Had breakfast with all sorts of birds. The workers at the resort left papaya out on the balcony and a Blue Crown Motmot, a Brownjay, and a Melodious Blackbird flew down to feed. Took some awesome photos; will upload when there’s more reliable internet.

After breakfast we took the van to go see the Caracol Ruins. Along the way, we spotted a bunch of different types of birds, including a Great Black Hawk. So far, I haven’t been doing too well on IDing birds. It turns out I only researched really pretty but rather rare birds. So I end up not knowing all the birds that we do end up crossing paths with. Hopefully that’ll change; Scott gave me a bird guide so whenever I get the chance I’m going to be flipping through that thing.

We got a tour of the Caracol Ruins from our local guide Hugh. The ruins were just absolutely jaw dropping. It’s amazing that something constructed over 2000 years ago is still standing and is still the tallest structure in the country. At the ruins there was a tree full of Oro Pendola and their nests. These are extremely pretty birds, they are black all over except their golden yellow tail. They build really interesting looking nests too.

After encountering some technical difficulties with our vehicle, we eventually made it to the Las Cuevas Research Station. LCRS is literally in the middle of nowhere, it’s kind of awesome. We saw a Black Vulture perched on a dead tree when we first got here. Once everyone got here we settled into our rooms and then had dinner. Had to present my lecture topic tonight. Was really nervous, it didn’t go very well but at least it’s done now.

Overall, this was a solid second day to the trip. So psyched for tomorrow.

-Randy