Yanacocha plant 09 (Geranium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Tag Archives: Ecuador
Yanacocha plant 09 (Geranium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha plant 08 (Geranium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha plant 08 (Geranium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha plant 08 (Geranium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Alonsoa meridionalis
Altitude 3400 metres.
Alonsoa meridionalis
Altitude 3400 metres.
Mullein (Verbascum sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha thistle (Cirsium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha thistle (Cirsium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha thistle (Cirsium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha plant 09 (Tephrosia sp?)
Please help me classify it – leave a comment Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha plant 09 (Tephrosia sp?)
I only found this clutch of this species alongside the dirt road on my way back to Quito from Yanacocha. Please help me classify it – leave a comment Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha Reserve
At this time of the day the sun is high in the sky and should have warmed up the landscape – instead the clouds are flowing thick and moist, filtering out most of the light. Altitude 3560 metres.
Masked Flowerpiercer (Diglossopis cyanea)
This individual was quite predictable, as it kept coming back to this branch – in what seemed like a display of peekaboo. With bright colors and a blood red iris to match, it was definitely seen out on the branch, and when business was done – drinking from the hummingbird feeders – it hid in [...]
Rufous Antpitta (Grallaria rufula)
Yanacocha has recently succeeded in domesticating the Rufous Antpitta, something my guide was unaware of the first time we went to this reserve in November. Luckily I wanted to go back to fill idle time in Quito before my departure back to Europe in December. I was photographing only 20 metres away and still did [...]
Yanacocha Reserve
A rare glimpse of the Pichincha Volcano (4784 metres high) which is mostly hidden in dense clouds. It was a very cold morning and I was eagerly awaiting the sun to reach the ground and my cold body. In Yanacocha that does not happen until much later in the morning as the steep slopes are [...]
Leaving Napo Wildlife Center
After 3 nights in Yasuni National park this was the very first rain shower! It was perfectly timed, as it started pouring down just as we were switching from the open canoe to the roofed speedboat. There was thunder rumbling, and this was perhaps the beginning of a hefty thunderstorm. Not so. After a few [...]
Boat-billed Heron (Cochlearius cochlearius)
At 05:39 in the morning the light is still very dim – the sun is well below the horizon. My eyes could only see the silhouette of the Heron against the brightening sky. The blue hour is when the darkness of night is just barely broken by a few photons of light from the sun [...]
Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)
The unmistakable profile of the Hoatzin – even close to darkness you know immediately what bird it is.
Rufescent Tiger Heron (Tigrisoma lineatum)
A large bird like this should be easy to see, but the Herons are expert at standing still no matter what their position is. They will assess the best cost benefit, and often they will fly off only if we get really close. Distance here is just 8 metres! The vegetation is very dense, so [...]
Common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus)
This was the only encounter I had with this species. You may see them anywhere, and in this case I didn’t have to go more than a few metres from my cabana. Their sounds are high pitched and short burst: Sound recording courtesy of bioacoustica.org.
Napo Wildlife Center
There is no sound of engines after you disembark the motorized boat at the welcome center, where the Aanangu creek meets the Napo river. From there all goods and people must be transported by canoes up the creek to the Anangucocha lake. This is a wonderfully silent means of transport, and has an impact on [...]
Callicore sp
I only saw this once – at least with wings open. Most I saw of this species had their wings closed, thus I only saw the underside of the wing (ventral). Usually butterflies are rather dull colorwise on the underside, but this species caught my eyes due to their very colorful underside. Unfortunately I didn’t [...]
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis)
One couple was nesting underneath the pier. I first thought they roosted there during the nights, but one day I was swimming I noticed the nest. They seem to feel secured by the human activities to and fro, day in and out, but when I checked out the nest from above one day, it created [...]
Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus)
An unfortunate turtle being drowned and asphyxiated – no chance of survival here! I assume the snake knows how the different prey manages air, and that a turtle can stay alive for longer without a breath of fresh air than rodents, as it was coiled around the turtle and kept it submerged for a very [...]
South American Common Toad (Rhinella margaritifera)
A tiny toad that’s impossible to spot when still, and even when it’s moving it can be hard, as it’s incredibly well camouflaged. Called Sapo Crestado in Spanish, and I find that a lot more descriptive than the English, as this toad does have a ridge or crest along its back. This species is currently [...]
South American Common Toad (Rhinella margaritifera)
A tiny toad that’s impossible to spot when still, and even when it’s moving it can be hard, as it’s incredibly well camouflaged. Called Sapo Crestado in Spanish, and I find that a lot more descriptive than the English, as this toad does have a ridge or crest along its back. It is currently under [...]
