Keeping Warm

Today was a scorcher!  I checked the weather in Hickory Corners, Michigan and noticed it was below 10 degrees Fahrenheit.  My skin remembers that cold, less than two weeks ago, but most of me is more used to sweating in bed at night with a fan on.  (Thank goodness for the fan -- some of the sites won't have them, so I'm appreciating it now.)  

I spent the day preparing the first experiment for the independent project on Ant-Acacia Coreid bugs that I'm doing with two other students, Becky and Ellen R.  That meant a lot of walking, hours out in the forest under the sun looking for bugs and the right species of Acacia.  We got to see other interesting things on the way, and just being outside is a pleasure.  I saw my first Great Currasows today, huge birds that walk around on the ground.  They make a fantastic amount of noise running through the woods, like people -- you can hear that they are bipedal and not very careful! 

We also walked by a group of capuchins just as they ran into a band of howler monkeys.  It didn't seem too dramatic.  Actually, the best part was when cars drove by.  It seems that the howlers hear the rumbling of an automobile as a threat, and they answer with their own growls that completely drown out the vehicle (which is pretty impressive, on these bumpy gravel roads.)  A band of five howler monkeys can make a very intimidating roar.

This evening we had a salsa and merengue workshop in the dining room.  I love dancing!  It's like playing cards; I have to be reminded of the rules every single time, but the I pick it up fast and have fun.

That's about it, it was a quiet day.  Amanda actually found a scorpion on our bedroom floor, that was probably the most exciting thing.  :)  She ushered it outside.

In addition to the curassow, I saw a steely-vented and cinnamon hummingbirds, and a great-crested flycatcher.  They're pretty hard to tell from the brown-crested, and now I'm not sure i've actually seen the latter.  Birding is a fun puzzle.  I also saw a gnatcatcher, either the tropical or white-lored.  I'm leaning toward tropical.  

Now i get to sleep for 8 hours.  Yay!  Keep warm up there in North America, ya'll.