A Skink and a Porcupine at La Selva

Here's are few more pix from La Selva before moving on to Savegre Mountain Lodge, my all-time favourite place (at least to date).

I have tried, without success, to find out what skink this is.  One of my favourite on-line identification sources has a photo of something similar, unnamed and with a request for help in identification too.  This little thing was fast, darting across the trail and into the leaf litter.  I got lucky at snapping a photo.  Its tail is neon turquoise.

A mass of vegetation, huge moss covered trees, lianas hanging, ferns, palms, bromiliads, philodendrons, so many plants species.

Leafcutter Ants (Atta sp.) This was cute.  There was a long, long line of pink petals bobbing along the side of the mossy walkway at La Selva.  The petals were falling from canopy-flowering trees and the ants were taking them to their underground fungus garden.

A small stream - we can't see the hummingbird taking a bath down there, but it really was happening.

And a porcupine sleeping high in a tree (the photo is digiscoped).  It is a Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine  (Sphiggurus mexicanus)

Onward to Sarapiqui & La Selva

Next major stop in my Costa Rica birding excursion:  the city of Sarapiqui, staying at Selva Verde Lodge and visiting La Selva OTS

I will go back to this area some day.  I adored my room at Selva Verde Lodge, but what with all the birding around the grounds (Sunbittern), and at nearby La Selva, there just wasn't time to be in it or just sit on the balcony and enjoy the tropical forest.  A Red-throated Ant-Tanager came by to say hello the few minutes I did park in the tooled-leather chair (of which I wish I had taken a picture!) outside my room.

The Rana Roja - a restaurant we stopped at for lunch.  It was so-so food-wise but quite interesting bird-wise.  We watched Green Honeycreepers and Passerini's Tanagers while we ate.  That's a traditional Costa Rican ox-cart at the entrance.

Allamanda cathartica  or Golden Trumpet.  Allamandas are velvety buttercup yellow.  So beautiful and fragrant.   It's somewhat poisonous.  Some species of Allamanda  are used to treat malaria.

 La Selva OTS entrance

Laughing Falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) perched at the entrance gate

Our guide Gerardo (right) with our La Selva guide, Kenneth.  Gerardo worked as guide at La Selva for several years before becoming a free-lance birding guide.

A very large Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) high in a tree, in the morning sun.  This is a male as per the throat dewlap and the large circular scale just under his jaw.  

Montezuma Oropendola (Gymnostinops montezuma) nesting colony

Long-tailed Tyrant  (Colonia colonus) - with its eyes closed.

At this point in the trip, I was starting to be dehydrated - sluggish thinking, bad mood, lack of concentration.  (I know, I know, how can I tell this from my usual state.  Well it is just worse than usual, okay)  I usually drink a lot of water but this sort of snuck up on me.  Our driver went into town and picked up some Gatorade for me so I was back to rights shortly.  Now I never travel without powdered Gatorade to mix with water daily.  (I wonder if Gatorade would like to pay me for advertising).