I love my camera!

I got a Canon DSLR over winter break, and this is the first time I have really gotten to use it...I am also trying out a little photo editing, so here is my first crack at it. Nothing phenomonal, but compared to my old point and shoot, this is amazing! More to come :)

One of my little study lizards...quite photogenic!

Costa Rican ramblings...

It's been a while since I updated this, but I've been fairly busy lately...I took an unexpected trip down to Dominical with the QERC students, led by Dr. Cossel. We spent two days looking for all the herps we could find, and ended up seeing 18 species! It was fairly dry where we were hiking, but we still saw a decent amount. The highlight for me was catching a baby caiman, which got its tiny jaws around my thumb while I was handing it off to one of the students. I only got a few scrapes, but I was impressed by how strong his jaws were!

I have been hard at work on my project since we got back. I am now up to eight lizards, and am on a good pace. We should at least be able to reach our goal of 12. Dr. Cossel left yesterday, and Dr. Mooring arrived the night before that. It was really fun getting to hang out with Dr. Cossel, who has far more experience in tropical herpetology than me. He has been invaluable to the formulation and execution of the project, and I owe him a lot. Dr. Mooring is teaching a mammal unit this week, and he has also been helping with the project. I am glad all three of my Honors Committee members will be able to participate in the project.

I can't believe I have already been here for over a week! In just 4.5 days, Genieva arrives, which I am really excited for! It will be great to be able to show her this place I have spent so much time in and have grown to love. Let's just hope she can handle the night hikes ;)

The project begins!

I made it to QERC this afternoon after a bus ride up the mountain and hitch hiking a ride down into the valley with four old Canadian women :) One of them lives in Costa Rica half the year and owns a sustainable farm (www.orcharddelsol.com). I was so thankful that I didn't have to hike down!

When I got to QERC, I got settled in, then Dr. Cossel and I began setting up the testing arena for our experiments (pictures to come...). As we were setting up, two of the students brought in a lizard they caught, which happened to be one of the species I am studying! What luck :) We tested out the setup with an Emerald Swift (Sceloporus malachiticus), and all seems to be functioning properly. We'll begin our first tests tomorrow on "Rufus" (named by Genieva). Now all we need to do is find more lizards!

Tomorrow I'm helping with some of the student activities, then I'll be finding lizards and testing them. I'm excited to begin this project and get back into the forest!

Rufus, our first lizard (Norops pachypus)

The first reptiles of the trip!

This will probably be the only time I ever do two posts in the same day...Since there were no cars heading over towards the farm this afternoon, I am staying overnight at QERC. It turns out that this was a great choice, because not only did I see some Emerald Swifts (Sceolporus malachiticus) on the way here, but some of the people staying here caught a snake! It is a Spot-lipped Litter Snake (Rhadinaea calligaster), and it is gorgeous! Here are some pictures:

I am keeping a running list of all the reptiles and amphibians I see on the trip, to the best of my ability. You can check it out on the right side of the page...Well, I'm off to the farm in the morning. Time for some authentic Tico cuisine and the best coffee in the world!

Viajando (Traveling)

I am currently on a bus on my way to QERC, the field station run by Southern Nazarene University. We are heading up into the mountains, and I was just able to see the Pacific and Atlantic at the same time! So cool :) I’ll head over to the farm from QERC, and I’ll be out of internet for a week or so…I’m sure I’ll have plenty of stories when I get back from the farm! Check back then :)