Return to Bosque Seco Lalo Loor

16 Octubre 2020

        Finally, we reached our last long day. We were hiking out to Lalo Loor to check our dry forest cameras. Mosies and I would take the far tree while Shawn, Ryan, and Nicolas would tackle the lower two trees. While this seemed like a perfect plan, things rarely ever go to plan. For one, we took the long trail up, and by the time I realized this, it was too late. This trail added quite a bit of travel time, though it was cool to take in new sights that I hadn't seen before. 

View of the ocean in the distance

        For two, when we finally made our way up to the tree and got the climbing line in place it started to pour. I got nervous about climbing back down in the downpour and not wanting the rope to get soaked (a wet rope can be dangerous to descend on), we pulled it back in. Then we waited.

        And waited...

        Finally, after about an hour, it became more of a trickle which I felt comfortable enough to climb in. Just as we were getting the rope out and ready, Nicolas approached us. He asked if we had a fishing reel handy because the line in DF02 had gotten horribly tangled and they wanted to make a new line. Unfortunately, we did not. It never feels good to send someone away with just an apologetic smile, but sometimes that is all you have to offer. We finished DF01 with no further issue, though it was a bummer it was such a rainy day because I had all but promised Mosies that the view from this tree was incredible. On a clear day, you can perfectly see the ocean. It's breathtaking. But, the visibility today was severely reduced.

The station almost looks ominous in the clouds

        After wrapping up, we hiked down to meet the other team. They had just finished as we approached. The three of them had some issues untangling the line, but with a lot of determination, they feed it. Once in the tree, Shawn redirected the line so that we wouldn't endure the same frustrations next time. However, there was still one more tree to finish and Ryan needed to submit a grant by 5 pm (it was already almost 3). We sent him off to the Bosque Seco Lalo Loor field station so he could utilize the wi-fi that was available. He took of jogging with a heavy bag on his back and a clear goal in mind. Shawn joined him soon after to aid in this endeavor (spoiler alert, the reserve made it to the next stage of the grant, here's hoping they are awarded the money!).

        The rest of us quickly hiked to the final tree. I had forgotten how short the last tree was, because climbing it was a cinch. I got up quickly, sent the gear down, and admired the hawk that was watching me with a skeptical gaze. Occasionally it screeched at me, but mostly it kept its gaze laser-focused to ensure I wasn't up to any 'funny business'. Mosies kept joking that I needed to watch out because it was probably going to swoop down and grab me. 

The hawk in question. Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

        Once I was back on the ground, this sense of satisfaction washed over me. In just a week, we had completed the majority of the trees! That's incredible! Especially since Ryan and Nicolas would be leaving soon. It gave me assurance that we would finish the rest of the trees before we left (something I'd been concerned about when we started). On the way back, we grabbed a few drinks from a local tienda to celebrate our achievements. Beyond that, I had messaged Becca via satellite phone earlier in the day gauging her interest in returning to help in January, and she said yes! So much to celebrate tonight!

The days continue to get longer

14 & 15 Octubre 

        Today we planned to head back onto the three forests trail after hitting the last cloud forest tree on the Jama-Coaque 'circuit'. As we approached the cloud forest tree (Friday the 13th), we could hear howlers. With a quick search, we could see them hanging out in the tree! For a moment I had a brief thought, 'are they going to try and challenge me for space in this beautiful tree? Should we wait?' but just as we were setting our gear down, the howlers were already moving into the next tree. 

Starting the climb up. Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

        While I was in the tree, changing the batteries and SD cards, the howlers were still close by - watching me. It was surreal to be eye-level with these primates. I felt like they were judging my strange climbing techniques and lacking a tail to help me climb. Nevertheless, they did not disturb me. Rather, they were audience to my slow work as I pulled the rope up and down, and was a bit distracted by their presence as well as some of the reserve staff walking by and laughing in amusement at my location.

Howler watching my work

        The next tree was a long hike out. In essence, we were 'leap-frogging' the trees with Shawn and Ryan. They stopped by the first tree on the trail, while we switched to the next one out to split the workload. We all met up at the point we named 'Satan's Peak', and for the first time, we had walkie-talkies to communicate back and forth. I gotta say, communicating over a walkie-talkie on a trail makes me feel so professional, like a member of the NPS. And it gave an opportunity to make jokes during check-in, and rib each other about which team was 'better'. 

        The next tree ('Destiny') went smoothly - surprisingly. Moises was up and back down in enough time for Nicolas to get another practice climb in. The first two times I visited this tree with Becca, we had crossed paths with a local and his horse, so I'd almost expected another encounter, but none this time. 

Nicolas up in the tree

        With the tree done, we began our hike back to meet with Shawn and Ryan. However, just as we were about to turn on a different trail, we saw some howlers and capuchins moving around in the same patch of bamboo. It was fascinating to see the two of them occupy the same space, unbothered by the other species. We took a few moments to watch them all in awe before continuing our hike.

        Once we finally caught up with Shawn and Ryan, we were lead on a new trail back following some property lines. Supposedly, this path would be shorter and easier. I'm not convived if it was based on how late we arrived back at the bamboo house. But, regardless, we made it back.

        Thursday was the day I had been dreading the most. It was the return to Hell's Hill. Once Moises and I were through the gates and at the base, I took a moment to prepare myself, and then we began to ascend. The hike up was as brutal as I remember - endless switching up and back a massive, grassy hill with ticks lurking in every blade. To make matters worse, I heard the other team call from the opposite ridgeline to say that the camera station from AG03 had been stolen. Dang.

        At the first tree of the day, I was starting to think I was cursed for the day. When we arrived at the tree, the yellow line was snapped where I had tied it off. Just as I was starting to dread the thought of having to hike back up again with the Big Shot, we found the end! With a bit of creativity (a few sticks, and an extendible hook) we retrieved the yellow string and Moises made it up to the top of the tree. Unfortunatley, when Moises reached the top, it turned out the camera hadn't been turned on. I was momentarily heartbroken, but there was nothing I could do about it so we just replaced the batteries and moved on. 

