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Patagonia

VLOG: Patagonia Homestay 2025- Kiera Burke, Colby College

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VLOG: Guanaco Surveys Patagonia 2025 – Avrie Dreyer, University of Puget Sound
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The Botswana group’s had a busy past few weeks exp The Botswana group’s had a busy past few weeks exploring Mababe and Makgadikgadi Pans!

In Makgadikgadi, students enjoyed their mid-semester break, taking time off of classes and research to enjoy the unique landscape of one of the largest salt flats in the world. Traveling to Mababe, they dove back into research and transects, discovering the grasslands and pans of the area. 

Throughout, they also had the chance to dive into cultural activities, including a class on basket weaving and a ride through the Okavango in mokoros, a dugout canoe used for navigating the delta’s shallow waterways.

For the final weeks of the semester, they’ll be in Khwai completing final research transects and preparing their projects to present to our partners!
Woodpecker tracking through the lens of Patagonia Woodpecker tracking through the lens of Patagonia program student @braydenstanger 📸✨

On a recent trip to Patagonia National Park, Jeinimeni Sector, students spent four days tracking two families of Carpinteros (Magellanic Woodpeckers), the largest woodpecker species in South America. 

Every morning, tracking groups were ready at 6:30 am, waiting for the distinctive call of this year’s fledglings. The woodpecker families led students through their home in the vast, dense, and often difficult to traverse lenga forests (Nothofagus pumilio). Throughout the lenga forests, there were many trees in decay, a favorite foraging site for the woodpeckers.

While tracking, the group also witnessed a few conflicts between the woodpeckers and other species defending their territories. Each night around 9:30 pm, the woodpeckers returned to their nesting cavity, reminding the Austral Pygmy Owls who had slept peacefully inside all day who the cavity really belonged to.

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Rastreando carpinteros a través del lente de Brayden, estudiante del programa de la Patagonia.

¡De vuelta del Parque Nacional Patagonia — sector Jeinimeni!

Cuatro días rastreando dos familias de carpinteros negros el mas grande de sud américa.
Cada mañana a las 6:30 ya estábamos listos, esperando el llamado de la cría del año.

Nos guiaron por su hogar en los bosques de lenga (Nothofagus pumilio): bosques amplios, densos y difíciles de transitar. Muchos árboles en descomposición, sus lugares favoritos para alimentarse.

También presenciamos algunos conflictos: otras familias y especies defendiendo su territorio. Cada noche, cerca de las 21:30, regresaban a su cavidad para dormir, no sin antes recordarle al chuncho de quién es realmente el nido, el mismo donde él había pasado el día durmiendo tranquilamente.
Our Botswana group has returned from Mopane camp w Our Botswana group has returned from Mopane camp where 5 am alarms and mornings spent monitoring wildlife have become a familiar routine. 

As an especially wet rainy season continues, they’ve also become acquainted with a Botswana program rite of passage - digging stuck research vehicles out of the mud!

The trip was an extra meaningful one for the group as they spent time with the community in Sankoyo village, the home of our Botswana program co-director and assistant instructor, Dix and Pabelelo. Laughter abounded as students faced off against a gaggle of children in a heated soccer match (which they only narrowly won). The group also had the chance to learn traditional dancing and games, deepening their understanding of community and place.
Ever wondered what it’s like to research and learn Ever wondered what it’s like to research and learn in one of South America’s most stunning landscapes? 🏔️ 

Here’s a glimpse into the experience with student Henry @hhagen5 and this semester’s cohort as they backpack and conduct fieldwork in Patagonia, Chile.

Want to see more including their day spent bird watching and surveying the glacier? Watch Henry’s full length vlog by clicking the link in our bio and selecting this post from the grid.
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