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Laguna de Los Patos (124)
JoseMiguel
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1406 W: 3 N: 1572]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif) (5506) | Laguna de Los Patos – Duck’s Lagoon
In the second part of my new year’s holidays, we went to a 5 days cross-Andean walking route, (South America’s first outside of Patagonia), that was opened in western Venezuela, Estado Mérida, in an excursion arranged by the program “Andes Tropicales”.
This composition shows the “Duck’s Lagoon”, located at 4.170 meters over sea level, (13.681ft) and their name comes because a lot of ducks usually goes there…when I arrived, was so exhausted but ready and handling my camera to capture the rewarding ducks…but the lack of people there makes them so afraid that is so difficult to get a shot…I only could see a couple of them flying away…but can say they are very small in size and dark in color.
In despite, I bring three pictures of the more static flora there, the Purple Tobacco (Senecio formosus), the giant Frailejón (Espelettia sp.), and their yellow flower.
Hope you like it and the effort to climb by foot there… ;-)
Pictures were all taken with image stabilizer (IS), handheld, crop, and resized.
I posted each individual picture as workshop, in order you can appreciate them at full size and quality.
Located in western Venezuela, one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world, the Mérida Coordillera is part of the Cordillera de los Andes, extends from the Colombian border in Táchira State to the Lara Depression and has an area of 11,866 miles2. High plains, valleys, páramos (high, bare and cold regions) and mountains predominate in its geography. This complex topography, with interweaves different ecosystems, makes it one of the most valuable reservoirs of biodiversity in Venezuela and in the world. In this particular tropical zone, there is a wide variety of natural ecosystems modified by man.
The flora found on the ground of the páramo are grasses, Purple Tobacco (Senecio formosus), the symbolic Frailejón (Espelettia sp.), Spanish flag (Castilleja fissifolia), Annatto, shinning Chispeadores (Chaetolepsis lindeniana) and lupines with purple-flowered pinnacles interwine.
Ecological importance:
Taking into consideration its relative area, the Mérida Cordillera is one of the greatest biodiversity reservoirs in the country. In fact, the great heterogeneity of its landscapes and ecosystems resulting from its complex topography serves as a shelter for countless species that have had to adapt to very varied living conditions.
This privileged territory is a valuable source of environmental services, such as water resources, the significant volume of carbon captured by the Andean forests and the inmense genetic pool it represents. All of these, added to the global value of its biodiversity, have made the Mérida Cordillera one of the priority areas for conservation in the tropical Andes region.
Source:
www.andestropicales.org |
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| Altered Image #2
JoseMiguel
(5506)
Each one by separate
Edited by:JoseMiguel
(5506) |
At the moment I made the original composition, at 800 pixels wide, did not realize that when saving in jpg the compression to fit the 200 KB was too much, and then had to resize to a smaller size (707 px wide)...inbetween, I forgot to sharpen the smaller file...with the results all of you can observe.
So I'm posting the Frailejón alone, in their original quality. |
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| Altered Image #1
JoseMiguel
(5506)
Each one by separate
Edited by:JoseMiguel
(5506) |
At the moment I made the original composition, at 800 pixels wide, did not realize that when saving in jpg the compression to fit the 200 KB was too much, and then had to resize to a smaller size (707 px wide)...inbetween, I forgot to sharpen the smaller file...with the results all of you can observe.
So I'm posting the flowers alone, in their original quality. |
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