Back again for a while

I'm back from my 3 week vacation.  I was mostly moving boxes and furniture.  I got a little time off when I went to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary in Park Rapids, MN.  The whole family hasn't been together for many years, which is mainly my fault for being out in the middle of the ocean most of the time.  I finally got to meet my nephew for the first time and he's 3 years old.

Everyone on island is busy, as usual.  Checking for Laysan ducks with botulism is one of the things that has been keeping everyone busy. The person who drives around picking up dead albatross chicks has also been pretty busy lately.  We're getting to the time of year where they are either strong enough to fledge or they don't make it.  I haven't heard of people seeing the tiger sharks around, but I know they are out there getting some of the chicks in the water. 

 Here's an evening photo of the river at the cabins where we stayed in Park Rapids, MN.

A Laysan albatross chick is learning to fly near the water tanks at the catchment basin.

 The albatross chicks are gathering at the last hard ground at the edge of the harbor. A few of these birds weren't quite healthy enough to make it off the seawall.  While I was standing here, 5 birds did decide to jump and all were able to fly off, at least for a short distance.  They looked like they would make it.

 I found 2 White-tailed tropicbird nests this week.  They don't usually have good luck raising chicks here, but I hope they can figure it out sometime soon.

Here's another building photo for the people who like to see them.  This is the old radar facility, most of which is underground.  This was surrounded by enlisted family housing, which was taken out before the Navy left.

Last Post for June



It was another beautiful week.  A few days of rain for the native plants, and a bit of sun to finish off the week and some nice flat water for the boat.  There are a lot of eggs hatching this time of year, so I'll put up a couple of chick pictures. 

I'm going to be off island for a few weeks again and won't be posting anything, but I'll be back in mid-July to post more pictures for you.   

 

This is a view of Sand Island from the boat (the island we live on).  It's not very big, is it?  It's about 2 miles across from this view. 

This Red-tailed tropicbird chick lives right behind the office. 

This White tern chick on the Eastern Island pier hatched a couple of days ago.  Most of the time, the chicks on the pier are too exposed and don't make it.

A fishing net washed into the atoll and got stuck on the coral.  I'll go back this week and get it before a seal or turtle gets stuck in it.  There's too much coral to get the boat in there, so I'll have to bring the kayak to float it out.

A Hawaiian monk seal was checking us out while we were snorkeling.

It's always easier to get fish pictures when it's calm.  You don't scare them away as much by kicking.  These are whitebar surgeonfish and convict tangs.

The grass is starting to grow all over the island now that the adult albatrosses aren't around to keep it stomped down.  This is the old fuel farm.

Another shot using the "Dramatic" setting on my Olympus underwater camera.

71st Anniversary of the Battle of Midway

It was the 71st Anniversary of the Battle of Midway this year.  We didn't have anyone fly in for this one, but we have really only had big ceremonies on the 5 year marks.  We had most of the island population out, as we did the week before on Memorial Day.  There wasn't that much else going on this week.  Without volunteers and visitors, all we do is work, and I try not to get too detailed about that.  Just the interesting stuff.

 

John Klavitter says a few words at the Battle of Midway Memorial on June 4.

 Sam made a few more flower arrangements for the memorial.

 I've been seeing the Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins quite a bit lately on the trips to and from Eastern Island.

 This Masked booby was sitting on a nest on Eastern Island.  There are only about 2 or 3 nests a year at Midway.

 Another building shot.  This is the old Delta Barracks by the dining facility.

It's been cloudy a lot lately, so the sunsets over North Beach are nice when the clouds break a little.

Memorial Day Photos

We had a nice Memorial Day Ceremony with most of the island population.  We'll have another ceremony for the Battle of Midway on June 4th.  There are no visitors coming out this year, so we'll just have island people again.  I know that the Navy is going to be having a commemoration at the Navy Memorial in Washington D.C. this week. 

 

Believe it or not, this is most of the island population right now.

One of the Thai employees, Sam, made this flower display and lei. 

These are 5 inch guns that are at the memorial.

I gave kayak training to a few people who haven't had it yet.  Penny, Liz, and Darren are flipping the kayaks to make sure they can get back in before they go out on their own.

The albatross chicks like the new air conditioning units at my house.

