Collective Intelligence

My Reference Books

When I post photos from my travels I do my very best to identify what I've seen for my website and blog. It's a bit easier when I'm photographing or posting from home because I can just turn to my arsenal of Florida and Georgia Field Guides and helpful local experts and websites. But when I'm traveling it gets a bit more complicated. It's not really practical to carry field guides from around the world in my suitcase (though I do pick them up along the way from time to time). There are good apps, and I use them when I can, but I don't always have cell coverage (or an appropriate app). But what I do have, most of the time, is access to the internet, maybe from the hotel or the airport or somewhere along the way. The trick is finding good sources of info. I ask locals when I can. But often, I'm on my own, or the people around me don't know, or I don't speak the language well enough to ask or understand. So I often turn to Google and Wikipedia, and have been fairly successful. With birds, I reinforce the search by turning to e-Bird to see what birds have been reported at that location or nearby. When I'm in South America, I also look at the Neotropical Bird section of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site. (I wish that the birds on an E-bird list had links to photos so I could easily look to see if the bird is what I'm looking for, and the Neotropical Bird site is a little clunky to navigate between species to identify and compare, but they're still both very useful.) I've had pretty good luck just Googling the name of the bird, or "Birds of ___" and checking Wikipedia or looking at photos. When we went to Iguazu Falls a few years ago I took hundreds of photos of butterflies that I'd never seen before. I found several helpful websites for identifying them, but sometimes I had to resort to just describing the butterfly and location and see what came up in the Google "images" section. For flowers, I'll often search for "wildflowers of (insert town/country/region)" and a local field guide may pop up. When I'm in a Botanical Garden, I take care to photograph the interpretive signs and ID tags to look at later. Some thoughtful locations, such as the bird refuge in El Calafate, Argentina, have signs with pictures of wildlife and plants that you may see along the way. I very thankful for these! And I always grab trail literature when it looks helpful. 

Helpful Sign in El Calafate, Argentina

Local Field Guides 

So you can see that a lot of work goes into this photography/blog business. Besides taking the photo and editing it, I also have to get the information right. Whew! It's probably not truly necessary, but I'm a bit obsessive about putting things in categories. Most readers or viewers don't really care what plant family the flower comes from, or whether the bird is a white phase or the striated version. But I like to know these things, so I seek out the information. And occasionally people will find one of my photos online and ask use it for a publication or illustration, and I want to be as helpful and accurate as I can. I report my own bird sightings to e-Bird and have been contacted once or twice when I reported something that was too rare to be true. After some investigation, the investigator and I determined that I had misidentified my bird, and I changed the report. Friends have contacted me, too, and let me know that I have misidentified a snake or turtle or flower and I really appreciate the help. I'm no expert and I love to learn. So if you see something I should change, let me know! I really do want to know. I understand that there are apps now where you can just submit a photo and have it identified for you, and I may look into it someday, but I admit that I enjoy the chase.

Butterfly from Iguazu Falls. Needs ID still!

This is all a long introduction to the tough time I had figuring out what I had seen while traveling in Ecuador. My bird, plant and insect knowledge in Florida and now Georgia came from years of following experts around. In Ecuador, I did much of my exploring on my own and much of it was new. But I searched and scoured the internet and did my best. In hindsight I realize that I probably should have just purchased a field guide to the birds of Ecuador. I may still do it, especially if we ever return, and I hope we will. Ecuador is an amazing country, with the most biodiversity per square kilometer of any other nation on earth. According to Wikipedia, there are 1600 species of birds, 4000 species of butterflies, and 16,000 species of plants. Really, it's an incredible place.

Hummingbird in Papallacta. Still Needs ID!

I spent an afternoon in a botanical garden on a hilltop in Yachay, a few hours north of Quito, while my husband met with university administrators. I had a great time and saw some cool birds and plants. Luckily for me, I was in a botanical garden and many of the plants had signs. The birds gave me a little more trouble. Vermillion Flycatchers were easy, and I was really excited when they started hopping out of the bushes, but actually grew tired of them after a while because they were so plentiful! (Such problems I have!) I was really hoping to see some fancy hummingbirds like the ones in Quito. I saw several not-quite-so-fancy hummingbirds, but they were always too far away to get a good ID photo. But back at the hotel, using my combination e-Bird hotspot report/Wikipedia technique, I was able to identify a Yellow-faced Grassquit that was photographed from far away and in the bushes. The American Kestrel was easy because I knew them from home. They are very plentiful in Ecuador.

