Wildlife of S. E. Asia and S. America. A Photo Journal by Francis Burlingham.: Colombian wildlife near the Rio Villeta.

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

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.