Sattelite tagging albatross

(Black-foot albatross with transmitter seen on the back)

I am beginning to miss the albatross. 99 percent of the albatross are gone. Vamooski. I still see quite a few here and there. But compared to the multitude of large birds a few months ago, Midway is becoming rather quiet. Well, maybe not quiet. The wedge-tailed shear waters have returned and the nights are filled with ghastly cries and shrills. The white terns and tropic birds still cry there greetings during the days and nights. Lastly, on a nice day one might also hear juvenile Laysan ducks quack there way across the skies. So, I am still surrounded by birds... and the glorious blue skies and turquoise waters that make island life grand.

The cool news to report is that we tagged nine fledgling albatross about a week and a half ago. We tagged seven black-footed albatross and two Laysan albatross. The really neat thing about all of it is that anyone can go on-line to http://las.pfeg.noaa.gov/TOPP_recent/index.html and see the progress of these albatross. The tagging process was made a little bit more difficult since very few black-foot albatross were around. What could have been accomplished in half a day, ended up taking the better part of two days. We netted the chosen albatross to ensure a catch. Although, as I have said elsewhere, catching an albatross can be simple, we chose not to drag out any potential chase with an albatross that could potentially fly away from us. As proof to the flight potential of these juvenile albatross, one albatross we tagged flew off over the water the moment we released it and another threatened to fly away before we could even catch it. After we caught the albatross, we weighed it, banded it, and placed a transmitter on it. The transmitters themselves are attached to the backs of the albatross by tape. Each transmitter is taped around multiple feathers on the back. Although the method seems a bit primitive, the transmitter doesn't obstruct the flight of the birds and unlike other more bulky methods of attaching transmitters, this method decreases the chance that the bird becomes entangled with any marine debris or fishing lines.

Already the albatross have gone a long way from Midway. The Laysan albatross fledglings seem to fly the straightest, whereas the black-footeds have a wandering pattern to their flight. The idea and hope is that the tags will last six months to a year until the albatross gradually molt off all the feathers attached to the transmitter. Last year the transmitters didn't last quite so long, but the hope is that they will stay on longer this year and that all the tagged albatross survive.

Photographically the process was as follows:
The netting of the albatross

The weighing of the albatross

Taking the measurements on a black-foot albatross


The placing of satellite transmitters on black-footed albatross.

The placing of a transmitter on a Laysan.
The triumphant release of a Laysan Albatross (individual #67688 if you look at the TOPP website)

Routines

Life on an island after more than a month moves real fast. Routines become set and as it stands each week begins to repeat itself. For example, every Tuesday and Thursday I pull invasive plants (i.e. Verbesina) and do bird surveys. Every Friday is chainsaw Friday and we clear out stands of ironwood trees near the old baseball field. Monday and Wednesday we work in the greenhouse either growing native plants or planting the ones planted. Most recently I have also added to the schedule, Laysan Duck monitoring. And, that is only the work week.


Laysan duck monitoring is great. The Laysan duck or Laysan teal is the most endangered duck in North America and at one point was down to 11 individuals in 1911. To prevent extinction, 42 teals were introduced to Midway between 2004 and 2005. Currently the population on Midway is roughly at 150! Which is why I'm now on Duck duty every Tuesday. The job entails sneaking up to the various wetlands on the island and counting the numbers of ducklings that i see. In the process I write down any tag numbers that I can see on any of the ducks. The ducks are amazingly curious for being threatened. After some length of time the ducks recognize me as an intruder and slowly swim over to see what the heck I am up to. If I move backwards they will even follow me out of the water and sit up watch. They eventually move away after they realize that I am not a threat and go back to their duck business of quacking, swimming, foraging, resting and the like. As for their appearance: the ducklings are small fluff balls and the adults are relatively small with very distinct white circles around their eyes. All in all they are cute little ducks and duck duty is a blast.

Similarly, the ol’ social calendar is surprisingly full. It seems that on islands given the limited options, people plan out their weeks fairly strict. Even if it is merely, ‘hey everybody game night Thursday.’ As a result things start to move pretty fast. Oh, and circled on everybody’s calendar is plane night. It’s like the movie, God’s must be Crazy and the arrival of a Coke bottle. People on Midway are fascinated with the arrival of new people. For some it is the arrival of old acquaintances and for others the plane simply brings along a splash of newness. In either case the plane brings tokens of the outside world, people, mail, and fresh supplies (food included). Of those three, I think I am most excited by the arrival of fresh fruit and other perishable foods. Than again, the weeks I have mail I most definitely change my tune.

