Capuchins and Squirrel Monkeys: Primates of Costa Rica (part 2)

 

White-throated Capuchin Monkey

My last blog looked at the largest of Costa Rica's four primate species: the Mantled Howler and Central American Spider Monkey. Now it's the turn of their two smaller relatives.

Capuchin Monkeys are a common sight throughout the Neotropics. Unlike the two species covered in my last blog, which both feed mainly in the forest canopy, Capuchins will forage on the ground as well as in the treetops. Their diet is wide-ranging, both plant-based (fruits, seeds, flowers and buds) and carnivorous (insects, as well as smaller birds and mammals). The name relates to a supposed likeness to brown-robed monks, a likeness that has also (bizarrely) named the cappucino coffee, although I can't see it myself. 

Their sole appearance on our trip was unexpected. All four of Costa Rica's primates prefer to live in forests, ideally primary rainforest. So we weren't expecting to see any in the lowlands of the south-west, where the forests have been largely cleared and farming is the dominant land use.

Wetlands near Cuidad Neilly - not an obvious monkey habitat

We were exploring the extensive wetlands near Cuidad Neilly, near to Costa Rica's border with Panama. Much of the land had been flooded for rice cultivation and the birding was simply sensational. This is a land of waterfowl, waders and herons.

Bare-faced Tiger-Heron near Cuidad Neilly

We found ourselves walking along a track bordering the Rio Corredor, which has been forced into an arrow-straight corridor through the wetlands. The track was flanked by narrow strips of trees and shrubs, and it was there that the Capuchins announced their presence by the sudden wave of activity, chattering and branch-breaking that accompanies a troop of monkeys on the move.

Riverside trees and shrubs - where we discovered the Capuchins

It was difficult to get a good view, as they were mobile and largely concealed by leaves and branches. Every now and again an inquisitive face would pop up in a gap through the vegetation, and it was a challenge to fire off a few photographs before its owner disappeared again.

Capuchin in pensive mood

Like Costa Rica's other primates Capuchin Monkeys have been under the scrutiny of taxonomists, which means that you will find different species names for them in different publications. I favour the IUCN Red List (website) which now calls them the Panamanian White-throated Capuchin Cebus imitator. Why Panamanian and not Costa Rican I do not know: they are found in both countries, as well as parts of Nicaragua and Honduras, but they appear to be more widely spread across Costa Rica than anywhere else. The species has been split from the (similar) Colombian White-throated Capuchin Monkeys found in eastern Panama and parts of Colombia and Ecuador. Sadly, both species are considered at risk, being classed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN due to concerns of forest loss as well as hunting for bushmeat and the pet trade. Their tendency to raid crops doesn't make them hugely popular with farmers, either. 

Capuchin Monkey peering from the forest gloom.

Unfortunately things are even worse for the fourth and final Costa Rican primate, the beautiful Squirrel Monkey - or, to be exact, the Black-crowned Central American Squirrel Monkey Saimiri oerstedii. (Taxonomists don't appear to give much thought to producing snappy or memorable common species names, do they?) This is the rarest of Costa Rica's monkeys, and many visitors never get to see one. However, we were lucky to have brief views of a small group of at least five individuals moving high through the forest canopy in the Piedras Blancas National Park, a marvellous tract of lowland rainforest in the south-west of the country near the town of Golfito. 

Black-crowned Central American Squirrel Monkey - Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica

These are really neat little monkeys, with a distinctive black cap and - unusually for Neotropical primates - a non-prehensile tail. Not that this seemed to impede their movement through the canopy; our five were walking confidently along horizontal vines and creepers before we lost sight of them.

These Squirrel Monkeys occupy a very restricted geographical range (see the map here) being limited to the Pacific coasts of Costa Rica and western Panama. They are well-separated from the Squirrel Monkeys of South America, leading to speculation that they were brought to Central America by man - unlike the other three species described in my two blog posts. However, there are clear differences from the South American species, including a more orange-coloured back (which is not shown well in my photograph which was taken after a short and heavy burst of rain), which suggests that they have been established as a distinct population for enough time to evolve into a separate species.

