Several cool things have happened in the last few days.
A few nights ago, about a half hour before sunset, I walked down to North Beach and just stood. Lots of Laysan's (I told you we had a lot of birds, right?) flying about, but I was waiting for the Bonin Petrels. I'd been told that if you hung out around sunset, you'd see them coming back into land from foraging out at sea. Sure enough, as the light got lower, they started coming in. I can't say it was a cloud, but definitely a steady, thought provoking influx. I stayed and watched until dark, pondering the power of their homing instinct, then headed home. Seems like it's easier to see just how many are coming in when you have the trees for a background. After dodging the Laysan chicks sitting in the middle of the road, I parked my trusty cruiser bike on the back porch. There are a lot of burrows just off the porch and the birds were out, so I tried a few pictures. They sucked. There's a reason I'm a Ranger and not a photographer. I guess one turned out OK.
The other thing that I was absolutely overjoyed about was seeing a juvenile Short-Tailed Albatross. I know, I know, I posted a picture of an adult, so who cares. The deal is that one of the visitors last week REALLY wanted to see any Short-Tailed. It was pretty much his reason for coming here. Seems a little obsessive, but, hey, each to their own. I find out late in the week, after days of fruitless searching, that his eyesight is really deteriorating and that this could be his last chance. Shit... Then, the last day they are here, Brian, our LE officer, is out on patrol and spots the juvie. Mass rush ensues. Mission accomplished. Yay, Brian (former Parkie)! And I felt ridiculously happy about it....
I've adapted the Pete Leary (my housemate)method of photography, i.e. take a massive amount of pictures and hope for one or two good ones. It certainly works for him, he's taken some amazing photos. So, the other day, took over a hundred of just a few types of birds. Here's a couple.
Off to bowling night. The alley is circa 1965 and looks remarkably like the one I spent a lot of Saturday mornings in while growing up. Bet most of you didn't know I was a "bowling geek."
Later,
Murray
4 comments:
OK! So, finally some good natural history stuff (OK, I'll read the war history too, but ugh....)!! Mr. Naturalist, sir, WHAT is the very white bird sitting on the nest (I assume) in the filtered light? COOL shot! And the baby, I assume, is the juvie you've been looking for - or is that another albatross?
Yep, we'd see frigate birds in FL too - aren't they the coolest? And meanest! Ha! "I can too get YOU to barf me up a meal!" Yikes.
Look forward to reading more about the underwater stuff too! Thanks for keeping us updated!!
da
Hey Murray, nice blogging & pix...didn't know you were a techno-geek AND a bowling geek. Excellent! And the take-a-hundred-photos-to-get-one-good-one technique really does work. At least on rocks and other slow-moving objects.
Hope you're having a great time....are you getting any sense of how frigates & albatross etc. are being impacted by changes in the ocean environment?
Good luck with the bowling...must be some sort of new fad starting.
Cheers,
Petra
Dude, you were always more than just a bowling geek. Your geekdom was much more complete.
Jon
um, taking a massive amount is great. but remember to delete them as well especially the 900 that didn't come out.
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