Things that go Bump in the Night
This Tricolored Swamp Snake was crossing the trail pre-dawn (yes we did get up early some days). People often ask me about whether I see snakes while in the tropics. Snakes are seldom seen (despite some searching) and none of the three species we saw this trip were venomous.
Bats are numerous but seldom seen well enough to identify. These Proboscis Bats (also called Long-nosed Bats) like to roost on tree trunks directly over water. We saw a group of these bats by the lodge's dock where they were roosting on a pole used to anchor the water intake line.
Tawny-bellied and Tropical Screech-Owls were heard most nights from our cabins at the lodge. This Tawny-bellied was roosting in a tree near the canopy tower. We were also lucky to have our guides point out another tree cavity where two Night Monkeys were perched.
Night Monkeys
Great Tinamou (below) and Marbled Wood-Quail (above) are often heard but seldom seen birds of the jungle. Our guides worked very hard one evening to locate night roost of these birds.
This Ladder-tailed Nightjar was roosting along the shoreline of the Napo River.
Night-time was a good time to go out and search for insects, nocturnal wildlife or just listen to the haunting calls of the Common Potoo. An additional bonus was seeing the southern sky and astronomical features not visible from Canada such as the Large Magellanic Cloud (a bright dwarf galaxy).
Fascinating creatures!
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