One of Many Vermillion Flycatchers

Hummingbird, No ID Yet 

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Handy Signs at the Botanical Garden

American Kestrel and Prey

A week later, when our family went to the cloud forest in Papallacta, and again in Otavalo, I finally saw some fancy hummingbirds. I bought a small guide that was somewhat helpful for Papallacta, but 

e-Bird was the best resource. Friends on Facebook and the guide who took my family on a day hike helped identify some of the plants and flowers.

Cinereous Conebill

Black Crested Warbler

Pale-naped Brush Finch

Shining Sunbeam Hummingbird

Spectacled Whitestart

Sword-billed Hummingbird
(This one made me very happy! What a bill!)

Tawny Antpitta
(I heard this bird a long time before I was able to find it, and it took e-Bird to make an ID.)

Andean Gull

Turquoise Jay and Tasty Bundle

Tree Lungwort

Lepanthes Orchid
(I was so focused on the pretty heart-shaped buds that I missed the tiny orchid flower in the background!)

Scarlet Angel's Trumpet
(The Sword-billed Hummingbird uses its extra long bill on this flower!)

Next we spent a few days at a lakeside resort north of Quito, near Otavalo and it seemed like there were many species of hummingbirds in the gardens there, but later, after looking more carefully, I realized that I had seen only 3 or 4, but that they varied from male to female, and they moved around a lot! There is a lot of zipping in the hummingbird world. The Black-tailed Trainbearer hummingbird that I had tried to catch in Quito was more cooperative this time. 

Black-tailed Trainbearer (m)

Black-tailed Trainbearer (f)

Green Violetear Hummingbird

Not Sure. Emerald? Violetear?

Western Emerald Hummingbird?

A bigger challenge came when we visited a bird reserve in Mindo, a few days later. But that, my friends, is another blog post!

 

My Comfort Zone

El Panecillo and La Virgen de Quito

I'm back on the road again! My husband and I have been in Quito, Ecuador for the past week or so while he is completing a teaching fellowship. We have spent afternoons and weekends when he is not working getting to know a bit about Quito, exploring, wandering and taking in lots of the new sights, sounds and tastes. The food is delicious, our Spanish is improving and we're having a great time!  Ecuador is a beautiful and interesting country and people here are friendly and kind.

Anteaters and Monkeys Decorate the Basilica del Voto Nacional

Our hotel is conveniently located near several universities and midway between the main tourist areas, the Historic Old City (a Unesco World Heritage site) and Mariscal Sucre (a hopping area with lots of restaurants, bars and a big craft market.) The hotel is bordered by two busy roads and the traffic is fast, loud and smelly (largely due to the buses that tear by, spewing black exhaust). The road is kind of scary to cross. Pedestrians just wait for a gap, or a lull, and run for dear life. There is a big park nearby, but we have been warned by several people that it is not safe to walk there. E-bird lists some excellent bird sightings in that park, but given the warnings, walking with binoculars or a camera just doesn't seem smart. So, I have not had much of a chance to just get out and explore on my own the way I would like to. I have done a bit of birdwatching from the hotel room and was pleasantly surprised to see an American Kestrel in a tree across the street. It was being harassed by a big green hummingbird that I couldn't quite identify, but suspect was a Sparkling Violetear. Great Thrushes and Eared Doves perch on the utility lines, and the occasional butterfly floats above the traffic, too far away for me to ID from my hotel perch. I've been eager to get out and see some of Ecuador's abundant nature! You can just imagine how excited I was this weekend when we took two outings away from the hotel area and I was able to pull out the trusty cameras! (Full disclosure--before you start to feel bad for poor pitiful me, you should know that I will have more opportunities to explore and go birding in the next weeks when we visit locations outside of the city and then head to the cloud forest in Mindo and the Galápagos Islands.)

Busy Streets from our Hotel

Eared Doves on the Wires

Our first expedition was to TeleferiQo, a tram that takes you part-way up Volcan Pichincha, overlooking Quito. Quito is already quite high up--9000 plus feet. The base for the gondola starts at 10,000 plus and lets you out at over 12,000 feet. We low-landers could really feel the altitude! But we had a week to acclimate before going up and it wasn't so bad. In fact, we hiked up another 20 minutes or so to get the best views. We reached a point at just below 13,000 feet where I just did not have the air or strength to go higher, so I stopped and let the rest of the group trudge upward. (People can hike an additional 3-4 hours to the crater of the volcano, but we weren't quite up to it.) We had a spectacular view of the city of Quito and of the many snow tipped volcanos in the distance. 

