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.