El Cope, Panama

 I was going through some of my field notes from past trips I have taken and I thought I would share some of the entries from my trips to Panama. I hope you enjoy them and I hope you can imagine yourself in the position of the observer, feeling the cool breeze on your face and the distant and not so distance calls from all the animals in the forest. 

13 December 2008
I wish there was a way to capture the tranquility of the jungle. It almost makes me sad that a place like this could exist and that I would have to live so far away from it. There is now way to explain this place but I will give it a shot. It's quiet and the wind blowing through the trees makes a sound like a running waterfall. There are distant calls of birds and songs that repeat themselves. The hum of insects fills the air. A constant mist comes through, covering and uncovering the jungle that surrounds me. The air is moist, cool and fresh.

17 October 2009
Tonight is our last night here and I feel a sense of sadness and dread for this may be the last time I come to this park or this may possibly be the last time I will see certain species. Yesterday filled me with sadness, hopelessness  and a bit of excitement for I got to see what may be the last of its species. At night this place is filled with the noise of insects and frogs, occasionally the hoot of an owl. It's a constant buzz of "clicks", "zeeeees", ticks, whistles and the voices of my companions. I feel sad to leave as I always do with any place. It's a snapshot in time, my time on this earth. For I may experience things that few people have and have an appreciation and respect for the things I see. For the jungle and it's inhabitants will always be living their lives whether I am here or not. There is a breeze now that shakes the trees and leaves like it always has but the dynamics of this forest change with time as do I . For one day I will not hear these sounds and see these sights. I hope to conserve places like this in hopes that others will have an appreciation for it as much as I do.

Frog Pond and Red-Spotted Newt

While out jogging in my neighborhood in late August I ran into 17 Red-Spotted Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens), 10 were alive and 7 were DOR (Dead on the Road)). I have never seen such a colorful herp (herpetology- the study of reptiles and amphibians) in North America. I didn’t have my good camera but I did take some photos with my iphone.

Flash-forward to October 9, 2010, I had some friends over from Massachusetts and took them over to the frog pond down the road to see what we could find. We saw some Pickerel Frogs (Rana palustris), which on most occasions are out and about and easily caught. I managed to catch one so that my companions could take a good look at it. (A note about catching amphibians: If you have used insect repellent before going on your frog catching adventure, it is best to just observe the frog. Insect repellent can be deadly for amphibians if gets on their permeable skin.) We also managed to spot some aquatic (adult) Red-Spotted Newts who have undergone a huge change since the last time I saw them (in their juvenile “eft” terrestrial stage). We also saw 21 Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) and a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

Juvenile terrestrial stage of the Red-Spotted Newt

Welcome and Introduction

Hello and welcome to my first attempt at blogging. I have recently moved from New Mexico to New England and as you may imagine it is quite a change. I was told it would be a hard adjustment moving from west to east but I find I actually really like it here, especially when it is hot and humid. I think the heat and humidity remind me of being in the tropics, without the monkeys and macaws flying around of course. I will recount some recent activities and some trips I've taken in the past 5 or 6 years (maybe longer) and make some suggestions of what to do and see as well as my species lists. I hope you enjoy this blog and I hope to have something more up soon.