Ivory-billed Aracari (Pteroglossus azara)
For a human in the jungle it’s mostly about looking up to the canopy where much of the life resides. Adding distance and high contrast (fauna is dark against the very bright background) it’s usually very hard to see what’s moving. It’s often hearing and not seeing. Every now and then you will see trees [...]
Napo Wildlife Center
A beautiful moonlit night with an almost cloudless sky above the Anangucocha lake. As this is the watery Amazon I should have been pestered by countless mosquitoes and other bloodsuckers, but not here. The Napo Wildlife Center is strangely not a mosquito infested place. I wore shorts and a T-shirt and got no bites during [...]
Napo Wildlife Center
A starry night in the Amazon – I never expected a clear night like this! The moon will be full in 2 days – the 10th, which in fact is the date of the lunar eclipse. Not visible from South America, but being in such a strong moolight in this wonderful location with all the [...]
Yasuni Lepidoptera 15
Several species of lepidoptera have developed a striking resemblance to dead leaves, which of course is without any nutritional value except for fungus and earthworms, and thus are left alone. When not moving that is. This one had made its way to my room during the night, and it looks wounded. As if a bird [...]
Napo Wildlife Center
Anangucocha lake and cumulus clouds reflecting the light of setting sun.
Napo Wildlife Center
A setting sun in the west and a rising moon in the east, reflected in the Anangucocha lake. If I only had time, I would have made a time-lapse movie of all the moods of the lake during any given day. As this is on the equator, there are no storm fronts or hurricanes. Only [...]
Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis)
The nest is perfectly camouflaged against the branch, and the green back of the tiny bird could easily be mistaken for one of the countless leaves on this tree. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands to observe that is. Like eco tourists sitting on their wonderful porch outside their huge Napo [...]
Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)
What a peculiar bird. For one its song repertoire is stuck on one note – the intro of the Magpie which it will repeat over and over again. Then there is the flapping of the wings – sometimes they open them and use them in a way that resembles a cape. It seems they are [...]
White-chinned Jacamar (Galbula tombacea)
If you don’t see this bird, you will definitely hear it. Its sounds are simply amazing and unmistakable!
Golden-mantled Tamarin (Saguinus tripartitus)
This monkey has inspired the Anangu Quichua community, as this is the logo of Napo Wildlife Center! They are quite small – up to 24 cm/9.4 inches from nose to the beginning of the tail, and weigh up to about 500 grams / 1.1 pounds They are not disturbed by people watching them from their [...]
Caiman Lizard (Dracaena Guianensis)
I wonder when these lizards go hunting, as I only saw lazy and super relaxed individuals on branches overhanging the water. I can understand they are slow in the morning but this is late in the afternoon. Perhaps it has just caught food and is simply digesting?
Large Spurwing (Antigonus nearchus)
From most angles it looks like an all-brown butterfly that’s well camouflaged against the mud of the riverbank.
Eurota Purplewing (Eunica eurota)
One of many wonderful species alongside the river bank of the Napo Wildlife Center welcome center. Like many species also this one preferred to sit with wings closed, and thus blend in with the muddy shore. I noticed some blue in flight, but sitting it was not generous in opening its wings. It finally decided [...]
Agathina Emperor (Doxocopa agathina)
I’m grateful to have gotten a shot of this wonderful butterfly. I only saw it here this once on the muddy grounds of the Napo Wildlife Center welcome center. Here the shifting levels of the Napo river deposits silt on the flat riverside and this is what the butterflies seek – salts. Most of the [...]
Sootywing (Bolla sp)
Very hard to identify, but beautiful nonetheless! One of the many species visiting the Napo Wildlife Center welcome center. It was one of few species that preferred the rotting tree stump to the minerals in the river mud.
Swallowtail Moth (Urania leilus)
An incredible butterfly that is actually a day flying (diurnal) moth! Not only a spectacular size and coloration, but it was also the most numerous species at the Napo Wildlife Center welcome center and fed on minerals both the river mud as well as rotting wood. Many thanks to Kim Garwood for pointing in the [...]
Green-shouldered Gorgopas (Gorgopas trochilus)
A fantastic mix of green and yellow – almost metallic or iridescent. I first though this was a male Sootywing, as it too has the white spots on the tip of the wings. Thanks again Kim Garwood!
Kite Swallowtail (Protesilaus macrosilaus)
Large and very striking butterfly. Should be easy to identify one might think, but as allways there are many species with minute variations. I notice there is no yellow on the backwings, and the second zebra stripe is very short, almost like a dot rather than a stripe. The body is also all-white. I have [...]
Perilla crescent (Castilia perilla)
I only saw this one, and it was in the darkest areas alongside the Napo River and the path to the Napo Wildlife welcome center. Thanks to Kim Garwood for identification!
Black-patched Metalmark (Lasaia agesilas)
I saw this species in dark undergrowth as well as in open sections alongside the Napo river. Also named Glittering Sapphire.