Today was an exciting and rewarding day at Las Cuevas Research Station! We went back into the forest to retrieve the camera traps we set up when we first arrived on May 19.  It felt great to collect the equipment after it had been silently observing the rainforest for days. These cameras are key to helping us understand more about the wildlife here—especially the birds that are often hard to spot in person.

We spent most of the day working on presentations. In the morning, we wrapped up our rainforest presentations and then began preparing for our upcoming reef topics. It was a great opportunity to reflect on what we’ve learned so far and to practice communicating that knowledge clearly. Talking about the incredible biodiversity here made me appreciate just how much we’ve seen already.

In the afternoon, we gathered as a class to look through the photos from the camera traps. It was so interesting to see what animals had wandered by while we were off doing other things. One clear trend stood out: cameras on the trails captured far more activity than those placed deeper in the forest. This made a lot of sense—animals, including birds, often use trails as pathways, just like we do. Watching these patterns emerge really brought our research to life.

Later that evening, we had dinner outside and were treated to something incredible: fifteen scarlet macaws and two parrots flew overhead while we were eating. It was an absolutely surreal moment. Seeing so many brilliant flashes of red and green cutting across the sky was breathtaking—definitely one of those memories I’ll never forget. We ended the day gathered around a campfire deep in the forest, sharing stories and soaking in the sounds of the jungle. It was the perfect ending to a busy, beautiful day.