Let the tracking season begin...

photo by kelli burkinshaw (www.flickr.com/kburki)

And they're off! Twelve tags are currently transmitting from 7 black-footed and 5 Laysan albatrosses, all of which are tending to a nest with an egg. They're off to a big start, flying incredible distances over short periods of time. Many of the tagged birds had been incubating for a few weeks waiting for his/her partner to return to the nest, and now it's their own turn to take 2-3 weeks at sea to forage in the productive waters of higher latitudes and resupply their energy stores. Albatrosses are so efficient at flight that a trip to Japan or the Gulf of Alaska costs them, energetically-speaking, almost nothing; sure beats $4.00/gallon for petrol!

Albatrosses are designed to fuel their flight by a play between gravitational pull and the updraft produced by wind off the waves, and they are soaring specialists with very long, slender wings. They are able to lock their wings in place while in gliding/soaring flight, which minimizes energy expenditure which would be lost in holding the wings up otherwise.


Laysan albatrosses are more oceanic than black-footeds and tend to forage in the transitional waters where the subtropical frontal zone and the subarctic frontal zone meet and create a turbulent, mixed zone high in productivity, which, for an albatross means gooood eatin'. They also forage near the confluence of the Oyashio current coming down along the northern Japanese coast and the Kuroshio current, coming up along the southern part of the Japanese coast. These two N-S and S-N currents meet right at the shelf where there is a huge upwelling system, and so these waters are extremely productive and are frequented by albatross and man alike, not to mention a whole other host of marine predators.

Black-footed albatrosses forage closer to the North American coast, typically in the Gulf of Alaska and near the Aleutians, or further south along the coast of Washington, Oregon and even my home state of California, dipping into the rich supply of food that the California current brings.

The tracks below are examples of a few birds that are being followed right now. The purple tracks on the east are of black-footeds and the yellow track west is that of a Laysan (ignore the outlier points going into russia). Combined, they have covered over 15,000 miles from Tern Island ,thus far. That's over four times the distance from Anchorage to Los Angeles, a trip which my boyfriend and I took 3.5 weeks to complete in a car. Pretty respectable distances.















Onward and upward little albatrosses! More tracks will be posted as the season progresses.

I'm back!

After eight months, two cities and two continents, I am back in the lovely French Frigate Shoals, revisiting the lively colonies of breeding black-footed and Laysan albatrosses. It felt like I never left the place. The albatrosses are still doing what they do best: dancing their elaborate and mesmerizing courtship dances, laying and incubating their fist-sized eggs, exploiting the energy of wind and waves to soar across thousands upon thousands of miles in the North Pacific on foraging trips, and keeping me very, very busy.

The bunkhouse is as comfortable as ever - I even got my old room back, though, thanks to a prior volunteer, it is now much more decorative and home-y. The white terns chatter away by day and night on my windowsill, and I had forgotten how nice it is to fall asleep to their sounds, which blend so nicely with the soft sound of the ocean waves lapping against the sea wall just outside my window.



After the first few weeks being battered by heavy storm after heavy storm, the skies have cleared and the nights have been incredible. The depth of the stars here is like nothing I've seen before; even the clear, crisp winter nights in the high desert where I grew up didn't display the stars like this. They are so bright that they really do twinkle (just like the song!), emitting the whole prism of visible light. It is easy to lose yourself in your own thoughts when gazing up at a night sky like that... that is until some brown noddy flies past and poops on your forehead. Then, you remember you are on Tern Island where the ball is always in the birds' court.



We went snorkeling yesterday, and I met some of the other island inhabitants. Two monk seals slowly twirling their bodies in the water below made for a great show. The younger seal was quite curious with the awkward, pasty, some might say floundering, bodies up above, and we stared at each other with equal (i hope) amusement for about 15 minutes, before he slowly twirled away into the darker waters broken up by shafts of light. After staring into the spot where the seal disappeared, my lungs reminded me that I don't have the myoglobin stores of a pinniped, and I choked on some sea water, in a grudging admittance of how very differently built we are from them; but at the same time, we are still similar enough to have recognizable stares of curiosity, interest and wonder. Those 15 minutes, interacting with a curious monk seal, one of a dwindling estimated world population of <2000, is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.



It is good to be back.

MASKED BOOBY DRAWING!

