Hi all!
It has been a while since I checked in, so this might be a long one! I've been pretty busy since my last post with lots of sampling for my two bromeliad species, both in the forest and in the pasture. However, on the weekend of the 14th and 15th of April, I was able to spend a bit of time exploring the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, where I found a number of Werauhia tonduziana and worked in a very beautiful pasture. I was also able to do something I have been wanting to do during my time in Monteverde, which was to go on a coffee tour. Actually, the tour I went on at Don Juan coffee tours was a coffee, chocolate, and sugar cane tour. The vast majority of the tour was devoted to coffee, in which I learned so much, including that light roast is a far superior roasting type for coffee because medium and dark roast is basically burning the coffee beans. Maybe some of you take umbrage with this, but having tried all three types, I think I am doomed to forever search out light roast coffee. Below are some photos from collecting in a pasture and my coffee tour.
It has been a while since I checked in, so this might be a long one! I've been pretty busy since my last post with lots of sampling for my two bromeliad species, both in the forest and in the pasture. However, on the weekend of the 14th and 15th of April, I was able to spend a bit of time exploring the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, where I found a number of Werauhia tonduziana and worked in a very beautiful pasture. I was also able to do something I have been wanting to do during my time in Monteverde, which was to go on a coffee tour. Actually, the tour I went on at Don Juan coffee tours was a coffee, chocolate, and sugar cane tour. The vast majority of the tour was devoted to coffee, in which I learned so much, including that light roast is a far superior roasting type for coffee because medium and dark roast is basically burning the coffee beans. Maybe some of you take umbrage with this, but having tried all three types, I think I am doomed to forever search out light roast coffee. Below are some photos from collecting in a pasture and my coffee tour.
Coffee tour!
The next week Keylor and I continued searching and collecting my two bromeliad species in the Monteverde cloud forest reserve. We had an exciting visit from a snake friend. Who we found when we sat down for a snack. This is an arboreal snake species and Keylor's theory was that we scared it out of the tree when we were rigging and climbing the tree. I looked up the species later with these photos and I learned that it is a species called Bothriechis lateralis. Its common name in Spanish is Lora venenosa.
We also began searching for both species in a lower elevation primary forest. I fear my photo taking at that site became a bit relaxed, so I don't have many photos to share. That forest was quite hot and dry, but we continued to climb and search for both bromeliad species. Below is a spectacular view from that site!
Last week Noelia and I continued some sampling of bromeliads in the pastures. We were fortunate to get permission to visit and sample one of the highest elevation pastures that we know is around this mountain. It was beautiful, and we some a few samples of each species! Thanks Cristobal for letting us pet the horses too!
We also found a hidden nest in the crevice of a tree trunk. I found this nest attempting to find a place to put my foot as I tried to shimmy my way up a tree trunk to collect a leaf sample from Werauhia. Fortunately, I saw the nest before I put my foot there! Best to watch these photos in succession, so you can discover the egg just as I did! That's all for now! We are beginning our big epiphyte biomass project in the pastures (a continuation from last year) soon, so I will have more to come.