Deb's Diablos

The Night Shift (Debbie Yarnell)

Yesterday was our last day on the amphibian and reptile daytime survey and tonight we do our first night survey.  From the sounds of things, it will be a much more exciting time since we are in the rainforest at night to start with and there are a lot of different species to see in the night.  Yesterday our big find was a Golden-eyed Parrotsnake, which we were all able to hold and have a photograph with.  Very interesting watching Josh dive into the undergrowth to catch the snake.  Sort of like a tree falling in the forest with not a lot of noise.  We also had an interesting find in my bathroom when we got back of a species that we hadn’t seen yet either, a little tree frog called Scinax boulangeri .  Still pretty warm here, around 29 without the humidity, but because today is a little bit of a down/ rest day for us,  it is easier to stay a little cooler.  Looking forward to a hike this afternoon with Josh and Irwin (an experienced older man who now lives here) going on trails we’ve not been on before.  Sad that tomorrow is our last day here, but looking forward to another new adventure on Saturday to the rafting camp.  Missing home, but will be there soon enough.

A Growing List (Jesse Van Allen)

The last few days have involved a shift in the projects I’ve been involved in as my team has switched to doing the reptile and amphibian surveys as opposed to the ficus research.  This has been an exciting change as I’ve been able to add to the list of different species I’ve encountered here in the rainforest.  The largest adjustment has been trying to focus your eyes on the ground instead of all the rainforest that surrounds you, I think it must be a learned ability.  The most difficult part of the process is trying to spot the small individuals.  Everything seems to blend into its surrounds making them hard to spot, and once something is spotted it seems as though everything here looks like something else only adding to the confusion.  Despite these challenges its exciting and rewarding to be part of this research.  Unfortunately our time here at Tirimbina is nearing an end and I only have two more surveys to complete, I’ll have to make sure I make the most of them while I still have the opportunity and hope to see a few more new species as it looks like we’re finally starting to get some rain.

A Short Note (David Dunn)

There was a hard rain last night that left the forest fresh and vibrant with early morning rays of sun illuminating the mist amongst the trees. I have been pretty lazy so far today so I can save my energy for the amphibian survey our group is doing tonight. It’s nice to sit on the porch and look over the rainforest. Yesterday was another good day; we got to handle a parrot snake and later tubed down the river to the swimming spot. I miss everybody at home and wish they could be here to enjoy this with me.