Brazil nut

A Brazil nut pod. Bertholetia excelsa

Wasp

Fungus 131

Ink Cap

Help. I can't remember the name of these little beauties. I used to call them fungi, but then someone corrected me. Sorry, I lost the response. Later: See Joan's comment.

Thrush

Few can sing as well as a thrush.

Frog x Snake x Me

A strange noise coming from the woods next to my office at the Arboretum; the dog that hangs out there was whimpering and showed reluctance to get any closer to the source of the disturbance. "Sounds like a cat in distress", I thought to myself. After hearing the sounds for a few minutes, I decided to have a closer look. To my surprise, I discovered a "papo-ovo" snake latched on to a rather large frog. The attack may have been going on for some time because the frog's right hind leg was swollen up and the anus of the frog bloody. Click on the images for enlargements. I decided to come to the frog's rescue by nudging it gently with my boot. It immediately released the frog and went for me. Third image. The frog remained put for a few seconds and then quickly jumped away to disappear into the woods nearby. I was impressed how fast the snake ran after it. It had no intention of losing lunch. I would like to think that the frog escaped, but I think it was much to crippled to to do so. The situation wasn't really any of my business, but I felt sorry for the frog.

Guaraná

Guaraná (Paullina cupana)

Got you

Egg shell

Broken egg from a bird nest up in a tree,

Lacre, leaf

Lacre (Vismia sp.  Hypericaceae)

Fungi on log

TEMA group visits the Bosque

It was great to see Sr. Hagen, tour coordinator for TEMA, a few days ago. TEMA is a prominent eco-tourism company out of Sweden. Most of their clients are from the Scandinavian countries. They present an Amazonian tour at least four times per year. Bosque Santa Lúcia is one of their stops out of Santarém. Image, Hagen with his favorite pet, the Amazonian pink dolphin.

Muiratinga

Muiratinga (Maquira sp), the "penis tree".

Melastomataceae

Miconia sp

Geniparana

Geniparana flower (Gustavia augusta)

Cecropia

A young cecropia tree.

Another lichen

Fungi on fencepost

Lichen on leaf

Ant on Costus bloom

Downhill

Downhill to the woods.

Pupunha

Pupunha (Bactris gasipaes)

Butterfly

Termite art

Bannister caapi

The ayahuasca connection, Bannister caapi.

Stone house

A stone house, composed of sand crystals and small stone. Probably a wasp nest. The sting of the dweller is equivalent to grabbing a live electric wire.

Calliandra

Calliandra flowers.

Passionfruit bud

A wild passionfruit bud.

Flowers

Unidentified flowering plant given to me by a neighbor.

Cecropia

Cecropia leaves

Piririma seeds

Piririma seeds (Syagrus pseudococos)

Wild passion fruit

Wild passion fruit and leaf of the vine.

Visitors at Bosque

Visitors from Sweden, 2006.

Brazil nut

Brazil nut (Bertholetia excelsa) blossom.

Ceiba

Sumaúma
Ceiba pentanda

Wasp

Wasp on Myrciaria jaboticaba.

Peperomia

This peperomia is so new, it hasn't had time to gather dust from the nearby road. I'm really not certain as to the name of the vine. I've seen it listed as "peperomia" in some books, but then I've heard that it may be incorrect.

Lilies

Somewhat depressed by the intense heat, lack of rain and an overload of dust from the nearby road, these Amarillo lilies brought relief to my eyes.

Stellar architects

Stellar architects. A string of nests welded to a single metal chime above, less than the diameter of a pencil.

Chamecrista negrensis

Flowers from a Chamecrista negrensis tree.