Animals with limited geographical ranges are often at a greater risk of extinction because they are reliant upon a smaller number of protected areas (among other reasons). That is certainly the case with these Central American Squirrel Monkeys, which are classed as 'endangered' by the IUCN. It doesn't help that they are confined to the lowlands, so cannot benefit from the more extensive range of national parks and reserves along Cosat Rica's central mountain chain. You won't see any up at Monteverde, for example. Continued safeguarding of places like Piedras Blancas and Corcorvado National Parks is essential for their survival. As in my previous blog, I am waving the flag to increase awareness of conservation organisations that working to protect such habitats, such as the World Land Trust. If you are able to lend support then please do.

Sources

Emmons, L. H. (1997) Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: A Field Guide (2nd ed) Chicago: Chicago UP

Henderson, C.L. (2010) Mammals, Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Solano-Rojas, D. 2021. Saimiri oerstedii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T19836A17940807. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T19836A17940807.en. Accessed on 17 February 2025.

Williams-Guillén, K., Rosales-Meda, M., Méndez-Carvajal, P.G., Solano-Rojas, D., Urbani, B. & Lynch Alfaro, J.W. 2021. Cebus imitator (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T81265980A191708420. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T81265980A191708420.en. Accessed on 17 February 2025.

Howlers and Spiders: Primates of Costa Rica (part 1)

 

It is just after dawn on a road through the dry forest that flanks the Pacific Ocean. Breakfast has been postponed so that we can catch the morning's first rush of bird activity. A White-throated Magpie Jay flaunts its tasselled crest, while a startling yellow Prothonotary Warbler shimmers through the foliage. Attuned to such small movements, it comes as a surprise when a large black object crashes through the bushes and pauses in a fork of branches to give you a hard stare. This is a Mantled Howler Monkey Alouatta palliata, the most conspicuous of Costa Rica's four primate species. 

Howlers can turn up in forests all over Costa Rica, from the coast to mid-elevation rainforests (around 2,000 metres up). We first heard them at Pocosol Biological Station, a rainforest research facility at the end of a long and bumpy track through the foothills, where their soundtrack of hooting calls echoed over the forest canopy as dawn was breaking. But they didn't show themselves at Pocosol: our first distant sighting was of several black specks in trees across the Rio Frio down on the Nicaraguan border at Los Chiles a couple of days later, where the now-familiar Howler chorus accompanied the evening bustle of comings and goings on the town's busy waterfront.

After that, Howlers seemed to appear in every large forest that we visited. At Tirimbina Rainforest Reserve, in the foothills on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica's central mountain chain, a troop of Howlers passed through the canopy right above us, sending down one individual for a closer look (below). They were interested in us human visitors, without wanting to get too close; this may be a response to what they see as a possible predator, or it might be just exploiting the potential for a food handout. Certainly, Howlers are tolerant of some degree of  human activity and can occupy more disturbed secondary forest habitats: we saw one near to our hotel entrance at Quinta de Sarapiqui for example.

Mantled Howler Monkey - Tirimbina, Costa Rica

Howler Monkeys are found across the tropical forests of Central and South America where their diet comprises mostly young leaves of a variety of rainforst trees. This isn't the most nutritious of foods, but at least there's plenty of it, although the Howlers need to be careful to avoid eating leaves from the more toxic tree species. This leads to an ongoing evolutionary 'arms race' between hungry monkeys and ever-more sophisticated plant defence mechanisms.    

From the six Howler Monkey species listed by Louise Emmons in 1997, we have jumped to 15 species that are now recognised by world conservation body the IUCN. Several of these newly defined species have very limited ranges, but Mantled Howlers can be found across much of tropical Central America and down the Pacific coast to southern Ecuador. Despite this large range, they are a conservation concern (classed as "vulnerable") as numbers have decreased by at least 30% over 30 years. Threats include hunting and habitat loss.

While Mantled Howler Monkeys may be the heaviest of Costa Rica's four primate species, they are not necessarily the biggest. What Central American Spider Monkeys Ateles geoffroyi (below) lack in bulk, they make up for in reach. These lanky, long-limbed canopy dwellers are well-named.

