Hello fellow nature lovers and treasured followers. For today's Daily Nature Fix, we're going to stay in Costa Rica a bit longer. Aside from the sloths ((Daily Nature Fix: SLOTHS in the Wild!)), the subject of today's blog is my second favorite animal we saw on that trip. Red-eyed tree frogs! Or, as the locals called them, "the gaudy tree frog". Whatever you want to call them, their scientific name is Agalychnis callidryas, which is derived from the greek words for "beautiful wood nymph".
^^^My first glimpse of one, mid-calling.
We were in Manuel Antonio on the pacific coast of Costa Rica and it was around 9:00 at night, with a heavy rainstorm going on (which happened every evening). My buddy and I decided to go out with our rain coats, umbrellas, flashlights, and our cameras to see what kind of critters we could find. There were a good amount of spiders and insects to be seen, and even a few other species of frogs... but we kept hearing one very loud, distinct frog call every minute or two. We approached this large aquatic plant that had humungous leaves and we could tell that call was coming from somewhere within the vegetation. My friend spotted it first, a small pale critter that was right above my head. I looked up and quickly recognized what it was, a red-eyed tree frog! Out of fear of it jumping away, I quickly raised my camera and snapped a photo of it, which you see above.
Fortunately for us, this little guy was not shy at all. He just sat there calling for a mate and didn't mind our flashlights on him or the camera flashes. What a good sport! Now I've got to say, I was incredibly excited with this find. Red-eyes may very well be my favorite frog; they're definitely my favorite arboreal species, without a doubt. Going into this trip, I knew they were native to the country but I really didn't expect to actually see one. I didn't see any dart frogs while I was there, but finding this guy made up for it.
Now, if you're not super familiar with amphibians, you probably have seen photos of this frog before, but didn't even recognize it on this post. My photos here do NOT do justice to the true beauty of this species. It looks like a completely different animal in the day time. See, at night time, the frogs are actually able to change their body color, making themselves much more dark, subdued colors on their sides and legs.... much more low key and harder for predators to find. In the day light, however, maaaaaaan are these guys incredible. Super light green skin, bright orange toe pads, and brilliant blue flanks running down their legs and sides with white tiger stripes (you all know how I love to see blue in nature!). Here is what they look like in the daylight, in their true glory:
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***Daily Nature Fix is a daily blog showcasing the natural world. It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***