Tag Archives: amphibians

2017

THE AMAZING ANT MAN AND HIS COLONIES! (May 27th)

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After breakfast today, we designed a study to test arthropod diversity and nutrient levels on the forest floor and in the forest canopy. We placed pee and water filled vials on the trees and on the ground in order to create pitfalls for the arthropods. I saw a Blue Morpho butterfly while placing my vials.

After lunch, we did the infamous leaf cutter ant colony excavation. We looked at colonies that were 1, 5, and 10 years old. It was super interesting to see how the ant colonies changed as they matured. The year-old colony was very small and had very few soldier ants. As the colonies matured, more soldier ants appeared and the fungus colonies got bigger and bigger.

We dug up ant colonies until about an hour before dinner and played card game in our free time. Then, we completed our presentations for the night. After the presentations, I saw another Smilisca baudinii (Mexican treefrog). This one had a very dark coloration.

After dinner, a small group of us went on a tarantula hunting adventure. There are a lot of spiders located in the clearing around the station. We saw a Red Rump tarantula and a Livingston Stony tarantula. We learned how to draw the tarantulas out of their hole. While we were searching, we saw large glistening eyes on the edge of the clearing. As we got closer, we discovered that it was a bird, Pauraque, roosting on the ground.

2017

I will walk 3000 miles for… camera traps! (May 26th)

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I woke up today at 5:00am for birding! There were only a few birds actually flying in the clearing. However, the bird calls were so loud and beautiful! Then, we had breakfast and began planning our experiment for the day. Today, we were laying camera traps in order to test the abundance of large cats and their prey on paths and in densely forested areas.

Around 9:40am, we left for our first hike of the day! It was a pretty good hike! There were a lot of steep hills, but the downs were really fun. We got to go off trail in order to lay our camera traps. I was completely convinced the whole time that I was going to grab a vine and it would turn out to be a snake! We saw a Mexican porcupine at the top of one of the hills. I think it was sleeping in a hollowed out tree. When he heard our group, he scampered up the tree. We saw a scorpion eater snake and a few large centipedes. I also saw the Blue morpho butterflies.

After lunch, we went on our second hike of the day! We hiked the Monkey Tail trail. A few trees had fallen over in the last hurricane and were blocking the path. It was a lot of fun to scamper over them! On the hike, I didn’t see too many organisms because I was focused on the camera traps. However, we did see lots of signs of the large cats. We saw a few pieces of scat and some large cat scratches. Hopefully, we will be able to catch some on our cameras. We got slightly turned around on our way out of the forest after the last camera trap. We ended up making it out of the forest thanks to Scot and a GPS! We ended up making it back to the station after dark. When we turned on our headlamps, we could see all of the spider eyes staring back at us. There are a surprising number of spiders!

On the last hike, I finally saw a amphibian. It was a Smilisca baudinii (Mexican treefrog)! While we were handling the frog, it turned a dark brown color, and we could see the characteristic dark lines on the frog’s back and legs.

2017

Dad, I ate a termite! (May 25th)

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Today, we left Crystal paradise and started our trek to Las Cuevas research station. On the way, we stopped at Rio-On Pool. The Rio-On river forms large pools of water over these large granite slabs. There were really pretty waterfalls! It was a lot of fun scrambling over the large boulders. After about an hour, we continued on our way to Las Cuevas. We played card games in the van on the way. The 2-hour drive passed very quickly. We played B.S for most of the drive.

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After we got to Las Cuevas, we quickly unpacked and ate lunch! Surprisingly, I am not tired of chicken, rice and beans. Then we went on a hike! We hiked the Mayan trail and got to see a lot of Mayan ruins. I was so surprised when Scott told me that the “hill” I was standing on was a Mayan temple covered in trees. We also got to see the ball court where they used to play the Mayan ball game. Supposedly, the prize for winning the game was a sacrificial death!

