October arrives on Hōlanikū with cool(er) mornings, new visitors, and the timeless pulse of migration. Enjoy our latest field blog from Nick.
After a restful weekend following the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project (PMDP) trip, we jumped right back into transecting and searching for Verbesina plants. It was a full week in the sun and quite enjoyable. Realizing that we have readers from around the world that are experiencing different fall weather, I suppose it might be worth highlighting that several of the mornings this week have been chilly before the sun has risen – only 78 degrees Fahrenheit!
Also, this week, we’ve done a fair amount of facilities maintenance, namely the shed roof getting a new paint job. Additionally, preparations for the October vessel are underway with packing commencing and offload items being gathered. We’re looking forward to welcoming some new personnel, and it will be nice to get visitors again. It’s certainly been a summer of excitement!
Speaking of visitors! Let’s chat about birds. This Saturday was fall World Migratory Bird Day / October Big Day in the bird world. Each year, birders celebrate two “Big Days,” one coinciding with prime spring migration and the other with fall movements. The goal is to essentially record as many species as possible – it’s one of the more sporty manifestations of birding. Aside from the competitive nature of the days, it’s also great data collection by citizen scientists across the world! One of my personal birding mantras is to “bird every bird” – or more simply put, every bird counts and should be counted! Nonetheless, I was able to record a handful of checklists yesterday and had a pretty good showing of the avian populations currently on island. There were some marine debris nets that washed up on our East Beach, so I was able to simultaneously birdwatch and remove the 400 lbs of netting which proved to be an undeniably lovely morning. Of course, the morning was even more special as a new visitor arrived to Kure!
A “peep” or small sandpiper (Calidris) showed up. These tiny long-distance migrants are known to be tough to ID – and I certainly ran into that. Structurally, I would’ve said this bird had the bill of a Baird’s Sandpiper, but the wings were a bit stout and did not extend past the tail. I suppose it could’ve been more buffy as well. The experts seem to be leaning more towards Western Sandpiper, which is super exciting! I’m still a little unconvinced because the bird isn’t rufous enough to me, but plumage is weird sometimes. More photos would definitely help (stay tuned)!
Also on October Big Day, I counted a total of 67 Laysan Ducks, 3 Northern Pintails, 128 Pacific Golden-Plovers, 4 Sanderling, 885 Red-footed Booby, a single Nazca and Cocos Booby, as well as a respectable 16,700 Bonin Petrels.
In other (non-bird-related) news: Jordan has once again dethroned me from being the king of Ping Pong, Kayla made some really tasty Pumpkin Bread, we’ve been having a scary movie marathon in the evenings, and we’re really pumped to get back out into the field this week and finish up this round of transecting!
Aloha nui!
Nick