Volcan Cotopaxi Surrounded by Clouds

TeleferiQo Tram and Quito Below

A sign at the gondola station warned us to be careful with fire to help protect the endangered Spectacled Bear. Our host told us that just last week one of these small and rare bears (the only kind of bear in South America) was seen walking around the station, a very special occurrence. I hoped the whole morning for a repeat, but alas, it was not to be. I did see some Llamas, though, which was some consolation.

Spectacled Bear Care

Llamas

On the slowww hike up, I caught a quick glimpse of small bird with a long tail that I now believe to have been a type of hummingbird called a Trainbearer. The hillside was alive with pretty butterflies that I have not yet identified. They stopped to feed on the stubby daisies and dandelions that hugged the ground, protection against cool, dry mountain air. I saw bee-flies, Swallows and several Sierra Finches. I could have poked around looking for birds and butterflies for hours, but we needed to get back. Still, it was wonderful to spend the morning in the sunshine and sweet mountain air. By the way, the sun is VERY strong in Ecuador, although the temperatures are moderate (60's-70's). And the sun rises very early and sets at about 6:30pm.

Dainty White Butterfly

Sierra Finch

The next day we took a cab to the Quito Botanical Gardens in Parque La Carolina, where I hoped to find some hummingbirds. Again, we were told to be careful in the park outside of the gardens, but once inside we would be safe. When we got there, and as the morning passed, I understood why. Parque La Carolina is a huge and very popular urban park, with lots of recreational activities. By noon the park was densely packed with families, street performers and vendors. Pickpocketing or robbery would be easy. But the botanical garden was fenced and you had to be buzzed in, so there were not nearly as many people. It was very relaxing to walk through the lush greenery and flowers, away from the noise and smell of the traffic. There was so much life in this small pocket of green in the middle of the city! We were met almost immediately with one of the long tailed Trainbearer hummingbirds. It flew off before we could get a good, long look, but it was a good sign of things to come. Hundreds of white butterflies danced in the treetops and fluttered through the dark green shadows. Beds of Lantana and other kinds of Verbena in sunny spots attracted orange butterflies that resembled Gulf Fritillaries, but were not quite the same. I saw huge Sulphurs, Some Painted Ladies, and a few small Skippers. Curiously, I did not see any blue butterflies or Swallowtails of any kind. And other than the giant Treefrog at the garden entrance, we saw no herps at all. There is a vivarium in the park with reptile and amphibian displays, but we didn't go there.

Tree Frog Greeting

White Butterfly on Lantana

Fritillary-like Butterfly On Lantana

This turned out to be a wonderful spot for birds. Though I only spotted 2 types of hummingbirds, the gorgeous Sparkling Violetear hummingbirds gave us quite a show, buzzing the hanging flowers and bromeliads. Great Thrushes chirped from the bushes, sounding a little like their northern cousins, the Robins. Rufous-collared Sparrows had me convinced there was some kind of Towhee calling "Drink a Your Tea". A Vermillion Flycatcher zipped past us to land in a tree. It was so beautiful that I almost hyperventilated as I snapped picture after picture. They are my husband's new favorite bird. We saw several of them, both male and female, at other locations throughout the garden. At one point I was torn between photographing the Vermillion to my left, the Violetear to my right, or the Saffron Finch at my feet. A few yards away, a Rusty Flowerpiercer tore open aloe flowers. Such choices!

Vermillion Flycatcher

Sparkling Violetear

Saffron Finch

Rusty Flowerpiercer

I had really hoped to get a good shot of the Trainbearer and cajoled my tired hubby into taking one last walk through the most flowery areas before we left. I had almost given up when I spied someone pointing a camera, and there it was! A Black-tailed Trainbearer!  I got a good look, but the rascal was too fast for me to get more than a blurry mess of a picture. I'm determined to get one good shot before we head home. The morning was so much fun. I felt like I was in paradise. 

