Getting creative and being opportunistic

Field work is one of the most enjoyable and fun aspects of science, yet it can also be incredibly difficult and wrought with challenges and unforeseen complications.We're only human, and we sometimes make mistakes, such as forgetting pieces of equipment that could be useful. For example, when we mistnet at the Barranco near the research station, we often bring a tarp because the sun rises in the east and the platform where we work is completely exposed. This is bad for us, but especially bad for the birds that are awaiting processing as the heat is not good for them. We always keep the birds in the shade. So, what do we do when we accidentally forget the tarp for shade? We move to a place that has shade. In our case, it happened to be the bathroom.

As with all field set-ups, you work with what you have. We're luck that our site at El Garrapatero has areas where we can setup a shade tarp and have a little station where we can measure the birds.

Of course, when working with wild animals, it's unpredictable how busy you will be. Given that we are up at 4:30am and on the road at 5:00am, we often take opportunities to relax a bit if we're not too busy. In some cases, we might read.

And in other cases, we just outright sleep. For some odd reason, Jaime and Isabela, the marine iguana, were dreaming about Andrew Hendry's book....

Galápagos Rails, Media Luna, and Cerro Crocker

Yesterday, we welcomed Marco to the field who joined us from Montreal where he is working on his masters on adaptive landscapes and Darwin's finches. Today, Jaime thought we could go to Media Luna because the storm petrals would be returning to their nest. Unfortunately, nobody bothered to check when the Storm Petral breeding season was. (hint: it's not the end of February). That being said, we spent the morning wandering Media Luna looking for the elusive Galápags Rail, a ground nesting bird that is very quick to run along the ground.

Attempting to find the Galápagos Rail

The microclimate in the highlands is extremely different from the semi-arid area of El Garrapatero where we do our regular mistnetting. We hiked from Media Luna up to Cerro Crocker, which is the highest point on Santa Cruz.

The fog and clouds kept rolling in and out, creating at times a mystical, foggy atmosphere, and then clearing to provide spectacular views of Santa Cruz.

In our attempt to find the Galápagos Rail, we did get a beautiful Warbler Finch

One thing we did manage to get (not the Rails) was a recording of the Galápagos Rail.

Marco recording the Rail

The fog also created a wonderful opportunity for some macro photographs.

Galapagos 5.0

Here we go Galapagos 5.0! Special thanks to Newnham College who awarded me a Gibbs Travelling Fellowship so I could have this field season. Thank you to Clare Hall and Christ's College as well for providing financial assistance for this season!

Finches!!

This year will be a mix of mistnetting to continue our long term data set on Darwin's Finches, as well as my continuing to study behavioural adaptations in Darwin's Finches. This year, we got started right away as Jaime had brought our equipment over from San Cristobal. Carlos, Angela, and I had arrived and were excited to stay in some new apartments that Jaime had kindly found for us. We headed to El Garrapatero for our first day of mistnetting this season.

The EG parking lot

We had a good first day, getting some mockingbirds that Angela had studied the previous year, and getting a nice assortment of finches as well.

For several years, we've always warned volunteers and assistants the perils of opuntia cactus. For the first time (at least it took five years), I managed to get my first major opuntia encounter. I tripped on a rock, mildly sprained my ankle, and managed to fall/sit on the only opuntia in a 10m radius. Thankfully, Angela (a) knew me from the previous year, (b) had experience pulling out opuntia spines, and (c) had some tweezers. So, our first day in the field, and Angela and I bonded over opuntia cactus needles being pulled out of my bum. #overlyhonestmethods #fieldworkfail.

Adios Galápagos 4.0

While I was in Floreana, I found out that I was awarded the Phyllis and Eileen Gibbs Travelling Research Fellowship from Newnham College. This funding will allow me to continue my field research in the Galápagos next year, and thus, as I bid adios to the Galápagos this year, I'm excited to say there will be a Galápagos 5.0!!!

Floreana

Sofia and Speant four days on Floreana, and it is a lovely island. The permanent population there is only 100 people, so the whole feeling of the town is much smaller and quieter than Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. It was overcast, which made walking around much more pleasant!

We went up into the highlands to do some of our work, and one advantage of the higher view was a chance to take some shots that could be stitched together into a panoramic shot.

And, of course, there was a wonderful assortment of Galápagos birds that we saw, including a finch that had very pale feathers. We called it an albino finch, but it didn't have the other characteristics of albinism, so we're not sure what's going on with it....

Española

Española is the oldest island in the archipelago. It is low and relatively flat, especially compared to the islands that have active volcanoes on them such as Isabela. We left in the late morning and spent the afternoon at Bahia Gardner. We slept on the boat and also worked in the early morning there.

Sofia sampling on Española

Only two species of finches are found on Española, the warbler finch, the small tree finch, and the large cactus finch. The large cactus finch is only found on a few islands, so we were very fortunate to have the chance to see one, though I don't have a nice photo of one.

Warbler Finch

And of course, other organisms have made Española their home as well (not us, of course)

We then went to Punta Suárez on the other side of the island. Here, the Nasca Boobies nest, as well as the amazing Waved Albatross.

We also saw a Galápagos Hawk and even had a few moments to wander over to a natural blowhole in the cliffs!

North Seymour

I had been to North Seymour on the day trips that come here, and so when we had the opportunity to come here to do research, I was incredibly excited. James Gibbs at SUNY had told us a bit about the geography of the island and we were looking forward to being able to collect data on the island!

North Seymour is just north of Baltra, and is one of the islands that has successfully eradicated the black rat from the island, and this is very important as the iconic Blue Footed Boobie nests here.

Furthermore, the frigatebirds where the males have these magnificent red pouches to attract females also nest here as well.

We had an excellent day sampling on the island!