Panama Field Herping, Gamboa and El Valle
Posted: September 17th, 2013, 12:52 am
Hi Guys,
Just got back from a brief field herping trip / some birding in Gamboa and El Valle / El Cope' Panama. Most of the trip was a great success, and we were able to come away with our target photographed species - Bothriechis schlegelii
You can view all the images at www.pbase.com/codyconway/panama
In Gamboa, we only had one night in the canal district. We went out that night, after some serious jetlag for my partner who flew in from Germany, and wanted to try and track down some species. We first came across the typical gecko species found in the area (invasive house geckos), and then came across the common local, the Yellow head Gecko - Gonatodes albogularis
next we went down to the water treatement ponds in hopes of finding amphibians and caiman, sure enough, the Red-eyed Tree Frogs, iconic for the tropical rainforest were present . . .
Aside from a DOR colubrid, the night straggled out from here, so we headed in.
The next day we moved to El Valle, stopping by the El Chocco to look for poison dart frogs at the ponds we came across Anolis frenatus,
Soon we finished the drive to El Valle and hooked up with Mario from the serpentarium. He took us to Cerro Gatail to search for the Eyelash viper that evening. First find of the night was a Salamander, Bolitoglossa schisodactyla
Soon followed by the first snake, Oxybelis brevirostris (Short-nosed Vine Snake)
Then we encounted a neotropical racer juvenile up a tree . . . Followed by a segment of nothing, till we finally stumbled across the goal species - Bothriechis schlegelii, while mario was fixated on a cricket for his gecko colony back at his facility, I was fortunate enough to spot this small male situated in the lower side of the trail . . .
After that excitement, we continued to the top of the trail for a nice view of the city before hiking back down. On the way down we encountered the next species on my list to find, and another unique snake to the rainforest, Snail-eating Snake (Dipsas sp.)
Wrappin up our first day in El Valle, we headed in . . . More to come.
Just got back from a brief field herping trip / some birding in Gamboa and El Valle / El Cope' Panama. Most of the trip was a great success, and we were able to come away with our target photographed species - Bothriechis schlegelii
You can view all the images at www.pbase.com/codyconway/panama
In Gamboa, we only had one night in the canal district. We went out that night, after some serious jetlag for my partner who flew in from Germany, and wanted to try and track down some species. We first came across the typical gecko species found in the area (invasive house geckos), and then came across the common local, the Yellow head Gecko - Gonatodes albogularis
next we went down to the water treatement ponds in hopes of finding amphibians and caiman, sure enough, the Red-eyed Tree Frogs, iconic for the tropical rainforest were present . . .
Aside from a DOR colubrid, the night straggled out from here, so we headed in.
The next day we moved to El Valle, stopping by the El Chocco to look for poison dart frogs at the ponds we came across Anolis frenatus,
Soon we finished the drive to El Valle and hooked up with Mario from the serpentarium. He took us to Cerro Gatail to search for the Eyelash viper that evening. First find of the night was a Salamander, Bolitoglossa schisodactyla
Soon followed by the first snake, Oxybelis brevirostris (Short-nosed Vine Snake)
Then we encounted a neotropical racer juvenile up a tree . . . Followed by a segment of nothing, till we finally stumbled across the goal species - Bothriechis schlegelii, while mario was fixated on a cricket for his gecko colony back at his facility, I was fortunate enough to spot this small male situated in the lower side of the trail . . .
After that excitement, we continued to the top of the trail for a nice view of the city before hiking back down. On the way down we encountered the next species on my list to find, and another unique snake to the rainforest, Snail-eating Snake (Dipsas sp.)
Wrappin up our first day in El Valle, we headed in . . . More to come.