Aloha & Happy Easter! 
We’re slowly recovering from a very full (and very sunny) week out here! The team has been busy transecting, booby monitoring, conducting Hawaiian monk seal surveys, kicking off the end-of-season food inventory, and picking up washed-up marine debris. We started on the new scheduler last week and got to enjoy a long weekend break for Good Friday. The team had our last one-on-one meetings with Naomi before she comes out here herself.
On Friday, Nick and Jordan headed out to continue the ground-nesting booby monitoring project, while Nick has now taken on the challenge of figuring out how to monitor pākalakala / Gray-backed Tern. Stay tuned for more info on that. Jordan also worked on the ʻakihikeʻehiʻale / Tristram’s Storm-Petrel monitoring write-up.
Wildlife-wise, it’s been a special time. We’ve been so grateful to welcome the Hawaiian monk seal moms and their newborn pups. They are simply the cutest and most precious. On top of that, manu-o-Kū / White tern chicks are starting to hatch, and they look like tiny white fluff balls with very big feet, which they use to stand sturdily on their branches. We usually see the adults before the chicks since the parents are very defensive protectors of their young.
This long weekend has been a mix of fun and cozy activities. Kayla and Nick have been painting (and doing an amazing job), and we’ve been watching shows including season 2 of Invincible and Jury Duty. Movie-wise, we’ve seen Is This Thing On, Asteroid City, Mercy, and The Housemaid (which we’re watching tonight). We also had a competitive Pictionary night on Saturday… and I can confidently say my skills have improved!
Food has also been a major highlight this week. Kayla made an Easter turkey with carrots and stuffing. Jordan made chili and cornbread, then realized he doesn’t actually like chili. I made rosemary focaccia, and Kayla made bagels (her best yet). Nick went all out with two cakes since Lent is over: pineapple upside-down and a citrus cake. Safe to say we’ve been very well fed.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!
Delia
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It’s amazing to read about the hatchlings! Seeing how dedicated you are to monitoring multiple bird species at once really highlights the complexity and precision required in fieldwork. Your updates make the behind-the-scenes effort come alive.