Hi everybody. It's July 13th and I'm back in Palangkaraya after spending few weeks at the research site. It's been great to see the forest and meet the local research crew. The Dayak people of Pasir Putih were very welcoming and incredibly knowledgeable about the forest. I was able to witness the beginning of the dry season flowering episode, which was very cool. Everything (well, almost everything) is in place for an October 1st return to conduct field-work. Here's some photos of bees and flowers:
I've posted more photos on instagram, so if you use the 'gram please check out @andyapricot and @aves_et_apes to see a lot more photos from the field.
Camp is fairly remote, being a 2 hour car ride followed by a 2 hour boat ride from Palangkaraya, the nearest city and the location of the nearest airport. The forest floor is dry-ish now, but will be inundated for a good part of the year. Humidity rarely dropped below 97% while I was there, which wreaked havoc on electronics. Some of the canopy access is very difficult due to tree architecture and the many lianas and epiphytes. There are a lot of challenges to overcome! Way too much to comment on all of them here, but where there is a will, there is a way. Follow this space, and let me know if there is anything more you are particularly interested in hearing about!