Small nest

While I was out in the field this afternoon, I ran into this tiny nest.
No one was in it and there were no eggs inside (I think it was old) so I poked it for scale (don't mind the dirt on my hands -- I was planting seedlings).
I don't know what kind of bird makes nests like this, but I would have to guess that this once belonged to a little mama hummingbird due to it's teensy size.

The art of Charley Harper

I recently was looking at some art on the internet and found some images that reminded me of the Monteverde poster I loved at a hotel in San Jose that I found in April. A little investigation led me to the artist of this poster: a modernist painter named Charley Harper. Since this discovery, I've looked at a bunch of his prints and I really love his style and subject matter. The majority of his paintings involve animals and nature (mostly birds). In fact Harper was contracted to design several posters for the US National Parks Service.

Below are a few examples of his work -- my favorite is the one of the chipmunk hibernating in the tree!

Harlequin treefrog

This morning, on my way into the station I noticed a little multicolored blob in the corner of a window on the library. When I looked a little closer, I noticed that it was a little sleeping treefrog! This species is called the harlequin treefrog (Hyla ebraccata). I think that this one was a female (since she was about 4 cm long) and she was really cute and didn't mind me taking a few pictures of her. After a couple of minutes, I let her get back to her nap.

Vanilla caramel tea

One treat that I really wanted to bring back to Costa Rica from the US was tea (for my breakfasts). I could only get to Whole Foods and Target to look for tea while in Miami (since I don’t have a car there right now). Whole Foods had a really sad collection of teas (which surprised me) whereas Target had better assortment.

I ended up choosing this tea by Lipton: Vanilla Caramel Truffle. This is a black tea with a strong vanilla and caramel flavor -- I really like it! The tea leaves are also really cutely enclosed within a pyramidal bag -- this shape apparently allows more flavor from the tea to diffuse into the water while steeping.

Zygia gigantifolia

I just got back from my day of work in the field (I beat the rain -- it is pouring now!) and remembered to bring my camera. However, I didn't encounter many photo-worthy things. I tried to take some pictures of leaf-cutting ants (Atta sp.), but they were zooming by too fast to snap a good shot. I will try again in the future.

I did find this nice Zygia longifolia tree flowering. This species produces flowers (and subsequently fruits) on it's trunk rather than its branches; a phenomenon called cauliflory. I really like cauliflorous trees and the bright fluffy pink flowers of this Zygia are really pretty!

Indiana Jones 4

Tomorrow is the opening day of the new Indiana Jones movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! I am really excited to see this since I have always loved the Indiana Jones movies. However, I think that the series ended perfectly in the last film (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) -- with Indy and the gang riding off into the sunset after finding the holy grail. I hope that this movie is at least super entertaining and I really hope that it isn't just a long string of "man, I'm too old for this ..." jokes from Dr. Jones. I will actually get to go to the movies in a couple of weeks to see this (since Carlos and I have to go to San Jose for him to renew his US Visa). Is anyone else super-excited to see this movie?

More treats

I hope these snack posts aren't getting too boring, but I haven't seen/taken photos of any interesting nature recently so I will keep writing about my snacks brought from the states!

While on my candy bar bonanza in Target, I bought this creme brulee milk chocolate bar.
This is a really tasty treat: milk chocolate covers a creamy custard inside. The best part is that there are little chunkies of burnt sugar inside the cream -- to simulate the crust of a creme brulee! I thought that was pretty cool.

I also bought some dark chocolate -- it's good for you right? Heehee.

Ritter Sport marzipan

Along with some tea and hot chocolate, I brought back a whole bunch of candy goodies from the states. Candy is especially icky here in Costa Rica (I have no idea why, but the chocolate tastes like wax and all other candies just taste like plain sugar) so I don’t eat any treats for dessert, unless I’ve brought some back from the US. I went a little chocolate bar crazy when I was at Target -- they were having a sale so I had to stock up!

