The Birds

This last Saturday, Brendan and I were lucky enough to be invited to join the biologist, Dr. Kathrine Lindell, to assist in an Earthwatch expedition looking for the presence of birds to assess the success of experimental restoration/reforestation plots created by Dr. Karen Holl.

We woke up at 4:30 so that we could be out in field by the time the sun rose when birds are most active. We set up nets to catch the birds to tag them for future studies. The site where we were working was one of the weaker plots that Kathrine was working with. We only caught seven birds in five hours. Kathrine´s hypothesis was that it was too windy in this one area for the trees to grow well.

Either way we were excited to see the birds we caught. In the end we only caught three species, a cherry tanager, a Tenessee warbler, and a snow-bellied hummingbird. We couldnt believe that the tiny little warbler had flown all the way from its nesting site in Alaska. I had always heard about migratory birds, but its a very different experience when you hold one in your hands.

Hopefully we will be able to post some pictures up soon, but the internet is very slow down here. We have to run to catch the bus. More to come.......

Paz y amor
Eliot and Brendan