While hiking through the rainforest, I did not see any amphibians. Sad Face. I really expected to see a frog our toad on our hike, because it was sprinkling. I will search more in the leaf litter tomorrow! However, I did see lots of wolf spiders, epiphytes, and grasshoppers. We looked at a giant leaf cutter ant nest. I also saw oropendulm,a black bird with yellow tail feathers. After the hike, there were a lot of termites flying around the station. I got to eat a termite! Dad, they were not minty, but I will try to find a minty one!

2017

Well I probably have a Mayan curse now… but it was worth it!

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We woke up early and began our trek to the Actun Tunichil Muknal caves. The ATM caves were used by the Mayan’s for blood lettings and human sacrifices. When we arrived at the entrance to the historical site, we had to hike to the cave. We got to make three river crossings! It was really fun to swim across the rivers fully dressed in a hard hat. Unfortunately, they did not let us bring cameras on this expedition in order to protect the artifacts in the cave.

When we got to the cave, we swam into the entrance throughout the cave. The water was so cold! We had to squeeze through tiny spaces, scamper down waterfalls, and climb giant rock walls in order to get to the old relics. I honestly don’t believe that we could do this in the United States. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done!

After a wet trek into the cave, we reached a large cavern and had to scale a giant rock wall. Then, we entered the giant open space that contained the majority of the relics. We saw allot of old pots that were used by the Mayans for sacrifices to the gods! There were also a few skeletal remains in the cave. One of them, had an alien shaped head that was caused by Hydrocephalus! We also got to see the crystal princess aka the crystal prince after forensic scientists discovered that the skeleton was male. The crystal prince is a complete skeleton of a sixteen-year-old Mayan.

As we were leaving the ATM caves, it began to rain. On the hike back, I saw Smilisca baudinii ( The mexican tree frog) hoping across the path. This frog had the characteristic light brown and black blotches on its back. A little while later, I saw the tiniest frog I have ever seen. It was about the size of my finger nail. I am pretty sure it was a juvenile Mexican tree frog. Later on the way to dinner, I saw a Incilius valliceps (Gulf coast toad) which has a characteristic white stripe on its back. ‘

2017

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

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This morning Jordan, Isaac, Damien, and I woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:45am to watch the sunrise. Although waking up was a little difficult, the sunrise was worth it. The sun was very large and red as it crested over the horizon.

Today, we left Glover’s reef and that was very sad. But I am excited for our week in the rainforest. As we were boating back to Belize, we stopped at Carrie Bow Cay, the Smithsonian research station just inside the Great barrier reef. Clyde the station manager gave us a quick tour.

Then, we were off to swim in the mangroves. WE SAW A MANATEE ON OUR WAY INTO THE GROVE!!!!! Then, we got out and walked around the mangrove and got sufficiently covered in peat. We then snorkeled up the mangroves. I saw a baby Banded Butterfly fish and a few bright orange starfish. At the end of the mangroves, we found a bright yellow seahorse! It was a great way to end the marine portion of our trip. We then continued our trek back to Belize city and ate at a restaurant called Calypso. There lime juice was amazing!

Seahorse!

We then got back in the bus and drove to TEC! After checking in, we went for a short hike around the station. I did not see any amphibians on the hike but we saw a ridiculous number of epiphytes!

After dinner, we went to the Belize Zoo for a night tour. While waiting for all the groups to arrive, but it hopped away before I got a closer look! Inside the zoo, I got to feed a Tapir! It was really cool. We also got to see four out of the five large cats of Belize. My favorites were the Ocelot and the Jaguar. The Ocelot, Rayburn, was really cool because when the zoo keeper gave him a piece of chicken he made an adorable NOM NOM NOM sound! The Jaguar, Junior, was raised by hand from a cub. When we arrived at the cage, he did multiple somersaults for treats! It was really cool to see all the animals at night in a semi natural environment! After we got back from the zoo, Scott brought me a large cane toad!

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WE ARE FINALLY HERE!!!

