Thursday, May 7, 2020

This amazing picture was taken by one of our cheaper camera traps. The box was installed by the volunteers from the Green-winged Macaw rewilding program several months ago. A pair of Barn Owls has taken up residence there and you can see the 2 Macaws eyeing up the box only to find that they had been beaten to it by the owls. We now have evidence that the owls have laid 5 eggs and 2 have now hatched.

Friday, December 20, 2019

We are more than three quarters through completing our new ‘Siestera’. The original idea was a for a large room open on all sides but protected against mosquitoes, in order to relax during the hot hours of siesta time. Cepi has started to create a beautiful rustic bar and the floor is ideal for dancing, so there may well be other uses for this structure.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

During a training/demonstration session at Isla Apipe in October we managed to capture a nectivorous species in our net. This is the first report of Glossophaga soricina in Corrientes. This individual flew into our net in the garden of the Ecolodge La Casona. This is exciting news.

This species feeds from the nectar of flowers that open at night such as some cacti and can hover much like a humming bird.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Our latest volunteer, Melisa, has shown great enthusiasm for bat research and has been invaluable in categorising our bat guano using the microscope.

She helped us with our bat research in Misiones, Bahia Caraya and Isla Apipe Grande as well as our research at the reserve.

We hope that she has learnt a lot about our bats of Corrientes and Misiones.

Monday, October 21, 2019

A new species for the bat team. We captured this small dark bat, Molossops neglectus, in the north of Misiones, at the private reserve of Fundacion Vida de la Silvestre Urugua-i. It is classed as rare in Argentina and there have only been a handful of registrations of this species.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Our orchids have been spectacular this year thanks to Cepi. Although they did not appear naturally, they are surviving happily in this tree and should flower for many years to come.

Friday, October 4, 2019

We did a training session on Saturday and put out a double high net to see what we could catch. To our surprise the first bat turned out to be Tadarida brasiliensis, Brasilian Free-tailed Bat. These are very rare in Corrientes, although common throughout most of Argentina and this is a first for Reserva Don Luis. This makes a total of 14 bat species captured at the reserve.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

We have not seen Rosita, our semi tame Marsh Deer since early June and we are all very worried.

She is a totally wild animal and sometimes disappears for several weeks but never for this length of time. We are also concerned about her latest offspring – Valentin.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

We only had 2 fruit on one of our 8 Avacado trees but were they delicious! We first planted Avacados 9 years ago and have been waiting for them to bear fruit. It was worth the wait! We are expecting a lot more fruit for next year’s crop.

Friday, April 19, 2019

We were pleased to welcome Molly as our volunteer for March/April. Molly has experience of bat echolocation and has been very useful for our bat projects. She accompanied us to the private Reserva Urugua-i and was a useful member of the team. Here she is with Mario & Miranda on horseback. Molly was wonderful with the horses, all of whom will miss her a lot.