Here’s what’s been happening in and around the Fundación’s land over the last month…….
Well, Tungurahua (the nearby active volcano) has settled down again, although providing some seriously interesting light shows some nights when the clouds are out of sight for visiting tourists! And whilst mentioning light shows, there have been some spectacular tropical thunderstorms of late……………
More sand and rocks and stones have been shifted thanks to the sterling crew of Glen, Pete, Cyclops the One-Eyed Wonder Horse with occasional help from others; so we’re gradually coming closer to starting the construction of the toilet/shower facilities.
The Consejo Provincial of Pastaza was recently approached for a further donation of indigenous trees from their tree nursery at Pindo Mirador to enable us to further reforest some of the areas recovered from pasto ( previously grassland for cattle fodder) and they very kindly gave us close to a hundred saplings of seven or eight species – many of which are already planted where they will grow to provide habitat for future generations of many different animal and plant species.
The Municipio of Mera has also agreed to give us a donation of stone suitable for establishing/continuing our small network of paths around the site, so we look forward to receiving this shortly.
A small group of five or six Violaceous Jays (Cyanocorax violaceus) have been foraging on the land of late and regularly a small family group of Brown-Mantled or Saddleback Tamarin Monkeys have been spotted close to the quarantine-clinic at the forest edge (which is only about six or seven metres away!). Lots of other interesting wildlife seen, as ever…………
The recently-spotted tiny hummingbird is yet to be identified, and there is a small amount of controversy around this, as it doesn’t seem to appear in the specialised bird books of Ecuador on the land, nor on the internet. In fact, the nearest in size to that seen live in Cuba (although very different in form and colouration). We await the next appearance!
One of our next tasks is to organise some fund-raising events, as we are running low on funds for our next stages of development. If anyone has any ideas and/or would like to help in any way, please let us know.
