Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

A 3-hour drive north, through the rolling hills of rainforest and pastures, led us to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Our longest field trip so far, we spend 3 days hiking, having lectures and animal workshops, and conducting research in one of the most interesting ecosystems in Costa Rica! The cloud forest, named for the almost constant cloud cover, sits on the Tilarán Mountain Range and the continental divide. The high humidity makes the forest very green and fast growing, covering everything with a layer of fuzzy moss.

On a trail through the cloud forest,
taken with flash! (the other picture is
the same path,  without flash)

Our first hike, with Edgardo as our guide, was to the continental divide via the Sendero Bosque Nuboso (the cloudy forest trail).  One of the prominent bird species here, the Black-faced Solitaire, has a creepy, almost metallic call like the sound of a rusty seesaw or old door. The whole forest feels haunted when the clouds roll in and the solitaire sings its eerie song. The divide itself was exciting, as both the Pacific and Caribbean could be seen when the clouds that hugged the peak allowed.

Friends on the continental divide!

The Pacific side of the continental divide.

The Caribbean side of the continental divide.

Over the rest of the day and the next few days, we were allowed to explore and develop our research project in pairs for our Tropical Ecology Field Exercise.  (Our project is about the relationship and affect of mining larvae of leaves on additional herbivore damage…it doesn’t sound exciting, but it actually is pretty cool, I promise!)

The black-faced solitaire.

A fallen strangler fig.

Our first morning started with an animal workshop with Edgardo. He has spent a lot of time at Monteverde doing research and getting his doctorate and set up mist-nets to catch birds and 6am. We caught 6 birds in total: a hermit hummingbird, a black-faced solitaire (with its eerie call), a black-headed nightingale thrush, a chestnut-capped finch, and another from the robin family. Edgardo knows plenty about birds, but the highlight was getting to release the nightingale thrush when we were done!

Other highlights and events:

·      We hiked through part of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest called Bajo del Tigre (Jaguar’s Canyon), that only 20 years earlier was a cattle pasture. Now on its way back, it is a perfect example of a Tropical Montane Forest.

·      During our research collection, Matt, Benji and I saw a barred forest-falcon!

·      A hummingbird exhibit with a bunch of feeders was close to our lodge, and one even landed on my wrist and tried to drink from my watch! (Apparently they like the color red!)

·      Saturday was my friend, Matt’s birthday! We all went out and had a great night! Looks like everyone is getting along really well and its going to be a great semester!

This little guy landed on my wrist!