The sun was blistering today with zero cloud cover and a light breeze. Glowing tans and fiery burns are beginning as the sun leaves it’s mark on our faces, however no complaints thus far!
A late lunch followed by a lecture by Dr. Jennifer Gush on the Amakhala Foundation initiated the afternoon activities. The remainder of the afternoon was spent working on research projects. The majority of the students spent their time assisting with a project on the diet of Elephants. This consisted of sitting around samples of elephant dung and analyzing the portion of browse material, aka sifting through poo. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to start my data collection for my project on species richness of birds. I got to leave the tented camp with Dr. Gray and Jason, our tour guide. We went to a secluded pond that was nestled in the ridge that borders Amakhala. We followed a animal trail up onto the rocks and came to a ledge, ideal for bird watching! We weren’t there for long before our first visitors came to greet us. In roughly an hour and a half we identified and recorded 28 different species, counting 86 individuals. Many of the species we have not yet seen or even heard of! Species included Brown-Hooded Kingfisher, Cardinal Woodpecker, Brimstone Canary and Hamerkop.
Brown-hooded kingfisher
As the sun set we made our way back to the camp. Everyone was diligently working on journals and projects. Supper was outstanding as always, and the we all went to bed early. Janine, Sarah and Dan said that we need our sleep, for tomorrow we are in for a real treat!
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