei I startled up from some litter. This skink species is difficult to bring to hand.

Sceloporus variabilis from Guanacaste's dry forest.

Norops limifrons, the slender anole, a common species.

Norops lemurinis. I would find individuals of this species sleeping at night, perched on leaves as above. It seems like they would make easy prey for arboreal snakes, like Leptodeira.

Norops humilus, the most common anole. Male's of this species have an red dewlap fringed by yellow.

Norops carpenteri, readily identified by the white eye ring. Males have an orange dewlap rimmed with yellow.

Lepidophyma flavimaculata, my first night lizard of the family Xantusidae. These are most often found by flipping cover objects. Occasionally they are found foraging nocturnally at the mouth of their homes (hole of some sort).

Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma, flipped by my brother. This is the only shot I got off before they poor animal dropped his tail.

Unidentified Norops species?

Iguana iguana.

Gonatodes albogularis captured on a building.

Corytophanes cristattus, a super badass lizard.

Chelydra acutirostris. Imagine my surprise when I pulled a damn snapping turtle out of a swamp.... in Costa Rica??? This was a super feisty individual who snapped incessantly at me.

Rhinoclemmys annulata can be found chilling in the middle of a trails, nowhere near water.

A large Rhinoclemmys funerea with a 10 inch long carapace. I found this species both in and out of the swamps.

Roadcruising Riffs: 10

Dirty Sweet - Baby Come Home



Get out and catch some amphibians...

BH

Hawai'i Teaser...

Ahh the wonders of modern technology, thanks to Molly's Panasonic Lumix.

Enjoy...

BH

Pura Vida 5: Leaf-litter Amphibians

While walking through the forests of Costa Rica, an observant person can enjoy a wide variety of frog species inhabiting the forest floor. Many of these amphibians live low to or in the ground, among the leaves, preying upon a variety of food sources. Common prey items for smaller leaf-litter frogs are invertebrates, such as ants, beetles, or spiders. However, as you might predict, larger frogs eat larger prey items, such as other frogs, lizards, or even small mammals. Costa Rican frogs come in a variety of sizes. I measured young individuals of the genera Craugastor and Pristimantis as small as 6 mm in total length. Conversely, large toads, tree frogs, or Leptodactylus pentadactylus can easily reach the size of a human fist.

Chaunas (Bufo) marinus

Cane toads (Chaunas marinus) are commonly found hopping around man-made structures at night. Although an invasive exotic species in many other parts of the world, the Cane toad is native and incredibly common in Costa Rica.

Incilius melanochlorous

Incilius coccifer

Incilius valliceps?

Rhaebo haematiticus

A common denizen of the rainforest floor, Rhaebo haematiticus is cryptically-patterned. Some individuals can have pronounced "eye-spot" markings located toward the rear of their back.

Craugastor crassidigitus

Craugastor mimus

Craugastor bransfordii

This small litter frog is the most common amphibian found on the grounds of La Selva Biological Station. Although variable in color, it is often a mottled brown (as above) with tubercles marking the skin. It can usually be identified by its white throat, yellow stomach, and red groin. Unlike many other congeners, however, it lacks toe pads.

Craugastor megacephalus

I like to refer to this species as Craugastor largehead. Although it can be readily identified by its "large head", no other anuran species has a white spotted throat and stomach. This species was puzzling for me, however, as I only had success finding them on one trail.

Craugastor fitzingeri

C. fitzingeri is often found nocturnally perched on or near the forest floor during light rain.

Craugastor noblei. Quite uncommon, but they could be reliably turned up at my study site.

Craugastor talamancae. Like noblei, this uncommon species did inhabit my study site.

Diasporus diastema, the ubiquitous "tink" frog, known for the call it makes at night.

Pristimantis cerasinus can be identified by the dark red coloration on the back of its legs (not shown above). I had success finding this species perched on vegetation a few feet above the ground.

Pristimantis ridens is identified by tubercles above its eyes.

Gastrophryne pictiventris. I suspect this species is not commonly encountered due to its fossoriality. However, I did flip the one above under a palm leaf, and I found two moving out during a storm.

Oophaga pumilio. Incredibly common, incredibly beautiful. And for some silly reason, I never got a picture I'm pleased with. This species has some remarkable reproductive behavior. Unlike hylid species that lay eggs in or near large water sources, female O. pumilio lay fertilized eggs in moist leaf litter. Eventually, the males collect the hatching tadpoles on their back and carry them to bromeliads, where they are deposited. In these small "cups" of water, the tadpoles develop further, feeding on unfertilized eggs deposited by their mother.

