Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Forest

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Steve Barten
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Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Forest

Post by Steve Barten »

Ecuador Rain Forest and Galapagos, June 2010. Part 1: Rain Forest

We flew into Quito, the Ecuador capital at 10,000 feet in the Andes. Next day we took a 30-minute flight over the Andes to a small town on the Napo River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. Then it was a two-hour motorized canoe ride down the river, then a 40-minute hike down a jungle trail, and finally we were paddled across a caiman-, piranha- and electric eel-infested lake in a dugout canoe to reach the lodge. We only stayed for 3 nights, so we didn’t see that many herps.
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Dining hall and bar
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Resident Spectacled Caiman under the dining hall.
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Yellow-Spotted River Turtles, the first carrying a butterfly.
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We hiked trails wearing rubber boots, or paddled down small streams in dugout canoes, both during the day and at night. It rained a fair amount, making photography a challenge. I did not have access to a good field guide, so my IDs may be off, and any ID corrections or additions would be appreciated.

Christmas treefrog, Hyla punctata
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Unknown
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Hypsiboas geographicus, young
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Ruby Poison Dart Frog, Ameerega bilinguis
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Same species in a wine-cup fungus.
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Large toad; Rhinella margaritifer
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Small toad, unknown species
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The guide saw the fungus with two stalks and red heads, and said it was a unique species that only grew on the body of dead ants, always with two stalks. She dug down, and sure enough it was sprouting from a dead ant.
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Ecuadorean salamander, Bolitoglossa equatoriana. It was raining hard and when a drop hit the tiny salamander he bounced, as if you had been hit with 20 gallons of water thrown from a bucket.
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Same species, with a mosquito for size reference. There were amazingly few bugs, and the skeeters only found us when we stopped on the trail to take photos at night.
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Collared gecko, Gonatodes concinnatus
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Caiman Lizard basking 15 feet up a tree over a stream. He was there 2 days in a row. These are the snail eaters, with round teeth like pearls for crushing the shells.
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A museum skull to show the dentition:
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My favorite find, under leaf litter on the trail at night with just a few rings showing: Ringed Blue Caecilian, Siphonops annulatus. It was photographed on the trail and left there. The guides did a good job of making sure the animals weren’t harassed too much.
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I showed the herps first so the purists can bail out now. What follows are insects, birds, and monkeys.

Obligatory Leaf-Cutter Ants
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I thought these were Army Ants but was told they were Suture Ants. The natives place the soldiers over wounds and induce them to bite; their huge jaws work like sutures to hold the wound shut and apparently they lock on.
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Tailless Whip Scorpion
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True bug
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Mantis
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Spiders
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See it?
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Grasshopper mimicking a Stick Insect
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True Stick Insect
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Huge land snail
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Moths
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Blue Morpho Butterfly with closed wings and eye spots
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Owl-Eye Butterfly
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It seems the eye spots don’t deter Squirrel Monkeys
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Run away!
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Did I mention the monkeys had figured out it was a preserve and they weren’t being hunted? Therefore they were less shy than in many places. Red Howler.
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Black Mantel Tamarin. Or maybe it’s a wet gremlin.
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Pig Marm, or Pygmy Marmoset. Size of a chipmunk and like a Tasmanian devil on speed.
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Walking Palm Tree. Some people think the roots look like something else.
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Nature’s way of saying “Don’t climb me.”
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They had this little 130-foot high tree house around a giant kapok tree to allow a view of the canopy and the many birds. The top looked like something on Pandora.
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They also had three metal towers with platforms at 120 feet and 900 feet of suspension bridge between them to view the canopy.
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Ivory-billed Aracari
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White-throated toucan
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Red Howlers
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Masked Tanager
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Red-bellied Macaws. I’m sure they would be much happier in a small iron cage in an apartment in a city.
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You can’t see me.
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Hoatzin
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Sunset over the lake.
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Thanks for looking. If you liked these, the Galapagos photos are even better, plus there we saw snakes. It will take me a while to get those ready and It will be a bigger post.
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Bill Love
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Bill Love »

Wow!! Very enjoyable post! You really managed to cover everything you saw with a nice shot! The 'tree house' shots were especially interesting with your views of the whole system shown. The blue-ringed caecilian and pigmy marmoset were outstanding.
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monklet
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by monklet »

Wow, not one snake and I finished the whole thing...must be a great post! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

That tanager photo is my favorite but all the bird shots are very nice including lots of habitat. Did you run into any big mixed flocks up in the canopy?
Gordon C. Snelling

Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Gordon C. Snelling »

Your "suture" ants are indeed army ants. Near as I can tell form the picture they are Eciton burchelli.
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Peter_Alexander
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Peter_Alexander »

Incredible shots, thanks for sharing.
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Schell
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Schell »

Definitely jealous. I even had my wife go through this post. I told her "Remember how in Kauai, we sat along the water at the restaurant and they had koi swimming around next to us? Yeah, think of caiman as just bigger koi."
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R.Lynch
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by R.Lynch »

Great stuff! Some of your primate shots are particularly nice. These were all from Sacha Lodge no?
I look forward to seeing what you encountered in the Galapagos.
Cheers,
Ryan
Tom
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Tom »

Awesome! Takes me back to when I spent 3 days there (at the Napo Wildlife Centre a little further down-river) before going on to the Galapagos. Tropical herping is tough, but rewarding; that Caecilian is incredible.