This White tern found an interesting spot for an egg.  Ric and Tim won't be able to use their hose for a couple of months.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Another nice week.  Not for any extra reason other than it's great out here.  We've been getting a bit of rain lately which makes for some very muggy days, but it's still pretty nice around here.  I'm taking a lot of trips to Eastern Island, checking for Laysan ducks with botulism.  A sick one was found last week.  We fixed him up with some anti-toxin and food and let him go on Thursday.  We've got a small Memorial Day ceremony planned for tomorrow, so I'll show you some photos of that next week.

This is the view across Eastern Island with the old airplane revetments in the background.  The verbesina removal is going well over there.   

The Brown noddies like to gather on the pier on Eastern.

This White tern thought this albatross chick was a little too close for comfort.  It was kind of funny that the tern would only snap at the chick when it was looking the other way, not when it was an inch from that big bill.

That albatross chicks look kind of pathetic in the rain when they still have down.

The old officer houses that were built in the 50's have all just been renovated.  They don't look much different on the outside, but have new windows and doors, as well as better flooring and furniture.  Charlie barracks is being renovated with non-asbestos tile and a sprinkler system, so everyone had to move out of Charlie and into houses for the next couple of months.

Warming up

We finally had rain yesterday for the first time since I've been back.  The native plants that we planted finally get a drink.  A few ducklings didn't make it though, since it got a bit too chilly for them.  The hotter weather overall has been having an affect on the albatross chicks.  The ones that haven't been getting fed as much are finally starting to succumb to dehydration and starvation.  It happens every year, but usually the hot weather shows up earlier, so we start to lose them earlier.  If it's a normal year, about 65% of all of the eggs laid, will end up with a chick that fledges.



We've had a few Laysan ducks die from botulism in the past week, so we've got to check all of the seeps on Sand and Eastern Islands, rain or shine.  You can sort of see Sand Island through the rain.  I got pretty soaked, even with full rain gear on.

I had to wait until this young monk seal was done checking out the boat before I could start the engines.

 

This nursing monk seal pup is getting big.  That big rusty thing out in the water is an old barge that is grounded near the channel into the atoll.  

The Sooty terns always follow me around when I check the duck seeps on Eastern Island.

 The Great frigatebirds are building their nests and the males are trying to attract the females by puffing out their gular pouches.

There are fewer adults out in the fields every week.  The adult feathers are starting to come out of the down on the chicks.

 

For people who want to see pictures of more buildings than I usually post, remember that you can go to Google maps and check the street view.  You can see most of the buildings on that.  Here is an old bunker near the old fuel farm that you can't see very well on Google maps.  The entrance is in the center so it goes both directions under the sand dune.

Dolphins

 It was a quiet week with a lot of people off island right now.  The construction/repair crew is just finishing up their spring work and will take some time off before they come back in July, so it will get even quieter. 

I had a comment asking what it's like coming and going from Midway.  I've been going back and forth for about 6 years now, so I'm used to it and don't get culture shock either way anymore.  It's like anywhere you live though, you need to get away to revive your appreciation.  That works both ways.  I appreciate the mainland more for its conveniences, friends, and social activities, but I also appreciate Midway each time I come back for the simpler beauty, lack of crime, traffic, and politics.

It's been mostly sunny this week and seems like it's warming up for summer.  There are ducklings all over, and the albatross chicks are getting bigger.  A lot of the birds are laying eggs right now, Great frigatebirds, Red-footed boobies, Red-tailed tropicbirds, White terns, and Gray-backed terns so far.  Although we're all very busy around here, it's just normal work, so I won't bore you with the details.  Here are some pics.

The beach.

 

We got to see a little bit of the solar eclipse at Midway on Thursday.  We were right on the edge of the viewing zone, so this was about as good as it got.  I took this picture through a welder's mask, hence the greenish hue.

 There were a bunch of White terns following me around, seeing what I was up to.

 This is a leucistic Laysan albatross on Eastern Island.  You can tell it's not albino since it doesn't have pink eyes and has a bit of brown in the feathers.  There's one on Sand Island too, near the water tower.

 This is the same Laysan duck and ducklings that I showed you last week.  They don't grow too much in a week. 

 I was on Eastern Island checking the duck seeps and noticed a pod of spinner dolphins just off the pier.

 They followed me for a little way on my way back to Sand Island.

I slowed the boat down to try to get a count.  They are really difficult to count, but there were at least 152 in this pod.