Wildlife of S. E. Asia and S. America. A Photo Journal by Francis Burlingham.: 2021

Introduction

Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to live in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Colombia and now Brunei. In my spare time I have had the opportunity to travel fairly widely, camera in hand, in search of wildlife. In these posts I aim to share some of these experiences and show you some of the extraordinary wildlife that can be found in these regions. All of the photographs you see within the posts and pages here are my own unless otherwise stated. Copyright © Francis Burlingham 2015

Sunday 1 August 2021

The Wildlife of Tayrona National Park Colombia

Windswept turtle nesting beaches at Tayrona

I recently stayed four nights in the park, giving me ample time to explore the main trails and beaches and to photograph the abundant wildlife. Many of the parks iconic animals are easy to spot if you keep your eyes open and I was able to photograph a good number of species.

There are three species of monkey in the park and I was able to see all of them almost daily. The most numerous and easy to find were the endemic Santa Marta white fronted capuchins. In places along the beach trails they have become very accustomed to the presence of people and it is possible to get quite close.

Cebus malitiosus

(Santa Marta white-faced capuchin)

Cebus malitiosus (Santa Marta white-faced capuchin) Tayrona NP Colombia

Harder to spot but easy to hear in the mornings were the Red Howler monkeys.

Alouatta seniculus (Colombian Red Howler Monkey) Tayrona NP Colombia

The smallest monkey in the park is the endangered Cotton Topped Tamarin, found only in a few places in the north of Colombia.

Saguinus oedipus (cotton-top tamarin)

Saguinus oedipus (cotton-top tamarin) with young.

Saguinus oedipus (cotton-top tamarin)Tayrona NP Colombia

A common and easily spotted mammal in the park is the Agouti. I spotted these foraging in the undergrowth on most days in the park.

Dasyprocta punctata (Central American agouti) Tayrona NP Colombia

I was very lucky to get one sighting of the elusive Tamandua, a kind of tree dwelling ant eater. I heard it before I saw it, ripping apart a rotten tree branch with its powerful claws.

Tamandua mexicana (Northern Tamandua) Tayrona NP Colombia

Tamandua mexicana

Northern Tamandua

Tayrona NP

Tamandua mexicana (Northern Tamandua) Tayrona NP Colombia

Reptiles, particularly lizards were also very numerous in the park and I was able to see many different species. Young green iguanas were abundant in a few places.

Iguana iguana (Green Iguana) Tayrona NP Colombia

I was also delighted to see two young Basilisks or Jesus Lizards. One performed it's trick of running on water when I disturbed it.

Basiliscus basiliscus (Common Basilisk) Tayrona NP Colombia

There were also large numbers of the incredibly brightly coloured rainbow lizards.

Cnemidophorus gaigei (Gaige’s Rainbow Lizard) Tayrona NP Colombia

There were also Anoles,

Anolis gaigei (Gaige's Anole) Tayrona NP Colombia

heavily built Amievas,

Ameiva bifrontata (Cope's Ameiva) Tayrona NP Colombia

and a number of skinks and geckos.

Thecadactylus rapicauda (turnip-tailed gecko) Tayrona NP Colombia

Tretioscincus bifasciatus ( Magdalena River Tegu) Tayrona NP Colombia

Cnemidophorus gaigei

Copeoglossum nigropunctatum

Gonatodes albogularis

Despite the abundance of lizards, I was surprised to be only able to see one snake during my stay in the park.

Oxybelis aeneus (Brown Vinesnake) Tayrona NP Colombia

I found three nice frogs including an endemic poison dart frog.

Dendrobates truncatus (yellow-striped poison frog) Tayrona NP Colombia

Boana xerophylla (Drylands Tree Frog) Tayrona NP Colombia

Rhinella horribilis (Giant Toad) Tayrona NP Colombia

A highlight of the trip was being able to see giant blue morpho butterflies. These large iconic South American butterflies are some of the largest in he world and have an incredible iridescent blue colour that is revealed when they fly.

