Daily Journals

Name of Species

Total Count

Feral pig

1

Acuri palm

lots

Araça guava

A snackable amount

Capybaras

2 herds

Spiny bromeliads

Here a bromeliad, there a bromeliad, everywhere a bromeliad…

Roseate Spoonbills

4

Wood Stork

1

Peccaries

1

Tarantula

1

Little pimento tree

Scads

Tree of small black fruits

Many

Toco toucans

6

Hyacinth macaws

Several pairs

Ferral pig

1 that Don almost hit

Preying mantis

1

Water grasshopper

Lots.   These guys can walk under water.

Nightjars

Lots in the headlights as we headed home.

Tadpoles

All sorts

Water boatmen

Oh Oh

Name of Study

Team Members

Summary

Wetlands

Team Leader:

Don

Volunteers

Martha, Donna, Tom

We got to the salina and Donna volunteered to walk into the water.   Don explained that we would be in water up to our waist, but it was closer to armpit depth!   We checked several salinas and baias for depth and temperature at monitoring stations.   We also did some water chemistry at Salina Brunet and Salina Brunetzinha (Little Salina Brunet) because the water level is so high the two are connected.   Don explained that this is a rare event.   Salina Brunet is named after Luisa Brunet, a beautiful Brazillian actress who once went for a swim there.  

In the afternoon, we had the pleasure of releasing the tortoise we found yesterday on our way to wade into some other salinas and baias to check their depth, chemistry, and temperature.   We also collected some tadpoles, backswimmers, and a freshwater sponge from a temporary baia.   This is something like our vernal pools.

We were treated to some wonderful wildlife, included a brocket deer, nightjars, and a feral pig which we almost ran over.

Peccaries

Alexine – Team leader

Baiano – Special Agent, Peccary Project

Daiane, Tabby

We checked a few traps this morning and re-baited them.   All were empty except for one containing a feral pig.   This is the same pig that Alexine catches every day in that same trap.   We followed a peccary trail through the woods, making notes of every fruiting tree we passed (peccaries eat the fruit).   Baiano found a feral pig skull that we brought back to the lab.   In the afternoon, we followed another peccary trail, then got a radio call that a herd of white-lipped peccaries had been spotted elsewhere.   So we loaded into the jeep and raced away to the spotting site.   We followed the new trail and used the telemetry equipment, eventually getting close enough to hear (and smell!) them, but not quite close enough to see them.

Frugivores

Richard and Martha

Ducca was team lead

Today Martha and I finished cleaning up Trail 2.   This involved some bushwhacking, wading through water up to our waist and, tracking peccaries.   We also had to finish marking the trail.   We measure the trail every 25 meters and then mark the trail with pink ribbon.

Small Mammals

Team Leaders: Vitor and Cecilia

Teachers: Kleiton and Michelle

We went to where Vitor has his traps and we checked to see if there were any animals inside them. If there was, Vitor and Cecilia weighed and measured the animals (small marsupials and rats—cute rats!), as well as looked the animals over for any identifying marks or injuries. Also we took notes on the sex of the animal as well as clipped their ears with a metal tag to be able to track them in the future. It was a very fun day where we learned a lot and got see a small species of anteater who was yellow. He was so close, it was very cool! It was a great day!

Frogs

And

Frugivores

Frogs

Team leader: Ellen

Volunteers: Patricia, Richard

Frugivoires

Team Leadesr: Ducca and Paul

Volunteers: Elisangela, John

AM: The groups went to release a peccary, then cleared and marked the trail on Vazante Road #1. We returned to the farm and went exploring with canoes. John and Patricia observed four beautiful Roseate Spoonbills on the river's edge and watched as they flew over our heads.   Jeff and Richard went and picked flowers from some lillypads and then fed a caiman some tetras (fish).

PM: Kleiton, Neuci and Patricia went fishing with Lico. No luck at the bridge, so we went to another part of the river, near a group of capybara. Patricia caught the first fish, called a pacu. We weighed and measured the pacu, and kept it in a holding net. Lico caught the second pacu, which was also documented.

Name of Species

Total Count

Ants

hills

Orange daisylike grassland flower

10?

