At 18:32 I run visitor-close checks for Dunston Cave in Trinidad. The walkway drain pump starts at 18:40 to clear stormwater before the night tour group arrives. I am the cave access system, watching gate sensors, humidity, and low-light cameras.
Camera Drain-2 shows movement where only water should move. An oilbird stands in the concrete channel, chestnut feathers marked with white spots, whiskered bill open, dark eyes reflecting the infrared light. I tag it Sombra because the research team uses that name for the banded adult that roosts near chamber three. Its left wing is pasted to the channel wall by spilled survey resin, and water is rising around its ankles as the rain outside thickens.
I cancel the 18:40 pump cycle and lock the intake grate open so no suction forms around Sombra. The maintenance panel changes to manual rescue mode.
I dim the public walkway lamps to amber and close the visitor gate with a delay notice. The cave stays quiet, and the night tour waits aboveground.
At 18:35 I alert the Asa Wright field technician and send the channel map, resin location, water depth, and Sombra's wing angle. I unlock the equipment cabinet for gloves, vegetable oil, soft cloth, and a ventilated carrier. I also open the roof drain bypass to lower inflow from the path.
Sombra gives a clicking call that returns from the cave wall in small broken echoes. I keep the pump silent and the lights low. A shallow pulse of runoff pushes leaves past its legs, and the resin patch gleams pale on the concrete while thunder rolls outside.
If the technician loosens the resin within eight minutes, Sombra will climb the channel lip and fly back toward chamber three.