Notable Trees

A bit of a strange week this week - I have felt exhausted and am not sure whether its jet lag from my journey home, or all the fresh air and exercise.

On Monday and Tuesday I had a couple of days off, mostly spend unpacking, washing, and doing bits of admin.  Tuesday was my official last day of work, and also my birthday, so we went for a meal out in the evening to celebrate.

On Wednesday I attended a CIEEM regional event on Notable Trees, held at Scriven Park in Knaresborough. The weather was good, and we had a wander around the estate looking at ancient trees and how to record their features. The main take away from the session was that it is not just ancient trees that are important, and there is no easy way to score one tree against another as they all have different merits at different stages of their life.  The best case scenario is to have trees of different ages as these will create more habitats for a greater diversity of species.

I was introduced to the DAFOR scheme, which is a way of recording the abundance of species found in a square: D = Dominant; A = Abundant, F = Frequent, O = Occasional, R = Rare.  There is then the Double DAFOR (DDAFOR) which is based on a grid system and records both overall and local abundance to show how clumped together or evenly spread the species is. For example FR and RF would have the same number of plants in the square, but FR would be single plants spread out and RF would be in one clump.

It was interesting to see how ecologists work and record data, and also some of the features of old trees and how they change shape. The photo shows bootlace fungus under the bark of a beech tree stump.

On Thursday I took part in a task day at Woodhouse Washlands with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Unfortunately a few other volunteers let us down, so it was just myself and the Reserve Manager Mark. The site is a floodplain meadow on the banks of the River Rother, situated between the M1 and Sheffield.  The Trans Pennine Trail runs through it, and quite a lot of litter had accumulated along the route, particularly at the entrances at either end of the site, so the morning was spent walking the length of the site and collecting litter. We ran out of bags by the time we reached the other end, so had to get a bit creative and use some plastic tubs that had been discarded.  After a few hours the site looked much better, but could still do with another litter pick (and would be much improved if people took their rubbish home with them!).

In the afternoon, we cut back some hawthorn scrub that had started to encroach on one of the meadows. The field will be grazed by cattle later in the year, so we removed young bushes from much of the site. As there was just the two of us, we didn't quite finish the field but again it was much improved. I finished the day feeling as though I had worked hard, and had the scratches to prove it!

Bye Bye Nicaragua

On Saturday we commenced the long journey home.

I had pretty much packed the night before, but we were all awake before 6am and tucking into our last Nicaraguan breakfast of sausage, egg, rice, beans and plantain by 7am.

Most of us were on the lunchtime flight out of Managua, so we had a few hours to kill before the minibus collected us at 10am.  We went for a short walk down to the craft market. This time it was just opening, but we managed to shop for some last minute souvenirs.

The journey to the airport was fairly uneventful. The departure lounge at Managua airport was surprisingly comfortably, so we bought lunch and relaxed before the flight.

We arrived in Houston around 4pm, and the six of us that were left had dinner in the airport, before catching the evening flight back to Heathrow. As it was a night flight, I should have been able to sleep but couldn't, so watched another movie (the Book Thief) and fidgeted for the next 9+ hours. 

It was then lunch at Heathrow before catching the 3pm flight back up to Leeds/Bradford and retrieving my car.

Somewhere along the way I lost 6 hours and a whole nights sleep. I tried to sleep when I got home but couldn't. That night I slept round the clock though and felt much better for it.  Now I am reflecting on my journey, enjoying the feeling of not working at the bank any more, and getting up to speed with my admin and studies.

Nicaragua - Day 6

On this final day of fieldwork, the geophys group had a special trip planned deep into the crater of Nindiri. Having seen Rob's video of his experience on the same trip the prior week, I didn't think I would enjoy the scramble, wearing gas masks much of the time, even though the scenery looked amazing.

As this was my last day I wanted to do some more ecology work, and I joined Anne, Ed and John, led by Hilary, on a trek through the forest counting butterflies.

