A night time walk in the Monteverde cloud forest with an
experienced guide called Ricardo has proved to be one of the highlights of the
trip thus far. It started with a DVD presentation about the work of the
biological station and then Ricardo led the four of us into the forest along
well made trails.
As dusk descended and despite the heavy rain, the forest came to life. Stick insects blended in with bushes to be almost invisible; nowhere near as invisible as one insect, which took us several minutes to find even though it was right in front of our faces.
known as the 'owl' moth for obvious reasons
As dusk descended and despite the heavy rain, the forest came to life. Stick insects blended in with bushes to be almost invisible; nowhere near as invisible as one insect, which took us several minutes to find even though it was right in front of our faces.
spectacular trees with epiphytes
Ricardo, a gentle giant and a Quaker
with a calm, reassuring and gentle manner enjoyed watching our sense of
astonishment! His passion for the forest was so evident and a joy to behold.
Bright green scarab beetles, assorted moths. A possum, several birds and a roosting hummingbird all under branches to shelter from the rain.
Star of the show.......a large armadillo which totally ignored us such was its desire to find earthworms. It actually ran around our feet studiously ignoring us..........we stood like statutes barely breathing. This was an upfront, up close encounter with nature.
a variety of caterpillars
this nasty millipede sprays cyanide!
Bright green scarab beetles, assorted moths. A possum, several birds and a roosting hummingbird all under branches to shelter from the rain.
a sloth just lazing around
Star of the show.......a large armadillo which totally ignored us such was its desire to find earthworms. It actually ran around our feet studiously ignoring us..........we stood like statutes barely breathing. This was an upfront, up close encounter with nature.
so many different beetles
stunning hummingbirds
coatis scurry across branches
More stick insects, some frogs on epiphytes and
then to cap it all an extra.....a little detour to the hummingbird place down
the road. Here they leave out feeders for these little birds but as Ricardo has
discovered, hummingbirds aren't the only creatures that like a drop or two of
the sweet nectar.
At night when hummingbirds go to roost.......the bats come out to play......and feed.......swooping like aerial acrobats....flitting through the dark and into the torch light glow on the feeder, barely stopping to take on nectar before swooping back into the anonymity of darkness. Who says bats can't see!!
At night when hummingbirds go to roost.......the bats come out to play......and feed.......swooping like aerial acrobats....flitting through the dark and into the torch light glow on the feeder, barely stopping to take on nectar before swooping back into the anonymity of darkness. Who says bats can't see!!
plants are so well designed with clear channels to shed water
many trunks are covered in miniature forests of mosses
and tiny delicate ferns
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