Central American Spider Monkey - Tirimbina, Costa Rica

Tirimbina Rainforest Reserve (website), which should be on the itinerary of every naturalist visiting Costa Rica, provided our only encounter with this elusive species. Unlike the Howlers, they showed no interest in coming close, and we had to be content with glimpses through the thick forest foliage. The photograph above shows the light-coloured facial markings that distinguish them from the mostly-black Howlers, while the poor image below gives a better impression of their spider-like profile. Although most New World monkeys have prehensile tails that can grip round branches, Spider Monkeys seem particularly adept at using it as a fifth limb, making short work of the complex job of navigating through the tangled forest canopy. They moved with an effortless style.

Spider Monkey silhouette - Tirimbina, Costa Rica

Unlike the leaf-eating Howlers, Spider Monkeys seek more nutritious forest foods such as fruits, seeds, flowers and even some small animals. These can be scarce resources, and as a result Spider Monkeys need to range across a large area of forest. This means that their territories are bigger, sometimes over 100 hectares, than those of the more sedentary Howlers which can manage in under 60 hectares. Mind you, Spider Monkeys tend to move around in bigger numbers than Mantled Howlers: groups can number up to 50 individuals, compared with 10-20 Howlers, although the our Spider Monkeys at Tirimbina were far fewer in number.   

Sadly, the conservation picture for Central American Spider Monkeys is even worse than for the Mantled Howlers. The species has a somewhat limited range, being confined solely to Central America, following a taxonomic split that has separated them from a population in Colombia and western Ecuador now called Brown-headed Spider Monkeys Ateles fusciceps. These are also endangered. Central American Spider Monkeys have suffered an even greater population loss than the Howlers: a 50% reduction over 45 years. Habitat destruction is the main culprit, although hunting for bushmeat and the pet trade is also a concern.

While Costa Rica can boast an excellent network of protected forests, this doesn't mnean that the future of species like these two primates is secure. Conservation organisations working to safeguard such habitats, such as the World Land Trust which I have been supporting for over 20 years (and which operates on Costa Rica among many other locations), need all of the help that they can get. 

Right - two primates down, and two to go. Watch this space.

Mantled Howler - Quinta de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Sources

Cortes-Ortíz, L., Rosales-Meda, M., Williams-Guillén, K., Solano-Rojas, D., Méndez-Carvajal, P.G., de la Torre, S., Moscoso, P., Rodríguez, V., Palacios, E., Canales-Espinosa, D., Link, A., Guzman-Caro, D. & Cornejo, F.M. 2021. Alouatta palliata (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T39960A190425583. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T39960A190425583.en. Accessed on 02 February 2025.

Cortes-Ortíz, L., Solano-Rojas, D., Rosales-Meda, M., Williams-Guillén, K., Méndez-Carvajal, P.G., Marsh, L.K., Canales-Espinosa, D. & Mittermeier, R.A. 2021. Ateles geoffroyi (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T2279A191688782. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T2279A191688782.en. Accessed on 02 February 2025.

Emmons, L. H. (1997) Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: A Field Guide (2nd ed) Chicago: Chicago UP

Henderson, C.L. (2010) Mammals, Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. Austin: University of Texas Press.

USA 2023 - Elephant Seals (and more) at Aňo Nuevo CA

Monday 3 April 2023

Chilled out Elephant Seal - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

North of Santa Cruz, the Pacific coast becomes surprisingly wild and undeveloped, - unexpected, given how close you are to San Francisco and the cities of the Bay area. Inland, the hills were blanketed by the remains of Redwood forests that had been hit by massive fires the previous year. Luckily, the coastal heathlands had been largely spared, but the charred skeletons of trees on the nearby hills (below), were a sobering reminder of the effects of climate change on these fragile habitats. Most of the state park lies inland from the coast road, but our interest lay in its coastal section – and, especially, the Elephant Seals. I'll get to them shortly.  