        The next tree also had some howlers hanging out when we arrived. Unlike the day before, they fled when we approached the area. When I climbed up, I discovered that this camera also was off. Again, that sense of defeat was tangible (turns out when maintenance was done last time it poured on the team while they were at these trees and there was some miscommunication - which is completely understandable), but, again, nothing I could do. Like the popular motto, we 'kept calm, and carried on'. On the return, we took the time to appreciate the view. All the mud up in the cloud forest provided a great opportunity to look for tracks. I could see what looked like Red Brocket Deer, opossum, racoon, and cat tracks. Unfortunatley, we also noted some footprints that weren't our own. 

Along the trail

        The most frustrating factor of the day was the clear increase in illegal activity on these protected properies. The clay pit by the last tree appeared to be dug out, likely by poachers to trap animals, and the other tree Ryan, Shawn, and Nicolas went to had clear chainsaw marks on it so their station had to be moved. Later that night, once we were back at the bamboo house, we could hear gunshots in the distance. It served as a reminder of the financial strain Covid-19 is having on these smaller communities and the importance of providing improved socioeconomic opportunities is for conservation (like Third Millenium Alliance is doing and working to expand). More than that, it served to further fuel my passion for working to raise awareness of these situations that people are so often unaware of. Everyone knows of the Amazon, but very few people know of the issues in Western Ecuador. Hopefully with the work Third Millenium Alliance does, this will change and we can continue to protect these forests through local empowerment and stuardship. 

15 Octubre 2020 - Moises

        Desde el 10 de octubre hasta el 14 lo hice increíblemente bien. Éramos Nico, Jackie y yo hablamos, trabajamos, reímos y vimos muchos paisajes increíbles, en algunos hasta pudimos observar el océano. 

View of the ocean from a tree. Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

        Fue un trabajo muy duro, subir tantas cuestas empinadas y tantas caídas en el lodo. Pero este Jueves si que fue el ¡Día más duro! Nuevamente, Jackie y yo nos dirigimos a otra propiedad. 

        Al empezar a subir lo hicimos muy despacio, porque es muy empinado, pero eso cambió hasta que me di cuenta de que mi brazo estaba lleno de 300 garrapatas así que decidí decirle a Jackie que subiría en línea recta y la esperaría arriba, entonces empecé a trepar con todas mis fuerzas y muy, muy rápido hasta que sentí que estaba lejos de esas garrapatas. 

Hiking through the tick infested grass

        Cuando llegé a la cima, la caminata fue muy tranquila y cuando llegué al último árbol me senté mientras Jackie hacía el trabajar. Fue un momento tan especial porque no hubo ruido de ningún tipo, me sentí tan tranquilo después de haber agotado todas mis energías al subir esa cuesta tan empinada y llena de garrapatas. Al bajar también lo hicimos muy rápido, pero con varias caídas. Lo llamo el ¡Día más Difícil! porque fue el único día que me terminé toda mi agua

Finally falling into a smooth pace

 12 & 13 Octubre 2020

        Monday was another trial in working out all of the kinks. We returned early to CF06 to reshoot the line and finally maintenance the station. The line was shot properly the first go around, so we did lose much time attempting to fire, retrieve, and refire a line, which is always a huge relief. A little bit of time was lost attempting to bounce the weight bag over the tree limb. In a way, it almost turned into a game, which we all ultimately lost. But it wasn't a big deal, it just meant that I would have to climb through a few extra branches to get to my final destination. The smooth start we were off to didn't quite last. On the ground, there were some issues getting the audiomoth to configure properly. The laptop was recognizing that the device was connected. Of course, being in the tree, all I could do was shout out instructions to the ground team. It was one of those moments where I was thankful for the team I had because they waited patiently for me to visualize the screen and walk them through the whole process because the configuration file would not open. Regardless, we had the whole station up and running, finally!

Having a laptop in this environment is surreal. Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

        Feeling relieved, we hiked off to the next tree feeling a bit more accomplished. It seemed as though things were finally going to plan. Moises climbed up to the station at CF01, while Nicholas and I were on the ground, taking a few minutes to look for some critters to photograph. We had a good time bonding while looking fervently for a Gartered Trogan that would not seem to stop moving. It was at this tree, that I realized the chord we were using for the audiomoth was not working as intended. I had 3 different micro-USB chords and I spent nearly 45 minutes trying to get the laptop to recognize the audiomoth to no avail. From this point forward, I decided the best move forward was to bring the audiomoths back to camp and configure them. Total bummer. It was frustrating to know that after 3 days, we still hadn't completed a station. At the very least, we had changed out the camera batteries and SD cards, as well as recorded all of the habitat data, so the next visit would be short. 

Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

        That's just the way of fieldwork.

        Tuesday was the first smooth (relatively speaking) day in the field. Our team successfully checked the stations we visited, and there would not be any need to return to any of these sites. The first tree of the day (ironically named Segundo), went off without a hitch. On our hike over, we saw several beautiful birds. At the tree, while Moises was climbing, Nicolas and I had a wonderful conversation about the importance of the work we were doing. We had been talking about all of the life that occurs in these trees, with epiphytes often holding water that animals come and visit either for a drink or to hunt for prey. Beyond just my study species, we're recording several different animals in these trees and it really does show how important trees are to maintaining biodiversity. It really is just incredible to see and experience.

Nest along the hike

        On our way up to the next tree, Nicolas spotted a Botrops asper right by where I was about to take my next steps. Apparently, I have a penchant for almost stepping on these snakes. Nicolas and Moises held an impromptu photoshoot with the beautiful snake, while I went to start setting things up at the tree (since it was only 5 meters away). As I looked up at the tree to check in on the station - I noticed something was off - the line wasn't quite where it normally sat. Further inspection revealed that the line wasn't just off, the branch my station had been placed in was off. A storm or something had likely caused it to break and now there was no station at all. 

        Immediately, I assumed the worst. I half-heartedly searched for the station, but I was convinced we wouldn't find it with how this session was going. Thankfully, Moises was there to keep me thinking positively and actually found the station on the ground, in near perfect condition. Apparently, the camera had been on the ground since March, but the audiomoth was still in working condition (not the camera though, it had been upside down and collected water in the battery tray). I removed the bracket from the downed branch and re-set the station back on the same tree. Despite having lost some data due to environmental conditions, I still felt accomplished in completing two trees and knowing we wouldn't have to hike back to them at the end.

