Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Volunteer and Intern Voice: My favourite animal sighting at Jalova was....


Written by several volunteers and interns at Jalova

Another month has ended and we have sadly said goodbye to another group of volunteers. As they were leaving we asked them, and those staying on with us, to complete the sentence “My favourite animal sighting at Jalova was….”. Here are their responses:

Kathy, the most perfect Leatherback Turtle. We met on a moonlit night when the air was right, looked into each other’s eyes and we bonded tight. We will meet again one night.
-Max, 6 month Intern


The Grey Four-Eyed Opossum found hiding in a bag in the kitchen, looking dazed and confused until we released it outside.
-Jan, 6 month Intern

Towards the end of a Biological Assessment Survey on the Juana Lopez Trail we thought we might be hearing Macaws. We waited and waited, and finally four Great Green Macaws flew over us. There were no photos but an amazing and rare sighting.
-Annie, 2 month Volunteer

A Leatherback Turtle, I forget her name, but she was working her prehistoric fins as hard as she could to sweep herself back to sea after a successful laying of her eggs in the moonlight.
-Pete, 3 month Volunteer

18 Mississipi Kites on migration taking a break in a tree early one morning on canal bird survey. A surprising find and a beautiful sighting of these graceful birds!
-Julia, 1 month Volunteer

Seeing four Great Green Macaws fly over after not being sure whether we were hearing Macaws or Spider Monkeys. It was amazing to see these marvellous birds fly overhead.
-Katie, 6 month Intern

When I found my first Red-Eyed Treefrog sleeping on a big leaf. It was the cutest frog ever! Finally she woke up and showed her beautiful red amazing eyes
-Jenny, 1 month Intern

The iconic Red-Eyed Treefrog spotted on an evening forest walk near our base.
Seeing all the three monkey species: White-Throated Capuchins, Central American Spider Monkeys and Mantled Howler Monkeys. Since I have a background in primates, this was pretty amazing for me.
-Amy, 6 month Intern

Spotting a flock of Great Green Macaws on my last survey. It was amazing! Seeing them fly over just blew my mind. However, I can’t leave out the fifty-eight Eyelash Palm Pitvipers I’ve seen, including every different colour morph. Jalova is just so beautiful, it’s like my second home!
-Elco, 2 month Volunteer
 
Too difficult to pick! Trying to think of just one favourite sighting at Jalova is so hard. There are so many new animals I have seen here from snakes on base to turtles on the beach. Yet one of the most unexpected was on our way to the Juana Lopez Trail when a Northern Tamandua ran across the path in front of us and up a nearby tree. We had such a great sighting of it as it sped up the tree and I actually managed to get a good picture! One thing I’ve definitely noticed about the animals her at Jalova is that they always appear when you’re least expecting it….
-Suzy, 2 month Volunteer
A Northern Tamandua after it's mad dash back up into the treetops.

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