New Trip Reports: Costa Rica & Panama

Matt and Maureen Hart sent me 2 reports from the end of last year from their trip to Costa Rica and Panama

Costa Rica, 2013: Matthew & Maureen Hart, 1 week & 26 species including Ocelot, Silky Anteater, Kinkajou, Woolly Opossum, Mexican Porcupine and Honduran Bat.

Panama, 2013: Matthew & Maureen Hart, 1 week & 12 species including a strange Sloth and Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo.

cheers

Jon

5 Comments

  • tomeslice

    Good reports!

    You guys were SUPER lucky on the ocelot at Sirena… It’s not a given, and in fact, FAR from it.. I think my guide there (Rebecca Quiros) who was an excellent spotter, has guided tours there for over 3 years, and sees all the reasonably observable species on a regular basis (including tayra every few weeks, white-lipped peccary during the right season, and puma when there are individuals in the area) has never seen an ocelot! This may have changed by now, as I last talked to her in February of 2012, but the point is that staying there for 2 nights and seeing an ocelot just leisurely walking through the field was pretty much my wet dream when I was there, and needless to say it didn’t happen.

  • Jon Hall

    Matt and Maureen, after checking with Fiona Reid who is one of the world’s top bat experts, she says that your mystery bats are
    1 Artibeus jamaicensis
    2 Phyllostomus hastatus
    3 Carollia (probably perspicillata but impossible to be 100% sure w/o measurements)
    4 Peropteryx macrotis

    Good pictures too!

    jon

    • Matthew

      That’s brilliant! Please, pass on our thanks to Fiona. And if anyone visiting Sirena wants to find that roost, they’ll probably need to ask their guide if they know of the sea cave on the way to La Leona because I couldn’t possibly provide directions!

  • Jon Hall

    Thanks Jason … look forward to the report. That’s really great information on the Yapok. I am going to try for that species in Nicaragua next month but if that doesn’t work then sounds like those Mangroves are a great place. Its a species I would love to see. Can you send me their contact details too please… someone was asking for them just the other day. cheers jon

  • Matthew

    The night policy is crazy, but the whole guiding industry around Sirena just seems so haphazard and amateur that I’m not surprised the authorities have just decided to take an absolute approach. On hearing from another guide that we had just missed seeing a young otter outside its holt, our guide splashed across the creek and tried shining a torch into the hole. Hmmmm.

    Anyway, SO wish we had known that Milenlli does night tours! : )

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