Nueva Esperanza - Part II

Ok, here is my second post about Nueva Esperanza, as promised!

I felt like the conditions at this field site were rougher, but it was probably just because I wasn't on the platform so my tent got a lot dirtier. The bathing site here was really nice though. We had to walk down a trail a little ways to get to a stream, but it was really pretty and deeper than the last stream. No buckets necessary! Also, since the net-lines at this site were a little closer, at the end of the day we usually returned with just enough time left to bathe while it was still light out.

Our bathing stream!

I talked about one cool bird that I got to see, the motmot. But that same day, the other net-line caught even more cool things! First they caught two Flame-crested Tanagers, which aren't quite as vibrant as other tanagers (such as the Paradise Tanagers that I didn't get to see, also). And later in the day they caught a Royal Flycatcher! I'm super jealous of this one - the royal flycatcher this big, extravagant red crest and, when caught, does this weird thing where it opens its crest and mouth really wide and slowly turns its head back and forth, to scare away predators. It looks kind of like a slow, confused, drunk bird with its mouth wide open. It's pretty ridiculous.

Photos courtesy of Angie!

Its crest looks much sadder than usual because it was raining that day.

We also saw interesting wildlife up close this time, too. One day we found a squirrel really tangled in the net and we had to get him out. He actually bit one of the girls before I managed to untangle him. Squirrels get caught in the net every once in a while, and sometimes you can just bounce them out if they aren't too tangled, but this time was much harder.

One day at the other net line (not where I was), they found a bushmaster! Bushmasters are one of the most dangerous vipers - my professor from Ecuador, Kelly, once said that he would rather walk on top of an anaconda than walk past a bushmaster, because they are so unpredictable.

Bushmaster! These photos are from Eileen

They also caught a bat in the other net-line that same morning! I was very jealous! But unfortunately I've forgotten all my bat knowledge so I can't really identify this little guy, other than that he is in the family Phyllostomidae (Leaf-nose bats).

D'awwww

Since we were in a community this time, we had some interactions with the locals. One night they were having a fiesta celebrating the 25th anniversary of the village (I think) and so they invited us over. It was a little awkward, but we got to try a local alcohol that was made with like egg whites or something. It was actually pretty good. Once when it was my day off, the senoras offered us chicha, which is another liquor they make using fruit, which was also good. None of us got to try the infamous yuca beer that village ladies make by chewing up the yuca and spitting it back out (Anthony Bourdain had it when he went to Peru or Ecuador or one of those), but apparently we may get to try it at one of the other communities. If they offer it to you, you cannot refuse because that would be incredibly rude, and it's supposed to be really sour. 

Our last day we went to the school house and did an activity with the children of the community. We brought them color-by-number pictures of birds and colored pencils and taught them about the importance of the birds here. Even if we couldn't speak much Spanish, it was still fun. The children are very neat and precise all the time (they color very carefully) - maybe it's a result of growing up in such poverty, where they don't waste anything. We took a lot of pictures and did a lot of coloring! I didn't know that this would be an aspect of our work in Peru, but I'm happy it is! :]

I worked with this little girl for most of the morning - her name was Laura!

Ok so I will be leaving for our next site, San Martin, in about an hour and a half. Hooray! I will be returning on the 14th of October! See you all then!