Last year's fire damage on the hills behind Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

We checked in at the visitor centre, housed within old barns dating from the area’s use as a dairy farm up until the Second World War, before heading off on the trail to the headland. The northerly wind was  strong and cold. Most birds were keeping their heads down. An Anna’s Hummingbird balanced precariously on a bush and about 20 Surf Scoters bobbed around offshore. The small pond produced Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck, Eared Grebe and Mallard, with a few Tree Swallows zooming and diving over the water and a Northern Harrier flying by. My first Calfornia Thrasher, a brown bird with a downcurved bill, perched on a bush before diving into a sea of scrub with a flash of rufous underwings. Too fast for a photo.

Coast at Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Views opened up towards the sea. A few Brown Pelicans were perched on a rock, with a Western Gull, and a lone Pigeon Guillemot sat on the water. On the Pacific coast, this marks the northern end of the year-round range of Brown Pelicans, although they travel further north in the breeding season. As if to pre-empt the day’s main mammal event, there was a single Sea Otter floating in the bay doing very little, in true Sea Otter fashion. (See my previous blog post here about California Sea Otters).

A few Mule Deer, called Black-tailed Deer here (a race of Mule Deer found in California's Coastal Ranges), had found a sunny and sheltered spot near the trail. 

Mule (Black-tailed) Deer - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

At this point on the trail, there is a small ranger post with a volunteer warden (or docent - not a word that I'd heard before). We offered to show our permits (obtained from the visitor centre) but he waved us aside saying "If you've made it this far, that's good enough for me". We had a quick look at his impressive collection of seal skulls: fully grown Elephant Seals are massive.

We were now approaching the Elephant Seal beaches ...

Elephant Seal signage at Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

This sign looks suitably dramatic, but we knew that we wouldn’t be seeing any of the big male Elephant Seals here; they arrive on the beaches in December and are usually gone by mid-March at the end of the breeding season. The good news is that there are other Elephant Seals at Aňo Nuevo all year round, so our visit wouldn’t be wasted. Near to South Point the trail climbed a big sand dune; we took a branch off to the left, which ended by a beach that was littered with around 100 recumbent cylinders of blubber - some of which are shown below. 

First sight of the Elephant Seals at Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Strictly, these are Northern Elephant Seals Mirounga angustirostris, one of the 'true seals'. (There is a short discussion about true seals and eared seals/sea lions in my previous post about California Sea Lions here - opens in new window.) At their largest, the males can reach 5 metres in length, which is big enough but shorter than the other Mirounga species, the Southern Elephant Seal. In conservation terms, Northern Elephant Seals are doing well. Numbers are increasing; from as low as 100 individuals in the 1890s the latest IUCN population estimate is now around 110,000.

Juvenile Elephant Seal - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Most of the Elephant Seals on this beach were juveniles, or ‘weaners’, as the warden called them. Females give birth in early December; this part of the park is closed for a fortnight then. The pups grow rapidly from their mothers’ milk (one pup per female); weaning starts brutally in February when the females leave the beaches in search of food for themselves (the males have already gone). The pups then learn to swim and feed from the beaches when the adults have departed.  

Elephant Seal coming into the beach - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Elephant Seal in search of a place to snooze - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

But there were a few older seals on the beaches as well. Jumping slightly ahead, when we got round to Bight Beach, a larger subadult seal swam close in. Signs of moulting fur were clearly visible on its head (below).

Elephant Seal in moult - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Even better, from Bight Beach we got a distant view of two young males squaring up to each other at North Point (below), practicing for future adult conflicts.

Elephant Seal (practice?) aggression -  Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Marvellous encounters, despite the absence of the big adult males. And it’s good to know that these seals are still protected (by state law and the Marine Mammal Protection Act 1972), and obviously valued by wardens and visitors alike. 

From South Point to Bight Beach we were walking straight into the biting wind. A Northern Harrier drifted over the dunes (below). I’ve come across a few of these in the USA, and they are certainly a lot more common than Hen Harriers are back in the UK. The two species were only split relatively recently. This image shows the distinctive white rump, as well as the famous V-shaped wing profile, although harriers can display a range of shapes in different types of flight.

