Costa Rica

Part I - Tortuguero

In March 2006 Dr. Mike Dorcas (my undergraduate thesis advisor) invited me along on what is fast becoming an annual trip to Costa Rice. He was planning to take a group of several students and another Davidson Professor (Dr. Verna Case) back to Tortugero. Tony Mills (an environmental educator from SREL) somehow managed to tag along for the ride. Unlike our previous trips, we decided to not stay as long in Tortuguero this trip and take a couple of days to see some of the rest of the country. I decided to stay on a few extra days and go see some areas on the west coast. I couldn't wait to get back to the jungle and see more of what Costa Rica had to offer.

Here's the crew (from left to right) - Shannon Pittman, me (J.D. Willson), Dr. Mike Dorcas, Wes Anderson, Tony Mills, Amy Jendrek, and Dr. Verna Case

We arrived in San Jose and left early the next morning for our first destination, the small village of Tortuguero on the Northeast (Atlantic) coast. After a lengthy (and bumpy) bus ride we hopped aboard a boat for the last leg of the journey. As we sped down the river, the jungle wildlife began to reveal itself... (photo by Verna Case)

Brown Pelicans and cormorant (photo by Verna Case)

Roseate Spoonbills (photo by Verna Case)

Howler Monkey (photo by Verna Case)

... and soon began finding herps...

Ameiva quadralineata

Another common anuran: Bransford's Eleuthrodactylus (Eleuthrodactylus bransfordii)

Side note: I think this is about the prettiest photo of an ugly brown frog I've ever taken

After a couple of hikes with no snakes seen we were beginning to get discouraged. The suspense only make the moment more exciting when Tony flipped a palm frond, revealing this gorgeous Coral Snake (Micrurus alleni).

This was my first Costa Rican Coral Snake. What a start to the Trip!

In a village as small as Tortuguero the word spreads quickly that there are a bunch of crazy Americans out looking for snakes. One afternoon a local woman stopped us in town, telling us to follow her. She led us to several men who were clearing a home site in second-growth forest. As it turns out they had located two Boa Constrictors and were more than happy to have us relocate them. Luckily Tony had come along with the explicit goal of climbing for a boa and was happy to take one for the team.

Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor)

It seems that some of the best finds are always right around the hotel and this trip proved no exception.

A cool little puffer I caught on a hand line.

After several visits to Tortuguero I have found that walking the path along the water is about the best way to catch arboreal snakes. This stunner was found sleeping at night in a sea grape bush.

Satiny Parrot Snake (Leptophis depressirostris)

Walking the trail by day I spotted a green vine that looked out of place...

Green Vine Snake (Oxybelis fulgidus)

(photo by Wes Anderson)

(photo by Wes Anderson)

We stopped by a small cave to see the few bats that had not yet emerged for the night (photo by Shannon Pittman)

Not far down the trail Mike spotted our only snake of the night.

Eyelash Palm Viper (Bothreichis shlegelii)

Tony nabbed this little beauty. Hands down the prettiest "little brown skink" I've seen.

Diploglossus bilobatus

We also spent a good amount of time spotlighting along the river at night. Small Caiman were everywhere.

Specticled Caiman (Caimen crocodylus) - (photos by Shannon Pittman)

We also saw many lizards sleeping on branches above the river

Green Basilisk (Basiliscus plumifroms) - photo by Wes Anderson

Tony nabbed this beast

Smoky Jungle Frog (Leptadactylus pentadactylus) - photo by Shannon Pittman

On the second-to-last day we took a hike down the beach to some trails in second-growth forest. As usual, wildlife was everywhere...

Great Blue Heron - photo by Verna Case

photo by Verna Case

Howler Monkey - photo by Verna Case

Morpho Butterfly - photo by Verna Case

Collared Aracari - photo by Verna Case

Not far down the trail our guide "little Tony" spotted this... we had all walked right past it

Boa constrictor in ambush posture

Intent on finding a small fossorial snake I started raking every leaf pile and rotten log I could find. To my surprise it wasn't a snake I found...

Caecilian - Gymnophis multiplicata

On the last day we took a long boat ride to an area we had never explored before - photo by Shannon Pittman

- photo by Verna Case

A quick grab/dive yielded this...

Black River Turtle (Rhinoclemmys funerea) - photo by Wes Anderson

Although we had a great stay in Tortuguero and caught more than our share of herps, there was one thing that surprised me: the lack of eyelash vipers. This is typically the most common snake we find in Tortuguero and this trip we had only found one. On the boat ride back, we made a lunch stop in another part of the National Park and of course we took the time to go herping. As it turns out, this short stop would make our trip for eyelash vipers, with five found in about 30 minutes. I won't post the final tallies of how many each person found...

Eyelash Palm Vipers (Bothreichis shlegelii)

With that final surprise, we headed up the river and back to San Jose. This was my fourth time visiting Tortuguero and, as always, it was fantastic. The jungle and wildlife there is amazing, and the herping was better than expected. We saw lots of the "usual suspects" (Bothriechis, boas, Leptophis, Oxybelis) as well as a couple of great new finds (Micrurus, Caecilian, etc). Most of all, it was a great group to spend five days lost in the jungle with. For me though, the trip was only just beginning. I was most excited to travel around Costa Rica some and see some of the other ecosystems in the country.

We left Tortuguero in high spirits, next stop... the Monteverde Cloud Forest...