Dendrobates auratus. Larger than O. pumilio (and more toxic?), these frogs are fun to photograph.

Phyllobates lugubris, the least commonly found but perhaps prettiest of La Selva's 3 dart frog species. This individual was scared out from underneath some leafy detritus.

Hawaii Blues

Best feeling ever - a cold shower on burnt skin.

First few days were all rain. Last two days I fried myself to try and make up for it.

New few days are going to suck.

So any animals?

Herp poor but wildlife rich. More to come soon...

BH

Field Gear: Cameras

I finally got around to photographing some of the gear that I take in the field.  I always enjoy seeing and knowing what other people use.  The amount of individual variation is remarkable, and the passion people feel for certain items is even more so.  This list is by no means all inclusive, and I will tailor my stuff depending on times of the year, location, and my goals.

My pack and most of its usual components.

Camera

I shoot Nikon.  I'm not going to get all crazy and rant and rave about Nikon, while bashing the other systems.  I chose Nikon a few years back based on what I felt was the best camera in my price point at the time.  I paid careful attention to look to some of my future aspirations, and I still have yet to "outgrow" my camera.  I felt Nikon had some of the best options for artificial lighting, and as you will see I rely heavily on this in my photography.  My body does most of all I need it to do.  If my photography is found lacking, it is due to my own errors, or some of my glass.

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake Sistrurus catenatus, Nikon D200, Tamron 90mm, natural lighting

Blandings Turtle Emydoidea blandingii, Nikon D200, Nikon 55-200mm, natural lighting and fill flash

Iguana iguana, Nikon D200, Nikon 55-200, natural lighting and fill flash

The Nikon 55-200 is a great cheap lens in the right situations.  If you have plenty of available light, are able to use a f8-14, and the middle of its range (70- 150?) it performs remarkably well for a lens of its price point.  When really pushed or stretched to its limits though...

Wood Turtle, Glyptemys insculpta, Nikon D200, Nikon 55-200mm, poor light, hastily shot

I my opinion, my Nikon system really shines in it's lighting.  I utilize a number of different techniques - natural lighting hand-held, tripod, on camera flash, on camera flash firing a hand help SB900 and my D200 or SB900 wirelessly firing the Nikon R1 are just a few.  In macro, the lighting is key.

A couple examples of my D200 wireless firing a handheld SB900.

Smilisca baudini

Everglades National Park, Burmese Python Python morulus, shot at night

And the SB900 firing the R1 system, my favorite, once I get over the 3 eye highlights.

Dendrobates auratus, Nikon D200, Tamron 90, Nikon SB900, Nikon R1

Cruziohyla calcarifer, Nikon D200, Tamron 90, SB900, Nikon R1

And some wide angle shots using the Sigma 10-20 and the Nikon D200

Gopherus agassizii, Nikon D200, Sigma 10-20

When using a tripod, I sport the Kirk Mighty Low-Boy.  It gets completely flat and is compact, perfect for herp shooting.  It is heavy though, and I don't always carry it in the pack.

The Mighty Low-Boy and some other things we will discuss another day.

Point and shoot cameras still have a place.  Some of my favorite shots have been taken with my old point and shoot Pentax.  I take crappy pictures all the time with both rigs, but I find I can obtain a higher percentage of keepers in less time and effort using the Nikon system.

For Hawaii I will be taking my wife's Panasonic Lumix DMC TS1, an all purpose little point and shoot with underwater capabilities.  Although it only goes about 10 feet underwater, the newer model TS2 is rated to 33 feet underwater.  I will be using this while snorkeling in Hawaii and hope to show off some images, crappy or otherwise.

Anyway, I will try and discuss other odds and ends in my pack, my night lighting, binocs and snake wrangling tools.  So whats in your pack?

BH

Game of Thrones...

Gonna be sweet.



I have been rewatching HBO's the wire recently - what a masterpiece. HBO knows how to make great TV. If the amount of advertising and hype HBO is putting into this project is any indication of their dedication, this will be huge. The trailers themselves are extremely impressive and I can't wait for this to drop on Apr 17th.

Now if only GRRM would finish the next book...

BH