11 DEC 2018

We had a complimentary breakfast in front of a beautiful picture window, overlooking the mountains in the distance. There were many different species of hummingbird that visited the feeders in front of the windows. Before we left La Georgina, we took a hike though a trail one of the owners showed us. It was very beautiful, full of many different plants – including bamboo, ferns, and mosses. We saw a few different birds on the hike, which were hard to identify due to their elusiveness. After leaving La Georgina, we went to Paramo for a quick tour, where we saw tracks of what seemed to be a coyote, and definitely tapir tracks! From there we made our journey to Las Cruces Biological Station.
When we arrived at Las Cruces, we took a quick tour (since we were a couple days late) and joined our other mentees in the laboratory to meet with our mentors and get prepared for our research. My mentor was Jessica, and my co-mentee was Brandon. We inventoried and prepped the many instruments we would be using during this research trip, including GPS systems, trail cameras, and Kestrels. After that we had free time to look at the different areas of the station, I did a little bird-watching and took a few photos of different birds and plants.
Afterwards, we met at the cafeteria for dinner – delicious spaghetti was served, along with an array of fruits and vegetables. After we were finished eating, the entire CRiRE group met in a room at the back of the reception building to introduce ourselves. Many of the attendees introduced themselves in their native languages, which was very refreshing to hear!

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