That's not where the camera is supposed to be!!! Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

        Since there was still daylight and we still had energy, the three of us decided to keep pushing onwards and to hike the bags closer to the next camera. In the long run, we would have had to make the hike the next day, one way or another, but I think we all regretted our choice a little as we hit a long section of muddy, downhill trail. I had forgotten how much of a battle each step was to get through this muddy trail. And although my legs hated me for it that evening, they were thankful the next day. 

        That night, I had an experience that I wish I could forget. While I was sitting at the table, transferring data, I felt a sharp pain in my upper arm. I quickly swiped my hand over the area and looked to the ground to see what the source was only to see a winged bullet ant on the ground. First, I thought it had only bitten me because the pain wasn't that bad, but then this fiery pain began to increase in intensity. To me, it started as a burning sensation but transformed into a sharp pain, like getting a tattoo you don't want. All I could think about were times when friends have said they want to get bit, just for the experience. And for those wondering what it's like, all I can say is painful. Very, very painful. It is not an experience you want to have. Needless to say, I did not sleep that night.

13 Octubre 2020 - Nicolas

        Todo el es fuerzo de las caminatas ha rapido la pena. Mi cuerpo se adapta cada día más al es fuerzo. Los paisajes cada día son distintos, vemos muchos tipos de animales y hoy en particular vimos un víbora bastante grande cerca a uno de los árboles que íbamos a escalar. Este proyecto me ho enseñado que cada rama de cada árbol en el bosque es importante.

Botrops asper. Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

13 Octubre 2020 - Ryan

        Today Shawn, Dany, and I went down to manage the station outside of Camarones. The tree sits on a steep hill on the edge of a stream, so we almost had to slide down to get to the climbing end of the rope. Once the rope was in place, I climbed up and quickly sent the station down to Shawn and Dany to download. In the meanwhile, I worked to clear some of the branches and leaves from in front of the station to decrease the amount of waving leaf pictures we got. After completing our work at the station, we dropped down into the stream to take some water depth measurements for the Camarones potable water project. 

        With those measurements in hand, we took turns being brought up to the start of Punta Vista on Dany's motorcycle, where we began the climb to the second station of the day. The hike took longer than expected, but we eventually made it and dodged bullet ants to set up the climbing rope. In the tree, I recorded a few short videos for social media, downloaded the data, and returned to the ground, where Shawn had realized some moisture had gotten into the camera. Thankfully, we had a replacement camera, but it is always unfortunate to lose equipment to the elements. With that, we finished up our first two-tree day of fieldwork for the trip!! 

Off to a slippery start

 10 & 11 Octubre 2020

        Late Friday night, Nicolas arrived at the reserve from Colombia (note: members of the team all had to test negative for COVID-19 before they could enter the country). Saturday morning, I had the chance to finally meet him and plunge us all right into the fieldwork. We did get started a little be late because it took us a little time to sort out all of the gear for two different teams, but it was still morning when we hit the trail. Nicolas, Moises, and I started with some of the trees in the reserve while Shawn and Ryan set off for the trees near the finca.

And we're off on the trail!

        We found the first tree of the day, WF04 (aka Hot Tuna), with relative ease. Everything appeared to be in working order and it seemed like it would be a simple process. However, after I climbed up, I realized I couldn't reach the point I needed to lanyard too. We'd let Shawn and Ryan take the side-kick (an extension pole with a hook), so I tried using Nicolas's snake hook. It was just barely too short, curse my short arms! I tried for probably 30 or 40 minutes to get myself to the proper spot when Moises asked if he could give it a shot. Determined, he climbed up and got over to the station which success. I'd say I was jealous, but I'm not. It is such a relief to have people with good aim on my team (Becca with her ability to fire the big shot without multiple failures, and Moises with his ability to throw the lanyard). Teamwork makes the dream work, you know.

A truly excellent team

        That tree done, I figured we could at least start hiking up to the next tree to leave our stuff close by. Of course, Galivan is not an easy hike. I would say, it is much nicer than the Three Forests Trail, but it is not hiked very often, and it shows (basically, there's a lot of points where it is difficult to discern the trail and there is a lot of over-growth to navigate around - all of this up while going uphill). We took a very relaxed pace up, and because of this, we did get to see some beautiful birds on the hike. Near the top of the trail, I realized that I may not have grabbed plastic bags to keep the backpacks dry overnight. When we finally reached the intersection with the next trails, I checked the backpacks. Suspicions confirmed. Danggit! I was not about to hike the bags all the way back to the house just to bring them back the next day, so I told Moises and Nicolas to wait with the stuff and I'd be back in an hour or two. As quick as I could while not wiping out on the steep trail, I took off for the house. Thankfully the bags were easy to find. And the timing was on my side. I made it back up to my field team just before dark so we could stash our weather-proofed backpacks and get back to the house before it was too late.

Toucan spotted from the trail. Photo credit: Nicolas Betancourt

        On the way down, I did feel some frustration at only completing one tree when Becca and I had been easily completing two trees a day at the end of our season. But I reminded myself that it was just the beginning of the season. That feeling diminished even further when we met up with Shawn and Ryan. It turns out that if the audiomoths lose their charge, the configuration (when to record and for how long) is lost. On top of that, none of the laptops we had with us had the software needed to configure the audiomoths. So, at some point, we would have to return to the first tree to configure the audiomoth, and tomorrow, we would need to go into town to download the software.

A tour of the canopy using a GoPro

        Sunday morning, while enjoying our coffee, we were delighted to see some Ecuadorian Capuchins climbing near the bamboo house. Several of them were consuming the seeds of an Inga tree, which was incredible to see. Several species of Inga trees are utilized to help restore soil fertility and this sighting could indicate that capuchins aid in forest regeneration. How cool! After the capuchins left, Shawn made his way to Camarones with the laptops in tow. It was early afternoon by the time he arrived back at the house, and he explained that to download the software, he had to collect all of the binaries and make the executables himself because all of the firewalls kept blocking him. At that moment, I was simultaneously so relieved he'd gone down to do this task and impressed because I would have never known to do such a thing. If it were me, I would have kept hiking until I found somewhere where the firewall wasn't blocking me and who knows how long that would have taken?