Northern Harrier - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Bight Bay was as memorable for its reptiles as its seals. With hindsight, this was an ideal day to see them, as they were seeking out suitable basking spots to combat the chilly wind. Two enthusiastic wardens (docents) showed us a beautifully marked snake lying next to the boardwalk in the cover of a bush - a Western Terrestrial Garter Snake Thamnopis elegans (below), specifically the Coast Garter Snake T.e.terrestris subspecies.  

Western Terrestrial Garter Snake Thamnopis elegans - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

At the time, the docents said that it was a San Francisco Garter Snake Thamnopis sirtalis tetrataenia, one of 12 identified subspecies of the Common Garter Snake, and I duly noted it down as such. But checking my field guide later on, and looking at the excellent California Herps website (link here - opens in new window) it is clear that this couldn't be the case. San Francisco Garter Snakes have red, not green, heads. The moral of the tale: don't believe everything you're told. But, in fairness, Garter Snakes are very variable.

Thankfully, there was no doubt about the next reptile - a Western Fence Lizard Sceloporus occidentalis (below) sitting on the side of the boardwalk.

Western Fence Lizard Sceloporus occidentalis - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

The lizard was the second of the morning - one had scuttled off the boardwalk as we approached Bight Beach and I had been frustrated not to get a good view. This one was more obliging, although I later found that all of my images were out of focus - poor! The Western Fence Lizard is California's most common lizard; the California Herps website says: "Chances are good if you see a small lizard sitting on a rock or fence or other object and you are anywhere in California (except the very high mountains or in the deserts) this is the lizard you are looking at." I guess that the clue's in the name! Like the garter snakes, Western Fence Lizards have been subdivided into a number of subspecies; there are useful range maps on the California Herps website. This one was a Coast Range Fence Lizard S.o.bocourtii, which is a Californian endemic.  

With that, we retraced our route to the visitor centre. Two Whimbrels (below) had landed on a beach just south of the pond.

Whimbrels (record photo) - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

A bit of botanising revealed this lovely Blue-eyed Grass Sisyrincium bellum in flower (below), one of a number of Sisyrinciums found in California. A member of the Iris family, it is mainly found along the coast, but also in some upland locations. Beautiful.

Blue-eyed Grass Sisyrincium bellum - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Back at the car park, a Western Scrub-Jay had appeared on a picnic table, a sign that it was getting near to lunch time.

Western Scrub-Jay - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

And a close Turkey Vulture fly-by was the final bird encounter of our visit to Aňo Nuevo. You don't get birds like this at picnic areas in the UK.

Turkey Vulture - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Reference

Behler, J.L. and King, F.W. (1979) National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

  

USA 2023 - Sea Otters!

 

Sea Otter - detail - Moss Landing CA

Top of my 'must see' list for the 2023 California trip were Sea Otters. The Pacific coast south of San Francisco is the best place in the world to get a view of these characterful - and endangered - mammals. And finding them could not be easier, although it took us longer than it should have done.

As described in previous blogs (here and here), our visit to Moss Landing on California's Monterey Bay started with a quick birdwatch from the quayside then a whale watching cruise out in the bay. We had seen Californian Sea Lions in (and out of) the harbour, and watched Humpback Whales - some surprisingly close inshore. All well and good, but the lack of Sea Otters was troubling me until our vessel (the Sea Goddess) returned to harbour. As we cruised between the breakwaters, I spotted my first Sea Otter in the waves (below) - image blurred due to the movement of boat and water.

Sea Otter - my first sighting - Moss Landing CA

Three Sea Otters were dotted around the harbour entrance channel in their normal laid-back floating posture. They seemed indifferent to the passage of our boat, although this one covered its eye with its paw in a world-weary gesture as we sailed by. (Apologies for getting a bit anthropomorphic, its easily done when describing such engaging creatures.) 

The boat docked and we disembarked for a walk over the harbour bridge (Sandholt Road). Right in front of us were three more Sea Otters (below) looking even more chilled than the ones at the harbour entrance.

Sea Otters from the Sandholt Road bridge - Moss Landing CA

They appeared not to be bothered about the near proximity of people taking photographs from the  bridge and nearby road. It was almost as if they know that they are protected: the Californian and Alaskan subspecies are both listed as threatened under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. 

