Danya Harkin is a teacher living in Costa Rica, and is not the least
bit interested in frogs. Strange, then, that she should be mentioned here
in the hallowed pages of the
British Dendrobatid Group
web site. However, she has traveled around Costa Rica and has taken some
fairly reasonable pictures which, I think, you might like to share with
her. This, then, is her description of what caught her eye so much that
she wanted to capture it on film....
"The birds are White-throated Magpie-jays Calocitta formosa, photographed during a visit to the resort of Punta Leona on the Pacific Coast. There were many of these large and beautiful birds flying around and visiting our balcony during our stay.
"This Ctenosaur Ctenosaura similis was sunbathing near a beach in Manuel Antonio National Park and posed beautifully for my camera. There were many of these very large lizards, commonly called Black Iguanas. They can reach over 1.2 meters in length, and I have heard that in some reserves they will approach you for food. I'm glad that all the Ctenosaurs that I saw kept their distance! If you walk along the main beach you can pay a small fee to enter the Park which contains three stunning white sand beaches backed by rain forest, with a wide variety of wildlife."
All right, so Danya didn't take these. But I had to get some frogs in somewhere! Otherwise I couldn't justify using all her photos. The upper photographs are of wild D. pumilio seen near Guapiles, an hour's drive by bus from San Jose. They are on a property called, would you believe, The Happy Rana Lodge! Well, judging by the calling males, happy is the right word. In places males could be seen perhaps three or four metres apart. I was still carrying my bags down the path on arrival when I observed a pair of frogs, the male calling his head off and quite unperturbed that I was only inches away from the pair of them.
In the photograph below, a male was calling from just above the white triangular mark upper centre of the picture. The male pictured above was photographed about three metres away from this site. The lack of bromeliads was noticeable, and I was unable to find any place that might have held tadpoles. There were, however, plenty of bromeliads up in the trees, but I could not imagine the frogs climbing so far up. The land was extremely wet, although no water was seen lying in pools. The drainage was very good which was fortunate, as it rained every day; heavy, tropical rain pouring down from the sky, soaking everything. It's no wonder that epiphytes can live up in the trees with their roots dangling in mid-air. There's no way they're going to dry up. Temperatures were around the mid-eighties and the humidity very high, in the region of ninety to ninety-five percent. This makes working very uncomfortable. |
By the way, if you think my photos are crummy, my rule was that I was not to touch the wild frogs at all. Fortunately, they obligingly sat there while I took these, my camera lens only an inch or two from them. They didn't smile, though. As you might have noticed.
"This large and attractive butterfly was taken during a visit to 'The Butterfly Garden' situated in Monteverde. You can see all the different species of butterflies that inhabit the Cloud Forest Reserve here, including the large and very impressive Morphos. This butterfly is shown feeding on ripe banana so actually stayed still long enough for me to snap it! In this area you are quite likely to see Toucans Ramphastos sulfuratus, Emerald Toucanets Aulacorhynchus prasinus several species of Humming birds, White faced Capuchins Cebus capucinus, large and frightening Mantled Howler Monkeys Alouatta palliata and, of course, the world-famous Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno. Agoutis Dasyprocta punctata are also common, as are White-nosed Coatis Nasua narica and, although thank goodness I didn't see any, Eyelash Vipers Bothriechis schlegelii.
"This terrapin - sorry, I don't know what species it was - is being held by a guide during a visit to the inland waterways of Tortuguero. This area is famous for its marine turtles and breathtaking scenery. I can vouch for the fact that it is a most beautiful place to visit. Traveling is done by boat, which you can hire for a small fee. The wildlife here is abundant and in great variety. I'm not a naturalist, but for anyone interested in anything wild, you're bound to find it here.
"The gorgeous little Squirrel Monkey Saimiri oerstedii, (an endangered species here in Costa Rica, shown above) really caught my eye, and he was interested in everything that was going on.
"In like mind, the White-faced Monkey below was busy eyeing up the talent on the beach - but didn't have much luck with the London Boy from Chingford!
"I do hope you've liked taking this little trip down memory lane with me. I know that I am going to leave Costa Rica eventually, but I will be taking with me some very happy memories of incredible wildlife and wonderful scenery. Perhaps you might be thinking of taking a holiday somewhere exotic. Well, why not give Costa Rica a go? I don't think you'll be disappointed."
Last update: 17 August, 2002