        With the audiomoth stuff sorted, we set back up the trail. The trail beyond where we left the backpacks was as brutal as I remembered it. There are definitely points where you have to get on all fours and essentially crawl up because of how steep and blown out the trail is. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the tree, the climbing line was just not there. The station was still in place, so I knew it was the correct tree, but there was no sight of the bright yellow line. We suspect that because the tree is right on a property line, someone saw the line, cut it, and took it. All I could think of was how, on Friday, we had made a climbing plan and we thought it was possible to get all of the stations done in just 5 days. That was if all went according to plan. But, of course, in the wild nothing ever does. And, you know, it probably would have been pretty boring if everything went as expected so we kept our heads up. After all, it would just be that much sweeter when everything did go to plan. 

        To top off an already difficult day, as I was trying to think of a new plan, we all heard a gunshot not terribly far from our location. My heart began racing at the proximity of the sound. Nicolas and Moises asked me what we should do. I told them just to keep talking, maybe a bit louder, too. It was likely the gunshot was from poachers, but, out here, I know they are terrified of getting caught and won't approach us. But, it was still another grim reminder that we are on the frontlines of conservation. 

        At least on the hike back to the house, I spotted a tayra scurrying off which gave me something to smile about.

10 Octubre 2020 - Nicolas

        Llegué ayer a las 11:00 pm y nunca hubiese sospechado que iba a haber tanto trabajo. Hay que hacer caminatas largas con muchas subidas y bajadas pronunciadas y bastante peso a cuestas. Además, cuando llegas al lugar al que estabas caminando, hay más trabajo que hacer. Aun así, todo el es fuerzo vale la pena porque el paisaje es hermoso y las fotos de los animales tienen mucho significado.

Dart frog spotted on the trail. Photo credit: Nicolas Bentacourt

10 & 11 Octubre 2020 - Ryan

        Shawn and I began the week of downloading stations on Marquez's property. We knew going into that day that we'd be moving the first camera to a new tree because the original tree was being triggered by all of the grasses in the pasture below the camera. On the way to the tree, we kept our eyes open for a potential tree and spotted one almost immediately on the edge of Marquez's farm. With a new tree selected, we quickly moved on to the original tree to remove the station. After a slight detour, we eventually found the tree and pulled the rope to remove the station. With the station down, Shawn took off to the new tree while I continued up the hill to download data from a ground-based camera trap. We met up again at the new tree where we had to wait out a short rain. 

        Just as we were about to jump back into work, Marquez showed up to chat and distract us. We'd only been speculating 20 minutes before if we'd run into Marquez or not, I bet he felt our presence there. After some laughs, we eventually got back to work and installed the station. However, just before descending, Shawn realized that the audiomoth wasn't recording on schedule. After some thought, he realized that we had lost the previously programmed recording schedule when the batteries died. So with that unfortunate realization, we called the second tree off and headed back to the bamboo house to share the news with the rest of the team. To end our first day of fieldwork, and forget about the audiomoth issue, we had whiskey before retiring for the night. 

        To start the day, Shawn headed down to Dany's house to download the software for the audiomoths. Despite some hiccups with the internet and accessing the files, he returned successfully. After reconfiguring the audiomoth for Marquez's property, we headed back out for the day. Since everything was in place from the day before, the installation was quick and easy. We then took off to download the other station located on the finca. In route to the second station, we stopped to retrieve a couple of kestrel drops (microclimate data loggers) that had been left in different sites on the finca. 

        It was during this time that we realized we were covered head to toe with tiny ticks! We tried to remove as many as possible but knew it would be impossible. So we hurried to our next tree and worked quickly to change out the batteries and download the data. Once back at the house, we began to realize just how many ticks and bites we had suffered during this day. Little did we know how bad we would be itching over the next few days and nights!      

And we're back!

  9 Octubre 2020

        On October 6th at around 2 am, Shawn and I finally arrived back in Ecuador to head back out into the field and check on the cameras and audiomoths that have been sitting unattended for practically 9 months. With how the year had been going, I was not convinced the trip was going to actually happen until we were driving away from the Quito airport. I could feel the excitement that we would finally be able to proceed with data collection and that my masters was moving forward again. All this after feeling like I was on pause for months was such an incredible relief.

        We spent two days in Quito preparing supplies for the field. In these few days, it was remarkable to see the difference in COVID-19 precautions. Where I am based in the U.S., not everyone takes the masks seriously. Businesses will require them on the premises and provide hand sanitizer, but in Quito, you were required to wipe your feet, be sprayed with disinfectant, use hand sanitizer, and have your temperature checked before entering most indoor locations. Anyways, on the 8th, we were finally on the road back to Jama-Coaque. We took a different route than usual, so it was neat to see different sights of Ecuador that were mostly new to me. For the most part, though, the drive was uneventful. At one point or another, all of us were trying to get some shut-eye. The only true stop made along the way was to grab groceries in Pedernales. The great thing about stocking up on food for three weeks is the shop owners typically are so thrilled by the massive purchase that they'll start throwing in extras. Which was definitely the case for us. Each time I looked over, I could swear the woman was giving Ryan extra fruits to go with the purchase. Seeing acts of generosity like this never fail to make my day.

        One of the most amazing things about the bamboo house at the reserve is the constant improvement that is made. This time when we arrived, the road had just been resurfaced in light of the intense downpour that nearly blew out portions of the road. The government had been in the town of Camarones to re-do the road and Dany, the field operations manager for Jama-Coaque, ran into them. He asked if they could fix the road leading up to the reserve, but the contract only covered the road through town. He offered thirty dollars and a chicken, and they accepted the deal, meaning we had a smooth drive up the parking area by the reserve. Simply amazing! When we walked up to the bamboo house, we were amazed by the new floors that had only recently been placed. This time, the floors were smooth and there's not the concern of tripping over a nail. To top it off, Dany left us some flowers in a vase.

       But, we came with improvements ourselves. The reserve purchased some large solar panels so we wouldn't have to rely on a gas-powered generator. In the coming days, we will be installing them, along with working to fix the hydro-electric dam to ensure our power is 100% renewable.