Sea Otters in characteristically chilled pose - Moss Landing CA

Sea Otters Enhydra lutris have a wide, but fragmented, distribution on northern Pacific coastlines. The population in south and central Californian is one of three subspecies (E. l. nereis) - the others are E. l. lutris (Japan to Kamchatka) and E. l. kenyoni (Aleutians and Alaska down to Oregon). 

Sea Otters are classed as 'Endangered' by the IUCN (link to their excellent Red List website here). Populations suffered a massive decline in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a result of fur hunting. (The next day we were able to feel a Sea Otter pelt at the Ano Nuevo State Park visitor centre - presumably obtained legally. The fur is deep, rich and warm.) World-wide, the population decreased to only 2,000 individuals by the end of the fur trade in 1911; as a result of protection, this has now risen to over 120,000 (data from the IUCN).

Although not now subject to systematic hunting, the range of the California Sea Otters is limited by 'shark-bite mortality', as the IUCN puts it. The shelter afforded by Monterey Bay's giant kelp forests has helped them to avoid shark predation, although Moss Landing is some distance from the nearest kelp forests which are concentrated near Santa Cruz in the north and Monterey in the south. (There is a useful article on kelp forests here.) I guess that Moss Landing harbour provides adequate protection from sharks in search of a Sea Otter snack. 

Sea Otter female with pup - Moss Landing CA

Further along the harbourside (across the road from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, as it happens) a Sea Otter was providing a bed for a sleeping pup (above). This was a female: males are polygynous and don’t get involved with child care. Pups are born all year round, with nursing lasting 6-8 months. Mothers leave their pups afloat when foraging for food themselves. The above picture is hardly cropped: they were very close to us.

Sea Otter - detail - Moss Landing CA

Sea Otters seem to spend a lot of time floating on their backs. This isn’t something that other sea mammals do, but Sea Otters take to it effortlessly. Sometimes their flipper-like hind legs lie flat, but more often they are raised up, creating an effect like a tiny Egyptian mummy (above). Their hind legs are more adapted for marine rather than terrestrial movement, and they are far less often seen on land than other otter species.

We were to see a few more Sea Otters offshore at Ano Nuevo State Park the following day, but none gave us as good views at those at Moss Landing. If you want to see them up close, Moss Landing is the place to come.

Road sign - Moss Landing CA

California Sea Otter at rest - Moss Landing CA

USA 2023 - California Sea Lions

Sunday 2 April 2023

Californian Sea Lion (male) - Moss Landing CA

Moss Landing, on California's Monterey Bay, wasn't only great for birds (see previous blog post here). Draped over various jetties and pontoons in the harbour were many California Sea Lions. We had great views from our whale-watching boat (the Sea Goddess) as it cruised slowly out of Moss Landing harbour. My favourite image is of this fine male (above), identified by his larger size and peaked crown with prominent sagittal crest. Males are considerably larger than females, between three and four times the weight. But although they look big, California Sea Lions are actually the smallest of the world's sea lion species.

Sea Lions are the most easily seen of California's marine mammals, especially on San Francisco's tourist-infested Pier 39, which has a dedicated viewing area. More on that later. At Moss Landing, the Sea Lions had taken over several landing stages and pontoons in the harbour as haul-out spots. Some of the structures looked as if they were struggling to withstand the combined weight of Sea Lion blubber.

Almost full up - California Sea Lions at Moss Landing CA

California Sea Lion at rest - Moss Landing CA

Happily, California Sea Lions are not a threatened species, being classed as ‘least concern’ by the IUCN. Subject to hunting in the past, they are now protected by Federal law - although there is an exemption that allows them to be killed to protect certain fish stocks. Sea Lions eat a wide variety of fish species, but are themselves predated upon by Orcas and some species of shark. On land, they are also threated by Coyotes and feral dogs. California Sea Lions are found along the Pacific coast from Baja California in Mexico up to the Canadian border. 

Female California Sea Lion - Moss Landing

We also encountered Californian Sea Lions out on the ocean; the photo below of them hauled out (rather uncomfortably) on a buoy was taken from the Sea Goddess offshore from Moss Landing.  

