DAY 12 at MIDWAY

Tuesday December 27

            Off to Eastern Island again today.  We are noticing that food has changed.  The next plane in is due in on the 29^th.  It will carry some folks home that came for a two week stint and bring others in that wanted to travel after Christmas.  The plane will also carry food and other supplies to the kitchen and staff.  Last week when we went to Eastern, for example, we had apples; today no fruit to pack in our lunch.  Thank goodness there is a  greenhouse here that grows produce.  I would find it a real hardship to not have fresh vegetables.  It has been so good.

This hydroponic greenhouse provides daily lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes 

for the salad bar at lunch and dinner

            I love going to Eastern Island: the boat ride over and back, the diversity of birds just ten minutes away, and no burrows.  The poke weed thorns we can pick out of our shoes at day’s end and climbing up and down a few man-made coral rubble hills is worth the slight view they afford.

            Midway is for the birds.  

Gil got lots of good shots while on hill duty today and at our secluded lunch spot by the beach.

If this male frigate was courting, the red patch would balloon out into a very handsome attraction!

Speaking of handsome, this young booby has reached some adult color

His feet are the classic red and his brown feathers are giving way to white

His beak is yet to turn to pastel blue (he'll be about 3 years old when new colors are complete)

It's hard to concentrate on eating lunch with all this activity, makes me really  want to fly
and yes, we sometimes get whacked by a wing going by

The albatross are so sleek it is hard to see the delicate layers of color in their feathers

When the edges get worn, they will molt them and grow new

Part of their beauty is the subtlety Gil caught here

            I don’t even remember eating as this spot was so spectacular; the wind at the shore gave the albatross a great thorough-fare to zoom along.

On this side of Eastern we are close to the reef edge, really breezy

The bird Gil got the details of is directly behind him - very sweet and mellow

 We managed to complete three sections today and begin our trudge back toward the pier. 

Moving away from the beach we cross the old runway where the poke weed vine spreads.

This frigate took off just as we did

            There are always more birds along the way.  Seeing them is one thing but having time to stop and try to photograph them is another trick. 

This little Brown noddy is taking a break.  He is a true seabird, see the webbed feet?

This shot was pure luck, three white fairy terns were hovering over Gil,

I dropped everything and just kept snapping

 We see them like this but it is hard to share the magic if they are just sitting

There is some discussion we won’t come back tomorrow as they will leave some sectors for the incoming group to experience.  I hope it is not our last time here.

Leaving Eastern Island behind