Belleville

My second stop in Belleville involves visiting my nan (aka Omi) and Grandpa who live next to a bay that is connected to Lake Ontario. The bay was still frozen when I arrived and appeared vacant other than a few confused looking geese that were sitting awkwardly on the ice.

Thanks to Omi's multiple bird feeders her deck has become a twitchers paradise, here are some frequent visitors.

Redpoll  

Hairy woodpecker

White breasted nuthatch 

It was -2 and clear skies as I sat out on the deck this morning with the sun in my face and a cup of tea in hand. The ice melted overnight and the bay is now completely open. The diving ducks are ducking and diving just off the shore including hooded, common and red breasted mergansers, golden eye, buffleheads, and a single loon. Bravely fluttering between a nearby weeping willow and the feeder opposite me are white breasted nuthatch, goldfinch, red polls and black capped chickadees. But there's something missing and we've been speculating about their return for a few days now. Usually they come a few days after the bay is open Omi tells me, and start building their nests up high on a platform mounted upon a dead tree. Then something swooped up high near the shore creating a shadow above us, the wingspan is broad but my instinct tells me this isn't just another turkey vulture. As it soared into view my suspicions were confirmed and with the sound of a distinct whistling cry Omi and I looked at one another and smiled, the osprey are back!

The Osprey nest has a webcam over it which will be switched on in a few weeks time once they start nesting, click here to watch them raise their chicks live! The log in name and password is guest.


A lady selling wool brought her alpaca to the local garden centre for a day and I know have an alpaca scarf courtesy of Omi. If the weather doesn't start perking up I'm definitely going to need it!

 

Six turkey vultures were blown above the bay during high winds today. After battling with breeze for 5-10 minutes they managed to land on the grass and catch a break for a while before taking off again.

I still have a just under a week left before I head to Carden so I'd best get back to swatting up on birds!

Toronto

My latest adventure starts in Toronto!

I am fortunate enough to have lots of family in Ontario and so my first stop off is with my Grandma in Toronto. At home in West Yorkshire the weather was hinting at getting warmer when I left so at first I was a little disheartened to be arriving into a cool -2°C with lows of -8°C and with snow showers forecast for at least the next week.

One week on and it's 6°C and fairly sunny here in Toronto, at home in England my family are snowed in with over 1 meter high snowdrifts on the only road to civilisation and are having to use a sledge to get bales of hay down the fields to our two highland cows. 

Catching up with the family  in Toronto has been great - I met my new 3 week old cousin Oliver for the first time.

And I got to hang out with Buzz Lightyear! ...aka cousin Robbie or Little R.

My Grandma also took me to the Distillery District. Once a Victorian distillery, the prominent red brick buildings could have you fooled into thinking you had somehow been teleported back to England. The feeling is however short lived as your eye is quickly drawn to the towering apartment buildings in the background. The distillery buildings are now host to a range of art galleries, coffee shops and the type of shops that sell overly priced cards and ornamental soaps. After purchasing some of these cards, Gram and I picked up some exceedingly good Eccles cakes then headed to Balzac's coffee shop to warm up.

Winter in the city doesn't necessarily mean there isn't wildlife about. House sparrows and cardinals are some of the regulars at my Gram's feeder.

As I stood in the bathroom brushing my teeth one morning I stared out of the window only to find I was being stared back at! It turns out my Gram's windowsill is a great spot for squirrel sunbathing.

Next stop Belleville to see more family and to finish getting organised for my new job!!

Opossum

A total of 17 species of opossum can be found in Paraguay. Two research interns Fionne and Monique spent their 3 months at Para La Tierra carrying out an opossum project comparing opossum numbers at different heights. They sampled the Atlantic forest, Transitional forest and the Cerrado habitats. 

Sherman traps for catching opossum 

On-ground, off-ground and in the canopy- traps were set and baited with a mix of peanut butter, dough and vanilla essence. Off-ground and canopy traps were set on a small wooden platform, the latter being raised and lowered using ropes hung in the tree. 

Traps were checked daily using a stick to carefully prise open the door to check for inhabitants. Giant locust, rats, lizards and even birds were found in the traps on occasion, and some times an opossum.

Once confirmed to be an opossum, the trap is emptied into a clear plastic bag for inspection and weighing.

Large eyes for night vision, prehensile tails for gripping on branches, and sharp teeth make this opossum well equipped for hunting it's insect prey.

Some of the smaller species of opossum found in Paraguay can only be identified by their dentition so taking pictures of their mouth was crucial. 

After being sexed, photographed and measurements completed, the opossum are micro chipped in case of future recapture and finally released. 

Presented, filmed and edited by Dr Jonny Miller with camera assistance from myself - The video below introduces the cute but ferocious agile gracile opossum.

Insects

Whilst trekking through the forest to find the capuchins almost everywhere you look something is crawling, flying, buzzing or jumping. The unmissable cicada calls fill the air, their moults litter the base of trees whilst the newly emerged adults launch themselves into the air awkwardly with a rattle as you walk bye.

I'm not the biggest fan of insects but here in the Atlantic forest I can't help but stop to get a closer look. For the observant, every trip to the forest reveals something new. Metallic green flies, an assortment of spiders suspended at head hight waiting to entrap an unsuspecting monkey hunter, not forgetting the pink and black locust gathering on branches in a 'town meeting' style and hopping away franticly as you approach.