Stalk of big white grassland flowers

2

Tiny white and pink grassland flowers

3

8 or 10 different species of grass

14,312,316,207 not counting the ones behind the other ones that we couldn´t really see

Birds

None (see frugivore study below)

Collared peccaries

2 herds

Palmetto

several

Hawk

1 – Bobbie and Donna saw this guy chasing away all the birds we were supposed to be observing today.   Hmmm, is there a connection?

Teeny red ants

Hundreds in Donna's fanny pack, quickly shown their way out.

Blue and yellow macaw

4

Scarlet macaw

2

Red-capped cardinal

1 (by many people! – frugivores)

Marsh deer

1

Red-footed tortoise

1 BIG turtle

Honeybees

lots

Name of Study

Team Members

Summary

Wetlands

Team Leader: Don

Teachers: Elisangela, Daiane, and Michelle

During the morning we stayed in the laboratory separating and counting insects that had been found the previous day in the baias and salinas. We separated insects which were in different stages of development. We took them out of a container of water and placed them on a paper similar to a coffee filter so that the water would dry quickly, and then we weighed the paper with the insects on it. Afterwards, the insects were removed from the paper and the paper itself was weighed. In doing this, we were able to determine the weight of the insects themselves. The insects were then placed in   70% alcohol in order to preserve them for future research. In the afternoon, we went to three baias and two Salinas to test water chemistry and collect more water samples. Don also took us to a climate station where he connected   a laptop and downloaded information such as the quantity of rain that has fallen, temperature of the soil and the air, and the direction and strength of the wind. It was a day in which we did not participate in too much physical activity, however we did wade through a lot of water and learned a lot of interesting things. On the way home, we drove in the dark and it was so beautiful! There were thousands of lightning bugs and millions of stars! We saw Orion's belt, the Southern Cross, and a belt of the Milky Way is very clear here. It was SO MAGICAL driving around at night!! It was a great day.

Peccaries

Alexine team lead

John, Neueci

Caught a large peccarie in a trap and then weighed him.   He weighed about 40 kilos.   How much is that in pounds?   He was given some fruit and the cage covered for release on Sunday (Domingo in Portuguese).    A great day.

Frugivores

Ellen – team leader, Tabby, Donna, Bobbi

Paul – team leader, Tom, Kleiton

This morning both groups went to survey birds.   We each sat by a tree that had fruit, in order to observe what species of birds came to eat the fruit, how long they stayed, how much fruit they ate, how much fruit they dropped,   how much fruit they carried away, what else the birds did while in the tree, and where the birds headed next.   This would undoubtedly have worked better if some birds had actually showed up at any of the 6 trees we were observing.   Tabby actually did some great grass weaving while watching for birds and now has woven an immunity hat from palm leaves.   Quite a fantastic hat it is.   Tabby has definitely strengthened her place in the tribe by being the one to make the immunity hat, it seems at this point she is beginning to control the game.   However, Jeff and Richard will not let any of us near the camera anymore.   A red-capped cardinal did spend 5 minutes in a couple of trees, but was well hidden.

In the afternoon, Paul's team went tracking peccaries on horseback.   The radio receiver didn't actually pick up any peccaries, but this was more than made up for by the huge red-footed tortoise we found at the edge of the salina.   Rocky picked it up and carried it on his saddle until Ellen met us in the jeep and took the turtle in to measure before returning it to the salina.

Meanwhile, Ellen´s team went fishing as part of the wetlands survey project.   Bobbi caught two beautiful fish.   Richard and Tabby caught some bark and logs.   Richard´s log that he caught was definitely the biggest.

Frugivores 2

Duca- team leader

Richard and Martha

Today Martha and I finished cleaning up Trail 2.   This involved some bushwhacking, wading through water up to our waist and, tracking peccaries.   We also had to finish marking the trail.   We measure the trail every 25 meters and then mark the trail with pink ribbon.   The cool part about this was that as we were tracking peccaries we actually got to see two of them running through the woods.   Boy, you sure can smell those guys! Richard also located three peccaries with radio signals, one which had not been found for awhile, further strengthening his place in the tribe.   After doing this and jumping out of the tractor trailer last night to open all the gates in the dark it is unlikely that he will be voted off.   With Jeff catching fish to provide for the tribe and Richard being the communicator, their alliance seems strong.

