Amidst Albatross: Wacky Hair Styles

The albatross are growing up before my eyes. Every day the strong begin to fly and one by one vanish to the outer parts of the reef. For the next month, the albatross will slowly make their way, bit by bit, bird by bird, to the water. In the process they have slowly shed their downy coats and revealed their adult flight feathers. Each day when the strong breezes blow they spread their wings and test the strength in their wings. Some will not make it though. Unfortunately not a day goes by where I do not see a dozen albatross that have succumbed either to the elements or hunger. The first week on Midway was nearly unbearably hot for me, however since then a low front has moved in and steadily given us rain each and every day. The rain provided relief for myself and the albatross. However, not all the albatross have been so fortunate. The weak albatross, or malnourished albatross have drown or died from the shock of rain. Each day the albatross nearest the paths on Midway are pitch-forked into a trailer and taken away to the garbage dump. Thus each day when I look upon the fields of albatross, both the strong and the weak are missing. The albatross that are left have not lost their friendly curiosity. In fact the door to my house has even more albatross on the doorstep. Each morn, noon, and evening they stare at me as I enter and leave. They’ll let you scratch some of the down from their sides and usually will peck at your ankles as you pass. Yet, the mirth of their transformation is too much. In this I will share their story. The following pictures diagram the humor in their transformation from chicks to adults. Not all is sad on Midway. In fact, most of the time lately is spent remarking and laughing at the crazy looking goony birds.

First off, every time I see these birds I think baseball. For example, now playing the Chicago Cubs, The Midway Padres...