Tag Archives: Claire C

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day 6: down down down and up up up

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Today’s daily 6 am birding happened to turn into monkeying instead. Right when I woke up, we were told to look out the back of the Las Cuevas clearing to see a family of 5 howler monkeys. There was an adult male and female and their three kids including a young male, female, and baby girl. The baby was tiny and would occasionally climb on mom’s back when the monkeys had to make treacherous treks across branches. They were fascinating to watch as they moved from tree to tree. 

(Howler monkey)

 Then, we were so lucky to have the opportunity to visit the Las Cuevas Cave (translated to “the cave cave”). This cave has a massive entrance, and while we were not allowed to go past the first chamber, the entrance chamber alone was a spectacle. We got to see fully formed stalactites and stalagmites as well as just barely starting to form stalactites and stalagmites. Additionally, we learned about how this cave system was used by the Mayans. There were ancient plaster terraces, cracked pottery, and steps leading down to the water source at the bottom all created by the Mayans hundreds of years ago. This cavern was also right beneath a Maya temple which archaeologists think means that the cave was used for religious ceremonies to worship the rain god (for the water source below) or the god of the underworld. 

In the middle of the day, Dr. Solomon caught a casque headed basilisk lizard and brought it to us. Basilisk lizards (or Jesus Christ lizards) are known to be able to run on water for short periods of time. They have super long toes that maximize the water’s surface tension and allow them to sprint on the water to avoid predators. This lizard was super cool to see in person, and it was the reptile I most wanted to see here in Belize!

(Casque headed basilisk lizard)

This evening, we watched the sunset from the Bird Tower, a tower on one of the taller hills around that looks over the wide expanse of rainforest. The trek up to the tower was steep, but it was worth it for the gorgeous sunset. I saw a tiny silky anole on the trek back down, but since we were hiking in the dark, I can only imagine how many more reptiles we did not see. 

(Sunset at the bird tower)

Thanks for following along!

Claire C

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Day 5: Insects, insects, and more insects

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My day started by being woken up to someone shouting “SCARLET MACAW!” Naturally, I woke up and went outside to see the macaws. I also ended up seeing a toucan and many different species of parrot in the surrounding trees too. 

During the middle of the day, Dyllan spotted a stick bug on the side of the cabin we were in. We picked it up, and it crawled all over us! We passed it between people and the stick bug kept wanting to climb to the highest spot it could reach, meaning it was going up and down our faces and hair. I loved this little guy (we named it Stella). He hung around on my water bottle as we watched presentations, and then he got released back outside. I’m happy to see him thriving outside, but sad to see him go.

(Stella)

This afternoon, we went out into the field to observe young and old leaf cutter ant colonies. Dr. Solomon found us a 1 year old colony (~6 in deep, ~6 in wide). Leaf cutter ants sustain themselves with a mutualistic fungus that they cultivate. Our goal was to extract this fungal garden. After about 20 minutes of digging, we found this fungus and Dr. Solomon pulled it out of the mound with a spoon. The queen ant was also on this fungus and she was HUGE. 

(Leaf cutter ant fungal garden with the queen on top)

We then moved on to trying to excavate fungus from the large, old colony. This colony was multiple feet out of the ground, and is speculated to be many feet deep (10?). It had an impressive surface area with holes to intake O2 and exhale CO2 from deep in the colony. When Dr. Solomon started to dig, it took a few seconds for the soldier ants to come out, but after about a minute, they started to SWARM. It was super cool seeing how many ants could come to the colony’s defense. Eventually, Sam and Dr. Solomon dug deep enough to excavate the fungus inside which was very impressive (though super scary with so many aggressive ants trying to crawl up our boots). 

The last thing we did was we went on a night hike. On this hike, we saw multiple tarantulas and large spiders, a large scorpion, many beetles and cockroaches, highly active leaf cutter ant highways with many leaves being transported, an incredibly camouflaged bird called a pauraque, and 2 anoles (one of which Dr. Evans taught me how to catch and I did!) This hike was fascinating for seeing how different a jungle ecosystem can be at night vs the day. Though we did not see any mammals, we smelled a smell likely coming from a large cat in the same area that I heard the potential puma last night!

