As the new year starts, we are seeing signs of new beginnings at Jocotoco Foundation’s Copalinga Reserve in the eastern foothills of the Andes in southern Ecuador:

a cockroach getting ready to start life as an adult during metamorphosis on a forest leaf;

Cockroach molting; Ecuador, Prov. Zamora-Chinchipe, Copalinga Reserve

toads spawning a new generation;

South American Common Toad, Rhinella margaritifera

a black phoebe and its fledgling chick on a roof in nearby Podocarpus National Park;

Black Phoebes, Ecuador, Prov. Zamora-Chinchipe, Podocarpus NP

orchid flowers getting ready to unfurl;

Orchid flowers opening

and Gray Tinamou chicks foraging with mama. Though small, they are already able to fly a short distance. Birders come from all over the world to see them.

Gray Tinamous, Ecuador, Prov. Zamora-Chinchipe, Copalinga Reserve

HAPPY NEW YEAR. Begin something new!

Barking Treefrog, Hyla gratiosa, in a seasonal pond

It’s been a while since I visited my favorite ponds in Delaware where I have spent many hours photographing.  Carlos Martinez Rivera, herpetologist and frog conservationist with the Philadelphia Zoo, wanted to see Barking Treefrogs, so I was inspired to return at the end of May. These ponds fill with water in the fall and dry out completely most summers. Such seasonal ponds are called vernal pools and are known locally on the Delmarva Peninsula as Delmarva Bays.

Barking Treefrogs in amplexus

Barking Treefrogs come down out of the trees in May and June to mate. When a male finds a female he climbs on her back and holds on tight. This nuptial embrace is called amplexus. He will stay with her until she lays eggs in the pond while he fertilizes them.

Barking Treefrog calling in pond

Most males do not find mates until they reach the pond. Note the difference in color between this frog and those in the previous photo. When they enter the water (perhaps due to temperature?) they change to a duller, greenish-brown hue.

Male Barking Treefrog with vocal sac extended while calling.

The advertisement call that male barking treefrogs broadcast from the pond is “toonk, toonk, etc.” When they are in the trees they bark.

Cope’s Gray Treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis,  male between calls

Another one of the ten species of frogs breeding in this pool is Cope’s Gray Treefrog. This one is puffed up and ready to call.

Cope’s Gray Treefrog calling

Cope’s Gray Treefrog calls with a fast, high pitched, unmusical trill.

Eastern Gray Treefrog, Hyla versicolor, male calling

If it wasn’t for the slower, lower-pitched, more musical call of the Eastern Gray Treefrog, it wouldn’t be possible to tell them apart from Cope’s Gray Treefrog in the field. Eastern Gray Treefrogs are tetraploid, meaning they have four sets of chromosomes instead of two like Cope’s Gray Treefrog or most other animals. Apparently they evolved from Cope’s Gray Treefrog. This type of evolution from diploid to tetraploid is more common in plants.

Northern Cricket Frog, Acris crepitans, male calling on floating Polygonum leaf

Knock two pebbles together and you can imitate the call of the Northern Cricket Frog. Males often call from floating leaves. This tiny member of the treefrog family lacks the expanded toe pads that allow other treefrogs to scale trees.

Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus, male floating in pond

Danger lurks in the dark waters. Bullfrogs, the largest of our frogs, may make a meal of any of the above frogs.

The best book about vernal pools

I love these ponds so much, I wrote a whole book about them. Frog Heaven: Ecology of a Vernal Pool follows a pond from the time it fills in the fall until it dries out in the summer. Vernal pools are critical to amphibians as well as many aquatic invertebrates, ironically because they dry up for part of the year. This keeps fish, major predators, out of the ponds. Find out more about Frog Heaven here.

An inconspicuous trail in a bend of the road leads to Narupa Reserve, one of Jocotoco Conservation Foundation’s ten reserves. Narupa is located between the towns of Baeza and Coca where the Andes approach the Amazonian lowlands. A ten minute walk down the trail brings you to a hummingbird garden and a casita (little house), the only building in the reserve. Here at an elevation of about 1,000 m, elements of tropical and subtropical faunas mix.

Narupa trail

Though I had only two days to explore this reserve, I got a good taste for the rich diversity of life there. Mixed bird fl0cks include a variety of tanagers, migrant warblers (including Cerulean), furnariids, and more. Beautiful forests clothe the hillside.

Foothill forest at Narupa

A visit to the hummingbird garden was a great place to begin. Several of the hummingbirds here are foothill birds that live primarily at the lowest part of the eastern Andes. Golden-tailed Sapphires are most common in foothill forest but are also found in the Amazonian lowlands.

Golden-tailed Sapphire female

Golden-tailed Sapphire male

Golden-tailed Sapphire male

Another foothill species, the Many-spotted Hummingbird is a feisty bird, frequently chasing other hummingbirds from flowers or feeders.

Many-spotted Hummingbird attack

At this altitude (1,000 m) there is a good mix of Amazonian and Andean faunas. Gould’s Jewelfront is primarily a lowland species, but it also gets up as high as Narupa’s hummingbird garden.

Gould’s Jewelfront

The bridge over the Río Hollin Chico is a good place to spot river-dwelling birds and takes you over to beautiful forest. Birders on the bridge are Gabriela Silva, our friend from Jocotours, and Geronimo Tanguila, one of Narupa’s forest guards.

Birders on hanging bridge

Forest trail Narupa

Tree buttresses

A nighttime walk just outside the reserve is a rewarding experience. Here are a couple of gems I spotted in my headlamp beam.

This Somber Stream-Lizard was roosting peacefully on a twig.

Somber Stream-Lizard, Galenesaurus cochranae

Stick insects (Phasmidae) are generally nocturnal and are much easier to spot at night.

Phasmid stick insect

The restaurant “Susanita,” just a 15-minute walk down the road from the reserve entrance, has typical Ecuadoran food as well as two beautiful rooms overlooking the Cascada de Hollin, where guests can stay.