December showed up in style. Enjoy an update from Delia!
Aloha from Hōlanikū,
We’ve had a productive first week of December, completing 12 transect plots, conducting a shorebird survey, and tackling diverse tasks. Friday, while Kayla and I updated the freezer inventory, Jordan was working on his outplanting nursery project, and Nick was completing office work, map-making, and clearing marine debris from inactive Black Noddy nests.
The full moon has been shining bright at night, and the sunrises have been particularly magical this week. Jordan and I spotted a couple of man o’ wars washed up on the beaches this week, and we all saw the Spotted Eagle Rays swimming around near the pier yesterday evening. The team witnessed, first hand, a mōlī or Laysan Albatross laying an egg this week. That was precious. I also saw my first hybrid ka‘upu (Black-footed Albatross) x mōlī (Laysan Albatross) this past week, although Kayla, Nick, and Jordan had all previously seen the bird. Nick also pointed out the difference between female Cocos Booby and Brown Booby.
This week we finished The Night Manager show, it took a couple episodes to get us hooked, but was very much enjoyed by all of us. Kayla, Nick and Jordan have been teaching me the rules of Poker, which I’ve thoroughly been enjoying.
In the spirit of Christmas, we watched our first Christmas movie of the season, Love Actually. We’ll be continuing our Christmas movie marathon in the coming weeks and potentially starting a new show that hasn’t been chosen yet.
This week, we’ve had some very tasty shrimp orzo by Kayla, homemade hummus falafel by Jordan, and dip night by Nick.
Jordan found the largest glass ball this crew has ever seen, which washed up after a windy day. Happy St Nicholas Day to Nick, which was yesterday.
Nick bird observations: 7 total active Brown Booby nests, 3 Masked, the first White Tern eggs, the first Black Noddy eggs, continuing Sharp-tailed Sandpiper & Short-tailed Albatross sightings, and a pair of territorial Cocos Booby at North Point.
A hui hou!
Delia
