A few odds and ends...

Hola!

At long last, another update from Monteverde.  After several days of wind and rain, some beautiful weather has allowed for a little more birding and photography.  For example, this lovely Motmot from yesterday morning.

Blue-crowned Motmot (Momotus momota)

And our own little version of the Red-bellied Woodpecker:

Hoffman's Woodpecker (Melanerpes hoffmannii)

And in a rare attempt at being artistic (hah) a long-exposure shot down a hollow tree:

Tree

Ok, so I have been battling with these Sceloporus lizards that hang out on the walls here for some time now.  They have a wonderful knack of remaining perfectly still until exactly the moment when you are close enough to shoot, then running into a crack.  So finally I switched from the macro to the less-desirable telephoto to get the shots.  I am not entirely pleased with the results, but at least you can see the lizards.

Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus malachitis) male

Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus malachitis) female

A few points of herp news to report: my co-volunteer had a sighting of a Black-tailed Cribo on a tour, which I was able to confirm on a video.  I searched extensively but to no avail.  Also, another co-volunteer claims to have seen a Montane Pit-Viper on a day off (unconfirmed), so I'm headed to that location next time I'm free.  Also, yesterday I somehow merited an invitation on a collecting trip down the mountain and found that lower elevations seem much more productive for reptiles.  Unfortunately we were there for a very short time just before dark, but I did glimpse many small  (and some larger) lizards.  I was informed by my Costa Rican co-worker that there were many venomous snakes there and it was very dangerous.  I tried to nod gravely but couldn't hide a smile.  Nonetheless we were not to see any snakes, but did find some Howler Monkeys which was cool.

Anyway I'm off, but will try to update again soon!

Cheers!
Kyle