2009 is a very different year for the Bonaire Parrot project. Sam Williams and Rowan Martin are unable to be present on the island for this year's parrot breeding season, so Rhian Evans (last year's field assistant) will be leading the field work. Rhian will be joined this season by Jonathon Dunn, a Cambridge graduate who is currently working towards his masters degree, Eneida Fajardo, a biologist from Venezuela, and later in the season by Gabriela Hadjuk from Poland. As in previous years the team will be working closely with STINAPA the National Park Authority on Bonaire.

All of the project personnel will be writing blogs and sharing their experiences. Volunteers always bring something new to the project and different areas of expertise. Parrotwatch sponsors will be able to read online diaries from the volunteers and find out how they found working in the field on a conservation project. Visit their research websites to find out more about Sam Williams and Rowan Martin.

 

The Bonaire parrot project benefits from having volunteers because it will enables us to search for, and monitor, more nests thought the year. Observing a greater number of nests improves the accuracy in estimating reproductive success, poaching intensity and behavioural patterns, which are fundamental to our research and future conservation management. By having a strong team of volunteers on the parrot project we also have a bigger presence on the island and this further helps raise awareness of the parrot’s endangered status.

On the next page there are introductions to Rhian and Jon

 

I graduated in 2007 from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Environmental Science, during which I spent a year in New Zealand working as an intern for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. While I was there I spent time working on a shore bird project and was fortunate enough to work on a colony of Buller's Albatross.
 
The research I was involved with in NZ gave me my first experience of working with and handling birds (although they are quite a bit bigger than parrots!). It was amazing, and I've been looking forward to the next oportunity to do some more work in this field. I have also worked on various conservation projects in Costa Rica including ecotourism and environmental education projects and work with Leatherback turtles.

I joined the project last year in 2008 as a field assistant and had a great time! I have kept my involvement with the project ever since, and this year I'm fortunate enough to return to lead the field work.

Since graduating I have been working in various outdoor related jobs and indulging in my favorite activities-fell running and climbing! I enjoy all sorts of climbing, mountaineering and other adventurous mountain sports such as mountain biking and snowboarding.

I'm pleased that I am able to use and apply the skills I've acquired through past experiences and even from my hobbies to contribute to the conservation of such a beautiful parrot! I am looking forward to continuing the field work this season and to look at some new research questions.

 

Hi everyone, I am Jonathon Dunn, a 22 year old Masters student and self-confessed parrot nut!  I am about to embark on a 3 month project with the team on Bonaire and I am going to use this blog to let Parrot Watch viewers see how I get on.  Firstly, I suppose I should tell you a little bit about myself:

My home town is the lovely and sunny Bude in Cornwall, UK but I am currently working towards an MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at Imperial College in London.  In brief, I enjoy eating dessert, keeping animals, playing the piano, walking, cycling, reading, popular science, being outdoors and of courseÖ. PARROTS! 

Before I did the whole student thing, I used to keep Senegal parrots, Sun Conures and a whole bunch of Australian parakeets ranging from Golden-mantled Rosellas to Turquoisines at home in Cornwall.  It was quite a menagerie at times!  I was always very interested in birds as a child ñ I suppose it was my Dad that started me off with some Zebra finches and it sort of snowballed from there. Given this birdy background, I suppose it will come as no great surprise that I decided that Biology was the way to go. I later studied Natural Sciences, specialising in Zoology, at the University of Cambridge.  Whilst I was there, I conducted projects that looked at grasshoppers, black-headed gulls and hawfinches among other things, but secretly, I was hankering after a parrot project!

There is just something about parrots that fascinates me: the bright colours, the intelligence and the tropical places where they live.  I love it!  They are a really special group of birds on par with the great apes and like the great apes, they are also at a great risk of extinction.  I hope to use my biological training to help the team as best as I can to gain valuable data about the Lora population in Bonaire that can help safeguard their future.  In return, I aim to learn more about parrots in the wild as well as gaining lots of valuable new skills that will help me in the future.  In my following blog posts, I will explain what I hope to study in more detail, and to try and show some of the highs and the lows of parrot fieldwork!