7 species of parrots and much more

 February 16 

We left the lodge before dawn this morning (remember that we have to go everywhere by canoe and you’ll see the challenge!) in order to get to our first destination by 7am. This was a “clay lick”, essentially a clay-rich cliff created by a landslide on the bank of the Napo River.  

Parrots (including macaws and parakeets) require the minerals in clay to offset the concentration of alkaloids in their systems. Many animals require clay as a source of minerals, but in parrots the alkaloid buildup is increased by their habit of eating unripe fruit: the competition for food is so intense that they don’t wait for the fruit to be fully ripe. Parrots will fly 10 miles or more to get to a clay lick. In this case they tend to arrive just after dawn and leave by mid-morning, so we did too. 

We sat in a motorized skiff off-shore to avoid disturbing the birds. We saw four species of parrots this morning: Mealy Amazons (large and pale green), Yellow-crowned Amazons (large and green with large bright yellow forehead patches), Blue-headed parrots (smaller, dark green with indigo heads), and Dusky-headed parakeets (even smaller with a gray head). The parrots used their beaks to break off piece of clay. When they’d had enough they flew off in a flock. In the case of the mealy amazons, the flock was probably 30-40 birds and quite a sight! 

We then travelled to the central Anangu Kichwa village. The history of the Napo Wildlife Center and the village deserves a full blog post, probably on Wednesday which is a travel day. 

In the late morning, after the village visit, we traveled to a second “clay lick”. In this case, a steep leafy hillside inside the forest allows water to pool around clay-rich soils. We walked about a half-mile from the shore to a permanent “blind”, where we sat and waited for the birds. As we arrived at the blind, a flock of scarlet macaws were there, drinking the mineral-rich waters. After they left, we heard a large flock of parakeets chattering high in the trees. We waited for about an hour as the parakeets gradually came down to lower altitude. Then the heavens opened and it poured for about a half-hour. It was fun to watch the parakeets duck under leaves to stay dry. Finally about ten minutes after the rain stopped, the cobalt-winged parakeets came, en masse, to the ground to drink and to nibble on the soil. Two orange-cheeked parrots (which looked enormous next to the parakeets) joined in as well. 

After a late lunch at the “welcome center” at the edge of the Napo property, we headed back to the lodge. As we canoed down the creek, we saw several Golden-mantle Tamarins jumping in banana plants. These tamarins are endemic to just this part of the Yasuni national park, and are the mascots of our lodge. Our naturalist guide had not seen them in quite a while, so he was as excited as we were. 

We also watched a very large troop of Squirrel Monkeys cross the creek on overarching branches and vines. There were several mothers carrying infants across; some of them had to cross back to help monkey toddlers make the crossing. 

As if that wasn’t enough wildlife for one day, we went on a night walk after dinner. We saw 6 types of frogs, several very interesting spiders, and a massive walking stick insect. 

Pictured: mother and child Squirrel Monkeys, Orange-cheeked parrots and Cobalt-winged parakeets, Blue-headed parrots and Mealy amazons at the clay lick, Golden-mantle tamarin running down a banana leaf, map tree frog

A full day at Napo

Sunday February 15

We had a “lazy start” this morning: breakfast at 6:30 and the first activity (birdwatching from a tower) at 7:00. But about 6:45 the local family of giant river otters came out to fish along the shore, so that took priority over everything else!  Once we got to the tower we saw two kinds of monkeys and a number of bird species, including three kinds of macaws. Later in the morning we took a canoe ride up a different creek than yesterday’s, stopping to watch the otters again on the way.  We were treated with a sighting of five Red Howler monkeys, including a baby. 

In the afternoon we went out by canoe again. This time we took a short walk in the woods, to see Noisy (or Spix’s) Night Monkeys. While similarly cute, these are a different species to the Panamanian Night Monkeys we saw in the Darien. A Fer-de-lance (a highly venomous snake) was curled up along the trail to add to the excitement. We walked single file along the far edge of the trail, as this is not a snake you want to make nervous! 

We returned to the canoe and retraced our “steps” from yesterday afternoon along the main creek, spotting a two-toed sloth and some new birds. We were grateful for the strength of our canoe paddlers to get us home ahead of a thunderstorm. 

Pictured: Red Howler monkey family, juvenile Zigzag Heron, fer-de-lance, white-fronted capuchin monkey 

Made it to the Amazon

 February 14

For the first time ever (which means we are really lucky) our trip was a bit delayed by travel issues.

We flew to Quito on Friday February 13 without incident. On Saturday the 14th we were to fly 40 minutes to Coca, then board a motorized skiff for a two hour transit followed by another two  hours by canoe to get to our lodge. It was a lovely morning in Quito and our 9:00 am flight departed on time. However as we flew east across the Andes the clouds closed in.  

About halfway through our flight, we got a view of a very odd dark cloud towering well above the cloud cover. Based on its location, we believe it came from the current eruption of the Reventador volcano.  A later google search verified that the volcano did erupt Friday night.

As we neared Coca we had to abort the landing, as the  fog was too dense. We circled the Coca airport for about an hour and were unable to land. We flew back to Quito. We changed to a new plane about two hours later and took off again in the early afternoon.  This time we landed without incident. We were greeted at the Coca airport by a double file of police— it turns out that a famous Puerto Rican reggaeton band was on our plane, coming to help the celebration of Mardi Gras. 

