D is for Detail: finding hidden gems

Gaudy Tree Frog

As we walk in the forests it is so easy to miss what is right in front of us. 

The pleasure of being guided by locals, passionate about their environment, is that we are taught to see what is around us.

Johan showed us a frog hanging on for dear life under a leaf in Cope's garden. 

The humid rain-forests of Costa Rica are home to this vibrantly colored red-eyed tree frog, also known as the gaudy leaf frog.

Another tiny frog we saw is called the Blue Jeans frog, blue legs and red body.

The body of the Gaudy Leaf Frog is lime green with blue and yellow striped flanks and with white along the underbelly and inner legs. 

Honduran White Bats.

A little later, when we walking to see the Spectacled Owl, Cope went off the path and called us each in turn to look under a large frond. 

Bats. 

Tiny, Honduran White Bats. 

They are found in Panama, Nicaragua and here in Costa Rica. 

Their colour is unusual, white fur and a yellow nose.

They use the leaf as a tent and look cosy and snug!  They cling upside down onto the stem of the underside of the leaf, which offers protection from rain and predators. When the leaf eventually dies off they move house.

A very rare sighting indeed.

Even birding demands paying attention to the smallest detail, like the Yellow-legged Finch - when I eventually saw the little tennis balls of colour on its thighs I was thrilled, as was Martie!

Yellow-thighed Finch