Palo Verde

The biological station is near sea level in Palo Verde National Park, where there is a dry forest on limestone outcrops, and a vast wetland bordering the Tempisque River. The station is administered by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS).

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Davinia Beneyto, head of academic services at Palo Verde Biological Station, led us on a walk in the dry forest

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white-faced capuchins

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monkey ladder vine (Bauhinia sp.)

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pair of white-fronted parrots in a flowering, leafless pochote tree (Pachira quinata)

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hog-nosed pit viper, one of several venomous snake species seen on the trip 

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Open water vanished from much of the wetland in a dry season exacerbated by the 2016 El Niño, but bird life was stilll abundant around remnant pools 

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a tough environment for most animals and plants: bone dry now, but underwater for months at a time in the wet season 

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animal tracks at the edge of the wetland 

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Lindsey helping the crocodile researchers in the wetland at night. The Biol. 472 students on this crew gained useful life skills such as learning how to tell the sex of a croc by inserting your finger in its cloaca

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pair of bird watchers

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