June 27, 2013

Things have gotten quite a bit busier

This is how they look

 Most interesting story first: yesterday we were on a follow (just what it sounds like -- trying to keep up with a group of tamarins)of a new group of monkeys we recently trapped and collared. A few hours in, we get a chance to slow down for a sec; all 7 are spread out but in the general-ish area, we mark a feeding tree, and are actually able to stand still a moment.

Then the noise increases like when there’s a cat in our yard and the blue jays get mad. I look over, and 15 feet above my teammate (one tree away from our squirrel-sized monkeys), there is a rather large bird. Red headed, chest white/black patterned like a red-shouldered hawk, impressive claws; think male golden eagle sized. I’m yelling “look at this giant bird above you! It’s going to eat the monkeys!” One of my teammates is yelling “Quiet, I can’t look away from the monkeys, they’re freaking out for some reason” and the other is just watching everything.

The bird zeros in on a tamarin, and this black fan of feathers on top of its head pops up! The 7 monkeys scatter in 3 directions, the 3 of us go off in 2, and the bird vanishes. We spent the next 5 hours trying to catch up with as many tamarins as possible.(The leaders did go and check on the group later, and confirmed that all 7 were still alive.)Turned out that bird was an ornate eagle hawk, so not a harpy eagle but still pretty impressive.

I really enjoy trapping, although we’re working in the field from 4:30 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon and then have hours of data to do afterwards. I’m pretty nervous about the follows, especially when we start doing all-day ones every day. The leaders say that once we get quieter and the monkeys get used to us it's not too bad, but 2 of the 3 groups spend the entire time leading us up and down ravines. The other day, we had to do army crawls up a muddy 50 degree inclined ravine with tracking gear in the rain, then back down the other side after them. I think the little guys just enjoy watching that.

We now are 7 field assistants total, so internet use may decrease as we are more people sharing one modem, with less free time.

I had my camera out yesterday to take pictures of some squirrel monkeys passing through camp, so I decided to follow one of the strange bird calls that I hear all the time to see what it was. The answer was toucans; I have been constantly hearing toucans in the forest, and there was a flock right at the edge of camp. I’m in a place where toucans are just around, and a squirrel is a bigger deal than monkeys.