Black-lored Yellow Throat. Pretty little warbler. We have not seen this guy for a few months as it is more common in the humid forest and we have been working in the transition forest lately.
White-tipped Dove. Ok, I'll try to be nice with this discussion of doves. I am surprised at their proliferation, speciation and ability to propogate successfully as I perceive them as awkward, goofy, clumsy and a bit dim-witted. They draw a lot of attention to themselves as they are noisy while negotiating the underbrush and as such appear to be the most common dinner for the local predators. When we catch them in the nets they don't get entagled, but rather roll over on their backs and lie in the baffles of the net, like you and I might lie in a hammock. In order to remove them we simply need to reach in and pluck them out; no entanglement, no clipping the net. Jessie is not interested in collecting data on these birds and we release them immediately after removal. Clearly, our lives would be easier if they did not fly into the nets at all, but often immediately after releasing them they hang a "U" turn and crash back into the net, making a cloud of feathers and a commotion. How can you not wonder why there are two dozen species in Ecuador?
Happy Birthday Phil!!! (the 29th of June). My birthday was this past week and Jessie custom ordered a cake from our favorite bakery in town! It had this yummy custard cream filling and crumbs from my favorite pastry on the side, as well as jelly blobs on top which we like a lot! I had a great birthday thanks to Jessie. We went to breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants, spent a couple of hours at the beach and then watched a parade in town to welcome the migration of the whales. It was such a nice day--nothing could have been more perfect!
The past few weeks Phil and I have been waking up at 4:30am to drive to Agua Blanca (a scary half-hour on the moto, avoiding huge potholes, burros and trucks driving on the wrong side of the road) and hike 1 hour uphill in the dark to our netting site in the fog forest (banding station pictured below). We have to open the nets before the birds wake up in order to get the best data possible. We did get some great data, including a couple of threatened birds and had a little extra time to observe some unique nature.
Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner, a threatened bird. The species is threatened because it is found only in a region encompassed by southern Ecuador, northern Peru and the Andes Mountains to the east. This region is experiencing rapid people population growth, and as such the potential for rapid forest and estuary degredation is increased.
Same, not happy. Some birds are very tranquilo when we hold them, but not this guy! It was a fighter from the start, and that bill is strong! In this photo he is winding up to strike Jessie's fingers.
A Pacific Pygmy-Owl we were lucky enough to catch. Oddly, the owl was very tranquilo. We used a leather glove to protect our hands while removing it from the net, but the owl did not fight. It was happy, however, to fly away.
The view from the mountain where we are working on a sunny day. The weather this season is dominated by a misting drizzle and each day is usually overcast and chilly, but every once in a while we get a sunny day.
Blackish-headed Spinetail. This is another threatened species because of the limited range and encroachment of people on its habitat. Interestingly, we have been seeing quite a few of these birds in the research area. Working with these threatened birds could be a potential side project for Jessie. We have netted three or four in the same number of days, which is very good. Collecting a lot of information on how this bird forages, moves, nests, etc. may be very helpful in protecting its habitat. What national park managers and politicians choose to do with this scientific information is a different hurdle.
Cool fly. We see all sorts of nature while sitting out in the forest. This fly landed on Jessie and may have tried to lay a parasitic egg on her, as it has an extremely long ovipositer (this may be hard to see in the photo). Many of the insects are brilliant colors or have intricate patterns of camoflouge. One insect we saw had either grown lichen on its back or its back was mimicking lichen (see photo below).
Caterpillar congregation. We think they must be nocturnal migrators, as they were there one day and the next they were not.
Strange-looking Thick-billed Euphonia. Normally the females (as this one is) are more yellow. This one has quite a bit of white in its plumage. Perhaps a little bit of albino coming through?
Plumbeous-backed Thrush. Freaky looking birds. This how I envision the eye in The Telltale Heart must have looked to the innkeeper.
Pacific Elania. Cute little flycatcher. Many species of flycatchers have this yellow or orange patch on the tops of their heads, perhaps to use as an "intimidation" tool on other birds in order to protect their territory.
Long-billed Starthroat. Amazing little hummingbird. Not very common in the research area. If the light does not hit the plumage correctly, the feathers look all black instead of ruby red and turquoise blue.
Always wear your safety googles when taking birds out of the net....!