Photos courtesy of C

Major blog update withstanding these are a few pictures that my workmate C has taken of me. The reef pictures I certainly appreciate since, I tend not to bring my camera on any boats for fear of wreckage.

The reef photos were taken this last Tuesday. We were part of a combination Hawaiian monk seal patrol and another marine debris clean up.





The trick, as I have said before, on Midway is to try and convince white terns to land on your hand. White terns have the ability to hover like a humming bird and usually only come close to landing on a person. Well, on one rather amazing day one sat on my head and the other on my hand. In the photo the one that was on my head had just taken off. In any case, I think I may add to my resume, tern handler. : )


Free time on Midway is usually involves some sort of appreciation of the outdoors. For instance, snorkeling or swimming is common for most people. Other people jump off piers, watch birds, search for shells (or rare Japanese glass fishing floats) on the beach, or hope and wait for a tiger shark to take out a fledgling albatross. On Midway though, nights are more low key and on some nights people use the pool hall for pool, darts, or ping-pong. Oh, and in case I somehow missed mentioning this. Every Sunday I bowl. : ) I have no clue how long the bowling alley has been present on Midway, but I definitely look forward to Sunday night bowling here. On this occasion (not Sunday) pool was in order.

7-11-07

Photo of the Day: One Little Bonin Petrel. This little guy likely recently fledged and was on its way to the ocean. The bonin petrels were nearly eradicated on Midway as a result of the introduction of rats. The rats were eradicated and as such the bonin population has rebounded to more than 100,000. They are nocturnal burrowing birds and are totally unwary of humans. Unfortunately, they come out at nights and are confused by human lights. As such they, often run into buildings and thuds are frequently heard at night. But in general, since they let you hold them, they are delightful birds. They are mostly done nesting on Midway and are less frequently seen or heard these days.

Photo Review

My apologies for my blog neglect. For now, all is well on Midway. Also, for being a small island in the middle of the Pacific with nothing around for miles, we have seen a lot of action lately. Three ships have come to dock in the last weeks! This total includes a sail boat from Alaska on its way to Australia, a barge from Honolulu with fresh supplies, and a NOAA vessel bringing an injured monk seal researcher from Lisianski (another northwest hawaiian isalnd island southeast of Midway). Otherwise, life on an island ticks on with the seasons. The names normally assoiciated with days (such as Monday, Tuesday, and even Friday) lose their distinction and here on Midway, the days only demarcate the incrimental change in the island life. Instead seasons are important here. Yet, even on the mainland seasons have fuzzy boundaries. For example, the start of spring can mean many things. The last snowfall to melt, the first green on trees, the first robins, and the first flowers all do not appear on the same day. Instead gradual changes occurs and then finally, BOOM, spring is noticed. Here on Midway, all seasons are defined by the suttle changes in wildlife. In fact, each day may associate itself with many significant seasons. A single day could be the start of sea turtle season, the end of albatross season, and the middle of monk seal season. Unfortunately, Midway has too many seasons for me to yet grasp and I am only most closely aware of the seasons for albatross. Currently for albatross, the juveniles are stretching and testing their wings. The parents have mostly fed their chicks for the last time and depart Midway until spring. The black-footed albatross juveniles were the first to start to leave and the Laysan albatross are now leaving too. Albatross season in Midway is beginning to fade, however, just like the first snowfall does not always mean winter, the fact that albatross are leaving does not signify the season's finality. Instead the albatross will thankfully linger a while longer and large birds will still surround me for many more days.

I'll definitely try to give a better update soon. However, in the meantime, the blog-dujour will be a photo journal look at the last weeks.

#1: The unfortunate albatross parent with hooks stuck in its bill. Although it was hooked I still saw it feed its chick. The tragedy is that longline fisherman throughout the Pacific are still incidentally hooking albatross.


# 2: One of the many ironies of Midway is that many former Navy buildings have been condemned and posted with keepout or off-limit signs. The wildlife on Midway naturally do not follow these narrow-minded rules.

#3: Sunsets not soon forgotten:

#4: Pods of spinner dolphins every two weeks have come into the atoll's lagoon. As their name implies, I was able to see them jumping and spinning through the air. The following are a few pictures from last week. A better zoom lense for my camera, may have been of assistance.






#5 Monk Seals: I went on a monk seal patrol last week. These are a few pictures of a mother and pup pair that I saw. They were resting pretty contentedly on the beach.





'Tis all for now...