        Alongside that, we had two packs of fairy lights to wrap around the banisters of the common area and the kitchen. With all the settings the lights have, we called them 'party lights', but in coming times, they could serve as a deterrent to people stopping by the river to illegally shrimp since the lights are solar-powered and visible from the trail to the river (making it appear as though someone is always around). 

        Friday, the 9th, was set aside for practicing, planning, and installing the solar panels. Another incredible aspect of this trip is the number of people we have to aid in checking CAIPs this time. In addition to Shawn, Ryan, and myself, Moises and Nicholas are joining for this maintenance period. Moises is a student from Quito who is interested in ecotourism and aspires to be a nature guide. He may also complete his undergraduate thesis work at JCR! Nicholas is a friend of Shawn's from Colombia and is considering getting his graduate degree in the U.S. That all said, we'll have enough people that we can divide and conquer on these trees, which I am beyond excited about.

        Anyways, for practice, Moises, Shawn, and I visited a tree that has a canopy camera but is not part of the project. Shawn showed Moises the ropes (ba dum tsss), while I worked out the logistics of collecting all of the habitat measures I decided were relevant based on my research. Moises, being a rock climber, took to tree climbing like a fish to water. I also felt confident about collecting the habitat variables, so Shawn went to help install the solar panels, while Moises and I went to practice on one more non-project tree.

View from the bamboo house

        To say the next tree did not go according to plan would be accurate.

        This tree, Shawn and Ryan warned us, was in a thicket of bamboo, so I was prepared for a rough climb, having to clear thorny bamboo out of the way. As an aside, I know some of you may be thinking - Jackie, bamboo isn't thorny! Trust me, it can be - just search for guadua bamboo thorns. Guada bamboo is the strongest species of bamboo and the only species native to South America, and it has some CRAZY thorns. Back to my point, we found one end of the climbing line just fine, but, for the life of us, we couldn't find the other end. We spent nearly an hour searching for it when Moises found where the other end had been tied, and snapped. That was a shame, but I figured we could still salvage the hike out by practicing tying the anchor on. However, as we were starting to set the anchor, Moises heard a noise from above. He looked up to see what it was and a monkey pooped on his eye! I'm not sure if it was on purpose or an accident, but we took it as a sign to move. We flushed his eye out with some water and then booked it back to the house. Thankfully Moises was totally okay, his eye was fine the next day, but I don't think either of us will ever forget that day.

This trip, I decided to change things up a bit with the blog and asked that my field partners write about their experiences. So, here is one from Moises.

9 Octubte 2019, Moises

        El día anterior, estuve muy contento de haber llegando, tuve grandes expectativas y emociones conjuntas por estar en un lugar tan tranquilo y poder respirar aire fresco, pero nunca me hubiese imaginado lo que viene a continuarión...

        Fuimos al primer árbol, muy cerca de la casa y tuve que cargor una maleta muy pesada, pero no la sentí, por la razón de que estuvo cerca, escalamos el árbol y fue super grandioso. Horas después regresumos a casa para el almuerzo para nuevamente salir a otro árbol, pero esta vez, solo Jackie y yo, fue corta pero muy empinada, al llegar allí buscamos la pequeña y uuuuhh! Después de mucho tiempo lo logramos, pero rota!! 

        Gue un poco triste porque en verdad quería escalar ese árbol, así que decidimos solo practicar a poner el anclaje y lo que pasó fue de película. Mientras armábamos el anclaje empezamos a escuchar ruidos en el canopy de los árboles y yo escuché como caían cosas así que decidí regresar a ver y una bola de caca cayó justo en MI OJO!!! Fue una experiencia muy dolorosa y asquerosa. Pero manture la calma y Jackie me ayudó a limpiarlo y quedó muy rojo y toda mi ropa con olor a caca de mono. Desde es día supe que este trabajo no iba a ser fácil.

A Guide to Naming Trees & Updates

25 Septiembre 2020

Dear readers,

It has been a while since I last had anything to write here. I have been busy examining the data we gathered during round 1. Exciting news, we have detected both of the target species on camera and audio from a relatively small amount of data, too!

View from the hostel in Quito

Yesterday, I arrived back in Quito, and tomorrow I will be en route to the reserve to collect several months' worth of data with an excellent team of people. Stay tuned for updates and some super cool footage from the canopy! (October update: this is all backdated information, I have now returned from the field and will be posting a bag log of the experience)

For anyone new to the blog, I have added a page where I will be adding my field entries in chronological order. I've named it 'Chronological Narrative', so give it a look if you want to read about the journey from start to end. 

Finally, I wanted to extend my thanks to the Explorer's Club. Their financial support has allowed for this project to resume. Now onto the bulk of content - a guide to our tree names.

One of the daily distractions for how sore our bodies were was coming up with the tree names. Typically in research, when you name a site or station, you go with a coded number (example cloudforest01 or CF01). In all fairness, all of our sites are named using a coded system. However, we do also have names that reflect their 'personality', or more aptly, how we were feeling at each tree. Shawn suggested that having names that tell the story of the tree is fun for outreach, so Becca and I took that in stride.

While we are in the interim between field seasons, I thought it would be fun to share the names of our trees and why they were so named.

Whomping Willow: our first tree - in all honesty, it had a temporary name of 'medium jerk tree' for the longest time. Setting up was a bit of a nightmare. Shooting the line took a substantial amount of time (largely due to my lacking aim), but the side we were aiming for was a tangled mess. When someone had to go retrieve the weight bag, they were dealing with bamboo thorns at a steep angle. Shawn and Ryan agreed on the scale from 'nice' trees, to 'jerky' trees, this tree was a medium jerk. 

Halfway through the field season, Becca and I realized that none of our tree names remotely reflected our love of Harry Potter, and what greater tree to represent a 'medium jerk' than the Whomping Willow.

Segundo: this tree was the second tree we visited. During our tree 'scope out', where we hike and look for the safest trees with the most canopy connectivity to climb, it was the second one we found. Not particularly exciting, but we were still early in the naming game. This tree was also named after the fact.

Epiphany: first tree we named on site. The most notable thing about the tree was how loaded the branches were with all sorts of epiphytes (plants that can grow on others and don't need to lay roots in the ground). We thought of words that be punny, and we had an epiphany ;)

Friday the 13th: if not entirely obvious, we first approached this tree on Friday the 13th. The name was truly cemented when our bigshot slingshot broke twice on us. 

