Pristimantis riveti

While everyone else slept Alejandro and I saw five (!) gray breasted mountain toucans foraging over the forage edge by camp. Think of an outrageous kaleidiscope of colors perched awkwardly on the branches croaking like a rooster to the morning. What good luck, and I hope a good omen to the day to come.

There is so much to do....and I´m so tired of always being in charge and making things happen. I´m tired of being responsible. I long for anonymous freedom, but store those thoughts away for another day. Instead I directed packing up camp and we drove the long way around tothe high camp. A long potholed journey from bottom to top.

Just as we arrived into Rumi Loma before the boundary of the river I saw a pair of caracaras hunting in the river meadow just below Catherines truck. She is here to meet us for a lecture and staying the night. She won´t test her luck to the road or to the river unlike us and has parked far away from the danger zone of mud. Insurance to make sure Alejandro makes his flight tomorrow.

That night it rained, sabotaging our plan to sample down the hill sampling all the way to the river. Ironically frogs love the rain, but tend to hide as it falls making sampling difficult especially with Alejandro´s equipment. Instead we stayed close to camp where we found more than enough frogs to goggle over anyway. Looking near the tops of the bushes you may find Pristimantis riveti, like this gray color morph. While near the bottom, your more likely to find small chubby Pristimantis orestes like small toadstools calling to the night. All through the night they chorus like this like a lullaby to the moon and a love song to the night.

If you would like to see some really great photos of frogs I would direct you to take a look at Alejandro´s site. He is a good friend, a wonderful guy, and a most excellent photographer. You´ll see what I mean....