Hello again, from Ecuador at the end of October – here’s the most recent news and views (please have a look at the Flickr page for the latest photos – https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdla-group/ ).
Firstly, a huge, big “Muchas Gracias” (thank you very much!) to our amazing supporters at Vegware, who have agreed to support the Fundación financially for a further year. Not only that, after our recent re-application for support, they have offered an increased Community Fund Grant. This will help us greatly with our running costs and will enable us to continue to develop the new Conservation and Animal Rescue Centre. Do please check out their website and do use their services if you can and recommend them to others – https://www.vegware.com/ .
Volunteers Wilson, Ingrid, Pame and Mayra joined us on site for a few days – helping to clear paths amongst other tasks; and Glen has returned from his sojourn in the UK and has leapt straight back into action on the land and administratively, too. Good one, Glen! Dave took a break from his work with the Andean Spectacled Bears and spent some time working with us on the land, also.
We are still awaiting the machinery to come open the way from the road to our new entrance to the site. This has allowed us time to clear more of the ‘turning area to be’ and save some of the more plants from this space which have been replanted elsewhere on the land.
There have been some days of really heavy rain recently, interspersed with some really hot sunshine. As a result, there was some maintenance work needed on the dike as the swollen stream caused some minro damage to the system.
Online, I found this information regarding the weather in Pastaza (where we are located):
On average, the temperatures are always high.
A lot of rain (rainy season) falls in the months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.
On average, the warmest month is November. (27 degrees C)
On average, the coolest month is July. (25 degrees C)
April is the wettest month.
Average wind speed is zero km per hour.
Average annual rainfall is approximately 5.00 metres
Due to the trees around us, we are sometimes able to hear the rain coming before it reaches us…………sometimes!
The Cat-Eyed Snake was spotted again at the side of the quarantine-clinic; a flock of over 40 Swallow-Tailed Kites was seen flying overhead at the end of the month – this is an impressive sight as these large, white birds swoop and soar above. Several ‘new’ species of birds have also been seen – including a small orange/red ‘Tanager’; a pair of small, quite dark-coloured Hummingbirds; and a yet-unnamed Small Brown Bird (there are so many small, brown bird species in the field guide, that it is very difficult – especially with a brief viewing – to make a clear identification). A pair of Sickle-Winged Guan (Chamaepetes goudotti), three or four Lineated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus lineatus), a Speckled Chachalaca (Ortalis Guttata)and a Violaceous Jay (Cyanocorax violaceous) were all also recently seen.
Several of the recently added photos show how green is the land saved by the Fundación. We suspect that most, if not all, of this would have been cut down for pasture land had we not intervened and purchased it!