Bamboozled: My distaste for bamboo was first birthed at this tree. The beautiful tree we wanted to climb was amidst a grotto of bamboo. One of the stocks was leaning against and pushing the branch we planned to place the camera on. We all had to take turns hacking into the trunk of the bamboo so the leaves of bamboo wouldn't constantly be caught on camera.

Gentle Tree: of all of the trees to this point, has been a bit of a challenge to set, whether it be shooting a line multiple times, or whatnot, but this was the first experience that was very smooth. The climb also went smoothly, there was no vegetation that had to be cut out of the way, it was just nice and easy.

Destiny: as we neared the predetermined coordinate for this tree, we came upon a tree right in the middle of the trail. It seemed a little too easy, so we looked around for other trees, but this one really seemed like the best option. And because of its location, it seemed like climbing it was our destiny.

Willpower: it was coming up on the end of an incredibly long day of getting lost along the Tree Forests Trail and hitting bamboo thickets when we finally arrived at this tree. It was nearly 4 pm, meaning we only had two more hours of light. We debated just setting the line and returning in the morning to finish the job, but with enough determination, we pulled offsetting the camera before dark. Willpower felt an apt name to describe what it took to push through that day.

Perseverance: this was the third tree we tried to set a line in for this specific, pre-generated point. It took us nearly three days to get this station up between losing the shot bag, getting up in a tree and realizing the point we needed to get to was impossible to reach, and so on. This is all to so, it took a lot of persistence to get this station up and running.

Fingers Crossed: The main tree branches leaned together near the top, to make it look as though the fingers were crossed. We also needed luck to ensure we could finish installing two stations in one day.

Jaguarundi Tracks: The name of this tree was another example of a lack of creativity. Just a few meters from the tree, there was a sign that showed how to identify jaguarundi tracks. Since we were running low on ideas for tree names, we transferred the name to this tree.

Hot Tuna: The night before, Becca and I had been talking about odd food combinations, and we got on the topic of tuna - how it was always served cold. Well, she wanted to experiment and try it hot, so she cooked it for dinner (definitely a weird taste, in my opinion). Anyways, the next day, the tree we climbed was by the river and it was a hot day, so we thought it would be an apt name to commemorate our culinary adventures.

Terminator: This tree was supposed to be the last station we set in 2019 (it wasn't, given our ambition), but we wanted the name to reflect our progress and the end of the year. 

Verizon: right near the tree, we kept finding flags indicating that there were Verizon cables installed underneath. It all seemed very out of place, and we couldn't think of anything more creative at the time for a name.

New Year, New Tree: the first tree of 2020, a play on 'New year, new me', and to reflect our confidence in our abilities now that we had climbed and set lines several trees ourselves.

Pleasantly Surprised: we were concerned about finding a tree in this location that would be good for climbing given the hassle we'd gone through to find previous trees. However, as we walked upstream, we came across this beautiful tree. We were concerned that we were nowhere near the GPS coordinate. Becca and I were both surprised to find that this nice tree was almost exactly at the target location.

Why Can't It Be Flat?  (by the Clay Pit): reflected how we felt after all of the uphill hiking with heavy gear and due there being clay licks beside the tree. The appearance of the name was an extension of a running joke Becca and I had about an imaginary band.

Bad Hair Day: this tree had bunches of short, interesting looking branches that made it appear as though it was having a bad hair day.

Staples: just like their slogan, it was super easy. There were no tall trees in the area so we climbed solely using the lanyard. Plus, we staged a silly, commercial-like photo of myself enjoying a thermos of tea from the side of the tree.

Mischief Managed: As this was the last tree we set any stations in, we thought 'mischief managed' as an apt statement to reflect the sense of completion and pride in all we had accomplished.

Wrapping up the first field season

11 Enero 2020

Day twenty-five, once again we find ourselves hiking the Tres Bosques. Neither of us was particularly jazzed to be back, due to the hours spent previously lost and frustrated. But it had to be done.

Luckily, the hike out was not as bad as we remembered. All of the time we invested clearing overgrowth and flagging the proper path had paid off. We made it to the first tree on the trail easily. Maintenance went smoothly and we had some close-up photos of howlers on the camera!

The hike continued smoothly as we approached Destiny. When we got there, however, something was off. Looking up at the mount, we noticed strapping hanging oddly. With binoculars, Becca discovered something that filled me with a sense of horror: the camera was gone. Immediately, I was positive we would not find it. This area of the trail received foot traffic so I figured someone probably saw the camera and grabbed it, but I still put in the effort to look for it. Digging through some bamboo, I did spot it! Waves of relief crashed over me.

Even though the camera had seen better days, it was still working perfectly. The only part that was damaged was the mount. I figured I could make it work given the materials we had in our 'repair kit'. I climbed up with the materials I needed and the determination to make it work. Once up in the tree, it became apparent what had happened. A heavy storm took out a branch above the station and took the camera out. The AudioMoth did not escape unscathed. The case was barely clinging to the strapping, covered in scratches, and missing the vent. Because the vent was missing, a few critters had made a home inside the case. Surprisingly, the recorder was still in working order!

With the materials available, I secured the camera as best as possible. We had not brought spare equipment because we had not anticipated such an event. But it was evident that my rig would not last long. The joint that secured the camera had been completely stripped, so I had to tie the camera down to the arm. It would work for a night, but not much longer than that.

Attempt to secure the camera with extra string

We ended with a plan to return and replace the damaged gear.


Miles hiked: 6.69
PB&J's eaten: 97

Day twenty-six, we started an hour earlier than usual because we had a lot to accomplish. A ride was arranged to grab us from Lalo Loor at 5 pm and before that, we needed to replace the gear at one tree and maintenance another.

Knowing why we needed to get up at such an early hour did not make it any easier. Both of us wandered around the kitchen like zombies making breakfast. What brought life to the morning was Becca loudly whispering, "Jackie, get over here right now, there's a tamandua!" Clear as day, one was climbing around in front of the house. I was awestruck! I have wanted to see one of these majestic animals for years! Now I could easily watch one foraging in the canopy. (Side note: tamanduas are anteaters in the same order as sloths) That sighting inspired us to push through the tough day we had ahead of us.