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We finally arrived in Belize City after a short flight 2-hour flight. I fell asleep almost immediately as the plane was taking off and didn’t wake up until we were about 30 minutes out of Belize city. As the plane was landing, I got my first glimpse of the beautiful rainforests of Belize. The sunlight glinted off the muddy rivers turning them a brilliant golden color as they wound through the dense jungle.

We quickly passed through customs and immigration and were officially on Belizean soil. My excitement began to build as we climbed into the bus and started making our way to the Tropical Education Center where we will be sending the night. We stopped at Low’s convenience store and got snacks for the trip. I can’t wait to try the plantain chips with hot sauce. It was very interesting to see how many American brands and symbols have permeated into Belizean culture. We even saw a truck sporting a Houston Rockets sticker driving down the road ahead of us.

When we got to the research station, it was dinner time. We quickly through our stuff in the cabins and went to dinner. The chicken and the fruit juice was amazing!

When we got back to the cabins after dinner, I had my first amphibian sighting! Luckily, we turned on the light on just in time to avoid stepping on the little frog. Although I am not entirely sure, I believe that the frog was a Smilisca baudinii, commonly known as the Mexican tree frog. After a few narrow misses, I was able to take a picture of the frog and get a close up view of him. This frog had the characteristic large eyes and broad flat head of the Mexican tree frog. Furthermore, this frog was primarily a lighter brown with darker brown spots all along its ventral side. Despite much protest from the frog, I was eventually able to pick up the frog and carefully carry him outside in order to avoid future mishaps.

On the way to write this blog entry, I had my second amphibian sighting. A very large toad crossed our path on the way to the classroom. Unfortunately, he hopped away before I could get a close look at him. However, he was approximately the size of my fist and had large warts all along his body. I am so glad that I have already seen some amphibians on this trip. Initially, I was afraid that I wouldn’t see any amphibians becuase we are traveling in the dry season and they are supposed to be very rare during this time. I hope that my luck will continue and I will be able to spot a Mexican Burrowing toad by the end of this trip.

I am so excited to finally be in Belize and can’t wait for the boat ride to Glovers early tomorrow morning. (I also can’t wait to take a shower tonight as I hear it is the last place with hot water for a while)

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Belize it or not! I will be in Belize in less than 24 hours!

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I am very excited for this trip to Belize. I think that it will be an amazing experience through which I can learn a lot about the coral reef and tropical rainforest environments. I haven’t had any experience with tropical rainforests, so it will be fascinating to see this environment up close. I expect that this course will be a very fun and enriching experience even though it involves a lot of hard work and early mornings.

I hope that I will be able to find and identify the amphibians and herbivorous fish that I learned about for my taxonomic briefings. For my topic lecture, I learned about the multitude of different factors affecting coral reefs today and the techniques that are being used to study them. I hope that I will be able to apply this knowledge during our time at Glovers.

The only thing that I am slightly nervous about are the mosquitos. Although we are traveling in the dry season and mosquito populations should be small, they always seem to find me. I hope that I will not come back from this trip as one giant mosquito bite.

I hope to learn more about the realities of doing field research in the tropics. I am still trying to decide what I want to do in the future. I believe that through this trip, I can get a better understanding of how to perform tropical research and hopefully decide if I want to become a marine biologist or go into medicine in the future. I believe that this trip will show me both the positive and negative qualities of becoming a tropical field researcher. I am the most excited to learn how to apply field research techniques on the coral reef and in the rainforest.

Fortunately, I have visited the tropics and Belize before. All of my immediate family members are avid scuba divers and we have taken family diving trips in Cancun, Florida, and Bonaire. It will be very interesting to learn more about the coral reef which previously I have only admired for its aesthetic beauty. A few years ago, my family took a trip to Belize, but we primarily stayed on the resort. I am excited to stray away from the more touristy parts of the country. Overall, I can’t wait to experience everything Belize has to offer.