Monday 18 February 2013

Monkey...ing around!



FEBRUARY  17th

I took a lie in till 8am this morning... Well it is Sunday! I decided to walk to the E end of the lagoon from the base side. What a good decision this was. The Neotropical Cormorant was back in full shape preferring the top of the lagoon.  An Osprey entered from stage left showing off its fishing skills by bagging a nice sized fish in the process! Fantastic! I made a mental note to speak to Sean who was studying the marine life in the lagoon.
(Osprey)
The temperature was soaring and the birds were already on their siesta. It was time to go back to base to prepare lunch with Sean. Weekend dining is prepared by the guys on a rota basis the remainder of the week a cook from the local community has the reigns.

During lunch Becca suggested we go to the monkey feeding platform and leave some fruit and try monkey playback. It was the hottest part of the day but I was up for an opportunity to link up with these tricky characters! So off we went it was 40C in the shade but what the heck!

I arrived at the monkey feeding platform a few pounds lighter but settled in observing the platform camera poised! The playback didn’t seem to be paying off but then the trees outside this area started to bend under the weight of two Capuchin monkeys who were clearly enjoying the mid-day sun. They did not enter the feeding area but it caused some excitement in our camp! The walk back in the heat did not seem so bad but I still could not persuade Becca to visit the site of the dead horse (Vulture heaven) even on the back of monkey sightings!!

I had not been back at base long when Helen offered everyone a tour of the site. This was my first proper trip into the Cerado since visiting last February.  Ruddy Ground Dove and a White banded Mockingbird were additions to my list. Mark and Jo bagged more species but I did not have the energy to walk back to camp with them. I will save the walk for early morning on another day!
(Ruddy Ground Dove)

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