Hey everyone! It’s Kayla here to share this week’s blog 🙂
Our little team has been busy busy busy wrapping up another month here on Holaniku. It’s CRAZY how fast time has been moving out here. I think I speak for our entire team that we only just realized this weekend switching the calendar to May how soon the ship is coming! We have been conducting our usual transecting, while taking extra care to reflag borders and points to get the GRAs in tip-top shape for the next team.
Other events last week included finishing the Shed inventory/organization, Hawaiian Monk Seal surveys, Booby monitoring, and tidying up the Camp trails in preparation for the many wheelbarrow loads of gear that will be moved when the ship arrives. Nick is very proud of the work he did in the Shed, and with that momentum, he also cleaned up stuff around the outside of the Shed that had been covered in Ipomoea vines. Since we have been here for an entire year, we have had far more opportunities to do the random tasks that probably wouldn’t even occur to do in a regular-length season. It’s been very rewarding not only to deep-clean our main living areas but also to organize the space in and around our facilities.
Nick also took on the task of conducting 100 10-meter point counts of nesting birds around the island to help gauge breeding population numbers of White Terns, Black Noddy, Great Frigatebirds, Gray-backed Terns, Red-footed Booby, and Red-tailed Tropicbirds. He estimates that there are nearly 5000 breeding Red-tailed Tropicbirds on the island! Nick was also lucky enough to spot our first Laysan Duck nest in the dunes, so hopefully we will finally have some ducklings around.
Looking ahead, we will finish the scheduler this week and wrap up all preparations before the ship arrives next Tuesday! We wish all our peers on the Imua safe travels and can’t wait to see their smiling faces in 8 days!!
Highlights: Jordan Sunday feast, including grilled chicken and pita bread, Nick’s guava ice cream, Kayla’s mint ice cream, and Delia’s muffins
Bird Highlights: first Laysan Duck nest observed, Christmas Shearwater nests, lots of White Tern on eggs and chicks
