October 13, 2021
Today was not quite as long as yesterday, but it still began before dawn. We spent time at a “moth feeder” where lights and a white screen are set up at night to attract moths, with the consequence that many species of birds drop by early in the morning for some fast food. We saw many species that are normally hard to see because they live deep in the forest and low to the ground. After breakfast we went for a longer bird walk; the trails here are very well kept and swept clear of debris to discourage snakes from the trails. While birding is seldom done at aerobic speeds, today’s walk involved several trips down to the river and back up again. The uphills felt like exercise no matter what our Fitbits thought. That walk led us to the lodge for this evening, and in time for lunch. The morning was bright and sunny, but by mid morning the mist had returned, and rain arrived after lunch. Fortunately this lodge (quite a bit larger and more finished than last night’s) has an open air dining hall with two stories above it, so we stood out of the rain and even with the nearby treetops to watch birds. There was an amazing amount of activity while it was raining, and we were able to see some spectacular new species. The reserve is entirely primary rain forest, and many of the species we are seeing are endemic to Ecuador, although it has been fun to see some species from our Costa Rica, Belize and Brazil trips too. We are up to 18 species of hummingbirds so far!
Update: for those of you who think we only see birds, today we saw a Tayra (a large arboreal member of the weasel family), a fruit bat and a red-tailed squirrel.
No comments:
Post a Comment