Morpho helenor peleides Tayrona NP Colombia

Continuing the blue theme, giant blue land crabs inhabited holes under the trees near the shore where the Morphos were flying.

Cardisoma guanhumi (Blue Land Crab) Tayrona NP Colombia

Other butterflies were not that numerous at this time of year apart from the cattle-heart butterfly.

Parides anchises serapis Tayrona NP Colombia

There were plenty of interesting birds about including several kinds of birds of prey hanging around the beaches.

Coragyps atratus (Black Vulture) Tayrona NP Colombia

Bats could often be seen flying through the jungle and were easily spotted sheltering amongst the boulders by the beaches and along the trails.

Caracara cheriway (Crested Caracara)

Saccopteryx bilineata (The greater sac-winged bat)

Brassavola nodosa (Lady of the Night Orchid) Growing on rocks near the beaches.

All in all this was a very rewarding trip and I would recommend the park at this time of year to anyone interested in combining wildlife spotting with beautiful Caribbean beaches.

A typical Tayrona beach.

Tuesday 6 April 2021

Colombian wildlife near the Rio Villeta.

During the Easter holiday I had my first chance to explore more widely outside of Bogota. Towards the end of the holiday my family and I stayed with friends near Villeta, close to the Rio Villeta and the Payande country club. Being at a considerably lower altitude than Bogota the climate was warmer and so I managed to see a good amount of wildlife. Where we stayed was close to a small wooded stream. I have found water courses like this particularly good places to find wildlife in Asia and here was no different.

I was delighted to photograph my first Colombian snake. The beautiful Shaw's Black Backed Snake.

Erythrolamprus melanotus Shaws Black Backed Snake) Villeta Colombia

Erythrolamprus melanotus Shaws (Black Backed Snake) Rio Villeta Colombia

Erythrolamprus melanotus (Shaws Black Backed Snake) Rio Villeta Colombia

As well as the snake there were numerous yellow headed geckos in the tress by the river as well as in the walls surrounding our accommodation. The males had a bright orange head whilst the females were well camouflaged against the trees.

Gonatodes albogularis (Yellow headed Gecko) Rio Villeta Colombia

Unidentified lizard Rio Villeta

Gonatodes albogularis

The bird life in the area was colourful with even the more common birds having brightly coloured plumage.

Thraupis episcopus (blue-gray tanager) Rio Villeta Colombia

Sicalis columbiana columbiana (Orange fronted yellow finch) Rio Villeta Colombia

There were also a number of noisy wild parakeets hanging out in the trees near the river and gardens of the local houses.

Brotogeris jugularis (The orange-chinned parakeet) Rio Villeta Colombia

The area was rich in butterflies and I encountered many beautiful species. Here is a small selection of these:

Parides eurimedes(True Cattle-heart) Rio Villeta Colombia

Siproeta stelenes (Malachite) Rio Villeta Colombia

This large Owl butterfly flew at dusk and when I saw the flash of blue I though I had found my first Morpho. However it is in a separate genus.

Caligo eurilochus (owl butterfly) Rio Villeta Colombia

This swallowtail reminded my of the Helen butterflies found in Asia, both in behaviour and appearance. I found two individuals puddling at a ford.

Heraclides anchisiades (Ruby-spotted Swallowtail) Rio Villeta Colombia

There was a massive congregation of this particular species, probably around a hundred individuals.

Eueides vibilia female Rio Villeta Colombia

Eueides vibilia male

Eueides vibilia mating pair

They seemed to be hatching out of a big colony of chrysalises attached to a wire fence and vines.

Eueides vibilia

Along the woodland stream flying in the dappled shade were a number of clearwing butterflies as well as several species of orange tiger patterned butterflies.

Ithomia hyala (Avella Glasswing) Rio Villeta Colombia

Hypoleria lavinia vanilia Rio Villeta Colombia

All of these tiger species are toxic to birds, inducing vomiting when eaten. The colours have co-evolved as a warning to birds and are a great example of Müllerian mimicry.