One-colored Becard
Bat Falcon. It doesn't eat bats, but flies like one. It probably eats a fair amount of doves.
Huge sand-dollar Phil found on the beach
the other side...
It was dead on the beach, so I brought it home. Hopefully it will dry nicely and then we can shellack it for a nice memory.
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Same thrush from above, not happy. But it still has those eery eyes.
Phil with Klever and Carlos. It is easy to see how we stand out in the crowd here, literally. We are significantly taller than the average Ecuadorian. Klever was the regular helper Jessie hired. He turned out to be very helpful in many ways, not only with fieldwork, but with being a liason between us and the community as well as teaching us (well ok, just me) las malas palabras en Espanol.
Stick insect
Red-eyed Vireo. We catch a dozen of these birds on a good day. Their abundance may prove to be helpful in the long run. If enough data is collected on them it make them an obvious target for ecological testing.
The lichen on this stick is actually an insect!! Good camoflauge.
Hook-billed Kite. It is a little hard to see, but the bill on this raptor is disproportionally large and hooked. What its specialized purpose is, we do not know, but it must have evolved for some reason. Through the binoculars it is gorgeous! We always have our binoculars around our necks!
Streak-headed Woodcreeper. The same family as the angry Henna Hooded Foliage Gleaner (above). The woodcreeper is aggressive, too, but not as vicious.
Collared Antshrike female. These cuties are always in pairs, and they call to each other in the thick foliage so they don't get too seperated. They also pump their tails like phoebes of North America. I am not sure why they do this latter behaviour, as it always catches my eye and clues me in to where they are.
Tropical Gnatcatcher. These next few birds are chiquitos! Jessie has small hands, and look at how small the birds are relative to her fingers!
Tawny-crowned Pygmy-tyrant
Bran-colored Flycatcher
Jessie with a machete (scary). We frequently have to clear a branch or some underbrush to put up the nets, as guys on horses use the trails. It is kind of fun wielding a machete and making pirate exclamations (ok, just me again).
Camoflouged Butterfly
The view from the work site with normal weather. A sunny day every once in a while is nice to lift the spirits!
Cool fungus
Necklaced Spinetail. Another common bird that we catch in large numbers. It is found in the tropical dry coastal forest, through transition forest and almost into the humid forest at higher elevations. It may prove to be a good study bird.
Termites building a tunnel. Be careful where you put your hand when leaning against a tree, as half the plants here are covered with spines and the other half have termites or ants living on and guarding the tree! Termites have this pointy little bill that when used to auger into skin can be quite irritating.
Playback to call specific birds in. Jessie has the bird calls of Ecuador on an MP3 player and a portable pair of speakers. As birds defend their territory fiercly, if they hear a new competitor in their region they will come and try to chase it away. Using this to our advantage, we can use bird calls to lure resident birds in a certain direction, hopefully into the nets!
More butterflies. I never appreciated butterflies as much as I do here in Ecuador. We have seen butterflies as large as tea saucers and as small as a dime, as well as every color and pattern imaginable. Next year I am going to bring an butterfly net and try to capture and photograph as many as possible!
Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner, a threatened bird. The species is threatened because it is found only in a region encompassed by southern Ecuador, northern Peru and the Andes Mountains to the east. This region is experiencing rapid people population growth, and as such the potential for rapid forest and estuary degredation is increased.
Same, not happy. Some birds are very tranquilo when we hold them, but not this guy! It was a fighter from the start, and that bill is strong! In this photo he is winding up to strike Jessie's fingers.
A Pacific Pygmy-Owl we were lucky enough to catch. Oddly, the owl was very tranquilo. We used a leather glove to protect our hands while removing it from the net, but the owl did not fight. It was happy, however, to fly away.
The view from the mountain where we are working on a sunny day. The weather this season is dominated by a misting drizzle and each day is usually overcast and chilly, but every once in a while we get a sunny day.
Blackish-headed Spinetail. This is another threatened species because of the limited range and encroachment of people on its habitat. Interestingly, we have been seeing quite a few of these birds in the research area. Working with these threatened birds could be a potential side project for Jessie. We have netted three or four in the same number of days, which is very good. Collecting a lot of information on how this bird forages, moves, nests, etc. may be very helpful in protecting its habitat. What national park managers and politicians choose to do with this scientific information is a different hurdle.
