Grupo 4/Group 4: Clarissa, Alex, Bethany and David

We woke up to a (relatively) cool morning for our last full day at Chamela. We had our regular breakfast at 7:30am: classic eggs and beans with a side of corn tortillas. We heard a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) calling in the distance and Steve (unfortunately unsuccessfully) used his speaker to try to lure it closer. We hypothesize that this particular owl was angry because Group 3 had spent the last day encroaching on its territory (or at least within earshot) with their own Ferruginous Pygmy Owl playbacks.

We then met in the courtyard to briefly go over the plans for our last day at Chamela. Steve and Javier told us to enjoy the sun and warmth while it lasts, because pretty soon we would be back to the snow, slush, and cold of Kingston. They also suggested that we get going on our final stages of data collection, because we would be leaving early the next day and this was our last chance. Group 3 and 4 went out to collect more data, while the other groups stayed behind to do some preliminary data visualization and analysis and to wrap up their field notebooks.

Although it was a ‘fresh’ morning for the locals here at Chamela, it still was a hot and sweaty one for some of us Canadians, despite our 2 week residency. Once everyone had coalesced into the library, we started to ID the butterflies (order Lepidopterans) we had taken pictures of over the last few days using the two field guides provided by Steve and Javier. It turns out that Mexico, being a megadiverse country (we hear this a lot!), has a lot of butterfly species and many of them look almost identical. We did our best to identify each individual to the species, but made sure to record genus and family as well.

We had a quick break for lunch, and then came together again to discuss butterfly taxonomy, with some of our favourites being the Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia), Gilbert’s Flasher (Astraptes alector), and the Surprisng White (Pereute charops), which, surprisingly, isn’t white at all. By the end we all very much appreciated butterfly diversity. Mikaela gave our last species presentation on the Barred Whiptail, a local lizard species (Holcosus undulatus).

Our last class activity was Steve’s instructions on the scientific paper we will soon begin to write. The professors and TAs then collected all out field notebooks and began the arduous task of (at least attempting to) read and grade them. We students took the time to enjoy our last sunset all together in Mexico. After dinner of cheese (and no sauce) pizza, we had a debrief in the courtyard where we discussed how incredible of an opportunity this course was for all of us. Then it was off to pack, as we had a very early morning the next day, with alarms being set for around 5:45.

With packing to music and sharing our favourite parts of the course, we shared some final laughs (and a few tears) in Chamela. A lengthy bus ride and two planes and to go!