A New Season of Discovery

After a five week period away from the Osa Peninsula I am back to carry out another year of research.  For the past sixteen years I have been monitoring populations of both butterflies and amphibians in the forests of Cabo Matapalo on the tip of the Osa Peninsula in South West Costa Rica.  I collect the daily weather data and compare changes in amphibian populations against precipitation and butterflies populations against temperature in an effort to evaluate how or whether climate change effects the fauna of a tropical rain forest.

Marine Toad, (Chaunus marinus)

As I live in the forest and can be found constantly walking the trail systems, camera in hand, it provides ample opportunity to photograph the diversity of life that surrounds me.  I am generally photographically prepared for small things so unless I am going out specifically to capture images of mammals or birds then my photographic galleries generally consist of reptiles, amphibians, all manner of arthropods as well as any plant and fungi features that catch my eye.

Savage’s Thin-fingered Frog, (Leptodactylus savegei)

This blog acts as an expanded form of my nature diaries which are simply daily recordings on Excel spreadsheets.  I enjoy sharing my experiences with those who read my blog and over the years the number of subscribers constantly increases.  If you are a first-time reader, then welcome and I hope you enjoy the content and the photos.  I am not a professional photographer but I do try and take the best composed shots I can.

Banana Frog, (Dendropsophus ebreccatus)

The blog also allows visitors to the area an insight of what they might expect to see in their absence or when they arrive as well as providing a small amount of information about the natural history of the organisms I feature.  I try to post one blog a week but sometimes time constraints means there may be occasions when this is not possible.

Small-headed Frog, (Dendropsophus micracephalus

For me the year does not begin on the January 1^st but rather on my return to the area in November.  At this time of year we should be moving out of the main rainy season, which is what caused me to leave for a month or so, and into the dry season.  There is no exact date and sometimes the rains hang on until December while other times the sun has started to shine constantly by mid-November.  Anyway, here we go with the opening blog of the 20016/17 season.

Olive-snouted Treefrog, (Scinax elaeochrous)

First things first.  November normally heralds the ending of the rainy season.  Sometimes the wet period may continue into December but by now we are looking towards a drying of the forest.  Not so this year.  This has been, without doubt, the wettest November I have recorded in 17 years, 185 inches of rain fell in that 30-day period.  The area was briefly closed down as bridges were not crossable, roads were not passable and the local town of Puerto Jimenez and its attendant landing strip were closed due to being under water.  This may bode well for the coming dry season when for 4/5 months the area receives little or no rain whatsoever but at the moment the forest floors have rivulets with running water everywhere.

Red-eyed Green Tree Frog, (Agalychnis callidryas)

The daily torrential downpour has made wildlife spotting rather difficult.  It is neither easy to see or hear anything in those conditions.  In the inter deluge periods I have been out searching for whatever I could find and it may come as no surprise that the amphibians most certainly have enjoyed the excess water.  All the usual members of the pond community have been out calling; Banana Frogs, Small-headed Frogs, Red-eyed Green Tree Frogs, Parachuting Red-eyed Green Tree Frogs, Savage’s Thin-fingered Frog, Marine Toads and Masked Smiliscas.  Even the largest tree frogs in Costa Rica, the Milky Frogs have been coming out, which is unusual this time of year.  Away from the pond the Tink Frogs and Fitzinger’s Rain Frogs call as soon as the sun sets.  Here are some photographs of the amphibians you may be lucky enough to see if you visit the Osa Peninsula now.

Parachuting Red-eyed Green Tree Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli)

Tink Frog, (Diasporus diastema)

Gladiator Frog, (Hypsiboas rosenbergi).

Bolivian Frog, (Leptodactylus bolivianus)

Masked Smilisca, (Smilisca phaeota)

Philip Davison is a Biologist, Photographer and Writer based in Costa Rica.