We were dropped on the main road through the park, about half way up the crater. To reach the study area, we first had to cross the lava field which was quite rough under foot. From here you could clearly see the route the lava had taken flowing down from the crater several hundred years before (above right).
 The study area was a section of dry tropical forest that was untouched by recent volcanic activity. We did not have a guide, but Hilary managed to negotiate the way using a series of small paths. We followed a circular route, counting species and abundance as we went, and netting some species where we needed to have a closer look.

Today I felt a bit more familiar with the species and also their behaviours and preferred habitats.  I was easily able to identify the Hamadryas and Parides genus. We also found this leaf mimic, Zaretis ellops, as well as dark swallowtails that were too fast to catch.

The walk was only about 5km long but it was another very hot day and as the path was less defined it made it more tiring. I am sure I saw a small green snake coiled around a branch at the side of the part, but I didn't hang around for a closer look! After around 4 hours walking, I was pleased when we re-emerged onto the lava field and started to head back to the main road.

Primary succession in action: lichen growing on volcanic rock, and the first colonising plants

 

There was more drama to come though. Half way across the lava field, we heard a buzzing sound as a swarm of bees approached. We all crouched down, and luckily they passed over a short distance away, continuing on their way.  The minibus was being repaired, so the plan was to flag down one of the park vehicles to get a lift back to the entrance of the park. After waiting 15 minutes or so with very little traffic passing, we decided to walk down the road to the visitors centre instead. This was another 30 minutes or so walk, but I got into conversation with Hilary about her research and it passed quickly enough.

We had a brief stop at the visitor centre to use the toilets and get a cold drink, then managed to get a lift to the entrance with a guard. Then it was a short wait for a public bus into Masaya town, which was a rather cramped experience. We got off at the rather elaborate roundabout at the edge of town, then it was another 10 minute walk to the hotel. This was probably the most active day, and my muscles felt really tired, probably more so due to slight dehydration. We went out almost immediately and I gut a tiramisu frappe at a local coffee shop,which was a delicious treat to end the day.

In the evening we had a cake to celebrate John's birthday, and had a slide show of people's pictures taken during the week. Unfortunately I could not show mine as the card reader did not read the SD card, but I believe a Flikr site is being set up so we can look at each other's. There was quite a lot of overlap, but other people will have photos of me, and Stefan took some good shots from inside Nindiri.

Nicaragua - Day 5

The geophy group were a little short today, so I joined Sara and Lee on the GPS whilst Andy, Hazel and Charles did the gravity readings. The day followed a similar pattern to the day before, but this time we went a bit further around the crater towards the old car park on the Nindiri crater.

After the first few readings, we parked at the bat cave and then walked around the rim to get the last three readings. Gas masks were needed at one point as we were in the line of the sulfur gases, but as were only walking gently it didn't feel too claustrophobic.

The landscape up here was quite bleak but beautiful. The other members of the group terrified me by peering over the rim into the volcano. The photo below left is what is left of the gate to the old car park.

We saw several brightly coloured butterflies up on the crater that looked completely out of place. There were also more of the bees digging in the ash; I later found out from Hilary that these were actually a different species of wasp. This time I managed to get some better photos and a short video clip.

It was a bit cooler up on the volcano; when we descended back down to take a final reading at A1 you could really feel the heat, and the thermometer read 42 degrees.

   

 

We had the afternoon off and travelled half an hour or so in the minibus to Apoyo. This is an old volcano crater that is now filled with water, and a resort has sprung up around the lagoon.  The other group were already there when we arrived, having walked down the inside of the crater doing a butterfly transect. It was great to have a swim in the lake and cool off, then we had a very pleasant couple of hours drinking and eating before returning to the hotel. 

In the evening we watched a really good video called 'Life on Fire', an hour long documentary about the ecology of the Masaya volcano, which contained some excellent footage. 

Nicaragua - Day 4

Today the ecology group was undertaking a longer walk.  As the tendon in my ankle was pulling slightly and we worked out it was at least 6 degrees hotter in the forest, I opted to join the geophys group and have a slightly easier day. We were hopping from point to point in the van, taking readings at various stations around the crater.

