This session of birds was more successful than the last. We had 2 hummingbirds, a pygmy kingfisher and a yellow breasted tanager. There was a 5th bird in the mist net but managed to untangle itself just before we got to it. All I got was that it was red. I released the tanager back into the sky unharmed of course. For part of the Operation Wallacea research we needed to take measurements of the birds wings, beak and body.
On the way back from the bird surveys the truck had metal railings around the bed so we were able to stand up. Although you do have to watch out for any branches hanging low!
Lunch today was rice, beans and plantain and our second lecture. This time about reptiles and amphibians. I found out that slow worms have legs! Small ones but still legs. I never knew that.
4 o'clock was a trip down the road to transect 4 to measure some trees and to do a touch pole experiment. A touch pole experiment means you put a pole vertically every 2 metres in a 20 mete square plot and see how many points of a plant touches it. Trying to walk through a very dense forest with a pole and cobwebs everywhere was a mission alone. After that we went on a 1km walk to try to find peccaries again. We were unsuccessful but did find a tarantula nest. I know the best thing to find ever! Luckily no tarantulas came out of it no matter how much Natalia tried to make them.
Dinner arrived later than expected tonight but when it did arrive, the swarm of people that ran towards the kitchen was crazy! It was like no one had eaten all week. Pasta and veg with iced tea.
We had an evening lecture on neotropical mammals with Kathy - the expert on spider monkeys. She was making a joke about how they hug each other just to get favours. A nice torrential downpour, which they haven't had in weeks so they were loving it and off to bed.
Toodles for now.
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