I spent about 1 month at Iracambi in 2001 and the visit was an extremely memorable one. I attended with a group of my university peers to study masked titi monkeys and hummingbirds. Unfortunately the monkeys never made an appearance but I fell in love with the behaviours of the various hummingbird species. The purpose of the study was to assess territoriality in the various species. It turns out that generally the larger species are very aggressive and chase away the smaller birds from feeders and plants. But one of the other findings was these active little gems disappear during the middle of the day for siesta. Who can blame them? When your life is literally at the pace of a hummingbird, you need the odd rest!

What were some of my other highlights? The lizards that lived under our home. Every day they would bask in the morning sun and welcome us. The exciting visit from an opossum who was very interested in the contents of our bedroom. The weird and wonderful insects that we know are the foundation of ecosystems. The alarmingly large spider that joined us one evening. The new species of catfish we found in a small pool in a stream nearby. And of course the very special dog Tigger who would often come home with us to make sure we got there safe before returning to his own living quarters.

Fond memories that I still talk about today. I hope to be back to see all the amazing changes that have taken place over the years and again enjoy the wildlife and company of like minded people.

Published on behalf of Jon Hildred – Iracambista 2001