Author Archives: admin

Jorupe Birds and More

Posted on March 4, 2017 by admin

In February my wife Debbie and I served as volunteer hosts once again at Jorupe Reserve.  The reserve, located on the southern border of Ecuador, is owned by the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation. We noticed a number of changes since our … Continue reading →

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Pecking the Pico-Pico at Buenaventura

Posted on February 10, 2017 by admin

It’s January and the pico-pico is fruiting at Buenaventura Reserve in El Oro Province of southern Ecuador. The reserve was created by the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation primarily to protect habitat for the El Oro Parakeet, but another 350 other species … Continue reading →

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Copalinga

Posted on February 5, 2017 by admin

Copalinga, a delightful ecolodge, sits above the Rio Bombuscaro near the eastern base of the Andes in southern Ecuador. The lodge is owned and run by Catherine and Boudewijn, who built it after moving there from Belgium in 1998. Debbie … Continue reading →

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Return to Tapichalaca

Posted on February 3, 2017 by admin

It’s great to get back to Tapichalaca Reserve of the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation on the eastern slope of the Andes in Southern Ecuador (map). Here in 1997, the Jocotoco Antpitta made its debut in the world of ornithology and birding. … Continue reading →

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Antisanilla Reserve more highlights

Posted on January 15, 2017 by admin

In addition to condors and eagles mentioned in my previous posts, plenty of great birds inhabit Antisanilla Reserve of the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation. Paramo pipits live in the high grasslands. Another common bird is the Bar-winged Cinclodes a member of … Continue reading →

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Antisanilla—Great Wildlife High in the Andes

Posted on December 21, 2016 by admin

I spent my first week back in Ecuador photographing in the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation’s Antisanilla Reserve. Just 30 miles SE of Quito, it sits on the western slopes of Antisana Volcano. Most of the reserve is paramo, high-elevation Andean grassland. … Continue reading →

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The Bird That Started It All

Posted on April 18, 2016 by admin

The discovery of a new species, Grallaria ridgelyi, set off a series of events that snowballed into  founding of the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation and the creation of eleven reserves (so far). The bird that started it all, the Jocotoco Antpitta, … Continue reading →

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Tapichalaca Birds Minus One

Posted on April 12, 2016 by admin

I am saving the best bird until last. Meanwhile here are a few other birds from Tapichalaca. The most common hummingbird at Tapichalaca feeders, the Chestnut-breasted Coronet, lifts it wings when it lands. One of the most common calls on … Continue reading →

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Cloud Forest Flowers

Posted on April 11, 2016 by admin

Jocotoco Conservation Foundation‘s Tapichalaca Reserve in southern Ecuador, with its overwhelming diversity of epiphytes, supports a beautiful assortment of flowering plants. The flowers in this cloud forest feed the diverse hummingbirds and other nectivores (see future post).

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Cloud Forest of Tapichalaca Reserve

Posted on April 5, 2016 by admin

Debbi and I spent most of our four weeks at Tapichalaca Reserve in a cloud. A real cloud. This makes for a very lush forest. Epiphytes of all sorts–bromeliads, ferns, mosses, orchids, etc. cover the branches and trunks of many … Continue reading →

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