(the silky anole Dr. Solomon caught)

(Night hiking!)

Next up… caves!

Claire C

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Day 4: Doing P Tests (kinda)

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Day 4 started by being asked to find the differences in nitrogen limitations on the forest floor and in the canopy. We wanted to make a trap that insects could be attracted to and fall and get stuck in. That means we needed some nitrogenous liquid. One might think finding this is simple, and it was, BUT it’s not pretty. We used our pee in vials, hung them on trees and dug the vials into the ground, and are now waiting to see what is attracted in each location. While it is not a glamorous lab, the look on everyone’s faces when we were told to pee in vials that would be used in the project was hilarious. 

  

(Nitrogen experiment setup diagram)

(Swinging like Tarzan on a water vine!)

After lunch, we set up a second experiment where we tested how the colonization of the cecropia tree with ants vs an uncolonized young cecropia tree varies in defense mechanisms (chemical and physical). Cecropia trees and ants have a mutualistic relationship where ants form their colony in this tree in exchange for protecting the tree from herbivores. We wanted to know if leaves would potentially be thicker, gross, or poisonous before having the ants  colonize the tree. We tested this by collecting herbivorous insects in boxes and adding leaves from colonized and uncolonized trees to see which got eaten more. 

(Inside of colonized cecropia tree; looks like a ant high rise apartment building)

While hiking to collect the insects and leaves, I saw a large brown skink (lizard) that I have not identified yet. It was about 8 inches and had a long tail. I also saw a silky anole while hiking for setting up the nitrogen lab. Both were on the side of the trail in the shade. 

The last two exciting notes about today are potentially the most exciting. First, I got a great look at a toucan in the tree right out front of Las Cuevas! It was not too close, but I used my binoculars and saw the red tail and the large yellow beak very clearly. 

Additionally, I heard something loud making screaming sounds from inside the jungle after it got dark. I have been made aware that one animal is known for making a screaming noise, and that is the puma. Hopefully our camera traps catch a picture of it walking by! 

See yall soon!

Claire C

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Day 3: Adventures Deploying Camera Traps!

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“GOBBLE GOBBLE” That’s how day 3 started at about 4 am when I got woken up by a LOUD turkey under our building. I quickly learned just how active a rainforest can be before the sun even comes up. 

Today we were tasked with coming up with a research question to ask about camera traps. Camera traps are motion sensitive cameras set up outside that take pictures of any movement (animals) in their range. We wanted to know how species richness of vertebrate animals varies on human constructed paths versus pure jungle areas. Our day was spent hiking along paths setting up cameras on the trail and then bushwhacking to get to a spot in the forest that was further off the trail. 

Planning our camera trap locations

Flagging our camera trap 🙂

While we were on the trails with the intention of setting up the camera traps, we saw many cool unexpected things too. We saw a large cat footprint (jaguar or puma), some huge leaf cutter ant mounds, and multiple reptiles. I saw a pink-throated lichen anole, a silky anole, a rose bellied lizard , a neotropical green anole high in a tree, and the coolest part of today: a snake! While I did not get a great look at this snake as it quickly slithered away from the trail when we rounded a corner, I still observed some identifying features. It was about 4 feet long with a slender monochromatic brownish grey back and reddish belly. The scales were flat on its back and it slithered into grasses on the side of the trail. This all leads me to believe it was a racer of some sort, though I will never know for sure. 

Rose bellied lizard

Silky anole

All in all, today had some really cool jungle sightings, and though it is HOT, I am loving the sticky rainforest. 

See yall later!

Claire C

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Day 2: Life under the sun!

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Today we drove for a few hours through a pine ridge ecosystem into the Chiquibil National Forest! We stopped at Caracol, Maya ruins deep in the rainforest 3/4 of the way through our drive where we learned about Maya civilizations. We walked around the large site seeing bases of what used to be homes and temples in a sprawling city from 200-1200 CE/AD. There were huge palm trees with parasitic fig trees suffocating them and some very fragrant wild cilantro plants. I saw a small brown anole on one of the trees in the middle of one of the family housing areas. It was about 6ft up the trunk of the tree.

