Ecuador’s Jocotoco Foundation and the US-based Rainforest Trust have purchased a final, key property to “create a permanent refuge for the largest population of Andean Condors in the Northern Andes.” Woolly Tapirs and Spectacled Bears also roam those hills. Andean Condor in Cayambe-Coca National Park … Continue readingGreat Conservation News from Ecuador!
Buenaventura Reserve protects a remnant patch of tropical cloud forest at about 3000 feet elevation. The cloud forest occupies a narrow zone, and most of the surrounding land holds seasonal tropical dry forest. Another jewel in the Jocotoco Foundation’s system of reserves, Buenaventura is small, … Continue readingBuenaventura’s Umbrellabirds
In addition to a number of Roadside Hawks and Swallow-tailed Kites, other fun raptors are along the roads as we drive between reserves. Harris’s Hawk is familiar from back home in southern Arizona. What a large range this hawk has, all the way from the … Continue readingRoadside Raptors
Although the wonderful birds claim most of our attention, I’ll admit that the butterflies and flowers are just a little distracting. Cracker butterflies live only in the Neotropics. The males make a cracking sound with their wings as part of their territorial display, thus giving … Continue readingFlowers and Butterflies at Jorupe Reserve
Jorupe Reserve, small as it is, protects endemic species of the Tumbesian tropical deciduous forest in southwestern Ecuador. A number of the region’s birds are globally threatened because so much of their habitat has been cleared or degraded. The Jocotoco Foundation stepped in to buy … Continue readingBirds at Jorupe Reserve
Deciduous dry forest, Tumbesian style, at Jorupe Reserve (Photos by Narca) Jorupe Reserve in extreme southwestern Ecuador is only a stone’s throw from Peru. One of the reserves under the aegis of the Jocotoco Foundation, Jorupe protects tropical deciduous forest, a habitat that has nearly … Continue readingHeading for Jorupe
Vilcabamba at dusk, from the gardens of Izhcayluma (Photos by Narca) Vilcabamba’s popularity with visitors began at least as early an Incan times, when Incan royalty came here to relax. We decide that such a venerable tradition should be continued, and spend two or three … Continue readingVilcabamba, the Sacred Valley
Remember that Podocarpus National Park is very big, and can be accessed from either east or west? Earlier, we explored the eastern Bombuscaro sector. Now it’s time for the western Cajanuma Sector! This region has easy access by road to the páramo and elfin forest … Continue readingPodocarpus National Park from Vilcabamba
It isn’t easy, but we manage to pull our attention away from the hummingbirds and Jocotoco Antpittas at Tapichalaca Reserve in southern Ecuador, and focus on other beauties of the region, both those that fly and those that do not. The cloud forest habitat holds … Continue readingOther Treats at Tapichalaca
…as of March 16, spring has come to Portal! A Desert Marble, Euchloe hyantis lotta, one of the earliest butterflies here (Photo by Narca)