California Sea Lions on offshore buoy - Moss Landing CA

Heading out into the ocean allowed us to watch the Sea Lions in a more natural setting, even if much less of the actual animal was visible than on the Moss Landing harbourside. Two of them were rolling around together in what looked like play, but probably wasn’t, while another appeared to be in the final stages of dismembering a decent-sized crab.  I can’t be sure of the exact species of crustacean, but it looks very like a Dungeness Crab Cancer magister. 

California Sea Lions offshore - Moss Landing CA

California Sea Lion with crab - Moss Landing CA

This is the first time that I have seen Sea Lions in the wild, and I must confess that I wasn't exactly sure how they differ from seals. The story goes like this. Taken together, seals, sea lions and the Walrus are known as pinnipeds (literally ‘fin-footed’). Ignoring the Walrus (in its own family – Odobenidae) there are two main pinniped families: Otariidae (fur seals and sea lions) and the Phocidae (true seals).  So, the main zoological distinction is not between seals and sea lions, but between eared seals (including sea lions) and true seals. You can see from the harbourside photos that California Sea Lions have the little flap of skin above the ear.  Of course, that poses the question: what’s the difference between sea lions and fur seals?  Obviously, not a lot – as they are all in the same family, and taxonomic studies (eg Brunner, 2004 - link here) suggest that one genus of fur seal is more closely related to some sea lion species than to other fur seals. But in general terms, fur seals have more, well, fur than sea lions.

Pier 39 San Francisco CA

We were to come across California Sea Lions again at the end of our holiday, in San Francisco Bay. Here, they are definitely the celebrities of the marine mammal world, and visitors were clearly excited about watching and photographing them. Which must be good.

California Sea Lion male - Pier 39, San Francisco CA

A bit of aggression on the haul-out pontoons - Pier 39, San Francisco CA

 I'll end this blog post with a cheery farewell wave from one of the Pier 39 inhabitants ...

References

Brunner, S. (2004) 'Fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae): identification of species and taxonomic review.' Systematics and Biodiversity, 1(3), pp.339-439.

Shirihai, H. and Jarrett, B, (2006) Whales Dolphins and Seals: A Field Guide to the Marine Mammals of the World. London: A&C Black.

Whitaker, J.O. (1980) National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

  

  

Goa 2022 - Langurs, Kingfishers and Nightjars

Friday 11 November 2022

Black-footed Grey Langur - near Nature's Nest

Day 6

The usual flask of extremely hot, milky tea heralded the start of the afternoon session, and we were soon on the road heading back towards Tambdi Surla temple.  Just north of Nature’s Nest, Omkar stopped so that we could look at a small group of Black-footed Grey Langurs (above and below). They were very mobile, and it was difficult to get a decent photograph. However, these turned out to be the best views that we were to get of langurs in Goa. 

There are two main groupings of Old World monkeys. Langurs are members of the leaf monkey  subfamily (Colobinae) while Bonnet Macaques (see below - and my previous blog post here) are in the Cercopithecinae subfamily along with baboons and vervet monkeys among others. Generally, langurs are leaf-eaters, although they will take food from humans when offered.  Langur taxonomy is confusing; I have followed the IUCN Red List here. What was previously the (almost) pan-Indian Hanuman Langur Semnopithecus entellus has been split into several new species. One of these is the Black-footed Grey Langur S. hypoleucos, which is restricted to western India; essentially, it is yet another Western Ghats endemic species. It's also known as the Malabar Sacred Langur, which is a rather cooler name. 

Being ignored by a Black-footed Grey Langur

We left the langurs and drove once again up the road to the Tambdi Surla temple, pausing to finally get Richard a view of an Orange-headed Thrush, a species that he had missed so far. Mind you, its skulking behaviour meant that I was never able to get a photo of this attractive species. I then missed an Indian Blackbird; luckily, we were to find another one later on.  Back at the temple car park, the stall holders were packing up and the place was a lot quieter. Even the Bonnet Macaques were looking tired.