(Brown anole)

The largest ruin was in a wide expanse of sunny fields. It is the tallest structure in Belize, and we climbed all the way to the top! At the top we could see miles upon miles of mountains. Archaeologists suspect was the home of a local king, and at the top of the ruin was a temple to the sun god. We spent a good amount of time exploring the ruin, and though I was sweating through every layer of clothes, I loved every moment. I also saw a small brown lizard on the outside of the sun temple. Before we left the site, we saw a baby grey fox in the rubble of a partially excavated ruin.

(the view from the top of the tallest ruin)

(Rose bellied lizard)

We continued our day by driving to Las Cuevas Research Station, our home for the next few days. The jungle got consistently denser the further we drove; we even saw a toucan and some howler monkeys on a tree on the side of the road.

At Las Cuevas we took a short walk through the rainforest where I saw a blue tailed skink in the hole of a tree. Now we have started wearing boots anytime we go outside of the research station fields just in case we come across any venomous snakes. Hopefully we see some but not too close.

All in all, today was a super fun day and I successfully ended our sunniest day of the week without a sunburn!

See you later!

Claire C

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Day 1: Iguanas are falling from the sky!

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It is the first day in Belize! Today we had an easy flight into Belize City, and after about an hour of driving, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called “Cheers”. It was an outdoor layout with a ton of previous visitors signed shirts that were hung up on the ceiling. I ordered rice and beans (not beans and rice), and while we waited, one of the waitresses told us to check out a pond out behind the place. She said we would be able to see fish and turtles, so we walked over to it. As soon as we rounded the corner of a bushy tree and saw the pond, there were about six large splashes. We were all quite confused until another few happened, and then we realized that iguanas were launching themselves from the trees into the pond! I recognized both black spiny-tailed iguanas and green iguanas, and as we continued to watch them, they kept dramatically splashing into the water below. I also saw a turtle, but it dipped under the water before I could identify it.

We drove for a ways longer and got to our place for the night: The Crystal Paradise Ecolodge. This place is rustic but gorgeous, as it is right in the middle of the forest. There is a chorus of frogs, insects, and birds coming from all around. We walked down to the nearby river and saw a hummingbird and a large, brown butterfly which were very cool too.

I am excited for where tomorrow will take us and should get to bed soon, as we have another early wakeup. Next update is about Mayan ruins, Las Cuevas Research Station, and more dense rainforest! Talk to you then!

Claire C

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Pre Departure Blog

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Hello! My name is Claire C, and I am a rising sophomore at Sid Richardson College. My major is biosciences with a major concentration in integrative biology, so naturally, I LOVE ecology and the outdoors.

I am so excited for this trip and cannot wait for all that I will learn in Belize! I am looking forward to learning about and seeing all sorts of plants and animals. While I have always loved the ocean more than anything in the world, I am most excited for the rainforest part of the trip. I have experience snorkeling and being around reefs, but I have never been to a tropical rainforest before.

I hope to learn a ton about how rainforest ecosystems and field research works. I expect to see some of the coolest ecosystems and organisms I have ever seen in my life. Being as isolated from other people as we are should let us see some fascinating animal interactions both within the rainforest and in the ocean. While seeing any animal is cool, I most want to see rays in the ocean. Whether they are spotted eagle rays, manta rays, or stingrays, I love seeing them swim through reefs.

I finished packing all of my gear last night, and I traveled to Houston today, so I am finally ready to go to Belize! My duffle is quite heavy, but that just means I have fun gear inside!

On this trip, I hope to learn how to keep myself safe and comfortable while doing field work. I also hope to learn some field research techniques that cannot be taught from a classroom.

That all being said, I am slightly nervous for how isolated we are going to be. I know we will do everything to keep ourselves safe, but being in a new and extremely disconnected ecosystem from people is still scary despite how fascinating and fun it will be.

I have been lucky enough to have been on in other international marine ecology field research class through my high school. The class took place in Baja California Sur which is a desert on land and is is home to the “Aquarium of the World” beneath the water. Through that class,  I learned how to do an underwater transect and fish census along with other techniques. While this class was definitely not exhaustive, it did give me some experience doing labs in the ocean that I can build off of in Belize.

I am so excited to wake up bright and early tomorrow to go to Belize!