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September 2009

Staff Updates

Karina Berg has continued to work hard for the Ecuadorian Amazon Expedition as CountryDirector. Ms. Berg’s hard work and sound management has greatly facilitated the flow of the projects and development not only in the conservation, but also in the community work.Jon Escolar has completed his final expedition with GVI as Base Manager and is pursuing acareer in conservation in the United Kingdom. While in the UK, Jon plans to continue hisresearch on the bird and community projects he focused on while at GVI.Matt Iles has completed his 12 month contract with GVI as a member of the expedition staff team.Mr. Iles is considering pursuing other job opportunities involving conservation in Ecuador or other countries. Mr. Iles led the dung beetle project at GVI and will be preparing his conclusionsto his research on dung beetles in a final report.Leeron Tagger, the new addition to the expedition staff team at GVI Amazon, arrived six weeksinto the expedition phase. In the short amount of time spent in the rainforest, Mr. Tagger, hasimmersed himself in all the aspects of work, with particular interest in the ongoing amphibian anddung beetle research.Andrew Whitworth and Christopher Beirne continue to push forward the very successfulamphibian research project, whilst Samantha Brimble has made excellent progress with the new butterfly project.Intern Ali Quinney teamed up with Samantha Brimble to help push forward the butterfly projectand proved herself as a focused and diligent worker who also contributed to other projects andwork around camp.

Week One

The volunteers’ first week included a basic introduction to the reserve, a summary of GVI’sscientific work, and a series of training sessions. Throughout the week volunteers were givenintroductory talks on birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and vegetation mapping. Volunteersalso undertook full camp duty training, which included laundry, cooking, cleaning of the all the base area, and various maintenance responsibilities around the camp.A week one special highlight was theintroduction to the TEFL course, wherethe basics of teaching English as aforeign language to the local communitywere covered. This involved eachvolunteer owning the responsibility of planning and delivering a brief fiveminute lesson to the rest of the volunteer group, on a topic of their choice by wayof practice for the weeks of TEFL toahead.Volunteers spent time out in the field,getting involved in both day and night

walks. The night walks proved to be a highlight for many volunteers as a variety of the Amazon’snocturnal inhabitants were observed in their glory, creeping through the jungle.Another accent of week one was the grand opening of the amphibian and reptile ‘pitfall’ traps. Alarge number of volunteers expressed an interest in getting involved in their first taste of fieldwork. The survey made a promising start, with over 20 specimens recorded on the very firstday of checking the open traps.

Week Two

The first full week of surveying for the volunteers translated into amphibian and reptile pitfalls being checked daily, as well as the set up and checking of the dung beetle traps. The pitfallscontinued to yield interesting results, in that more reptiles than amphibians were being found inthe traps. Seven lizards of five different species were captured during one pitfall checking event.The first wave of identification work from the dung beetle traps paid its dividends with theaddition of a new species to the reserve species list. The dung beetle species

EurysternusCaribaeus

was captured and identified.On the butterfly front this week, volunteers assisted staff in butterfly trap maintenance and preparation and set up. They were excited to see what effect the new fermented banana bait hadon the survey results.Throughout the week, volunteers went out to the Laguna satellite camp in small groups. On thenight walk at the lagoon, most were lucky enough to catch sight of caimans silently floating in thewater. The night walk was followed by a roaring campfire set under thousands of stars. Beforeheading back to base the following day, there was time for an early morning bird-watchingsession at the lookout point nearby. One group managed to spot a pair of King Vultures(

Sarcoramphus papa)

; although already documented on the species list, they had not been previously seen on the reserve by any of the current staff team.Saturday, it was over to the Yachana Lodge for a ‘Minga’, a day of volunteer work to help thecommunity. The day involved draining a small pond, preparing the new lining, and movingcountless number of sacks packed with fertiliser for use in the on-site butterfly house. It was hardwork spent under the blazing sun, but it was worthwhile and very rewarding.

