What the Spiders Taught Me

Exploring the world of arachnids and nature through the photography and art of Shannon Bowley

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Category Archives: Septimo Paraiso

Our Itsy Bitsy Spiders – Another Mindo Mystery

November 4, 2014by bowleyshannon 1 Comment

Against the odds, nameless giants still linger in secrecy, even where curious humans are known to frequent. It takes the right human, in the right place, with the right knowledge, […]

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arachnids, Arachnology, cloud forest, discovery, Ecuador, photography, Septimo Paraiso

3 Months in Mindo, Ecuador! – More Stories and Photos Soon!

November 2, 2014by bowleyshannon Leave a comment

It’s been a little more than a week since James and I left the wondrous valleys of Mindo, Ecuador, but it feels like forever ago on an especially dreary day […]

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Ecuador, Forest Reserve, Mindo, nature, Septimo Paraiso, travel

Artwork

Commissioned painting of Anolis proboscis, adult male and female, with male displaying for the female in a courtship ritual.

Digital illustration of Dendrobates “azureus”, a poison dart frog.

Ameiva ameiva My latest painting, a species of reptile I’d seen recently in Panama. I’d tried to capture the highly aware adult males on a few occasions, but they always bolted off just as I hinted interest in them.

Julie asked if I could work something up to represent La MICA for the upcoming ‘Mammal Meetings’. This was a lot of fun to do! Ballpoint pen and watercolors – finished in Adobe Photoshop CS3

Platalea ajaja – Roseate Spoonbill – Acrylics, Gouache – 2014 Subject was painted from a reference photo found via Google images. I’d love to shoot the species in it’s habitat to get my own references!

Canis lupus – The Grey Wolf Traditional-Watercolor

Selasphorus rufus (Rufous Hummingbird) Digital

Tersina viridis (Swallow Tanager) Traditional – Watercolor

Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) Digital

Digital painting of the endangered, Ecuador endemic ‘Proboscis anole’, Anolis proboscis. Anolis proboscis is one of three species of anole known to sport such a nasal appendage, belonging to the Anolis laevis group. These lizards have only recently been more fully described, as scientists went years without finding them. Deforestation is a primary threat to their population and the distribution of this species is currently thought to be very small, with the individuals that have been found living within a relatively limited area. James and I went on a long walk to find this species one night, in 2011. While we didn’t find the long nosed male…James somehow managed to spot a female in the trees above. I am always astounded by his ability to find creatures! The females are beautiful…and rather different from the male in coloration, being mostly green or brown and not sporting the extension on the snout. The males actually change color, too – a lot about them reminds me of chameleons. Digital

Bothrops osbornei – Osborne’s Lancehead Pencil

Hoopoe Lark – Alaemon alaudipes

Digital sketches.

A series of silly animals, sketched. Digital

Flickr Photos

More Photos

Arachnids

Adult female Argiope, preparing to deposit her eggs on a silk sheet.

Male, emerged from his retreat for the nights hunting

Strophaeus, or possibly Idiophthalma

Adult female, living in a tree

The first scorpion I had ever found and photographed!

Reptiles and Amphibians

A clubrid groundsnake, Atractus dunni, coiled up

One of 400 species of Pristimantis known to exist!

A tiny froglet, Pristimantis Mindo. This is a new species only recently described.

A tiny froglet, Pristimantis Mindo. This is a new species only recently described. Only about the size of my pinky nail!

News & Updates!

Completed a 2 week trip out to Enterprise, Oregon. A new blog post featuring photos from the trip will be up soon!

Also, be sure to check out James's new website for prints!

www.PrimevalNature.com

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