Life of an intern part 2

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Dear Readers,

Hot on the heels of my last update, thought I'd give you a flavour of some of the highlights from the first 3 days in March in Jalova (the location in the National Park where Base is located).

1 March: got up earlier than needed so I could spot birds in Base. Binos in hand wandered from the garden area, to the back of the kitchen and then back near the compost bins. Pretty good start to the day as managed to see (and identify no less) a Blue-gray Tanager, Common Tody Flycatcher and spotted the resident Clay Colored Robin (yes I know American spelling of colour but I am following how it's spelt in the bird book). That morning after breakfast there was no survey because Saturdays are the official 'day off' in Jalova so I worked on my intern related assignments. The first of which was to review a science paper about the Grevy's Zebra and give a peer summary of what I thought about the writing style used. Paper reviewed and comments typed up I worked on the slides for my BST Presentation and brushing up on what I would say in the leadership one. The BST Presentation requires us to draft power point slides and talk about a conservation issue of choice - despite some mixed instructions from the staff - the conservation topic can be about anything in the world and not just a conservation issue in the National Park. I had decided to put together some information on manatees and the conservation issues they faced/face. Using some old science papers saved by the staff and a couple of text books I managed to put together about 10 slides talking about manatee behaviour and summarising the science papers. As briefly mentioned in the previous blog, the Rangers had kindly let me take a picture of a harpoon so I added that to the slide deck to. Slides almost complete and notes re-written to help me with what I was going to say it was time for lunch and then in the afternoon it was the Jalova Games, organised by intern Jordan. The Jalova games consisted of everyone wandering down to the beach for a game of ultimate frisbee followed by some knoc-kout rounds of beach volleyball (with a football)! Ultimate frisbee for the novice (of which I count myself) consists of throwing a frisbee (ideally to one of your team mates) then running towards to the opposing end and catching the frisbee. You can't run when holding the frisbee, and whilst you can't rugby tackle the frisbee out of the opposing teams hands you stand in front of them and generally make a nusiance of yourself. This carried on for a bit until the team I was not on, won (by a lot) and we had a drinks break whilst Jordan and Renato set up the volleyball net. Volleyball, after some initial floundering (on my part) was more successful and Jacob's team (of which I was team member 3) came third out of the league table of 4 teams! Covered in sand (it sticks to sun cream like paint to a wall) de-sanded and back to Base for dinner.

Sunday 2 March: back to a full day of surveys. Led (supervised by Kat) Max, Jacob and Kat along North Trail. Came across no snakes but did see two tyra, an agouti, and a female black-throated Trogon (note in Journal is "must remember to tell Ken"). That now done I can continue with the activities. Back at Base after the walk, lunch was a very hot curry that had most people sweating (even more than usual which is quite a lot in 96 degree heat) more than a lobster in a hot pan and then off for my first vegetation survey. At this point you may all be on the edge of your seats wondering what I mean by vegetation survey...well the wait is nearly over. It is literally, going out in the bird boat (well bird canoe as it's a big canoe as opposed to a grand boat with motors etc)- paddling to a section of the vegetation, placing an orange sticker on the nearest plant/leaf adjacent to the end of the boat and doing the same at the vegetation at the front of the boat. The 'crew' then paddle off into the middle of the canal (turn around - the boat that is) look at the two markers and estimate how much vegetation there is in the area between the stickers up to the highest part of the canopy. General feeling is, this does not seem particularly scientific as most people's ideas of height and per cents range quite considerably and no one wants to commit to a definitive number for fear of being hopelessly wrong. On the survey I was lucky enough to be with Max and Ellie who had thankfully been on a 'veg' survey before so they pretty much shouted out numbers and the rest of us generally agreed. On veg surveys you don't survey birds however, as looking at plants is (let's face it) pretty boring after a while, we did still look out for birds. The canal was quiet but did spot a Tri-colored Heron, Green Heron and Ringed Kingfisher. Alas still no manatees but I will keep looking. Veg all accounted for (making sure for each transact our guestimates equalled no more than 100%) it was back to Base (singing as we paddled as is the recent tradition on the way back to the Ranger station) and then after dinner I presented my leadership presentation. Drum roll please.....the leadership presentation is about demonstrating an ability to stand up in front of about 20 people and talking about any subject you want to. You can't use slides but props are allowed. I talked about SportsAble, and Max kindly donned my SportsAble T-Shirt (at least 3 sizes too small for him) as I started my spiel. Success.

Monday 3 March: the staff kindly gave the interns the morning to work on their assignments so I made some improvements to my BST slides and re-read my notes (probably for the hundredth time). Editor interjects: massive exaggeration but she did read her notes quite a lot and frankly what she doesn't know about manatees is not worth knowing. Just ask....Ah hem, back to the blog- after lunch, I was leading (supervised by Sarah) another incidentals survey, this time down the trail called Kingfisher. I have never seen a Kingfisher on the trail, I am not sure if anyone has but the trail takes you to one of the canals and you have to wade through it if you want to walk a circular route and come back to Base via the South Trail. Everyone in the group (me, Sarah, Cathrine and Benedict) were all up for a bit of wading we set off, hopeful of seeing some animals and avoiding any dangers! A few Slender Anoles and Litter frogs later we came across a group of mantled howler monkeys, including a baby one. There appeared to be two clusters spread across two trees with a few males trying to assert their dominance. This resulted in a lot of roars but also some great views of the monkeys travelling across branches and finding good leaves to eat. We easily watched the monkeys for at least 25 minutes before it was time we moved on and crossed the water. Editor's note: Took lots of pictures of the monkeys but hopefully the ones included give you an idea of what it was like. Cathrine wanted to record our crossing for a video she was making, so as the patrol leader, I walked across first, with her following, trying where possible to find the 'shallow' bits of water easily reaching up to the shorts line. Cathrine safely on the other side I then had to cross back collect the other two and then all 3 of us waded back towards Cathrine. Sarah at this point reminding us that not so long ago during a previous survey, people had been crossing the canal when they spotted a Caiman! Great....I waded quicker (no caiman in sight) and we wandered back to Base.

I love the jungle. Everyone should visit....well perhaps not everyone and not all at once as it wouldn't quite be the same, but form an orderly queue and visit the beautiful places in the world.....it should be mandatory. Rant over, all this typing is tiring. More blogs to follow in a few weeks I hope.

Keep your comments coming. take care all, love Sx

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Comments

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Hi from mum and dad
Hi we are at fuzzys meeting Mums uncle John Agnes Nanny and Debbie. thanks for the birthday and anniversary messages. Keep having fun love m and d xxxxxx