KRISTI: Hey everyone - here are some photos from yesterday's day at the field station. The park is about a 2-hour drive from here (Flores) to the research area in Laguna del Tigre National Park. We're working with some incredibly nice and professional people at WCS office here. From left to right in the bottom photo: Chalo, Chepe, Charles, Roni and Gabriella. The Macaw you see above is the mama - she's protecting a chick that's about to fledge.
Here's a nice photo of Flores island: http://www.destination360.com/central-america/guatemala/flores
CHARLES: All I can say is WOW! Yesterday, Kristi and I went with the staff (Rony, Chalo, Chepe, Gabriela) from Wildlife Conservation Society –Guatemala (WCS) out to the El Peru Field Station in Laguna del Tigre National Park. After about an hour of driving on decent roads, we spent another two hours on a narrow, bumpy, winding, and sometimes muddy road as we snaked our way through the forest along the San Pedro River. It’s amazing how much of the forest surrounding the protected area has been cleared, burned and is now used for cattle grazing. It’s just nuts!
Our main objective was to try to fix a malfunctioning nest camera (unfortunately didn’t get fixed). One thing I wanted to do was try installing some of my temperature loggers in the nest cavity. After a short walk from the road, we were staring way up an Acacia glomerosa, also known by the Maya as Cantemo (Cante – tree, mo – macaw), literally macaw tree. Chalo, the field coordinator for WCS and an excellent naturalist, quickly climbed the 80+ feet (25 meters) needed to access the nest. No problem right?
After determining that the camera was fried, it was time for me to climb. Chalo lowered the harness and jumars. I strapped in and within 10 feet I knew I was in for a long haul. Man! that was hard. Kristi told me afterwards that she could see the look in my face as this dawned on me. The system being used was slightly different, and much less efficient. I have a long way to go build up the stamina for this. After many breaks and slowly seeing my progress improve I reached the top exhausted, completely spent. Wow that was tall, and some of the nests in Mexico are 50+ meters up. We’ll see what it’s like in Belize.
After resting for a minute or two I pulled myself up and peered into the nest. MACAWS!!! Just incredible. The beautiful mother was protectively covering her nestling and looking up at me. Just try it buddy. I can’t imagine what she was thinking. I finally was up in a tree, examining a nest. What an experience.
After coming down, I was completely soaked with sweat, pants and all. I’ve never has salt stained on thick field pants before. Ah, working in the tropics. Most of us napped at some point on the drive back. Muy cantado. Next week I get to handle and measure the macaws with the WCS vet. Yahoo!!!!
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