Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

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Pedter
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Joined: February 8th, 2011, 5:16 pm

Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by Pedter »

I just got back from a one and a half month backpacking trip in Central America, the focus wasn’t herping, but I did find some great stuff. I didn’t bring my slr so the photos are a bit crap plus I have temporarily lost some of the photos I did get, but what the heck I still got a bunch so here it goes.
Our first stop was Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua.

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The first herp of the trip was a cane toad (this one is from Corcovado)

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Mabuya unimarginata

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Young iguana??

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Also observed where Cnemidophorus deppei, Sceloporus variabilis and Hemidactylus frenatus

After Ometepe we drove north into the mountains to a city called El sauce (the willow)

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There were a lot of urban herps. This small tree frog sp ?? was quite common in the bathroom

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And this Species was absolutely everywhere

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Gonatodes albogularis was very common but hard to get close to.

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Any ideas to what this is? Norops sp.

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Coleonyx mitratus

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There were a few more species around town, but I need my lost photos to id them.

After seeing a few cities around Nicaragua I headed for Costa Rica on my own.

The first herpy place I visited was the Monteverde area, what a great place!

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Bothriechis lateralis!

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Anolis tropidolepis

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Got THE bird

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White-throated Capuchin

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Cahuita national park had a lot of great wildlife, but it’s completely packed with people.

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Bothriechis schlegelii

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Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma

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Not sure about these two, there were a lot of Anolis cristatellus around, but they might be something else.

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Ameiva quadrilineata

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Also seen in the park: Speckled Racer, Green Basilisk, Tropical slider, Green Iguana and Gonatodes albogularis.

In Tortuguero I rented a kayak and had a great day inside the national park getting up close with the caimans, black wood turtle and sliders. I also saw some cool herps on the boat ride in and out of town including a few American crocodiles.

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Speckled caiman

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Basiliscus vittatus

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In Manuel Antonio national park I found a very efficient way of herping and birding by just walking around between the countless guides that work in the park and “steal” their finds. Not that much fun, but super productive.

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This boa constrictor was waiting for a black iguana that had made the mistake of hiding in a small hole ( note the tail). Neither of the reptiles moved that day, but the next morning they were both gone.

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Rosenberg's Treefrog

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Frog sp?

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Black iguana

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Black wood turtle

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Ameiva festiva

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Anole?

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I had really been looking forward to seeing Corcovado national park on De Osa peninsula and it didn’t fail to deliver; amazing views of a young tapir, great birds plus sharks and crocodiles in the ocean. In the future I really want to go back there in the rainy season and focus a bit more on the herps instead of birds.

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Puma footprint: we also saw a few jaguar tracks, but we failed at finding a cat.

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Norops polylepis

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“Bufo” aucoinae

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Leptodactylus bolivianus at the station´s landing strip

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??

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???

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Pauraque

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Monkey gone to heaven - any pixies fans out there ;)

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justinm
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by justinm »

Great post and yes I'm a pixies fan, great way to work that in.
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Dr. Dark
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by Dr. Dark »

Nice trip! Way to go on the B. lateralis!!!
mjd123
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by mjd123 »

Great stuff! Any chance you got a photo of the tapir???
Thanks,
Mike
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DaneConley
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by DaneConley »

Gorgeous landscape. How large was the speckled racer?
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Excellent yield! That boa/iguana standoff is very cool.

What's that titty bird?
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VanAR
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by VanAR »

Very cool- lateralis is one you don't often see posted around here. I really hoped to see one there in '04 but struck out.
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Viridovipera
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by Viridovipera »

Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:Excellent yield! That boa/iguana standoff is very cool.

What's that titty bird?
Sheesh Hans, you're so Asian. It's, of course, a resplended quetzal; famous mythological creature of the Aztecs, name for the Guatemalan currency and probably the most iconic bird of Central America. Despite all that, they are pretty hard to spot.

A very cool post with a ton of great finds! (In my kind of style as well!) I loved the Bothreiches -- especially the horrified looks on the faces of the women watching you photograph B. schlegelii :lol: :lol: Classic. You make herping down there look easy!

-Alex
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Viridovipera wrote:
Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:...What's that titty bird?
Sheesh Hans, you're so Asian.
Thanks for the compliment!
It's, of course, a resplended quetzal; famous mythological creature of the Aztecs, name for the Guatemalan currency and probably the most iconic bird of Central America.
Meh. A glorified titmouse, I say :-) :-) :-)
Pedter
Posts: 12
Joined: February 8th, 2011, 5:16 pm

Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by Pedter »

By the way any help with id´ing would be greatly appreciated
mjd123 wrote:Great stuff! Any chance you got a photo of the tapir???
Thanks,
Mike
Well the first time i saw it ( two feet away from me :o ) i didn´t have my camera on me and the second time i only got a few really bad shots.
DaneConley wrote:Gorgeous landscape. How large was the speckled racer?
It was about a feet long and fast as hell, I ate dirt and made a fool out of myself trying to cath it :roll:
Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:
Viridovipera wrote:
Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:...What's that titty bird?
It's, of course, a resplended quetzal; famous mythological creature of the Aztecs, name for the Guatemalan currency and probably the most iconic bird of Central America.
Meh. A glorified titmouse, I say :-) :-) :-)
:shock: how dare you!! ;)
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CCarille
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Re: Nicaragua and Costa Rica on a shoestring

Post by CCarille »

Great post! Looks like a pretty amazing trip.

Possible id for the frog commonly found in bathrooms: Scinax staufferi

Other possible ids:
The frog below possible S. staufferi: an unmarked Phrynohyas venulosa
The frog below Rosenberg's Treefrog: Eleutherodactylus sp.
The second frog below Leptodactylus bolivianus: Craugastor stejnegerianus
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