Monte Verde and San José

Hola,
It has been a while since we have blogged. The internet at Monte Verde was very spotty, so it was hard to get onto a computer. Monte Verde is a beautiful area. It is home to a cloud forest, which, I think, is my favorite habitat type. The trees are covered in moss, with a few other epiphites attached. Also, the weather is much cooler, and it is misty all the time. Another thing abouy MV, it is windy here! It reminds me of a mild April day back in South Dakota.

We struggled to capture bees in the mountains, so we walked down and steep hill (about 1 mile) to Monte Verde the town. We then headed out to a City forest area. We had some luck capturing bees, but I had fun ID birds. I got to see a three waddled bell bird(see picture...the female sounds like a high pitched bell....the male like a low pitched car horn....HWAK), a sweet woodpecker, and an antbird.

The hike back to the station was long, and uphill. Caroline and I went for a jog down it the night before, and my legs were tired!!!!! (Nothing like low oxygen and a steep gradient to make your leg muscles feel great!!) Later that day, we hiked down again to look at the local Co-op and other shops....and then back up!

Yesterday, we rode in the car for a while, and went to INBIO. This organization has been working on cataloging all of the species of plants, insects, fungus, etc. They have quite the collection. We got to look through some of the beetle and butterfly collection...THERE ARE A LOT OF BUGS!!! It was really cool to see though. We could not get into the herbarium (sorry Dr. Larson), but we did get to explore the park. The INBIOparque has replanted native forest in the middle of the city. This park is a cross between a garden and a zoo. There were little exhibits and signs along the way, identifying different species. We got to play in a small butterfly garden, look for fish in the aquarium, look at frogs, see a lot of iguanas, and look into the agricultural crops of the area, including goats, chickens, cows, and a pot bellied pig.

While, that is a summary of our activities in the past few days...We will see you all soon!

OH! I officially hate biting bugs! I do not know what bit me, but man does it itch!!!!
Today we get to hang out in San José. It should be a blast!