 

Bonnet Macaque male - Tambdi Surla

Bonnet Macaque - Tambdi Surla

This time we didn’t get as far as the temple, walking instead along the (true) left bank of the Surla River upstream from the bridge.  Our first sighting was a brief flash of a Blue-capped Rock Thrush, this time on a rock by the river before it flew.  But then we spotted our main prize – this Blue-eared Kingfisher (below).  We watched it for a while; it flew a couple of times, but never very far, always keeping to the river or its side streams, and we were able to relocate it.  Annoyingly, it seemed to prefer sitting in the shade; this image has a high ISO so is too grainy for my liking.  Blue-eared Kingfisher has a wide range in south east Asia and Indonesia, but is rare in India, being restricted to forest streams. Note that the ear coverts are blue, the main identification feature that separates it from the (very) Common Kingfisher.  A little gem of a bird, and worth the effort that it took to find it.

Blue-eared Kingfisher

The light was starting to go, so we returned to the car and drove back down the temple road, making a few stops to look for an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, which was one of the birds that we never got to see on the trip. A small sports pitch produced an Indian Peahen and Cattle Egret, with Pied Bushchat, Oriental Turtle Dove and Thick-billed Flowerpecker being added to the day list shortly afterwards.  Omkar drove us back to the main road and parked up in a layby just north of Nature’s Nest. A walk into the forest, looking unsuccessfully for owls, gave us views of Malabar Whistling Thrush and my first Indian Blackbird; the record photos are too awful to include here! 

Sunset near Nature's Nest

From the forest we climbed up to an area of west-facing plateau to look for nightjars. We sat down to wait for nightjar o’clock (below). This was a large expanse of open and sparse grassland land with almost no soil. Bare laterite rocks dotted on the surface with a larger boulders and isolated trees. We watched the sun setting over the forested ranges to the west (above).

Waiting for nightjars ...

The nightjar stakeout did not go entirely as planned. As the skies grew ever darker we heard the weird, whooping call of Jerdon’s Nightjar, and set off to try and locate it. Plot spoiler: we failed. As we crossed a small outcrop of boulders, Omkar pointed out a beautifully patterned Indian Saw-scaled Viper, burrowing into a rocky crack. This is a seriously dangerous snake, one of India's 'Big Four' (the others being Indian Cobra, Common Krait and Russell's Viper); and responsible for many deaths each year. But, as with most snakes, it just wanted to get away from us. 

We carried on walking across the grassland, which wasn't easy in the dark - especially following the sprightly Omkar. We heard, but didn't see, an Indian Scops Owl (happily another one turned up the next day). But eventually the eyeshine of a nightjar flashed in the torchlight and I managed to get a record photo (below). This was actually a Jungle Nightjar, not Jerdon’s.  Although a poor image, it does give an idea of the bird's main characteristics. Jungle Nightjar is generally greyer than Jerdon’s; it is pretty much endemic to India and Sri Lanka. So is Jerdon’s, but with a more restricted distribution. We walked down the hill, and then back up again in an abortive search for Jerdon’s Nightjar. Four more sets of eyeshine all turned out to be Jungle Nightjars. I returned to the car in a pool of sweat. Jerdon's Nightjar, which had been seen the previous evening by another group staying at Nature's Nest, remains a 'bogey bird' for me.

Jungle Nightjar (record photo) - near Nature's Nest

I was exhausted, and pleased to get back to Nature’s Nest for a shower, a rest and then another great evening meal, washed down with a Kingfisher beer (which seemed apt for the day!).  All excellent but, as with the previous day, I had eaten such a large lunch that I couldn’t do the evening meal justice.  Improbably, a very recognisable moth flew in – Olive-tree Pearl Palpita vitrealis, the species for which my blog is named. It has a wide global range (see GBIF distribution map here). I didn't take a photo at the time, so here's one from my garden moth trap here the UK. 

Olive-tree Pearl Palpita vitrealis - Dorset, UK

This was to be our last night at Nature's Nest. Our journey was to continue in the morning to perhaps the best wildlife area that we visited on the trip - the magical Netravali.

To be continued ...