Blurry picture of a tamandua

The hike out was very reflective. It would be my last time hiking in Jama-Coaque for several months. I took the hike to soak in the surroundings. Truth be told, this project is by far the most difficult work I have ever done. It has been so physically taxing, but whenever I felt that I was pushed to my limit, I paused to look around. Everywhere you look out here, there is lush, green life. If you stand in silence, you'll hear several species of birds calling, you may even see an animal wander past you. Each day, there's a chance you'll encounter a species you've never seen before.

We made it back to Destiny without any hiccups. While Becca was replacing the gear in the tree, the same man from the time we placed the gear was back. He had a lot of questions about what we were doing and I explained the project to him (as best as I could, my Spanish leaves much to be desired).

The path to the next tree was not as smooth. Portions of the trail were still thick with bamboo. In some cases, the bamboo was so thick that it took 30 minutes of hacking to be passable. By the time we arrived at the tree, we were exhausted. But we still pushed and finished the tree.

Looking down at the clock, we noted there were only an hour and a half until our scheduled ride. We still had more than a kilometer to hike our gear, and another two to meet our ride. My mind was immediately going to the worst-case scenario. This was not a ride that would wait long for us. This was a ride that would leave if we were too late. I was mentally preparing myself to have to hike through Camarones to get back to the reserve. Once we had stashed our bags, we ran down the trails at Lalo Loor. Thankfully we made it before our ride left and we were only 20 minutes late. The two of us sat in the bed of the truck and laughed hysterically.

Miles hiked: 8.4
PB&J's eaten: 99

Day twenty-seven, the final day of the field season. The goal: to maintenance three trees in one day.

It seemed an ambitious goal, but that is who Becca and I are. The day was a bit of a mad dash. I planned to climb the first tree and let Becca climb the last two. And the day went uneventfully. There were no worries about hitting walls of bamboo, and all the gear was working as it should. On top of that, we finished with a half-hour to spare!

We left Lalo Loor with our heads held high! The two of us completed the first field season on such a high note!

Becca declared this her favorite picture of the day, so I had to include it

The rest of the cameras we were unable to make it to will be checked by Shawn and Ryan over the next few days. Although Becca and I could not complete the process entirely ourselves, I am still immensely proud of what we accomplished.

Miles hiked: 6.72
Total mileage: 154.3
Height climbed: ~606 m or 1988 ft
PB & J's eaten: 101
CAIPs checked: 12

The lightning round! (part 1)

8 Enero 2020

After completing CAIP installation, we took a day off to do laundry and give our bodies a much-needed break. But after our day off it was time to begin maintenance. The lightning round.

For maintenance, the goal is to check the CAIPs. Are the cameras taking pictures of animals or mostly leaves? If there are pictures of leaves moving, we would removing those from the frame to preserve battery life and make the process of sorting pictures simpler. Are the AudioMoths recording when they should? If not, we would need to replace them.

Aside from investigating those two questions, we are replacing batteries and SD cards during this time. After maintenance, the CAIPs will be left for ~ 4 months (the estimated battery life) to collect data. It is crucial that everything is working properly.

Since the CAIPs are already installed, the Big Shot was retired (thank goodness!). The climbing lines are already set, so maintenance will be a quicker process than installation.

Day twenty-two, back to Del Rio. Although I have a checklist and I've run through the maintenance process on the ground, the process will be much trickier in the trees. There are many small parts that can easily be lost if dropped. To figure out all the mistakes that can be made, I did both climbs on our first day of maintenance.

Unscrewing the AudioMoth cases in the canopy is beyond nerve-wracking. The recorders themselves are glued into the cases and the batteries are Velcro-ed in, but the screws and microSD cards are easy pieces to lose. There's a fairly large margin for error. I exercised extreme caution and it worked out well.

Even though the equipment in the Del Rio tree had only been running for two weeks, there were already pictures of kinkajous to look at!

Side accomplishment: I made a pun so terrible, Becca jokingly 'quit' the project. We take walking sticks with us when we hike and she had grabbed the stick I typically used, so I asked, "Oh, not a fan of your walking stick anymore?"

She glanced down for a second, not realizing she'd grabbed the wrong one. "No, I like mine quite a lot, but I don't think it likes me back."

"Oh, so I guess you could say it's a sticky situation?" She went dead silent, trying not to laugh, and walked away for a few moments.

The tree off of the cordillera almost went perfectly. As I was removing the microSD card, it stuck to my thumb as I pulled away...and then proceeded to fall to the ground. Thankfully, Becca was quickly able to recover the lost item. Phew.

Following maintenance, we hiked our stuff down to the very first tree we climbed. It's weird to be returning to the start of it all. But I was too exhausted in the moment to remissness much.

Getting back to the bamboo house, we were in store for a huge surprise. Groceries! Normally groceries are delivered every Monday. Because of the holidays, we've had to go to town when we can (or have someone else get what they can) and it's been difficult to estimate how much food we'll need and how long items will store. On this day, we returned to a surplus of food after we had been running low on supplies.

Both of us were exceptionally excited.

Miles hiked: 3.58
PB&J's eaten: 91

Day twenty-three, today I began climbing up the very first tree we installed. During installation, the sun had been setting so I didn't properly see the setup. Now climbing in the morning, I instantly felt excitement to look at the pictures. The camera is facing a cavity that has collected water. And the wildlife is definitely taking advantage of it.

Collared araçaris taking a bath

Before I could get a good look at the photos, I was distracted by the sound of leaves rustling. Several mantled howlers were moving around in trees eye level with me, maybe 20 meters away. My reaction was torn between awe and nerves. The last thing I wanted was for the howlers to throw dung my way. Rather than take any pictures, I hurried through the rest of the maintenance as they kept their eyes on me and moved in closer. Eventually, their path diverged away from the tree, but I am still in awe at how close they were to me.

Becca went through the process of checking the next tree and the process went smoothly. Unfortunately, the tree required a bit of trimming. Most of the pictures were images of leaves moving, but that is why we did a maintenance period right after installation. Otherwise, the rest of the day went smoothly.

