Community Fund – Fundacion Fauna de la Amazonia – September Update

Well, it appears to be ‘summertime’ and the ‘dry’ season again, here in the Ecuadorian jungle! This means that there is less water in the rivers and streams (well – sometimes), less rain (well – sometimes) and it can be very hot during the day with very intense sunshine (well – sometimes) and cooler at night (well – sometimes)!

Although we are not certain, there appears to be evidence of further visits to the land by deer, peccaries (wild pigs) and although the group of tamarin monkeys haven’t been seen lately, there have been heard in the distance. The flock of parrots regularly flies by and sometimes spends the day in trees on the land and there have been lots of sighting of the white hawk and other raptors.

A couple of weeks ago, in the nighttime, a pair of bright eyes were spotted in the trees close by the bodega (our current living quarters) after hearing sounds of what appeared to be a ‘large’ animal passing by. This turned out to be an adult opossum, one of several which have been seen on the land fairly regularly. There are many species in Ecuador, they are the only marsupials living here. This an article related to a newly discovered species of shrew opossum found in the nearby Sangay National Park.

Other recent visitors to the reserve include Pete, Molly and Enric who have been helping with the ‘Return of the Jungle’ to those parts which have been overgrown by the non-endemic African grass.

The recently planted pineapples continue to thrive and work has begun on clearing some ground on the slopes to plant some bananas and other fruits for future use (ie we are going to eat them!).

There have been some amazing night skies recently, and it is always somewhat disconcerting to see the moon at 90 degrees to how it is seen in the northern hemisphere! As always, there is more vocal activity from some of the night birds when it is the nights of the full moon.

Occasional glimpses of different frog species continue to impress, and, as ever, there are always new insect varieties appearing in different locations on the land.Planning continues with regard to further work on the quarantine/clinic and it is hoped to re-establish contact with the constructors in the next weeks to enable work to restart.

Here is a link to Mongabay which publishes a regular environmental newsletter and has many interesting and relevant articles available on its website.

Finally, I would like to thank all our supporters for their continued work on our behalf and Vegware for continuing their financial support to the Conservation Centre/Reserve.