Wide angle herps

I recently bought the LAOWA 15 mm. Now it was about time to try the new lens in the rainforest. It can be difficult to take pictures of wild animals, because you need to get very close to the motive. Also all the settings must be done manually and the live view doesn't really work. It took some practice and patience, but I am very happy with the results. 

Dipsas bicolor - Two-colored Snail-eater

My personal highlight and lifer was this beautiful Two-colored Snail-eater (Dipsas bicolor). With the low angle shot, I want to emphasize their aboreal behaviour.

Dipsas bicolor - Two-colored Snail-eater

The "it's coming right at me" picture shows nicely the giant eyes of this nocturnal snake. Using the LAOWA lens, I mostly set the aperture between f/16 and f/32.

Oophaga pumilio - Strawberry Poison Frog

In some areas the Strawberry Poison Frog is very common. It is still always really cool to encounter these little jumping rubies. Since I have many "regular" macro shots of these frogs, I wanted to include the habitat in this picture.

Oxyrhopus petolarius - Forest Flame Snake

I have seen several specimen of the Forest Flame Snake, also called Calico Snake, but it was the first time I found a juvenile one. The yellowish / white color will turn to red when they grow older. This is a coral mimic rear-fanged snake, completely harmless to humans. 

The Helmeted Iguana has a highly variable coloration. This is the only one I have seen so far with a beautiful blue pattern. They are ambush pretadors and barely move at all, so it can be very hard to spot them.

Imantodes cenchoa - Blunthead Tree Snake

One of the commonly seen snakes during the night hikes in Costa Rica is the Blunthead Tree Snake. I had a picture like this in mind for a long time and thanks to my new lens and some luck, I actually got it now. The snake was climbing down from a palm leaf and I seized the opportunity for this tongue shot.

Costa Rica - Arenal Volcano

One of the typical "must see" destinations in Costa Rica is the famous Arenal Volcano.

Not only because of the perfectly shaped volcano, but also because of the biodiversity, the national park is worth the trip. You can comfortable drive (4x4 recommended)  to a viewpoint to admire the volcano. Hopefully clouds do not block the view. So you do not have to be in a good physical condition to see the volcano, you only need luck with the weather. Of course there are very nice hiking trails as well.

At the viewpoint this pretty bird welcomed us. A White-throated Magpie-jay (Calocitta formosa)

Here you can see the map (I colored the yellow and green trails). At the end of the main road (red X) is the viewpoint. There is a small trail on the left, connecting the two parking lots. The yellow trail is pretty sunny and partly surrounded by bamboo forest. It ends at another, more adventurous viewpoint. From there you can see the volcano and the lake. The green trail winds through secondary rainforest and is mostly shady.

I found this Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegelli) quite at the beginning of the yellow trail. What a start - amazing! Some Howler Monkeys jumped around in the bushes, but I didn't get any pictures of them. 

The Central American Whiptail (Ameiva festiva) is common in the national park. The juveniles can be recognized by their blue tail.

Barred Forest Racer (Dendrophidion vinitor), found somewhere on the "green trail".

Another great find on the green trail was this beauty: Parrot Snake (Leptophis ahaetulla).

The animals surely don't stay in the boundaries of the national park, so in the area around La Fortuna we were able to observe some cool stuff. The advantage outside the np is the opportunity to look in the dark for animals... perfect to find some of the numerous nocturnal species.

The Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) is very common. It was the first snake we found at night. They mainly feed on frogs and their eggs.

This handsome Hourglass Treefrog (Dendropsophus ebraccatus) is calling for love...

...while this one already found a female for breeding. To me, the Hourglass Treefrog is one of the prettiest frog species in Costa Rica. A nice looking Tropical Orb Weaver (Eriophora fuliginea) built it's web next to the trail. The orange coloration of their underside is amazing, still I wanted to get a glance at it's back. Therfore I had to crawl underneath the web. I am not really afraid of spiders, but doing this (in the dark!) was somehow quite thrilling.

The Warszewitsch's Frog (Lithobates warszewitschii) is well camouflaged. He fits perfect with the leaf litter.

To show it's beauty and the pointy snout, here is another specimen. The name is kind of hard to pronounce and I assume I mess it up pretty bad, but I really like this frog.

The "Cutie-Award" goes to this juvenile Blunthead Tree Snake (Imantodes cenchoa).

Last but not least, a beautiful Leaf Litter Toad (Rhaebo haematiticus)