Aloha kākou!
Another installment of the blog from Nick – there was transecting, seabird monitoring, gular sacs, booby copulation, marine debris removal, band reading, some burrow-shoe fastening, trail maintenance, ‘Akihikeʻehiʻale or Tristram’s Storm-Petrel chicks, and an attempt at painting.
We covered our naupaka-heavy greater restoration areas this week (GRAs), and found lots of Verbesina sprouts (our #1 target species). None of the Verbesina that we found were larger than 3 inches, which means that our detection rate is of high-quality and we’re not missing any– hooray! Occasionally, Jordan and I will find a verb that possesses an interesting look – we’ve been noticing high phenotypic differentiation at the keiki stages of growth. I’m not quite sure what causes some plants to be more fuzzy, or more serrated, or more wavy – though I imagine it’s some sort of biochemical variation – either way, it is kind of fun to compare plants as I rip them from the soil and kill them.
Though there are many, the top highlight of my week is usually the ground-nesting booby monitoring survey. I typically try to schedule them for Friday afternoons (weather-permitting), so it often feels like a reward at the end of an action-packed week of transecting. This Friday’s survey yielded several observations of note: several new Masked Booby nests being found, several December-lain eggs have hatched into chicks (I’m excited to monitor the chronology of nests in different parts of the island and see how habitat affects hatch/fledge date), a pair of Cocos Booby nest-building, and though Red-footed Boobys are not directly monitored – several hundred were observed cozying up, building nests, with the males going all out to display to their ladies. ‘Iwa or Great Frigatebirds were also being quite vocal, with males gathering in low-bush naupaka/heliotropes, inflating their gular sacs, clacking their bills, shaking their wings, and giving presentation displays to females overhead. Love sure does seem to be in the air for these brilliant birds. I think my version of a presentation display would look more like singing “Brandy, You’re a Fine Girl” during karaoke, and less like me filling my throat sac with hot air and vocalizing at a female with my friends.
In the recreation department, we watched several movies on the projector – but most notably we had a paint night! I sanded some scrapwood in the shed which made for nice canvases. These will go nicely in The Roost. Kayla kindly painted a beautiful sign for the namesake. Delia made sushi and some banging chocolate cookies.
Birds: Tristram’s Storm-Petrel eggs have begun to hatch, and I imagine Bonin Petrel eggs are also almost there/have pipped. Albatross chicks continue to mature and are getting bigger with each seafood soup. Solid food is also beginning to be presented by their adults. The Pueo has departed, though I was hoping it would hang out for Superb Owl Sunday. Mahalo nui.
