Ramon’s Weekly Report #11
Bioregionalism Education
Summer Session, 2008
July 18, 2008
The topic for the week was birds. On Friday we went to observe birds at Punta Gorda. We decided to do one long day of work, instead of two days. Having gotten permission to take the day off from school, we left at 7:30 in the morning from Bahía in a rented vehicle that dropped us off and would pick us up. Planet Drum volunteer Gina came along with us.
Before leaving the students showed me the binoculars they had to look for birds.
The bioregional class arrives at Punta Gorda, 8 km south of Bahia.
After arriving, we headed inland from the beach, up a ravine that would lead us to the mountains. I told the students that they had to keep quiet; otherwise we wouldn’t be able to see birds. But this was difficult because the trail was tough and the students made lots of noises along the way. As a result we didn’t end up seeing very many birds. The idea was to try and listen for their different calls to see if we could count how many different bird species there were in the area.
I told them about the different types of birds that can be found here such as vultures, tree-climbers, and birds of prey. On our hike we were able to see Culebreros, Woodpeckers, and Black Matorraleros and Gallinazos. Stephen says that he was able to count 8 different bird calls.
We had split into two groups, one that hiked farther in than the other. Within these two groups the students covered the reading material for the week.
One group was with Gina and the other with me. Since my group had hiked farther in, we were also able to spot a falcon and some orchids which were flowering.
After having spent 5 hours in the woods we returned to the beach and waited for our ride to return and pick us up to take us back to Bahia.
– Ramon
Translated by Clay.
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