jjmiller's Favorites

Some sorry soul failed miserably on giving this fabulous toad a suitable common name. Green toad? Really? Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Alternative suggestions, for anyone who cares:
Spotted Emerald Toad (jjmiller's suggestion, and probably the best of the group)
Dazzling Malachite Toad
Bejeweled Pesto Toad
Speckled Pistachio Toad
Motley Snot Hopper Toad.

I was leading a birdwatching trip through the mountains just below the cloud forest at El Triunfo, Chiapas, Mexico. We were near a location known as Canyon Honda when this green pit viper was found coiled on a small limb along the trail. I had seen this species in this area once before, in 1987 and I have one poor quality slide of that animal as well. This location is at an elevation of ca. 1530 meters. This animal was identified from my photos by herpetologist Dr. Jon Campbell of the University of Texas at Arlington a number of years ago. It was formerly known as Bothrops ornatus I believe. In 1987, I was able to visit personally with Dr. Miguel Alvarez del Toro, a noted Mexican herpetologist, who identified my 1987 observation as that species.

The first time I had ever seen this, i videoed the entire event as well from entry to exit. It was as if this species swims all the time. I sent it to a frogmouth expert and she had never seen that before. The bird chose to swim and flew away very easily after its swim. There appeared to be no explanation for the bird swimming as it was not particularly hot or anything unusual.

A common bird on the Daintree river , but one of the most amazing fishing birds. This birds can fish from a spot quite far above the water and hang upside stretch their neck out and successfully catch a fish. When first observed no one can believe they can fish from that height. To watch them go totally upside down is absolutely amazing.

You know you’ve found a large moth when…

1. After a 40 year career as a wildlife biologist, you can’t believe what you’re seeing is real.
2. Your ruler isn’t long enough to get a good measurement (2nd image), so you go back to get a longer ruler (3rd image) and that isn’t long enough, so you scramble around to find a carpenter’s measuring tape to fully span the wings (4th image).
3. Your astonishment is like the joy of a child on Christmas morning; you start laughing and giggling uncontrollably.
4. The largest moth on your sheet has a wingspan 40X the size of the smallest one.
5. You stay up until 3:30 a.m. journaling about one moth.
6. You start taking selfies...with a moth (last image).

To the best of my ability to measure this critter, the wingspan (with a bit of the tip of the right FW missing) is about 27.8 cm, so it would probably be about 28.5 cm (11.2 in) if it were intact. The species is said to have the largest wingspan of any Lepidopteran in the world.

The moth was initially discovered on the sheet by Mary Kay Sexton. I had overlooked it.

To read more of the story, see:
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/gcwarbler/13211-mothing-in-panama