Grupo 4/Group 4. Clarissa, Alex, Bethany, David

We started the day waking up early with Steve’s coffee, and shortly after we heard a soft and deep call in the distance. Javier and David R. went to investigate, and found a Mottled Owl (Strix virgata), that shortly after dawn approached its favourite perch to rest. We also found a red-legged tarantula (Brachypelma klassi) roughly the size of Steve’s hand, much to the dismay of family members fortunate enough to get an early photo.

After breakfast, we went for a hike down the Sendero Buho (Owl Trail) into one of the arroyos (dry riverbeds) that run through the terrain. The arroyos are marginally cooler and much greener than the rest of the forest, so it was a nice respite from the heat, and there is often much more animal activity in these gallery forests. There we spent some time observing natural phenomena and brainstorming for our final projects. We found some cool carcasses, including a creepy mummified toad (possibly Rhinella horriblus as this is the largest species to occur here), and the skeleton of a turtle.

We then hiked back up to the field station, where we spent some more time thinking about our projects and recovering from the heat. After lunch we had a few hours free time, where some of us worked on other course work, and others just rested and enjoyed the scenery. Claire, David R., and Bethany did their seminars, where we learned about ecotourism, cloud forests and their conservation ,and species diversity and its relation to ecosystem resilience, stability, and functioning. We then got the chance to see some amazing nocturnal animals: a northern potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis) and a boa constrictor (Boa constrictor)! Some of us were able to hold the boa before we released it at the point where it had been caught.

After dinner, some of us showered to remove the sunscreen and sweat from the day, and the rest went on a brief night hike. We saw many bats, another tarantula, and some huntsman spiders (Heteropoda venatoria) (their eyes glitter in the dark). Now we rest and gear up for starting to collect data for our projects!