Not a whole lot has changed weather-wise up in the páramo. It’s still darn cold (got snowed on again) and getting around is a little muddy.
However, I did manage to take a sweet photo of an Ecuadorian hillstar at an altitude of 4320 meters (that’s about 2.7 miles, for the metric challenged).
I mentioned how these guys survive frigid nights in a past post. Turns out the hemoglobin in their blood is specially adapted for thin air as well by being more efficient at capturing oxygen (Source). But was is a hummingbird to eat at these elevations? Blueberries! Or rather, nectar from Disterigma flowers, a South American genus of blueberry.
Also managed to find three life birds in a day, including this gorgeous Aplomado falcon.
These guys are found as far south as Argentina and as far north as the southern tip of Texas. However, the road to see them there in Texas is terrible, as my mother can attest.
It also happens to be the season of catsos in the páramo. What are catsos? Catso is the Kichwa word for “beetle.” What does one do with a catso? You toast it with garlic and corn!
While definitely counter to the general notion in the US that bugs aren’t food, catsos have a nice crunchy texture and don’t really have much flavor, other than that of what they are cooked with. In other words, they’re not bad.
Oh, I mentioned ibis decoys last week. Well guess what? They’re done!
We have yet to officially field test them, but for now they are handsome steeds.
It may be a while (2-3 weeks) before the next post, as this next week is my last full week of data collection and then I have some writing to do. After that, I’m off to present my paper to the study abroad group in some as-of-yet undisclosed location. Until next time!
An Iowan on the Equator 