On location in the Cauca Valley
A waterfall in the Cauca valley dubbed 'el anillo', 'the ring', by locals. An idyllic setting at the confluence of cloud forest and lowlands:
Broad-nosed weevil (Compsus sp.) ovipositing into folded leaf:
A mating pair of sexually dimorphic treehoppers (Polyglypta sp.):
Cryptic and at only a few millimetres long, neotropical ambush bugs are seldom seen. Looking somewhat like a cross between a mantis and a crab spider they often inhabit flowers where they prey on pollinators, though this individual from Yotoco reserve was spotted on low lying vegetation.:
Lichens aren't really headline grabbers, but this one certainly caught my eye. Yotoco reserve at around 1500M harbours a huge diversity of epiphytes, and the moss and lichen-clad branches are undoubtedly home to many species of mimics:
Lehmann's poison arrow frog (Oophaga lehmanni)
Sometimes it's the actions or the photos we don't take which are the most difficult, and ultimately a source of pride. This was most recently and saliently demonstrated to me while looking for the critically threatened, and highly sought-after Oophaga lehmanni; a poison arrow frog whose threatened status and huge value on the black market has made it increasingly difficult to see in the wild.
After chasing down several dead-ends for permits and guides, I was very kindly helped out by a few of my Facebook friends whom I was subsequently able to meet and enjoy the company of, whilst basking in the presence of one of nature's most brilliant jewels.
The location is what one might call "off-the-grid", requiring several hours of mucking through trails, fording various rivers, and slipping over a hazard of algae-covered rocks. The end result was an idyllic spot, glazed in a gossamer fog which ebbed and flowed through the mountains like waves, cresting the forested peaks with the slightest of breezes.
Our first encounter was a little less than ideal, the guide disappearing for a few minutes before reappearing with a bright yellow frog in hand. It was a spectacular juxtaposition and a striking example of a captured beauty. It wasn't how I had fantasized encountering this species which had first entered my dreams as a boy, but perhaps it best represents the reality of the sustained threat and delicate balance.
It was a short stay in the area, our time dictated by schedules and work-week responsibilities. I had only a few hours to find, and get the shots that I wanted of O. lehmanni. To have come all this way, investing time, effort, money, and to fail was as much a dictate of fortune, as it was a conscious decision. I had frogs, red, orange and yellow colour morphs brought to me by my exuberant guide (despite my protestations). But there would have been an eradicable dead pixel at the heart of such a photo, a filter of dishonesty, as much to myself as to anyone with whom I shared the photo. So although this isn't the photo which I envisioned, nor is it particularly technically, or aesthetically brilliant, it is an 'in-situ' photo of a critically threatened species taken through a long lens, with a long view of the species in mind:
Glass frog:
Millipede:
Blue tarantula:
Thanks for looking and commenting,
Paul
Cauca Valley (Colombia) Part I
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