Friday December 30
The new people have arrived and everyone was up late last night as the plane got in a couple hours late. Rather than an orientation, we all counted. We lost two from our group and gained one. We conquered a nasty patch before lunch and I had the highest number of burrows, 23 times I went down. None of us trust the ground anymore – it is an odd sensation. I thought I had it figured out yesterday but the terrain changed where we were today, the birds didn’t care about my system. I found only two petrels; most of the burrows were old ones. The little guys are so sweet when we release them; they sort of drunkenly scoot around until they find an opening to duck into. We are really happy to be finishing the sectors as they will nest in earnest in January.
Martha and newcomer Susan verifying corner of plot before we start into the forest. Looks like normal ground doesn't it?
The burrows extend through this dried verbesina and through the ironwoods as well
The picture above shows the burrows in the verbesina. It is difficult for humans to travel through it and yet some of the albatross have nested under it.
Verbesina trap
Now that it is dried up for the season we fear the chicks will find themselves trapped. Funding (grants) has been acquired to eradicate the verbesina from Eastern Island
At lunchtime we saw these little guys and I tried to capture them here. Had never heard of them before but we have seen flocks take off around the harbor.
Ruddy Turnstones - note the orange legs
Speaking of Eastern, we went again this afternoon – a happy respite from the burrows and an introduction for the new counters. We ticked off another sector and were treated to a dolphin show on the way back. I had heard of the dolphin population that lives at the atoll and they really put on a show. The water was choppy so I only had one hand on the camera. Pictures don’t come close, but it is all good. Legitimately tired last night, first time I’ve gone to sleep before 10pm which is very late for most people here.
Spinner dolphin - with splashed lens
Tell us more about the Verbesina. Do the adults actually dig tunnels to lay eggs. How long is the incubation period ? When you step on top of a burrow does your foot fall in and the cave-in traps the birds? Then I suppose you must dig out the little critter, all the while you are caught in the Verbesina. The Spinner dolphin are fun to watch. I saw over a hundred of them on the back side of Kauai while on a dive trip. The trainers at Sea World say they don't teach them anything they normally don't do in the wild.
ReplyDeleteThe verbesina is being brought under control with a specific herbicide that will not only kill it but prevent the next generation. I was very happy to learn that the same approach is being used on the haole koa (will have to get scientific name for that one). It is terribly out of control on Kauai.
ReplyDeleteYes, the adult petrels did the tunnels. The little guys have very strong legs. Eggs are laid in January and at this time I do not have incubation period. The shearwaters also nest in tunnels and they are deeper and the folks here call them condos, ie, with layers. These are the ones we go crotch deep into. The shearwaters are not here right now but some of the entries are the same and/or the Bonin use the condos at the upper levels.
When we go down, we stay down until we have cleared each direction of underground tunnels. If the birds are deeper then they can come out on their own. However, we have noticed they are near the entrances right now. The first bird I found on reaching in came out with its beak attached to my finger. It hurts briefly but doesn't break the skin so that was an OK method for me. If they are in their backward, we can hold them in one hand and bring them out. There is no real reason to bring them out except to make sure the hole is clear and/or there isn't another trapped behind the first. The worst case is when the collapse is over them and they could not escape without being dug out. They are such odd little guys in terms of behavior but they are actually very sweet creatures with life styles that are contrary to human innovation, like electric lights.