I took my first reading on the side of the road approaching the crater. It was really hard to get the gravity meter perfectly balanced - we take readings to a micro gal (a thousandth of a thousandth of a centimeter per second squared) - but I managed it eventually. As we were waiting for professor to take her reading, I was taking a photo of a tree in flower when I was stung under my arm. I don't know how as I had a shirt on, but the pain was incredible. Luckily I didn't have a reaction, and had some anti-histamine cream I could put on immediately, so it didn't swell up too badly and just feels a little tender.

Out next stop was a slight walk up to the top of the neighbouring San Fernando crater. This is now inactive. There was a lava flow in 1773 but it erupted from a passage at the side, so the crater is intact and now covered in vegetation. It was very beautiful, and forms its own little ecosystem in the crater as it is inaccessible to humans.

 

We did gravity and GPS readings at several more stations, and had lunch near the old car park on the other side of the crater. After lunch we visited the bat cave, which is an old lava tube. It stretched quite a long way. We must have walked at least 100 metres before reaching the main chamber, where we saw the bats. It was surprising how far in the tree roots had grown.

 

On the way back, we did another couple of readings as a double check, then headed back to the hotel.

Before dinner, I joined Rob and Andy on a stroll around the town. We were looking for the market but got rather lost and walked a little further than intended so had an ice cream to make up for it. We did find the market eventually and it was full of quaint craft stores, most of which were starting to close so we only had a quick look round before returning to the hotel before it got dark. 

Nicaragua Day 3

Woke early again today, and by 8am we were all raring to go.  The group split in two, and my ecology group was dropped off near the bat cave on the western side of the volcano. We carried out a timed transect survey for butterflies, following the Jinocuabo trail for approximately 4km. It was another really hot day, and I was grateful for the shade that we had for most of the route. Although we were on a trail, it was quite hard walking with lava rubble in many places, but we walked fairly slowly as we had to scan for butterflies as we walked.  We took a note of the species of butterfly seen, and also an abundance count. Identification was made by sight, though we also netted and caught some where we needed a closer look. We found 20+ species out of over 200 that are endemic to the region, and I was really chuffed to find a species never found in the area before.  We also saw parakeets in the trees above us. At one point I heard a huge crashing through the jungle behind our group - the guide assured me it was only an iguana (about two metres long) and that it was moving away from us. It sounded like an elephant to me, so I swiftly repositioned myself so the guard was between me and the danger!

We finished the survey when the trail hit a more defined road, and it was another 1km or so until we reached the visitors centre. I kept my eyes peeled for the monkeys but they seemed to have moved on.

We finished the walk early so hung out at the visitors centre for an hour or so until the other group finished their work and came to pick us up, grateful for a cold drink.

New park record, Synapte syraces, cunningly disguised as a rock! 

Nicaragua Day 2

Our first official day on the project, but still really a taster day. We stayed together as a group and drove to our study area within the Volcan Masaya national park. After picking up our guide/guard at the entrance, we drove up to the visitor centre and spent half an hour looking around and orientating ourselves. We then had a practice using the GPS and gravity meters before driving to the car park at the top of the volcano.

There were stunning views from the top (when the gases cleared). We took some more readings just to the side of the car park, then had a gas mask check before walking round to a more remote area. With the guide with us we could go into more remote areas. There was a bit of a scramble down into the crater, which steps down inside. It was like walking on the moon, with dust and rocks below foot and with our gas masks on it made breathing sound like Darth Vadar. One of the most bizarre things was some of the animals that live in the volcano. If you stood still, you could hear bees humming. These were solitary bees that burrowed into the volcanic ash, and I took a few moments to watch one burrowing a hole and kicking the ash back behind it like a miniature mole.  A few days later I managed to capture a sand wasp on video:

Sand wasp Microbembex monodonta burrowing

 

We returned back to the visitors centre and found some shade to rest and have a picnic lunch. Afterwards we had a taster session of the ecology work, and did a circular walk looking at the plants and catching butterflies. It was my first time in a tropical forest, and there were some stunning flowers but not that many of them. At this time of the year it is the dry season, and it was very hot (38 degrees in the shade). Although we were only walking for an hour or two, I was ready for an early finish.

