Visitors!

The Amazon basin is filled with countless wonders of nature, from the tiniest frog to the mighty and mysterious jaguar and all sorts of amazing things in-between. However, it being a jungle, these amazing things can be a bit tricky to see. That is, of course, unless they decide to come and see you, which is exactly what happened to us at base camp. On our return from a interphase break we arrived to the GVI Amazon base camp to learn we had an amazing new neighbor move in: a Tropical Screech owl (Otus choliba). She had not only moved in to a tree right in the center of camp, but liked the place so much she decided to raise a family. There isn’t a wealth of information on the breeding habits of these owls, so we are trying to gather as much information as we can. Our research includes setting up a camera trap by the nest to photograph the adult owl's comings and goings, and also a written log to try to keep track of its feeding patterns. So far, one chick has hatched and the other should hopefully do the same in the next couple of days. Then all we have to do is cross our fingers and wait; all being good we will witness two new Screech owls emerge and fly off into the night.

Ian Moody, GVI Amazon Long-term Conservation Intern, July-Dec 2011

Visitors!