Looking forward to seeing Galapagos snakes, I missed out on them!
:beer:
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Chad M. Lane
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Chad M. Lane »

Awesome stuff Steve! I really enjoyed this post, thanks for posting it.

Great photograph of some fantastic animals.



Cheers,
Chad
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Jason Mintzer
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Jason Mintzer »

I would love to see a Caiman Lizard in the wild, those are awesome.
Paul White
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Paul White »

I'd love to see a caiman lizard, period, but in the wild would be event better.

nice shots, amazing critters
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Steve Barten
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Steve Barten »

Thanks, Bill. Praise from you means a lot.

Monklet – I promise snakes in the next post.

Gordon, you are right of course, the suture ants and army ants are one and the same. The guide confirmed they were Eciton burchelli. I found this blurb: New World army ants (Eciton burchelli) are found in Central and South America. When the column is on the march looking for food, people can avoid them just by stepping aside. But there have been cases where invalids have been killed (by asphyxiation) when a column of ants marches through their house. Their bite is so strong and persistent that they are sometimes used to suture wounds; just apply an ant while you hold the wound together and let it bite, then rip the body off. It should hold for a few days. The behavior of these army ants is controlled by their larvae, which give off pheromones that incite the swarm to march in search of food. When the larvae are mature and turn into pupae, they stop producing the pheromone, and the army settles down to form a nest using their own bodies as building material. While the pupae mature, the queen busies herself laying new eggs. When new ants emerge from the pupae, the eggs turn to larval form and produce more pheromones, meaning it is time to march off for food.

Paul and Jason: a reptile zoo near me has caiman lizards from somewhere else that are an incredible green with bright orange heads. This one was dull and uniciolor, and way, way cooler than the brightest one in a cage.

Everyone else, thanks for the complements.
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Jeff Lemm
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Jeff Lemm »

Dude, Steve, ridiculously cool!!! Keep them coming.
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nephrurus
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by nephrurus »

What an awesome trip! I'd certainly be keen to do something like that one day.
Thanks for posting!
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justinm
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by justinm »

The Hoatzin was probably the coolest thing in this post! Those are a very interesting animal indeed! I can't wait to see the rest of this trip.
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moloch
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by moloch »

Steve,

I really enjoyed the variety of photos that you included in this report. The lodge that you visited looked to be fantastic. I would love to spend time in a tower like that or on the canopy walkway. It must have been terrific for canopy birds/insects.

Did you keep a bird list? If so, I would like to read of what you encountered. The primates were superb.

Regards,
David
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Mike Pingleton »

Fantastic! The caecilian is awesome. I love the White-throated toucan shot! I'll echo Justin, that hoatzin is about the coolest thing ever.

looking forward to the next.
-Mike
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Steve Barten
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Steve Barten »

Jeff: I have some killer stuff from the Galapagos. Too many photos so it’s taking too much time to sort through. Be patient, it will be worth the wait.

Justin: We saw 20 Hoatzins in one lap around the lake. Most were shy and stayed hidden in brush and shadow. I agree, they are way cool birds.

Moloch: Most of the stuff seen on the canopy walkway was seen through spotting scopes and too far away for decent photos. I did not keep a list, but if you’re a serious birder you can rack up a LOT of lifer birds there. We saw yellow headed vultures, double-toothed kites, crimson crested woodpeckers, banded trogon, and opal-crowned, turquoise, paradise and flame crested tanagers, among many, many others.

Mike: Thanks, takes a lot to impress a guy with your field credentials. The caecilian was my favorite find, but the hoatzin was my favorite bird by far. I never thought we’d actually see them, but the lake in front of the lodge was infested with them.
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jonathan
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by jonathan »

Caiman lizard was awesome. Caecilian was really cool too. Great post.
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Curtis Hart
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Curtis Hart »

Pygmy Marmoset and Black Mantled Tamarin were my favorites of a great all around post.
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Jason_Hood
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Jason_Hood »

Nice stuff Steve!! I missed out on seeing the Hoatzin but I heard them all around, thanks for that shot. The caecillian is my favorite in this group, wish I could have seen one myself on my trip but it was pretty dry where I was. Now lets see the rest of them!!

Jason
joeysgreen
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by joeysgreen »

Is this "the" Stephen Barten (DVM)? If so I'm a big fan :) Welcome to the forums and excellent post!

Ian
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Steve Barten
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Steve Barten »

Yep. Thanks!
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Carl Koch
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Carl Koch »

Fantastic, Steve! Beautiful photographs of an amazing place! Posts like this make FHF such an incredible forum...Nat Geo has nothing on this place, PLUS we get to interact with the writers/photographers. I can't begin to pick favorites in this post, because there are so many. Thanks!!! :beer:
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Wondersome pictures from a wondersome place....thanks for sharing!
I’m sure they would be much happier in a small iron cage in an apartment in a city.
It's indeed incredible how many people don't realize that parrots can actually fly, and with great artistry, and in swarms!
Bryan Suson
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Bryan Suson »

Wow, that pygmy marmoset and Caiman Lizard....unreal. Still waiting to see those myself! Glad you guys had a good trip out there!
-Bryan
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Rothdigga
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Rothdigga »

I'm pretty jealous of the marmoset and the tamarin.
Fantastic photos of all the frogs too. I can't wait to visit a few years down the road after I recoup funds from this years Galapagos trip I took.
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Warren
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Re: Ecuador Rain Forest/Galapagos, June 10. Part 1: Rain Fo

Post by Warren »

rockin the 593
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