Diario del proyecto Odonata of Oe-Cusse

So far I have spent most of my collection efforts looking for crepuscular species found in Oe-Cusse during the dry season. The rains have started already which means we get consistent rains either daily or every two days (in Pante Macassar). Most of the catchments and rivulets are now flowing, I hope this results in more sightings! I have upgraded my off camera flash system, new flash bracket, new diffuser and light modifier, new and improved home made nets. I have two new sites to survey one in Baoknana, which looks very promising, and another one in Oefoco (a side gig to help the colleagues from the Tourism Department in Oe-Cusse), last time I was there my brother and I took wide angles to do long exposures and ended up missing great opportunities to photograph two vipers.

I have put on some weight during the dry season it was so hot that for every hour or so of collecting I had to drink more than 3 liters of water and had to add re-hydration salts...Yes it was that bad...I certainly miss my long walk, logistics (porters, snacks, drinks).

I will off course visit the old sites (Bolkenak) and guide different photo walks. This time I will be more careful in describing the collection sites, and adding in different aerial photographs of the sites for better perspective on things.

While the rains are here, we have not had consistent downpours yet. I visited the Bolkenat site to see if I could record any more species here. It seems that this site is fairly stable sustaining 3 species throughout the year during both the rainy season and the dry season. The species found here have been Nososticta impercepta, Rhinocypha pagenstecheri timorana and Pseudagrion pilidorsum deflexum.

Other than the dramatic changes in the surrounding vegetation, end of November is marked by the flowering of Delonix Regia, found scattered throughout the trail towards the waterhole and the fruiting of the edible Schleichera oleosa. Interestingly a series of crabs were recorded in these water holes and several putrid dead frogs.

This is arguably a fairly bad time to take tourists here due to the unpleasant smell of dead frogs, and the considerable amount of mosquitoes.

Doing a collection here at dusk would be certainly interesting, however the treks are fairly untidy, most of the markings I had done last year are gone and I should probably redo this trail and redo the signage.