Garbage Mentality
It is one cup left on one rock in front of one ocean, and it certainly looks insignificant in this photo, but does the Atlantic really need one more piece of trash? If you are heading to the shore to fish, swim, build sandcastles, enjoy the wildlife, whatever your day may be, please do not leave anything behind. Every little bit does count. I am continually astounded at how many people trash their trash wherever they please around any open water as if the endless horizon will simply swallow it up, and I plan on making this more of a point going forward given all that we at RTPI do to help...
Read MoreRed-eyed Tree Frogs
When I’m not engrossed in avian research my focus gets drawn to reptiles and amphibians. While visiting the Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve we found this nice population of Pacific phased Red-eyed Tree Frogs (Agalychnis callidryas). Around the main pool we found a few masses of eggs that were in various stages of development. The next find was particularly exciting for me – individuals in amplexus. That means during the courtship of this species the female carries the male on her back before copulation. We proceeded to find a few other individuals in the immediate vicinity....
Read MoreWood Thrush territory
On Thursday, December 12, during the first banding session at Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve we caught a Wood Thrush, one of our Neotropical migrants. What’s special about catching this species is it’s supposed to be a Caribbean slope migrant and at Cabo Blanco we’re on the Pacific slope. The other intriguing thing is that it’s only supposed to be a passage migrant, meaning that by early November it’s supposed to have left Costa Rica. This is the third year in a row we have witnessed this. It draws attention to the fact that we are still very unaware of where...
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