The millipede below was headed for the cover of the leaves as I loomed towards it with my lens. We frequently caught these in pitfall traps and can also be found with orange and red stripes.

Late one night I awoke to Fionne shaking Monique awake in the bunk above mine. Mo jumped out of bed and they both ran out the room, next thing I new Jonny was in the room and all three headed for the girls bathroom. This probably meant they had found something cool or dangerous so I peeled myself from my mattress only to find this beaut in the toilet. From this point on I scanned the roof for falling centipedes before entering the bathroom. I only saw one other and it was indeed in the roof but it I needn't panic, it was heading toward Joe's room.

The venom of a live centipede is extremely painful, but since this one had consequently drowned, Jonny couldn't resist and got some pictures with it. 

One day the monkey volunteers took it in turns to sit in a corridor of trees from dawn till dusk to see If the capuchins were using that particular tree line to get from one side of the forest to the other. We saw a total of 0 monkeys on this day, but it turned out to be a great day for insect spotting, As I sat and waited, I soon received far more attention than I had bargained for and at one point I counted over 15 butterflies all probing me for traces of salt with their proboscis .

Many species use mimicry to confuse their predators. Georgia and I came across this cryptic fellow one day on the forest, it was about the same size as my thumb and looked remarkably like a bird poo.

A Black witch moth -  These huge moths have many folk lore stories attached to them that could result in your death or you winning the lottery. I kept an open mind. 

Stick insects are a fairly common sight at Laguna Blanca, this was the largest I saw in 2 months.

Iridescent shells, glowing abdomens, horns and built-in buzzers - an amazing assortment of armoured explorers roam here. The shape and strength of this beetle makes me see them as a sort of mini juggernaut.

Longhorn beetles in South America can reach over 6 inches and are incredibly strong. This individual has been devoured and dismantled by hungry ants. The one below was crawling up the inside of the fly screen in our bedroom and still had a bit more fight in him.

This sorry sight is the result of an attack by a tarantula hawk wasp. On our way to the transitional forest, having previously paralysed it's victim, the wasp was flying off with the tarantula in it's grasp about 1 meter off the ground but it dropped it's prize onto the path.

My favourite sight however was during the night time capuchin sleep sight searches. At first I thought I was looking at dew, but as the ground glittered beneath my feet I soon realised it was in fact the reflection of the eyes of thousands of tiny spiders- beautiful!

The Cerrado

White sands dotted with green patchy islands of razor sharp bromeliads, fire proof trees and cacti as tall as a house - the Cerrado, despite its hot dry aridness, has me entranced.

At a glance it seems empty and devoid of wildlife, almost like the African Savannah without the herds of black and white stripes, but it only takes a few 5am bird mist netting sessions to appreciate that the wildlife is just very good at hiding.

Like a fresh layer of snow, the sand after a heavy rain creates a fresh canvass for all who sneak in the darkness to be recognised. Hoof prints possibly from peccary or deer, mysterious burrows in the sand and termite mounds, and scuttling amongst the dead leaves also indicates the presence of the illusive.

Here is an oscillated whip-tailed lizard, an incredibly fast lizard that enjoys basking on the hot sand beside the undergrowth,ready to dart for cover if disturbed.

Scorpion - It's small pincers indicate it has a powerful sting

A night time trek into the cerrado with a flash light would most likely reveal a pair of small haunting glowing spheres - the eyes of a bird belonging to the night jar family. Stunned by the lights you can get amazingly close before they flutter into the darkness. Bats are also busy in search of fruit and insects overhead. As the sun rises, the dawn chorus begins. Some of the more eager contenders get a tweet or a chirp in whilst the stars are still out. A distant knocking draws your eye to a dead tree protruding through its greener companions. The distinct hammer shaped head of a woodpecker can be seen as creeps up and down the trunk in search of grubs.

Parakeets squawk noisily overhead in pairs in a flash of green, and higher still the turkey vultures wheel up high on thermals. Smaller perching birds flit from bush to bush being heard more than they are being seen. 

At a closer look amongst the green, you can find hidden treasures of vibrant colours.

The cerrado wouldn't be the same place without the endless termite mounds and sandy trails of leaf cutter ants. The snipping can even be heard as the ants dismantle the leaves with their powerful jaws.

Bullet ants are less organised but just as impressive, their size most appreciated when seen crossing the leaf cutter ant trails like a monster truck on a highway.

Yesterday we had a very exciting delivery from a student who had visited Para la Tierra previously who had found a slightly unexpected house guest – a Southern naked tailed armadillo (Cabassous unicinctus). This is the first live specimen found in the country, a really important find for Laguna Blana and for Paraguay.

We jumped into the back of the Hilux and headed to the cerrado for some film making of the release.

The volunteers and interns all got to hold it before we made a video for the Para la Tierra Youtube channel, then released it into the Cerrado.

After everyone got their fill of photos the armadillo was placed on the ground, the pictures show how the rest panned out.

Within seconds the armadillo dug its way into the sand  and out of sight, leaving only a mound of disturbed sand as evidence

As the activities of then day come to an end, the cerrado puts on the most impressive encore.