Cool fly. We see all sorts of nature while sitting out in the forest. This fly landed on Jessie and may have tried to lay a parasitic egg on her, as it has an extremely long ovipositer (this may be hard to see in the photo). Many of the insects are brilliant colors or have intricate patterns of camoflouge. One insect we saw had either grown lichen on its back or its back was mimicking lichen (see photo below).
Caterpillar congregation. We think they must be nocturnal migrators, as they were there one day and the next they were not.
Strange-looking Thick-billed Euphonia. Normally the females (as this one is) are more yellow. This one has quite a bit of white in its plumage. Perhaps a little bit of albino coming through?
Plumbeous-backed Thrush. Freaky looking birds. This how I envision the eye in The Telltale Heart must have looked to the innkeeper.
Pacific Elania. Cute little flycatcher. Many species of flycatchers have this yellow or orange patch on the tops of their heads, perhaps to use as an "intimidation" tool on other birds in order to protect their territory.
Long-billed Starthroat. Amazing little hummingbird. Not very common in the research area. If the light does not hit the plumage correctly, the feathers look all black instead of ruby red and turquoise blue.
Always wear your safety googles when taking birds out of the net....!
One-colored Becard
Bat Falcon. It doesn't eat bats, but flies like one. It probably eats a fair amount of doves.
Huge sand-dollar Phil found on the beach
the other side...It was dead on the beach, so I brought it home. Hopefully it will dry nicely and then we can shellack it for a nice memory.
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Same thrush from above, not happy. But it still has those eery eyes.
Phil with Klever and Carlos. It is easy to see how we stand out in the crowd here, literally. We are significantly taller than the average Ecuadorian. Klever was the regular helper Jessie hired. He turned out to be very helpful in many ways, not only with fieldwork, but with being a liason between us and the community as well as teaching us (well ok, just me) las malas palabras en Espanol.
Stick insect
Red-eyed Vireo. We catch a dozen of these birds on a good day. Their abundance may prove to be helpful in the long run. If enough data is collected on them it make them an obvious target for ecological testing.
The lichen on this stick is actually an insect!! Good camoflauge.
Hook-billed Kite. It is a little hard to see, but the bill on this raptor is disproportionally large and hooked. What its specialized purpose is, we do not know, but it must have evolved for some reason. Through the binoculars it is gorgeous! We always have our binoculars around our necks!
Streak-headed Woodcreeper. The same family as the angry Henna Hooded Foliage Gleaner (above). The woodcreeper is aggressive, too, but not as vicious.
Collared Antshrike female. These cuties are always in pairs, and they call to each other in the thick foliage so they don't get too seperated. They also pump their tails like phoebes of North America. I am not sure why they do this latter behaviour, as it always catches my eye and clues me in to where they are.
Tropical Gnatcatcher. These next few birds are chiquitos! Jessie has small hands, and look at how small the birds are relative to her fingers!
Tawny-crowned Pygmy-tyrant
Bran-colored Flycatcher
Jessie with a machete (scary). We frequently have to clear a branch or some underbrush to put up the nets, as guys on horses use the trails. It is kind of fun wielding a machete and making pirate exclamations (ok, just me again).
Camoflouged ButterflyThe view from the work site with normal weather. A sunny day every once in a while is nice to lift the spirits!
Cool fungus
Necklaced Spinetail. Another common bird that we catch in large numbers. It is found in the tropical dry coastal forest, through transition forest and almost into the humid forest at higher elevations. It may prove to be a good study bird.
Termites building a tunnel. Be careful where you put your hand when leaning against a tree, as half the plants here are covered with spines and the other half have termites or ants living on and guarding the tree! Termites have this pointy little bill that when used to auger into skin can be quite irritating.
Playback to call specific birds in. Jessie has the bird calls of Ecuador on an MP3 player and a portable pair of speakers. As birds defend their territory fiercly, if they hear a new competitor in their region they will come and try to chase it away. Using this to our advantage, we can use bird calls to lure resident birds in a certain direction, hopefully into the nets!
More butterflies. I never appreciated butterflies as much as I do here in Ecuador. We have seen butterflies as large as tea saucers and as small as a dime, as well as every color and pattern imaginable. Next year I am going to bring an butterfly net and try to capture and photograph as many as possible!
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