My favorite chocolate bar EVER is this one:
...the Ritter Sport dark chocolate with marzipan bar. I love almond flavored things (but I don’t like to eat almonds in nut-form...weird!) and I really like marzipan. This chocolate has lots of sweet almond paste covered with dark chocolate that matches nicely -- yum! The bar is comprised of 4 rows of 4 chocolate squares apiece. I usually eat one row after dinner for dessert (if I am not too full from dinner). This isn’t a super-common chocolate, but you can find it in many grocery stores (or Targets) in the states.

Guanabanas

Yesterday morning, a neighbor stopped by and gave Carlos and me 2 big (about the size of small footballs) guanabana fruits. These are really tasty lumpy green fruits that have soft prickles on the outside. When they are ripe, you cut them open and eat the squishy flesh -- spitting out any large black seeds you encounter. We have made juice from this fruit's pulp before (a few times) and it is great! The flavor is kind of like sour/sweet pineapple and a very "tropical" flavor (I have no idea what that means -- you should try one). These aren't quite ripe yet, but we will eat them for dessert when they are!

Dark Mayan Chocolate drink

While I was back in the states, I managed to pick up a few "luxury items" (i.e. items that are nonexistent in Costa Rica). Among these, I brought back some teas and drinks for breakfast. I will talk about the tea in another post, but I tried this Dark Mayan Chocolate drink for the first time this morning.
It is an instant coffee/hot chocolate drink -- basically a powder that I dissolved in hot milk. It was pretty good! When it was cooking, the smell reminded me of something familiar, but I couldn't quite figure it out. After trying a sip it hit me -- it smells and tastes just like a Disneyland churro! Weird, but it made me really nostalgic for our family trips to Disneyland (and the Mexico pavillion in EPCOT). What an interesting but tasty morning drink!

My first paper!

Yay, I just received some great news -- my first paper has been accepted for publication! This paper describes a side-project on bird and ant-mediated seed dispersal of a ginger species. I still have to make a few revisions and send them back to the editor, but the reviewer comments were really positive and revision shouldn't take too long. I am so happy!

Back in paradise

I am back in Costa Rica (I got back on Friday early and finally made it to La Selva a couple of bus and taxi rides later in the afternoon). I must say, it is really great to be back. Miami was OK, but pretty boring and uneventful. I made some heavy decisions about my next semester and it looks like I will be able to stay in Costa Rica until Christmas. I got a few fellowships that will let me stay here to write (with no teaching obligations). That should put me on track/ahead of the game as far as writing my dissertation and graduating next year. It is so weird that the ends of my experiments are within sight.

I am really glad that I will be able to stick around in the rain forest for another few months -- it is so great here and I will miss the forest so much when I eventually get back to Miami. This also means that my parents will be able to visit me in Costa Rica (a second time for my mom)!

In Miami

I am in the computer lab at my University now and have been pretty busy since I got back here on Saturday night. I haven't been able to do any real fun things -- mostly a lot of errands and trying to get some writing in during my time here. I went out to eat the other day for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Miami -- Lan. I've written about it before -- the food is awesome and the service is the most polite ever (definitely a rarity in Miami). I had some tasty sushi and a salad then I was off to Target -- woo hoo. I've also been watching a lot of DVDs at night that I rent from the library -- they have a good selection!

I have been keeping busy here but I can't wait to return to Costa Rica. My flight back is this Friday super early in the morning and then I get to take 2 buses and a couple of taxis to get back home. Oh traveling!

Butterfly pod

This really cute butterfly chrysalis is on one of the cables of the bridge. I saw the little caterpillar when he was starting to build this and he was really cute. This is the coolest-looking cocoon that I have seen...it's florescent pink and green and you can even see the little seat-belt he made to stay upright and attached! When he hatches, this will be a bright yellow butterfly.

In other news, I am off to San Jose tomorrow and off to Miami the next day. I will again be super-busy in Miami, but I have a lot of things there that I need to take care of. I will bring my camera to take some pictures, but I won't have my computer with me so I'm not sure if I will be able to post updates on the blog while I am gone, but I'll try. Chau~