Perfect spot to take a short break from a long hike

Miles hiked: 5.21
PB&J's eaten: 93

Day twenty-four, it finally happened. Rain...well rain during the day. While I was up in a tree, drops of water trickled down. Momentarily, I thought I could push through it without issue. The drizzle suddenly transformed into a downpour. Becca was quick to send up her parka and I threw it over myself to create a dry work environment.

As I delicately went through the procedure of checking the equipment, I noticed something different among many photos of wind. A sloth! I nearly fell out of the tree due to excitement. I've wanted to see a sloth in the wild for many years, and now I knew there had been a two-toed sloth climbing on the branch I was sitting against!

The rain let up before long so there we did not have to worry about dealing with a slick rope. Instead, another challenge faced us - our hike.

Hiking after a downpour with heavy equipment was a challenge. At this point, we were in cloud forest, so the trail was already slightly muddy. The rain from just an hour before made the situation worse.

Many spots would take your feet in so deep that you could lose your boot trying to free yourself. Others were a trick of balance- especially since we were traveling downhill. Can you hold yourself upright with a counterweight on your back? For me, the answer was no. I ended up sliding or skating down the trail more than I walked down it. Without question, my pants were entirely covered in mud by the end of the day.

Just as our frustration became palpable, something caught my eye. A giant worm? No, something else!

If you look closely, you can see its tongue sticking out!

A limbless lizard! The critter may look like a snake, but due to internal anatomy, it is actually a lizard! They spend most of their time underground, except for when heavy rains flood them out. They are a pretty rare find, and both of us were positively thrilled to find one. Any annoyance we had at the hike was gone in an instant.

From that point, the rest of the day proceeded as planned. We visited Friday the 13th and Becca took care of maintenance without issue.

Miles hiked: 6.8
Total mileage: 132.5
PB&J's eaten: 95
CAIPs checked: 6

The outer fringes

4 Enero 2020

Day eighteen, we’ve finally found ourselves at points I’ve been dreading. Our first day at the reserve, we had asked a couple of the rangers about some of the points to get insight on what we’ve gotten ourselves into. When we showed them the points on the Las Cuervas property, they both laughed at the thought of hiking over there. Becca and I knew they needed to get done, but I, for one, was nervous about getting around.

Our goal was to set lines in three of the four trees. We knew the first tree would be relatively easy to get to, but for the others, we would be following property lines and hoping for the best. Shawn gave us a ride through Camarones and as close as a car could get to the points, cutting off a few kilometers of hiking. The first tree was easy enough to get to and we set a line and took off to the other two points.

There was a clear trail to follow, but the trail went up at nearly a 45-degree angle for a distance.

We started below the palms and climbed up to the tree line

We only had the equipment to set a line with us, so the hike was a warmup for what was soon to come. We managed to hike to the other two trees but were running out of time to set a line in either since we had a ride picking us up in the evening. 

If anything, we both are determined to finish these trees in as few days as possible. 

Miles hiked: 6.96

PB&Js eaten: 75

Day nineteen, we returned to the agricultural site. Since we visited the tree on the first day of the year, it was dubbed: new year, new tree (just imagine an excessive amount of New Year's resolution themed jokes and you'll know what Becca had to deal with that day). This was the first tree we attempted to set a line without the Big Shot because it was relatively short. For half an hour, we tried chucking the weight bag over the limbs. No dice. We would have to use our old..."friend" the Big Shot.

The branch Becca climbed in was stable enough that we had a dance break in the canopy.

Nothing but smiles while in a tree!

Now it was time to find the mystery point. Following the property-line was the suggestion. Most of the time, that is easier said than done. That was certainly our situation. As we approached the property line, we glanced to our left and could see the trail descending into the depths of overgrowth.

I think we both screamed a little internally before beginning to hack our way down.  It wasn't too long before the fence and trail vanished. Yet there were still 200 meters to travel.

However, we could see a game trail to a creek.

New plan: follow the creek bed. Before long, we were pleasantly surprised! We walked up to a perfect tree for climbing. A lot of birds were active in the area and the climb was very nice.

Up in the canopy!

To get back, we decided to find a new path. Along the creek, another walking path existed. This trail was much more pleasant. It was a relief to end the day knowing our next visit would not be as painstaking. 

Miles hiked: 3.49

PB&Js eaten: 79

Day twenty; both of us were dreading this day. We would be hiking up what we dubbed as Hell’s hill with all the equipment and it had rained the night before so there was a possibility that the trail would be muddy. In preparation for the difficult day, we both messaged loved ones requesting fun stories/jokes/etc to read on the satellite phone afterward.

Fortunately, the day was not as bad as anticipated. We switchbacked up to reduce the strain on our ankles. Although the hike was long, it was not what we had built up in our heads. We carried on to the furthest tree and the installation went without a hitch.

If you look closely, you can see Becca in the tree

The tree was subsequently named ‘Why can’t it just be flat?’ to reflect our feelings about the hike out (and all hikes here).

We were a little late in the day, but Becca and I did not want to hike up to those sites again, so we prepared to set the line in the next tree.

Do you see how far down that is??

Installation went as planned and though we were running a little behind our scheduled pick up time, I was insanely proud of what we accomplished.

Smiles as we bid this hike adieu

As far as physical exhaustion, this day was on par with our 13-hour day. We both slept very hard that night.

Miles hiked: 5.81

PB&Js eaten: 83

Day twenty-one, we both were hopeful we would complete installation this day. The only points left were in agriculture and were mostly trailed.

Of course, we did not think to grab a key to get into the Finca. So, we awkwardly climbed over the gate.

The first tree had great connectivity and was short enough we could lanyard up. This saved the time and trouble of setting a climbing line.

The downside of being in agriculture - ticks. Ticks everywhere. At one point I looked down at my pants to see hundreds of tiny ticks crawling around. Even though Ecuador is not known to have many tick-borne diseases, it was still a horrifying sight.

Not even mangoes are sacred to ticks

Despite the ticks, we finished tree number 20. Becca quickly got the station installed. With that, we had done it! All 20 CAIPs were up! Both of us were too tired in that instant for the gravity of the situation to sink in, but it is an amazing accomplishment! I can't believe it!

Now to ensure everything is working.

Miles hiked: 5.67

Total mileage: 116.9

PB&Js eaten: 87

CAIPs Installed: 20