Today’s mission was to set up 6 camera traps in the Olbalbal floodplain to answer a scientific inquiry. After much deliberation, we came to a consensus on the following question:
How does proximity to the Olbalbal lake impact the species abundance and richness of fauna captured by camera traps over a five day period?
With a plan in place and equipment in our backpacks, we loaded up into the landrovers after breakfast and set a course for the Maasai town nearest lake Olbalbal! On the way there we had an exciting roadside bird encounter: a martial eagle perched in tall grass. It took off, revealing massive powerful wings and a white and speckled chest. Cool stuff. Once in the Maasai village, we convened with the Headman of the area and a Maasai guard, in order to protect our cameras and ensure we had the Maasai’s blessing and cooperation (and very helpful knowledge and insight) in our experiment. They accompanied us in the field, noting and permissing where we placed the cameras.
To assess our question, we arranged our cameras at varying distances from the lake (two cameras at 120 ft from the shore, two cameras 0.3 miles from the shore, and the last two at 0.59 miles from the shore). We noted the coordinates of each trap so that they could be retrieved, and set them up so that they would take a still image in response to motion. I am very interested to see which species are photographed, and even more excited to analyze our data and see if there is a significant relationship between lake proximity and species richness and/or abundance!
While we set up our cameras with Dr. Solomon, Dr. Prendergast was out in the area looking for archeological items – and she found so many! I was so impressed with her ability to just see into the past and notice rocks and hills in ways that I would never think about. She showed us a piece of obsidian she found that was clearly part of a stone tool, and taught us about the percussive wave marks on the back of the stone which provide insight into its creation. It was really awesome to learn about, and made me quite excited for our more thorough explorations into archeology starting on the 23rd!
On the way back from Olbalbal, we had yet another exciting bird encounter – a secretary bird! These birds are in the same order as hawks and eagles, but live a largely terrestrial lifestyle. They are tall – four feet tall – with a huge wingspan and long legs that are occasionally used for stomping snakes.
The best thing that happened today was GIRAFFES. On the way back to Olduvai, we stumbled across a herd of 62 giraffes – an unbelievable amount of giraffes, essentially an indescribably amount of giraffes. They were on the edge of the dry savanna near the floodplain, some standing and others sitting or browsing acacia. It was an amazing sight! We all got out of the landrovers and took photographs a fair way away from the giraffes. They are such cool creatures; they always look as though they are moving in slow motion and are just so big it is hard to comprehend. They are visible way out in the distance on the savanna, taller than almost all of the trees.
We spent the afternoon relocating our tents (which had accumulated a thick layer of very fine dust due to the dusty landscape and the very strong wind) into a more protected area. It was an adventure in and of itself. I went back to my early hominid roots and started banging in stakes with a big rock. Afterward, we traveled to the Olduvai museum for a futile attempt to harvest WiFi to post these blogs. Even though no blogs were posted by yours truly, I had a great time in the gift shop and meandering around the museum! After dinner we had presentation! Hippos and Buffalo by Isabella, Alcelophini by Rose, BIRDS by me, and Giraffes, Pangolins, and Aardvarks by Kacey.
Sincerely,
the giraffe-obsessed caroline
Moonrise over Olduvai
The World Giraffe Day convention