We traveled two hours at high speed in motorized skiffs; this gave us a good appreciation of how wide and long the Napo River is, but didn’t allow for much wildlife viewing. Then we moved to canoes— these had space for 5-6 passengers and 3 paddlers. We were conveyed up a narrow twisting creek for about 4 miles to the lagoon in front of our lodge. This is the only way to get to the lodge, which means all the construction materials, appliances, everything to build the lodge had to be transported in the same way. We saw some wonderful birds and quite a few caimans in this last leg. 

Pictured: Hoatzin, our lodge from the lagoon, Black Caiman, Green-banded Urania (a diurnal moth)

Final day in Panama

 Thursday January 15

We transitioned north overnight to Punta Patino on the edge of the Gulf of San Miguel. In the 1980s the northeastern edge of the Darien was being stripped to create cattle ranches, many of them owned by wealthy families connected to Noriega. A conservation non-profit (ANCON) bought 70,000 acres in 1985 to create a private reserve. They have since protected other areas of Panama as well.

The tide swing in this area can be five feet or more; at low tide this morning the ship had to anchor more than 2 nautical miles out from shore. We went zodiac cruising around small rocky islands offshore. We were pleased to see a crab-eating raccoon scampering along the shore. They are  nocturnal species so to see one at 9am was a treat. We also stopped by some small fishing boats to admire the corvina and spiny lobsters they caught this morning. 

This afternoon we zodiac’d the 2+ miles to shore and walked trails in the reserve. We heard thunder as we landed, but the storm held off until we were returning to the ship. Riding in a zodiac into the teeth of the storm made us very grateful for our ponchos!

Pictured: crab-eating raccoon, fishing boats, roadside hawk, female crimson-crested woodpecker 

The Darien Gap

Wednesday January 14

Today we visited a village of the Embera people, an indigenous tribe of Amazonian descent. Most Embera live deep in the jungle along the rivers of the Darien Gap. This is the only Embera village near the coastline, founded to enable the children to have a government primary school. We took zodiacs to Playa Muerto (the beach of death)— so named because in stormy weather the landing is very difficult. Fortunately today was calm and beautiful! 

We enjoyed presentations from the village elders, the local band (named Hurricanes of the Pacific) and dancers. We also had a chance to view and purchase wonderful handcrafts— carvings, baskets, jewelry and other items. Afterwards our group split up to take walks of varying lengths. 

We opted for the “slowest group of the medium hike” so that we could take advantage of a great birding naturalist on the staff. We walked about 5 miles, much of it through the “farm fields” of the village. The villagers clear the understory of the forest but leave the large trees intact. They grown “robusto” coffee, bananas and their other crops in the shade of the trees. We crossed the Playa Muerto River several times (sometimes up to our knees). We saw Panamanian Night Monkeys and Geoffrey’s Tamarins, the two smallest monkeys in Panama. We also saw or heard over 30 species of birds, including two that were new to us. 

The “Darien Gap” is famous in human migration stories. It is literally a “gap in the Pan American highway system” of about 60 miles. The road was never finished because the Darien is an ethnographic and natural treasure. As a result, it is impassable in a car; to get around the gap you must ship your car between Panama and Colombia while you fly or take a ship to meet up with it. The Darien has had (for centuries) a reputation for being dangerous from every aspect— jungle, snakes, outlaws, diseases— but it covers the land connection from South America to Central America, which explains its importance in migration sagas.

Pictured: Panamanian Night Monkeys, Golden-headed Manakin, jumping Geoffrey’s tamarin, Blue-throated Goldentail (hummingbird), Embera man in traditional dress 

Pearl Islands day two

 Tuesday January 13

This morning we anchored at Isla Bayoneta, a bit further south in the Pearl Islands archipelago than yesterday. We took zodiac rides in the mangrove areas while others kayaked. The predominant species we saw were red mangrove, which expel salt from the water to a sacrificial leaf, allowing all the others to thrive. We also saw some black mangroves, which expel the salt to the leaf surfaces and tend to be larger and further back from the water’s edge. The tide was out so we got to see a few shore birds, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, and American Oystercatchers. There were very few boobies because they like to congregate in areas with cliffs rather than wooded areas. 

In the afternoon we moved north again to Isla Chapera for a second (and final) snorkeling opportunity. Chapera is known for its clear waters. Rough seas delayed and nearly cancelled our outing, but luckily winds died down and we were able to snorkel. The rough seas caused a lot of sand to be stirred up, reducing clarity and visibility a bit. We still had a good time and saw some interesting fish. 

Pictured: Hudsonian Whimbrel, Brown Pelican landing, triggerfish, needlefish 

Pearl Islands from above and below

January 12

This morning we anchored near the small northern islands of the Pearl Islands archipelago and explored several of the rocky outcrops by zodiac. We saw many seabirds, including male Magnificent Frigatebirds with their red throat sacks inflated. We’d seen Frigatebirds on several other trips but never the males in breeding colors. 

Frigatebirds have the highest wing-to-weight ratio of any bird, which enables them to stay aloft for so long. In fact, if a frigatebird lands in the water, they cannot fly away and they may die. This is a risk for younger birds who have not yet learned how to pluck food from the water’s surface without getting wet. We found a young frigatebird floundering in the water, and one of our naturalists leaned over the edge of the zodiac, scooped up the bird, and put him on a rock to dry his wings. She said the bird was incredibly light— we noticed that she was so skilled that the bird did not seem at all panicked. 

We also watched a peregrine falcon chase an osprey away, another rare behavior. 

This afternoon we went snorkeling from a sandy beach on another of the small islands. It is an area of “rock coral” that does not have vibrant color but still had many lovely fish. It was great to be in the water!

Pictured: male Magnificent Frigatebirds, Peregrine Falcon, colorful fish