Shuffling and Optimization

Please note that I will be shuffling some things around because I am currently doing some site optimization. This will involve reworking some of the posts already up and hopefully adding more posts regularly, especially those bat- and Costa Rica-related. (My husband and I visited Costa Rica a second time over the holidays!)

One reader commented about the blog's colors and fonts, saying it was kinda hard to read. I don't have a problem with it (but different monitors display things so differently) and no one else has commented on this; but if it is a problem, I don't want to turn people away with my color and font selections. So let me know.

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Chiropterophily: Bat Pollination

I see you! Geoffroy's tailless bat (Anoura Geoffroyi) - photo by Nathan Muchhala Ever since coming across this word, I can't stop saying it: chiropterophily. Chiropterophily, or pollination of plants by bats, is very common in the tropics. Hundreds of tropical plant species are exclusively or at least partly pollinated by nectar-feeding bats. Many tropical flowers are night-blooming, specializing in attracting bats. Bat-flowers are typically white, cream, or pale green in color, making them easier to see in the dark. They usually have a musky, fermented odor - like that of the bat - or sometimes a fruity odor. They have a large, sturdy, open shape with long, bushy anthers so that the bat's head and chest get coated in pollen when it visits. In return for the bat pollinating the flower, the flower provides the nectar that these high-energy flying mammals need.* Tube-lipped nectar bat (Anoura fistulata) - photo by Nathan Muchhala Nectivorous bats have both good eyesight an

Eyeshine in Nocturnal Animals

Peters' Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus crypturus), Kruger National Park - photo by Peet van Schalkwyk Have you ever noticed how under certain lighting conditions some animal's eyes seem to glow? Animals that are nocturnal hunters - and a few of them that are not - have something called eyeshine . Eyeshine is the light that we see reflected back from the animal's tapetum lucidum (a membrane behind the animal's retina). Light enters the eye, passes through the retina, strikes the reflective membrane, and is reflected back through the eye toward the light source. This phenomenon makes the most of what little light there is at night for these nocturnal creatures. a moth with pink eyeshine Humans can display the red-eye effect in flash photography, but we do not have a tapetum lucidum , and thus, do not have eyeshine. Eyeshine is best observed by wearing a head lamp or holding a flashlight at eye level against your temple because the light is reflected right back into

Leaving Bosque del Cabo

January 4, 2010 We woke right before dawn. The howler monkeys were especially vocal this morning (or perhaps we just slept through the loud parts the previous mornings). We got ready then had a super quick breakfast of granola and fruit. The staff packed us some sandwiches for later. I selected avocado; Nick selected the pb&j deluxe. Eric drove us to the small, regional airport in Puerto Jiménez. It was a quiet ride; we were sad to go. We were fortunate to be able to stay 6 days; but even in this amount of time, we didn't do everything we wished to, like hike down to the beaches, hike to the waterfalls and the take the zipline tour. As we continued down the road, we passed the signpost to Lapa Rios, the lodge we had stayed at the previous year. Which was better? I hate to make such comparisons, as each of these places holds a special place in our hearts. Lapa Rios was the climactic end to our very first trip to Costa Rica. It was during the rainy seaso

hey little bat!

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