I don’t do much observing at all in the winter, so I seldom get lifers this time of year. And I’m not a birder - I mostly just wait for birds to show up outside my window, usually just common songbirds attracted to my feeders. So I was utterly delighted when this magnificent Red-shouldered hawk showed up, and sat for a while, on a blustery day. Fortunately I had my camera handy!
Huperzia occidentalis Pacific Clubmoss
Final 10/week for my Peruvian Amazon Trip. Week 7.
Numbers will change as I get help with IDs, or others I will come back to, since I have many still just as Lepidoptera. 691 species, 409 RG. 682 animals, 5 fungi, 4 plants. There might be more than 4 species of plant in Peru, but I can’t be sure.
Very small, based on size could be a relatively recent birth.
This fish leaped into our boat, guess it wanted to be counted.
And with that, time to think about what Amazonian country I do next/later this year.
If a fish that toothy jumped in a boat with me, I’d probably jump out.
No! No! There’s more of them in the water - only one in the boat !!
That’s a good point
Fair point.
But it was quite unexpected either way.
I think it’s time you organize an iNaturalist field trip to Peru. I bet many of us would gladly pay good money to go where you went. I couldn’t (edit: could! I could help!) even help you find more than 4 plant species (but I wouldn’t necessarily know what species they are).
Slightly more seriously: It would be lovely if you wrote a journal post about how you came to go to Peru (guided tour? visit to family or friends? research?) and where you went (if the properties are open to the public). Enquiring minds want to know and yet don’t want to bother you with private messages.
Agreed! (-:
This week: a couple of nettle ground bugs (Heterogaster urticae) hanging around near my Urtica urens.
I’m changing may favorite lifer for the week to this Oncilla, a small cat found in South America into Central America. One of only two sightings in Colombia and this one comes with an unusual history.
A couple of years ago, an oncilla in the rural community committed the sin of serially killing 20 chickens. In rural areas, 20 chickens is a considerable food and financial resource. Unfortunately, the oncilla was killed.
A short while later, another oncilla appeared at a different farm and killed a chicken. This farm was owned by Doña Lucia, an environmentally-conscious woman who has started a small ecobusiness catering to birders. Doña Lucia did not want to kill the cat so she left it a trout instead. The next day the trout was gone along with none of the chickens. Over a short time, Doña Lucia and the oncilla came to an understanding, if the oncilla would not kill any chickens, she would give it a fish when it came by.
More than a year later, the oncilla visits Doña Lucia on whatever time table it has, sometimes every day for a week and sometimes not at all for a few weeks. It sits patiently on a log Doña Lucia prepared, waiting for its trout.
If you know wild cats, coming to an understanding that it gets a fish for not eating a chicken is, as best I can describe it, so utterly unbelievable that I would not believe it if I hadn’t seen it. I’ve never heard of such a relationship outside of animals raised as rescues.
The cat is small and is obviously a tom that has seen more than its share of territorial battles. Its ears and face are scarred and it might have some damage to one eye. I can’t imagine how old it is but it has experienced some seasons.
Anyway, this is my new and improved lifer of the week.
Awww, it’s so adorable!
That is an amazing story!
My PMs are always open for anything, my travel style has a lot of nuance. But if there is anxiety about PMing, I totally get it, I spend a lot of time looking around maps of observations. But I have too much axiety to bother the people with the most obs in the areas that I may be keen to look at. Even though most people I have messaged are really good.
Hopefully people dont mind a bit of a bigger post here. I have never done journals, dont know how accessable it is for people finding them. I have found it tricky to search journals.
As a Aspie traveller (Not representing others ND style, but part explaining mine, even though in many ways it may also contradict some assumptions), I have never travelled overseas with another person. I like to have complete freedom and flexibility, like if one day I need to skip food, or sleep in subideal conditions its fine. If I was with another person I feel I would need to consider thier needs, and they would not be as likely to accept the level of tradeoffs I am willing to make for myself. Especially when it comes to finding the most affordable options within my tolerances. I can accept pretty much most qualities as long as I have a private room. I tend to choose countries where the culture including language is very different than my own (Since in similar cultures I have to pretend to be human, but in different cultures I can mask off, and just be a weirdo foreigner, and have people assume and be okay with that).
Note these weeks wont align with pics. I spent ~1 week in each, but there were travel days in between, making the 7 weeks in total.
Week 1 - kawsay biological station - https://www.kawsaycenterperu.org/
They dont really have private rooms, since they are mostly a center for education/interns, they also have rules where noone can go into the bush alone besides researchers. I stayed a couple nights in the bunk rooms, and was able to convince them my experience was enough to be able to easily follow thier trails, and then they allowed me to sleep a few nights in a jungle hut they have (On a canvas army bed). So was able to self explore after the first two days. But thats generally an exception.
Week 2 - Secret Forest Research Station - https://en.wilderness-international.org/region/secret-forest
They had a really nice room/bathroom for guests (At least to me, they said some guests say the opposite, but compared to shared bunks…fantastic). This was my most expensive stay since it was required to be with a guide. I usually avoid places with guides, because I have pretty much never been with guides who know pretty much anything about the sorts of things I usually look for. The guy here was awesome though, hes a herpetologist so was good at finding snakes and frogs, whislt I did all my invertebrate stuff.
Week 3 Manu Endemic Station-Reserve and Lodge - No proper site, but facebook, insta etc.
This is an example of the sort of place I look for, by just scanning various roads, looking for places with no neighbours and plenty of native bush around. With 2 google reviews (With mine, and another they are now double that) I like to look for places very few people have been. Really cool, chill spot. With a couple private trails to check out.
Week 4 - Manu Learning Centre https://www.crees-manu.org/manu-learning-centre/
They also dont allow people to explore alone, but with a trial walk, I was able to show them, I could use the topo maps and GPS to figure thier system easily, and was able to waiver my life away to self explore.
Week 5 Cuispes with a guy recomended to me from Secret Forest doing night trips from there as a base since there wasnt a whole lot of bush directly around that site. I can give details over PM if required.
Week six - Lupuna Jungle Lodge - https://www.lupunajunglelodge.com/
They mostly do group tours, but are flexible, which works for me, because me + a guide is already a lot of people. Here it was me, a guide, and a boatman/local who also helped find stuff on trails.
This is a overly reduced intro to what and how I did things, but if people have any questions about any of it (Including ND travel). My PMs are completly open, even if I might not respond quickly.
Thank you so much!
That sounds really exasperating! It would take a lot to get me to even consider going someplace like that.
While it is frustrating it seems reasonable for liability reasons in this modern world where common sense is not common.
