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Home and Dry!

by Peter Cowen

After spending two months roughing it up in the jungles of Peru, I am now back in (not so) sunny England. The time spent in the jungle will be one of my most memorable experiences due to the things I’ve seen and the people I have met. Compared to my last expedition into the rainforest I feel that this experience was one of the most rewarding. It is one thing seeing the sun set in England but seeing it set over an oxbow lake surrounded by rainforest is breathtaking.



My overall data collection was very successful and everything that I needed was recorded. I now have the tedious process of analysing the data to look for patterns but hopefully I should find some interesting outcomes. A number of food resources were recorded in secondary forest, some were not able to be identified in the field so pictures and detailed descriptions were taken of the fruits and trees. Below is an example of a picture of an unidentified fruit sample.



I’ll update you on my progress!

Posted by Peter Cowen on 08/21 at 05:59 AM

Back from the wilderness!

by Peter Cowen

After spending two weeks at another lodge to study some more, i am back and have now finished all of my data collection! It also explains the lack of posts for two weeks as i didn´t have any Internet access! The new site was perfect for my study as the majority of the trails and even the area surrounding the lodge was all secondary forest. Many a morning i was awoken by numerous parakeets and Chestnut Fronted Macaws feeding on the plants and fruits!

At this site i had 5kms worth of trails to study. One of the trails meandered through one of the local communities of "La Torre", so on my first day i was shown around the trails and introduced to all the families. All was going well until we came across a new family who was not native to the area, after chatting for a while i was aggressively attacked by the families local herd of jungle dogs! After coming out of the attack fairly unscathed i later realised that i had a gash in the back of my leg which was fairly painful! I have never liked dogs and this just increased this! Below is a picture of the gash, i apologise for the quality as it was hard to take a picture of the back of my leg!



Also while visiting these families, many of them practiced farming! This experience changed my perspective of the causes of deforestation, as i witnessed large of tracts of forest that had been deforested for farming. When people talk about the causes it is never the small farms that have a large effect, i now disagree with this!

Posted by Peter Cowen on 08/10 at 01:19 PM

The long lost Red Bellied Macaw……

by Peter Cowen

There are a total of 20 species of parrots that are located in the lower Tambopata. Six of these are macaws, four parrots and the remaining parakeets and parrotlets. Size ranges from the largest, the Red and Green MAcaw to the smallest the Amazonian Parrotlet. Of the six macaws the most endangered is the Blue Headed Macaw. However, during my stay i have recorded this species more than the Red Bellied Macaw. It msay just be my bad luck but it makes for some interesting conversations with fellow researchers!

Today i am back in town awaiting my boat to a new lodge so that i can continue with some more studies.

UPDATE

While visiting town i ventured to a local rescue centre to get a close up of one of my study subjects!

Posted by Peter Cowen on 07/22 at 03:34 PM

Perils of jungle life!

by Peter Cowen

After staying over four weeks in the jungle you start to become accustomed to harmful things that are lurking in the shadows, in your bed and on the diner plate. It seems to be the most docile looking creatures that pack the greatest sting, especially the caterpillars. Although soft and cuddly keep away from them at all costs. While out on an early morning transect I was stung all along my leg as a caterpillar rolled down, it was painful but after so many stings it starts to get annoying!



I am still performing my foraging walks regularly, the balsa flowers may not be the first choice for the parakeets anymore but this has coincided with the fruiting of the balsas. After witnessing capuchins munching on the fruits it was a matter of time until the birds followed suit! As requested, I have posted a picture of the flowers and the fruits.

Posted by Peter Cowen on 07/19 at 10:40 AM

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