Today was a great day. Birds, birds, and more birds. On the island it's known as a "wave" day. When the weather conditions are right, lots of birds show up on the island. Apparently, last night was pretty good. The biggest wave days come in early October. Today would be okay for October, but is great for November. We had a total of 61 species, not including the dozen species that breed here. When I got down to the kitchen, Jim (the head biologist) said that he heard lots of birds outside. So I wolfed down breakfast and headed out the door. At first I didn't see that many birds, but there were some flying around. By mid morning I had seen an Orange-crowned Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Killdeer, and Great Egret. All of which had not been on the island the day before. There were loads of Yellow-rumped Warblers, most of them the eastern subspecies. We banded 25 of them and a total of 67 birds. We didn't find anything too rare, but there were always birds around to watch. Tomorrow will be interesting. They all may leave or some new ones may show up.
As a side note, we had a boat with 15 San Francisco 49ers come to the island. They didn't come onto the island, only biologists are allowed on the island. I didn't meet any of them, but they're not that good anyway.
Another beautiful sunset over Mirounga Bay
Black Oystercatcher - a resident
The beard grows...
Black Oystercatcher - a resident
2 comments:
quite the vacation Mark. I could use a little solitude right now--well, hunting season starts soon. Love the photos! No chicks out there either,eh? Miss ya,
Tony, says no chick out there, but I specifically saw "Booby" on the list of thigns he saw.. Can't be too bad..
Yea, I know 4th grade humor, but consider the source..
I envy you buddy.
I am thinking Panama this spring, you in?
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