Coquí Radar: Coquís!

Coquí report #4: I finally saw some coquís!!!

Yes, there are millions of coquís on the island, so I have to admit that finding one is not that rare occasion. But they can be pretty difficult to see because they're small and only active after the sunset. One of the frogs that I saw I could hear so clearly that it was evidently in the tree in front of me, but all that I could see was a snail. After a while of intensive staring I realized that the frog was behind the snail.

One of the things that I love in living here at the observatory is the nature. You're literally in the jungle although some roads and building have been constructed in the middle of it. Therefore you can see a lot of wildlife here, mostly birds, lizards and insects. And the frogs, of course. There's not that big variety of mammals; largest beasts on the island are people, cats and dogs.

I've been in a flu the whole week like half of the whole planetary radar group (the negative side of the close social contacts) and I don't feel capable of intelligent analyses of anything right now, so I'll just post some shots of the local wildlife I've taken during the last three weeks and a couple from the earlier trips here. I've done my best to name them right but if someone notices a mistake, let me know!

The fortresses of San Juan host some big iguanas, this one was posing next to one of the famous guard towers.

The smaller lizards/gekkos you can't avoid anywhere. They come in all colors and sizes below 30 cm.

The thrushes (Fin: rastaat) are the most common birds around here. They're not so colorful but they sing nicely.

The kingbirds (Fin: tyranni) like the electric/phone lines. I've never seen any other birds sitting there.

Bananaquits (Fin: banaanikerttuli) are also quite common, but they're very small and quick. This one was cuddling a flower (or more likely trying to eat it).

This little bug comes hovering in front of my porch every morning shining in bright green.

A random beetle. Just because a nice picture.

An orange-striped millipede. Much nicer-looking bugs than the centipedes that look like aliens and that I hope to be able to avoid as long as possible.

A snail. Also snails seem to be active only after the sunset.

Local toads are slightly poisonous so you don't want to go touch one. Fortunately they're around only after raining. This photo is from my first visit to PR. A few weeks earlier I had almost tripped down on a toad on a dark path.