Aloha readers,
Another lovely, fun-filled week here on Hōlanikū. We’ve been cranking out our invasive vegetation treatments and have been finding loads of Verbesina sprouts. Upon hearing that, you might shudder, but it’s a good thing that we’re finding them when they’re sprouts. As a team, we have a high detection rate of small plants which is great – fortunately the Verb does grow a wee slower in the winter due to the limited sunlight so seasonality is on our side!
Our other main duty as of late has been marine debris removal. Business as usual with regard to that – nets and lines wash ashore, and we collect and secure them. There’s no better feeling than bagging hundreds of pounds of entanglement hazards and removing them from the ecosystem.
Speaking of ecosystem – one aspect of working and living out here that’s hard to explain is the feeling of oneness / unity with the place. As someone who has something of a quantitative-based understanding of most things – the concept of “oneness” always seemed outlandish or even a bit granola to me; nonetheless, I feel that allowing myself to become totally immersed in Hōlanikū has allowed me to reach that state. Unfortunately, the feeling probably won’t translate well into words, but I’d like you to at least know how magical this place is and how easy it is to care for something that you feel is almost a part of you (or you of it).
Okay, bird time. Hopefully everyone has seen the videos of Black-footed and Laysan Albatross chicks we’ve posted, so exciting. Additionally, the pueo continues and I managed to snap photos of it. ID looks good for pueo and not the Northern subspecies of Short-eared Owl. I imagine the northern (Alaskan) birds would be possible here as they probably were the founding members of the Hawaiian subspecies some eons ago. Also, Bonin Petrel / nunulu eggs were observed today, so more keiki on da way! No other visitors as of late, but we’re due for a gull and maybe a passerine? We’ll see
-Nick
