Red-tailed Tropicbird

Red-tailed Tropicbirds are breeding and raising young in many areas on Sand Island. They perform spectacular breeding display flights in which 3-5 birds, and sometimes more, fly together in a large vertical circle. Through part of this display they appear to fly backwards and sometimes the bottom of this circular display is close to the ground. While this flight is happening they are very vocal, producing

loud guttural squawks for lack of better descriptors. These photographs were made from my yard about 2 p.m. today during one of these displays.

Island Smells

As you can imagine there is quite an odor in a large seabird colony such as Midway. With more than 1.5 million seabirds living and visiting a small space such as Sand Island there is a lot of guano deposited. There are also thousands of decomposing, dead chicks that are part of the natural cycle. When you step off the plane the smell is very strong, and for me was still pretty intense when I got outside my first morning here. Interestingly, the intensity of the odor diminishes over a few days and I rarely notice it now. I've read that our sense of smell becomes desensitized pretty quickly to strong odors, and this beautiful, smelly seabird colony is a perfect example.

White Tern

This White Tern is sitting on an egg. Notice the blue breeding color on the bill. They nest in precarious spots of all kinds including faucet handles, fire hydrants, branches barely big enough to hold the egg but a surprising number survive.

Work Projects

This time on Midway my job will be very different. There are many historic markers and buildings from the early 20th century Pacific Cable Company, through WWII, and the cold war. This environment is very harsh and man made structures suffer from weather, the salty environment rusting iron and steel, deteriorating concrete from the salt air and several termite species. This isn't a complete list but it gives you an idea of the maintenance issues. My volunteer position this time centers on these monuments and structures that can use the help of a painter/carpenter/handyman to help in their preservation. I have been working closely with the Thai workmen from DBSI, the contractor that provides construction and maintenance workers for the island. This past week I spent time scraping and painting the lower portion of a 70 foot flagpole that will be hinged down next week so I can work on the rest of the pole. Lots of scraping, power wire brushing and then 2 prime coats of paint and a top coat of silver colored paint. Once the painting is complete, I will figure out what parts need to be replaced

while to pole is down and then coordinate with DBSI to get it raised again. The shipping containers behind the pole give some scale to the picture. I also have been working on a sign from the Navy days that stands in front of the old dining hall. I've refurbished the roof structure and am just getting started nailing down new shingles. After that we will talk about paint and protection for this neat hand made sign. This is a new volunteer position and we are building the job description around whatever skills I can provide. I'm tired each night from working in the harsh Midway sun but feel like my accomplishments are worthwhile.

Inquisitive chicks

The chicks are interested in everything. If you stand still very long they will walk to you and give your legs the same once over they are giving my bike. It is best to keep moving though as eventually they will bite down hard to see what you taste like. Ouch!

Return to Midway

I flew to Midway Friday evening and arrived about 9 p.m. I knew most of the guys that were helping with the plane and it felt good to be back. The internet is deadly slow and I'm not sure exactly how much I will be able to post but I will try to post a couple times a week.

Albatross Numbers

Here is another look at a small piece of the colonies on Sand Island. Find me in the red shirt in the middle of the colony. I don't have all the data from the count but in round numbers we counted about 479,000 Laysan Albatross nests and about 27,000 Black-footed Albatross nests. That represents a lot of walking, climbing, crawling, brush crashing work. If I add in 500,00 non breeding adult albatross, 100,000 plus Bonin Petrel and a few thousand other assorted sea birds that means there are more than 1.6 million sea birds on the 1,200 acres that comprise Midway Atoll.  I've been in the middle of a lot of sea birds! It was a very energetic group of counters who happily put in the needed effort to complete the work. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to go to Midway again and to participate in a count like this in the largest albatross colony on the planet.