We can’t leave Ecuador without including a few photos of the spectacular flowers at Papallacta Pass near Quito! I don’t know what most of them are, but hope that you’ll enjoy them anyway. The area is within Cayambe-Coca National Park, at about 12,000 feet in … Continue readingFlowers of Ecuador’s Páramo
Our final day in Ecuador is exhilarating, in the high reaches of the Andes at Papallacta Pass, not far from Quito. The weather couldn’t be better –– and it’s often a challenge here! Looking down on the páramo from the heights near Papallacta Pass (Photos … Continue readingPapallacta Pass in Ecuador’s Andes
As we explore Buenaventura Reserve in Ecuador, the roars of howler monkeys rumble through the forest, Nine-banded Armadillos rummage through the leaf litter, and Two-toed Sloths clamber about the trees. A foraging Nine-banded Armadillo bumbles into my feet, before realizing his mistake. (Photos by Narca) … Continue readingA Few Last Tidbits from Buenaventura Reserve
One of the finest hummingbird shows anywhere is here, on full and dazzling display from Buenaventura Reserve’s front porch. The number of individuals is astonishing –– far too many for the birds to waste much time in skirmishing. We tally eleven species of hummers during … Continue readingHummingbirds at Buenaventura Reserve
The treasures of Buenaventura don’t end with its umbrellabirds. Among its other notable personages is the endangered El Oro Parakeet, endemic to a small region in southwestern Ecuador. Its range is thought to be only 60 miles long from north to south, by only 6 … Continue readingBack to Buenaventura’s Birds
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