Moving at a Lighting Pace

10 - 12 Enero 2021

        Our morning was off to a smooth start. We hiked one of my favorite trees in Jama-Coaque; the Ronquillo Trail. It nicely meanders up to the cloud forest and gets you right to the beginnings of the Three Forests Trail. Along the way, we did a little cleaning of the Three Forests Trail, but it has been such a relief to have a well-made trail to follow. It speeds the process along significantly. And the first tree was a breeze to maintenance. Becca and Matt tag-teamed switching out batteries and SD cards, meaning it took very little time after sending the bag down before I was hoisting it back into the canopy. The three of us then went on our merry way to the next tree.

        When we arrived down at WF02, we hit a few snags. Mostly, a vine had grown over half of our guide-line making pulling the climbing line over much more challenging. This vine had an impressive grip, with little tendrils hugging our guide-line tight. I felt a little bad ripping it off, but I knew if it could find another leverage point easily. 

You can just see the tendrils spiraling around the yellow guideline

        The other slight delay was just the location of the camera - this one is always a bit of a challenge to get to and Becca had some issues getting into a comfortable position. The Kestrel (our weather recording device) was not working properly, so once again, we would be returning to this tree the next day. It made me consider renaming this tree from 'Destiny' to something else.

Matt watching Becca climb - he was yawning after a long day, but it's more fun to think he was amazed.

        On the hike back, I was hit with another stark reminder of the glaring importance of TMA's mission. As I looked up from watching my footing in the mud of the trail, a grim sight greeted me. A patch of forest had been cleared - likely for planting bananas or coffee after burning the remaining brush. On the other side of the trail is protected land, intact forest. And, I understand why landowners feel the pressure to use their land to make a profit, especially during an economic crisis. It's a means to an end. But the stark differences between these protected and unprotected lands made it that much clearer to me that involving people in the process of conservation, providing them with the economic means to use their land in a manner that helps them and wildlife is critically important. Which is a huge part of what TMA does with their agroforestry project.

        The three of us made the trek back to the bamboo house with a lot more weighing on our minds and hearts.

       That night, we got a decent amount of rainfall - meaning on the hike out the next morning, we took our time appreciating the tracks left in the mud. We saw raccoon tracks, small ungulate tracks, and what looked like a feline print.

Raccoon prints!

        Another exciting find as we were deep in the cloud forest - in a spot I usually get lost in, was an adorable brown wood turtle. They are active during the day, and herbivorous, but not too much more is known about them because these turtles are challenging to find. We got lucky enough to get a good sighting of one.

        Fixing up 'Destiny' was a quick and easy job. All we had to do was replace the Kestrel and we were back on the trail. I couldn't be happier with the company I had in the field. Today was a push day. We didn't have a ride lined up to pick us up, so we set out knowing we would have to hike all the way to Bosque Seco Lalo Loor and back with a ticking time clock of sunset. Well, at least for getting back into Jama Coaque property lines, because hiking the Three Forests Trail at night would be less than ideal. But Becca and Matt were great sports, making jokes throughout the day and even puns (how the tables have turned, huh, Becca?).

My fearless team

        Our last tree of the day took a little while to find because I knew it was hidden in the brush, but I didn't have a specific point for the entrance point. However, we did locate it before too much time passed and had a smooth climb.

        The three of us were on our way for the long hike ahead of us. We made it all the way to Bosque Seco Lalo Loor shortly after 4 p.m. and dropped our bags. We didn't feel comfortable pushing all the way down to the closest tree, so we just stashed them near the property line.

        Feeling a lot lighter, we hit the trail again. And, not for the first time, as we were hiking, I almost stepped on ANOTHER Equuis. I don't know why, but my feet have a talent for finding these venomous snakes. In my defense, this time it was hidden under a leaf. Every time, these close encounters get my heart racing, but it also just goes to show as long as you let venomous snakes be, they are just going to mind their own business.

Leaf moved to reveal a hidden Equuis!

        Miraculously, we made it back to Jama-Coaque right at sunset. Of course, we still had to hike back to the bamboo house, but we could slow our pace. Which we did. The three of us enjoyed casually searching for mammals, birds, and frogs along the way. There were several instances where we stopped after hearing a loud rustling in the leaves, but we never got a very clear look at anything.

I was overjoyed to reach JCR before sunset! Photo credit: Matt Parker

        Finally, we were on our '3 tree' day. We would hit all Bosque Seco Lalo Loor trees in one day. I made the mistake of taking us up the wrong trail, which somehow felt longer and steeper than the usual hike up, but we made it to our destination and got a good look of a Yellow-spotted Puffing snake on the way. Close-up wildlife sightings made the extra strain worth it.

         Matt and I hiked back to our drop spot and encountered a small herd of peccaries. They took off into the cover of vegetation, but we paused for a few minutes to watch them disappear.

Peccary in the vegetation. Photo credit: Matt Parker

        The first tree was DF01, one of the tallest trees of the project. As I was already getting sweaty and out of breath from the climb, some local tourists stopped to ask what we were doing. My Spanish is still pretty basic, but I learned the words specifically relating to this research project to talk about it and yelled out some clarifying phrases with what Becca had explained. The couple stayed for a few minutes to watch me ascend into the canopy, which put in the pressure. It was probably the fastest I had ever climbed.

        On the hike down to the next tree, we came across a pair of Gartered trogons. They stuck around long enough for us to really appreciate their appearance before taking flight. 

Photo credit: Matt Parker

        The rest of the day went so smoothly. Becca climbed DF02 and finished the job very quickly. On the walk down to DF03 we even meandered a bit, enjoying the pocket views of the ocean since we were ahead on time. 

        With the day wrapped up, we only had one more tree to visit and another four days left! Wow! I thought it was going to be a push, but getting to start with two 'teams' gave us great headway.

12 Enero 2021 - Becca

            I had been looking forward to our day in Bosque Seco Lalo Loor as an easier day with well-manicured trails and trees close to the trails. Those things were correct, but I had forgotten how steep it could be. We accidentally took a different trail up that was sunnier and seemingly, magically, hillier. The 11.5-hour workday from yesterday and the heat were catching up to me, so once we reached the first tree Jackie (easily) convinced me to take a break while they went to collect the bags. And after drinking water and quietly contemplating some antwrens that worked their way through the taigas, I felt better again.

            As Jackie climbed DF01, “Endurance”, a couple hikers with binoculars came by on the trail. The timing was just perfect to see Jackie take off towards the canopy and they were very impressed. We chatted (socially distantly) in a mix of English and Spanish about our project with a few helpful phrases thrown in from Jackie-in-the-trees. It’s wonderful to meet locals who are knowledgeable and care about their ecosystem.

            Matt and I needed to get the DBH of this tree as well, but it was out of the question to pull the climber over to the trunk as we’d done before. I balanced on some slippery buttresses as Matt fought through the vegetation to bring me the other end of the tape, then used our extendable hook to push the tape to get an even measure. Honestly, none of the trees I measured during undergrad were as difficult as these Neotropical giants have proved to be.

            As we hiked down towards our second tree, we got excellent views of a pair of Gartered trogons, which perched above the trail and studied us for a minute. This was a lifer for me (the first time I’ve seen this species in my life) and that makes any day a good day.

Admiring the view of Gartered trogons

            I climbed our second tree, DF02 or “Fingers Crossed”. Everything went smoothly except I couldn’t reach any leaves for a sample because the station is on the main trunk, far from any leaf-bearing branches. Despite standing in the largest part of the tree, I could still feel it sway in the wind. Our third tree wrapped up quickly and I was happy to be back at the bamboo house before sundown.

We enjoyed the view of the ocean on the way back