Small Mammals

Vitor- PI, Patricia, Cecilia, Saulo, Jeff

AM: We checked traps in Plots 1 and 2, and rebaited the empty ones. When we found small mammals in the traps, we put on masks and gloves and weighed and measured the rodents. Vitor checked for parasites, ear tags, and any unusual markings or wounds.Jeff and Patrica shared tasks of recording information and collecting feces.

PM: Vitor, Cecelia, Jeff and Patricia set off to check traps at the Salina Brunet. We were almost there when the jeep went too deep into the mud and got stuck! We tried pushing (Cecelia got splattered with mud), and then we tried to pull it out with another jeep. The tow rope broke, and we waited for help from 'Japao' on the tractor. We were rescued after dark, and almost made it back, when we found Don's jeep stopped on the road. No one knew why. Vitor then tried to start up his jeep, and it wouldn't start! No explanation. Both groups were finally rescued by Ellen in a larger truck.

Frogs

Name of Species

Total Count

Peccaries

15

Giant Anteater

1

Coati

1

Fox

2

Armadillo

1

Ant lion

1

Gray spiders

many

Ant-looking spiders

A few

Various species of grasshoppers

Several

Camphor – an aromatic plant

A patch

A tiny blue wetland flower that smells good

A big patch

LOTS of species of grasses

As far as the eye could see

A brown butterfly that looks like a leaf

1

Wasp nest

1 (plenty!)

Gigantic but harmless young waspy things that couldn´t fly yet

10

Strangler figs

Several

Acuri – the fruiting palm

A bunch

Araça – remember the yummy wild fruit tree?

Some

Spiny bromeliads

More than we really wanted to see!

Dragonflies, many species

Clouds

Cat claw – a thorny but pretty and lacy shrub

Several

Biting ants

Too many!

Cork-barked tree

2

Caiman

1

Tree frogs

Herds

A white grub inside some fruit

1

Bamboo

1 grove

Cactus

Surprisingly, several!

Brackettes deer

1

Pampas deer

5

Bats

A few

Lightning bugs

1 meadow´s worth

Tarantula

1

Caspar the caiman

Paul says he fed him the other day

Caiman

herds

Name of Study

Team Members

Summary

Wetlands

Team leader: Don

John, Tom and Richard

AM: We processed 10 sample bags from the first Salina north of the Fazenda. Sorting, counting and weighing each species. The most common species was the damsel fly nymphs at shallow depths and dragon fly nymphs at deeper depths.

PM: Our water group went by tractor to the neighboring Fazenda Diacui (19° 33' 31” S 56° 10' 51.2” W). We stopped at a workers quarters where we conducted water temperature, oxygen and ph tests. As we rode to our second site we came upon a blue jeep stranded in the mud which we pulled out using a cable. Two minutes later we came upon four Vaqueiros on horseback in a corral separating cattle by age. After leaving the roundup we saw two hyacinth macaws making a sweeping turn around us in a field. The water team conducted a ten part test on a salina finishing the last core sample as it was getting dark. Venus could be seen as we were drilling the last core in the salina.

Peccaries

Team leader: Alexine, Assistants: Baiano, Piccole

Teachers: Bobbie, Patricia

AM: We checked the peccary traps and released 2, 2, and 1. One trap had to be repaired, and the other ones were set with new bait. Bobbie and Patricia both had turns fitting into the cages to set the traps. One peccary (named Orlando) came back looking for lunch. We followed a short peccary trail but no luck.

PM: We went by tractor and wagon to another Fazenda on the northern part of the Pantanal. The Fazenda was a cattle farm that was dividing the cows into older and younger groups. It was amazing watching the Pantaneiros riding their horses. They seemed to be one with the horses. We acted as good neighbors would and assisted the owner of the farm and pulled his jeep out of the mud.

While Paul and his wetland group conducted tests on a salina we traveled a little farther north to follow some peccaries.

On the way home it became very dark and we were able to see the stars (all of them, it seemed) and then the lightning bugs came out. It was amazing!   We even saw the Southern Cross. The thousands of lightening bugs looked like sparklers everywhere.