Black-tailed Trainbearer (The head and bill are near the top of the flower and the tail is the dark diagonal line)

While we were in the garden I was floating on air. I told my husband that I really didn't need much to be happy--just set me up with my camera and wildlife and plants to observe and I can be content for hours or even days. This is my comfort zone. Sure, I love traveling--staying in hotels, eating exotic meals, visiting interesting buildings and museums. But when it comes down to it, I get my biggest thrills when I'm outside, surrounded by the world's natural wonders. 

Sanity

Tiger Swallowtail on Lantana

I spent the entire day inside yesterday, painting our kitchen. (It looks great, by the way.) I had the radio on all day and by the afternoon I reached a point where I just had to turn it off. My brain and heart are exhausted after the events of the last few weeks. The Orlando night club massacre, the car bombs in Baghdad, police shootings, the 5 murdered police officers in Dallas, and the constant heated rhetoric of our upcoming presidential elections. The attack in Nice this week was the last straw for me. I just can't take it any more. I think this is hitting me hard because my husband and I were just in Nice a month ago and I still have the vacation images from that beautiful, happy place fresh in my mind. But the pain and hate and negativity are just starting to overshadow everything and I can feel myself losing spirit. So I took action today and got my butt outside to take photos. I know it always helps me feel better, which is something I always forget until I'm doing it.

Silver Spotted Skipper on Lantana

I decided to go to the State Botanical Gardens to look for butterflies. They have a lot of Lantana and Zinnias, butterfly favorites, so my chances were good.  Stepping out of the car I caught a low flying Mississippi Kite out of the corner of my eye as it whizzed over the parking lot. I followed it out into the gardens and forgot everything but the pursuit of nature.

Widow Skimmer Dragonfly

The first thing I found was a tiny, juvenile Black Racer on some stepping stones in the grass. I was afraid it was dead because it didn't move away when I came in close. But when I touched it with my shoe it reared up, shook its tail like a rattlesnake, and struck at my toe. Not dead! I took a bunch of photos and pointed it out to several other visitors, including a little boy who wanted to keep it and bridal party having a photo shoot. The snake was probably happy to get away from all the attention.

Juvenile Black Racer, Maybe 8 Inches Long

Next up was a pair of armadillos, digging without care right next to the wedding photos. The wedding photographer called me over this time. The armadillos were not at all afraid of people and I was able to get pretty close for some good shell shots. I pointed them out to some visitors who had never seen an armadillo before. They are the weirdest animals, and they cause so much damage. I feel bad for the landscape crew, but I love watching them. 

Armadillos Ignoring me

I followed the call of a bird that turned out to be an Indigo Bunting, way up in an oak tree. The call led me down a path lined with tall red Swamp Hibiscus flowers. I got in the way of some bumble bees on a mission for nectar and was buzzed several times. Movement in the leaves turned out to be a baby Carolina Wren, whose parent zoomed in and scolded it away from me. Ahead a little further, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher picked bugs off of the Magnolia leaves. 

Scarlet Rose Mallow (Hibiscus coccineus)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the Magnolia

A flash of yellow drew my attention to a Zinnia patch where I saw a pair of Goldfinches picking seeds from the spent flowers. Swallowtail butterflies wafted around, trying to elbow their way in to sip nectar. A little skink on the sidewalk watched for grasshoppers.

Goldfinch in the Zinnias

Giant Swallowtail on a Zinnia

Five-line Skink Looking for Bugs

It was hot and humid with storm clouds building in the west. Sweat poured down my face and into my eyes, temporarily blinding me with sunscreen. As I looked for a place to sit and wipe my eyes, I noticed a huge bed of Hyssop flowers, almost moving with the buzzing of bees, flies, wasps, butterflies and moths. My eyes stopped stinging and I shot photo after photo. If you want a good plant to attract pollinators, try Hyssop. Wow!

American Lady and Ailanthus Webworm Moth on Hyssop

Buckeye on Hyssop

Gray Hairstreak on Hyssop

Juniper Hairstreak on Hyssop

More conversations with other visitors about what I was doing with my head in the Hyssop patch. Then the thunder moved closer and louder and I packed up and went home. The familiar call of a Mississippi Kite made me look up and I saw a pair soaring overhead, too far away for photos.

Silvery Checkerspot

Driving home I felt like I'd been to a retreat. I hadn't thought about anything but what was in front of me for the whole morning. I felt refreshed and rested and reminded of the beautiful world around me. And of the basic kindness and friendliness of the people around me. I just needed a realignment. And to turn off the news and get outside. Always a good idea.

Fiery Skipper on Periwinkle