On the way back to the van, we saw a pair of white faced macaques which was good as they are rarely seen in the park now and it was thought they may have moved on.

Nicaragua Day 1

Nicaraguan immigration proved less organised than the USA but just as annoying. As I left baggage claim I spotted some comrades gathering in the arrivals hall wearing the requisite green Earthwatch t-shirt and we chatted and wandered the airport shops for an hour or so until our lift arrived.

It was an half hour or so drive from the airport to the town of Masaya where we are staying. The drive gave the chance to appreciate the heat, the haphazard buildings and the crazy roads; most bizarre sight so far a young man on a bicycle carrying his grandma on the handlebars .... This seems a regular mode of transport.

At the hotel we were allocated rooms and had a quick 10 minute turn around before going out in the minibus for an orientation. We were joined by some more volunteers who came last week and were staying for a fortnight. We drove up to an abandoned fort, later a revolutionary prison, built on top of a cinder cone just outside of town and now managed by the Boy Scouts of Nicaragua as a tourist attraction. From here we got great views of the surrounding countryside, and could put our volcano into context of both the larger caldera (that the whole town in built on) and the string of volcanoes stretching the length of the country and beyond. 

We then had a tour of the prison. The guide didn't speak English, so Rob who was here last week remembered what he could and did a really good job. The conditions in the sub levels were appalling and it was quite eerie. There were bats living in the darker rooms which kept flitting around our heads.

 

We returned to the hotel to freshen up and had a health and safety briefing and introduction to the studies. We were issued with gas masks for the days we are in the crater, as the carbon dioxide and sulfur gases can be lethal. Although I want to see the volcano up close, I am more looking forward to the ecology side which will involve swishing butterfly nets and identifying what we find. 

My room mate Lee collapsed in a heap from jet lag after the briefing, so we abandoned her and went out for pizza in town. It was only 9pm when we got back but the mantra here seems to be early to bed and early to rise. Having wrestled with the mosquito net, I spent a restless night. I have to say though that 5am is probably the best time of the day as it is cooler with a nice breeze. I am looking forward to our first full day today.

Panoramic view from the prison, with Masay town in foreground and our volcano to the right; it's not really visible, but the volcano is persistently de-gassing

Starting a new adventure

Currently somewhere over the North Atlantic on a flight from Heathrow to Houston. I left home yesterday evening and caught a flight from Leeds Bradford to Heathrow, and spent the night at the Hilton at Terminal 4. My flight today wasn't until lunchtime, but with check in times it would have been a very early start to either drive or get the train down this morning. So I made use of air mile points, got a free internal flight and hotel stay and a leisurely start.

I somehow managed to set the alarm off going through security so had a thorough pat down, and the flight was nearly an hour late leaving due to minor technical issue with the navigation, but otherwise I'm impressed with United so far. The plane is half empty so there is a spare seat next to me and plenty of room to sprawl out, but I managed to get a seat across the aisle from the temper tantrum toddler from hell - luckily he's asleep at the moment (and I hope it stays that way!).

The good thing about flying is I get to choose which films to watch, ie. chick flick rubbish Robert won't let me watch. I watched 'About Time' and managed to cry through most of it. I downloaded a teach yourself Latin-American Spanish class to my iPad so think I am going to try and spend a more productive hour learning some basics. Hasta luego!

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A really long wait to get through immigration, then finally arrived at my hotel around 9pm last night. My body was too confused to eat, and I didn't sleep well either.   Think I've had about 6 hours sleep in the last 3 days. I got an earlier shuttle back to the airport than I intended, and am just about to board my third and final flight, and should reach Nicaragua by lunchtime. Killed some time by devouring the classic American breakfast (pancakes with maple syrup and bacon, washed down with coffee) and am feeling a bit more human now.