Frugivores

Duca   (Team leader), Jeff, Tabby

Paul (team leader) Martha, Michelle

AM: Duca´s group did some fruit sampling along Trail #1.   We chose two sites at random near a baia, two at random near a salina, and two at random in the forest.   We checked 50 square meters at each site, and if we found any good fruit lying on the ground in that space, we collected it to bring back to the lab to identify and mass.   Paul´s group did some trail clearing and marking on Trail #1.

PM: Duca´s group did some computer work in the classroom.   Paul´s group headed out on horseback to track peccaries with the radio telemetry equipment.

Small Mammals

Team Leader – Vitor, Cecilia, Kleighton, Donna

This morning Vitor made us leave very early in the morning: around 5ish.   We set out to bait and check traps, and found 1 opossum and several Oecomys which are like field mice.   One area had roads that were under too much water so the big tractor had to pull us.   Vitor got bitten twice. He almost hit an armadillo!

In the afternoon we went to the far north of the Fazenda and set two more trails, but didn~~t bait the traps.   Then for a surprise he took us to an observatory above a salina, we sat and had cold tea while all the parrots came to the trees where we were sitting.   The day was wonderful and incredible!

Frogs

Went bushwhacking today, no frogs.

Name of Species

Total Count

Capybaras

10ish including 4 babies

Caiman

lots

Tiny red and white striped mushrooms

2

Turkey tail fungus

A mass

Opalescent white mushrooms

A group

A tree with huge purple flowers

1

Raccoon

1

Crab-eating foxes

2

Another kind of fox that wasn´t the crab eating fox

1

Rice rats in the traps

Lots

Tiny opossum in the trap

1

Name of Study

Team Members

Summary

Wetlands

Team leader; Don

Daiane, Kleiton, Patricia (am), Bobbie (pm)

AM: We went to measure water levels at the bridge and   another section of the river. Don taught us to throw the fishnet and we all tried to catch fish suitable for measuring mercury levels. No luck, but lots of piranha. We went to another location to measure temperatures, ph levels, alkalinity, and salinity.

Peccaries

Team leaders: Alexine and Ellen

Bobbie, Donna, Sao

(pilot: Pita)

Martha, Richard, Paul, Elisangela joined the group after a morning of bushwhacking.

The most awesome adventure! We tracked the peccaries from the SKY!!!!   We had to run the rheas off of the flight line before we were able to fly. It was like they were playing with the plane. Banking right and left when Ellen would let us know she heard a beep on the tracking device. Donna would let us know the GPS reading, Alexine would relay the info to Bobbie (who couldn´t hear a thing) and she would write the time, way point and the collar number. Bobbie took over 100 pictures of the Pantanal from the air. (in just about 40 minutes)    In the afternoon, we followed peccary trails, note that these are trails made by peccaries so it´s kind of like crawling through the forest.   We heard a few near us clacking their teeth and making a ruckus.   There were no peccaries in the pen.

In addition to the peccary team tracking via the air, Michelle joined Baiano and Picole in the jeep and went and checked on previously baited traps. Unfortunately, there were no animals in the traps, but we did manage to see some howler monkeys as well as other wildlife.

Frugivores

The team covered trail two doing four fruit sample plots (five meters by ten meters.) They are selected randomly and we counted only fruit found on the forest floor. The first three sites were empty, and the fourth site included ten fig seeds and one acuri seed in ten percent of the sample area. We did one site in a forest setting, one site along a salina, and two sites along a baia. In the afternoon we entered data in the computer and worked on journals.

The other group who was working with the frugivore team went bushwhacking. They went about cleaning-up the trails with machetes and at the same time measuring and marking the trails every 25 meters with bright pink tape.   During the afternoon they tracked peccaries and actually got so close that they could even smell them!   Some feral pigs ran across the trail in front of the group.

Small Mammals

Vitor – team leader, Cecelia, Tom, Tabby

In the morning we checked traps.   Captured mammals were massed, tagged and released.   In the afternoon, we brought some more traps out to a new transect that Vitor is setting up.

Frogs

Jeff, Patricia, and Michelle joined Lico in the afternoon for a fishing trip on the Rio Negro. Jeff turned out to be the “King Fisher” (get it?) who was catching fish right and left. Patricia was at first just feeding the fish all of her bait, but soon caught-up with a few catches of her own. Michelle, however, only managed to catch two fish, but one got away.