PRIUS

Meet Prius, the hybrid albatross! This unique bird is the product of a union between a Laysan albatross and a black-footed albatross, both of which breed sympatrically on Tern Island. The behavior of the two species is quite different, which makes Prius a very interesting individual. We presume that he is a male, because of his large size and weight, though we will find out for certain after some genetic analysis. In appearances, he is almost a perfect blend of coloration of the two species. He tends to socialize mostly with black-footed albatross, only his dance repretoire contains moves from both species, so he hasn't been successful in finding a mate (we're hoping for another hybrid to appear to keep him company) . His vocalizations also sound like a mixture between the two species. Laysan and black-footed albatross forage quite differently in the non-breeding season, with the black-footeds foraging mostly off the coast of California and British Columbia and the Laysan foraging throughout the North Pacific ocean. Well, being a product of these two species, the big question is: Where will Prius Go?? The answer might tell us a lot of genetics and the evolution of foraging behavior. He is now equipped with an archival tag that records a location once a day, and he will wear the tag until next winter. We wish Prius the best of luck in his foraging adventures around the Pacific and look forward to seeing his travels. Bon voyage, Prius!

Turtle Wrangling Video!

This little green sea turtle was trapped between the island's north sea wall and the sea, so we thought we'd round 'im up. It was a cowboy morning...

Red-tailed Tropicbird Courtship Display

Red-tailed tropic birds have an incredibly acrobatic and intricate aerial courtship display, where the birds literally fly backwards loops around each other while flagrantly showing off their long streaming red tail feathers.

"Heyy laadies..."

This male is looking for an available seat at the singles bar.

Greater Frigatebird

This male greater frigatebird blows up his red gular pouch as a courtship display to attract browsing females. The bigger, the redder, the better, so this male is sure to find plenty of potential mates (unlike the poor, withered sap in the background).

Beachside Villas for Crabs

Spider crabs and ghost crabs dig these holes in the sand to keep them cool during the day, from which they leave during the night to prowl the shores looking for mystery and mayhem.

'Tis the Season...

The birds (red-footed boobies to be precise) without the bees...

Footprints

Black-footed albatross dance video

Most albatross species have a highly ritualized, highly synchronized courtship dance that creates and maintains pair bonds over the years.

A displaying male red-footed booby distracts some neighboring greater frigatebirds. Both red-footed boobies and frigatebirds nest in trees, and they decorate the small island trees like rancorous christmas ornaments.

And the proud parent looks on...

White terns lay their eggs in extremely precarious locations, like in the fork of a skinny branch or on the edge of a windowsill. The parents distract potential predators (me) by fluttering around and above their head while jabbering away. I can't stop photographing them; they are just beautiful birds.

Watch out! He may be cute, but he's got a mean left hook!

The white tern chicks are growing up, too. Even the great Walt Disney himself couldn't dream up anything this cute.

The albatross chicks are growing like weeds! Many parents leave the chicks unattended to go forage at sea, and while left alone the chicks migrate from their nests to nicew clumps of shady, cool grass.... so watch where you step!

Three Muskateers!

The water around the northwesterners is unbelievable clear and vivid. When the sun is shining, you can't imagine anything being more brilliantly colored than this torquise blue water; it's even reflected in the clouds above the water.

Me, Sabrina and Colleen soaking up the sun, the water and the birds on East Island

Vroom! An action shot of Sabrina (from New Zealand) and I on our way to East Island.

This black-footed pair of dancers were giving quite a show on the tranquil shores of tiny East Island. Juvenile albatross court for years prior to breeding (birds don't start breeding until seven years of age) and the courting rutual includes a very coordinated, intricate dance that indicates the health and suitability of a potential mate.

GALUMP!

Albatross don't pitter-patter, they galump. (tip: turn volume up).

It was just after sunrise and this red-footed booby was full of yawns.

These little seabirds called white terns, or more appropriately, fairy terns are so curious, that often you'll get the feeling you're being watched, and you'll glance up only to find one, two or three of these guys fluttering a few feet above your head. They are magic.

What Tern Island and the French Frigate shoals looks like from some hundreds of feet in the air. Seabirds are attracted to these sand spits by the droves, and the islands are also havens for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the green sea turtle.

Well, here I am flying into the French Frigate Shoals. Note that the pilots are wearing helmets and life vests. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore...

Home sweet home! This is where I'll do all my snoring and dreaming for the next two months. Not bad for an ocean view, eh..?

Chicks! As soon as I arrived, chicks started popping out of the eggs like downy popcorn, and parents were quick to start providing meals. Parents feed their chicks meals of food converted to a liquid, oily substance with almost as much energy per ounce as deisel fuel. Thus, the chicks are growing noticeably by the day, by the hour, really. This black-footed albatross feeds mostly on fish and fish eggs while Laysan albatross, the other breeding albatross species on Tern, feed primarily on squid.

Cat in the Bag

Handling albatrosses is quite a handful, or more like two handfuls and two legfuls. This black-footed albatross is still mostly inside the pillowcase that we use to weigh him. If you look closely at the yellow band on its leg, you might be able to see an archival tag. These tags measure location once a day and wet/dry states, from which can determine foraging events.

this is a test...