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Well lets starts with a good old cliché – there is no such thing as a typical day however if all went to plan and nothing unexpected happened (which is unlikely) then it would go something like this: The first group to leave camp would be up and away well before dawn at about 5.00 and they would follow the trails and head out into the forest to do a point count. This involves recording bird calls during the amazing Amazon dawn chorus and if they are lucky they might spot howler monkeys whose spooky call can be heard most mornings. Meanwhile the other volunteers would be starting to get up; next up would be whoever was working on camp duty for the day. They would start by getting the fire going and then cooking breakfast. The other volunteers would start getting up and preparing their kit, filling water bottles and eating breakfast before heading out for bird and mammal transects or trail cutting (during my phase we had a lot of trail cutting to do but this has been reduced now due to the fact the trails have been established) or to do bird mist netting. |
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Transect groups would set out at dawn (about 6.00) and get to the starting points for their trail. They would probably pass the point count people hurrying back for a more relaxed breakfast. The transect people would then walk slowly along set trails observing and noting down information about anything and everything seen. On a typical day they might see 20 – 30 different bird species, two or three monkey species (such as spider monkeys, tamarins, squirrel monkeys, saki monkeys or my favourite the woolly monkey) and maybe an agouti or an acouchy. Hopefully they would also spot loads of the rarer species but chances are they may only get a few sightings during the whole trip. Some of the more unusual animals that have been seen so far include sloths, tamanduas, ocelot, jaguarundi, peccary and paca. |
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The mist netters would aim to arrive at their net before daybreak and erect the net. The nets can be strung together over distances of 30m and they consist of a very fine weaved thread almost invisible to the eye. As the birds fly through the lower canopy of the forest they get caught in the net, one of the leaders will then delicately remove the bird from the net with the help of the volunteers and the bird will be bagged whilst the others are collected. Each bird will then be identified, weighed, measured and photographed before being released. All of this is carried out as quickly as possibly so as to minimise any trauma to the birds. Handling the birds is a skilful task and is usually left to the leaders however holding a bird before it is released from your hand is a magical experience. |
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After they have completed their netting and the transects are finished they will all head back for lunch which the volunteer on camp duty will have been busy making. After lunch due to the higher temperatures there is a bit of time to relax, have a wash after a morning in the jungle, or just snooze. In the afternoon the activities change and things such as amphibian transects or tasks around camp take place. Amphibian transects are slower and require a sharp eye to spot some of the tiny creature jumping around in the leaf litter. Camp tasks can vary from erecting a mist net to do some bat netting, helping to build or repair buildings and facilities around camp and of course logging the days data. The evening will either be free or will be set aside to catch bats in a previously prepared bat net. Obviously its been a while since I was at the expedition site but I am sure that most of the activities run along these lines still. This would be something like a typical day during Mon-Saturday but occasionally the weekends are set aside for something a little different like a trip to an ox-bow lake, indigenous crafts such as cooking, fishing and basket making or even a survival weekend. |
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