DECEMBER 17th - DAY 2 MIDWAY

Saturday

            It is dark when we go to breakfast and dark when we come out of the dinner meal.  We wear headlamps whether walking or riding our bikes so we can avoid birds and potholes in the road.  After breakfast we went to pick up our paint and guns at the old Empire Café which is now used as “bird counter headquarters.”  Among the albatross we spotted this little Laysan duck – it wasn’t full daylight so we got a camera flash but the size comparison is noteworthy. 

The Laysan Duck is close to extinction and a few were brought to Midway to improve their odds.

Off we go to complete Sector 48.  Between the runway and beach it dwindles down to a point eventually and there are patches where the lagoon is visible.  The morning was so much different just because of the number of albatross in the air. 

The morning breeze is not wasted - thousands of albatross are in the air cruising the shore

           This old road is returning to a natural state.  The dead verbesina will eventually crumble but for now it is a difficult nesting site for the chicks to work their way out of, also difficult to wade through for the count.  There is also alyssum planted and the fragrance becomes cloyingly sweet with us walking through the fields of it.

  A short tail albatross near a Black Foot - this guy is huge- wingspan 7.5 feet

           On our way back we saw the single short tail albatross rumored to frequent the area.  These are the most rare, only a few left in the world.  What weren’t lost to the fishing industry longlines were wiped out on their volcanic home island in Japan when it erupted.  The 50 or so at sea at the time had to find new homes.  It is very exciting to have three birds here on Midway and last year two of them raised a chick!  They also have a nest this year which we have not seen.  We gave this guy a wide berth and photos were taken with zooms to maintain our distance.

            We went to lunch and then huddled up at the Empire to reload and head out to Sector 30.  This one is small and inland from Turtle Beach which is off limits nearly without exception.  The albatross nests along the beach had been counted by the prior teams that deal with sensitive areas. 

We counted 38 turtles either hauled out to rest or coming in near 

the old seaplane ramp

Small turtle heading for the beach - see white water at reef line 5-6 miles away

Sector 30 was our introduction to Bonin Petrel burrows.  Not only did we have dead verbesina to cross but the dunes are networked with the little tunnels under the sand used for nesting, some old and some new.  Dug close to the surface, we easily step through.  We’ve had training on clearing the tunnels and checking for birds that could have been trapped.  The whole team stops while one of us (or more) digs out the tunnel in every direction to locate any little bird and rescue him.  Luckily we found no birds in these tunnels today but are very wary of our steps.  We leave some for tomorrow.

This weekend was catered to the VIPS on Midway.  The head of Fish & Wildlife, Dan Ashe, was on island with a host of others – meeting to discuss how best to protect these islands.  There is a separate team here studying the raising sea levels.  There was a lovely party where we all mingled and everyone is truly moved by the fragile beauty here.