Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Earthwatch Team Laughing Pinzones: Day 6 Day Off

Today, the volunteers took a well deserved day off, with most of them taking a day trip to North Seymour. The team has been having a wonderful time with lots of laughing at meals and during breaks (we're very serious when we're collecting data!), so they have named themselves Team Laughing Pinzones!

We had hoped for a day off, but it turns out the Galápagos Park Service wanted to see us at work in the field, so Luis, Diana, and I headed to El Garrapatero.
 
Our banding station in the field
 For those familiar with the book entitled "The Beak of the Finch," you might remember the discussion about tribulus seeds, and how certain size ground finches are able to crack open the hard, spiky exterior of the seeds. It's very dry right now, so finches are eating the tribulus seeds.


Here, Luis was watching this G. fortis (medium ground finch, large beak morph) eat the tribulus, while Diana was looking at banded birds to identify the colours.


We also had a mockingbird visit our equipment!



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