Week Three

Week three was the week of the insects. The idea to use fermented banana bait in the butterflytraps proved to be a good choice. On the first day of opening the traps, over 13 specimens werecaptured and identified. A special mention has to be given to the butterflies of the tribe Morphini;they were caught in the traps for the first time (two different species in two days!).The dung beetle project continued along a similar successful vein as the previous week. Betweeneight and 13 species were trapped on three new sites (one in primary forest, and two ingrasslands). Close observation under the microscope permitted the identification of four species(

Canthon luteicollis, Eurysternus plebejus, E. inflexus, E. confusus

).This week also saw the closing of the amphibian and reptile pitfall traps. This allows thevegetation surrounding the traps to regenerate, after the daily checks for ten days or two weeksand hopefully encourages the amphibians and reptiles to return to those locations during their rest period. The pitfalls will be ready to open again during the next five week period.From Thursday to Sunday, volunteers and staff members went to the island of Sumak Allpa,located 45 minutes downstream from Coca (also known as Puerto Francisco de Orellana). There

they helped build pathways between localschool buildings, using stones collected in the previous five week phase. Walks through theforest were guided by the very knowledgeableowner of the island, Hector Vargas. He provided GVI volunteers with fascinatingrainforest information, as well as opportunitiesto capture, their first glimpses of monkeys(Golden-mantled Tamarins (

Saguinustripartitus

), and Black-mantled Tamarins(

Saguinus nigricollis

), Squirrel Monkeys(

sp.Saimiri

)

, Woolly Monkeys (sp.

Lagothrix

),and the popular White-fronted Capuchins (

Cebus albifrons

Week Four

Using their new experiences, some of the volunteers taking their BTEC qualification, were givenan opportunity to lead their fellow volunteers in the field, under the supervision of GVI staff.Mist-netting (a method that uses nets to capture and help identify birds) was set up for the firsttime on the Cascada Trail. Although the new location did not prove to be as successful as hopedwith regards to the numbers caught, the nets did provide the team with a rich variety of speciesthat included: seven species of hummingbird, three species of manakin and one species of flycatcher. Much to the mist-netters delight, the nets were successful in capturing a Buff-tailedSicklebill (

Eutoxeres condamini

), a bird which none of the members at camp had seen before.A great deal of reserve management work was completed in the Yachana Reserve during week four. A total of four new large brightly coloured signs, that identify the forest as a protected area,were posted at different locations around the perimeter of the reserve. Also, a lot of sweat was poured into the construction of a new set of sturdy wooden steps leading up to thecommunications hill at base camp.At the end of a long and eventful week, the staff and volunteers were cordially invited to attendthe Yachana High School graduation, held across the river at the Yachana Lodge. An interesting presentation was given to all by one of the students, who had previously spent time with GVI.

Week Five

This week both the reptile and amphibian transect locations and butterfly site locations weresubject to vegetation mapping. A new method was trialed at one of the butterfly trap sites. On theMonday night’s amphibian transect the first

Pristimantis variabilis

was found and documentedoutside of a pitfall trap.After an exciting walk on the Cascada Trail, most of the group cooled off and enjoyed anafternoon swim in the waterfall. The night walks were particularly exciting this week, the groupspotted a Fer-de-Lance (

sp. B. atrox

), (and kept a safe distance from it), and a clever looking Cat-eyed Snake as well as a Water Snake.Before packing up on the Wednesday for the mid-phase break, a group of volunteers got up earlyfor a spot of sunrise birding. The volunteers oo-ed and ahh-ed at the

Violaceous Jays(

Cyanocorax violaceus

)

and Orange-bellied Euphonias (

Euphonia

xanthogaster

)

spotted thatmorning. Thursday was an early morning, as all volunteers and staff headed off base on a canoe toLos Rios and then boarded a bus bound for Tena. Everyone enjoyed a final wild night out together filled with food, drinks and dancing. For some volunteers five weeks had sadly come to an end