I started my day a little later today at 5:30 am (late is relative) for birdwatching, only to be greeted by two massive bug bites on my left ring finger, which have yet to go down. We didn’t see much until it was almost time for breakfast, when we saw two Scarlet Macaws nearby, which made for a nice treat. We ate at 6:30, and then got ready for our first experiment of the day. Our goal was to see if arthropod diversity and nutrient availability differed from the forest floor. This involved setting pitfall traps that included our own urine, which should be interesting when we go back for the vials tomorrow.

After that, we go to relax a bit before lunch and our second activity, where we went to leafcutter ant colonies of various sizes to dig in around the nests and see what they looked like inside. We were able to see the increase in complexity as the age of the colonies increased, as they got much bigger and had more pathways as they increased in age. Some paths in the nest were even wide enough that I could fit my whole arm in them. After returning and waiting for dinner, we saw even more macaws flying by.

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to see any reptiles today. This was a disappointment, but I was beyond thrilled to have gotten the chance to see the macaws, which are incredibly beautiful and very rare. Now, I can only hope that my bites go away soon and that my finger can return to normal size.