Come Along on a Bike Ride

I strapped my camera to the back of my headlamp, put it on, hopped on my bike, and switched the camera to video mode.  Come along as I ride to work!

You'll see LOTS of Laysan Albatross.  Most of the sounds are made by them.  At the beginning of our ride, near my house, there's a chick pestering its parent for food.  Along the way we see many black-and-white albatross chicks stretching their wings and practicing to fly.  We also catch a glance of some white terns; there's a pair that flies ahead of us as we turn the corner toward the island's vegetable garden.  A person going to work in a golf cart waives to us.  As we travel, we have to be careful not to bump into the many albatross that are standing all over.  At the end of the ride, we pull into the US Fish and Wildlife Service garage...and we're ready to go to work!


Midway Atoll Bicycle Ride from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.

A Mysterious Reflection

I was walking slowly around Ball Field Little seep (see "Midway Map" in the top menu bar.)  My attention was caught by morning light reflecting off something.  It was ahead of me, near the seep's shoreline.  At first I thought it was more plastic marine debris, which shows up everywhere on Midway.  It looked like a piece of cellophane.  (In the lower left corner of this first picture you'll see what I saw!)

I got closer and looked through my binoculars.  Wow!  It was a dragonfly!  And the sunlight wasn't reflecting off junk; it was sparkling off the dragonfly's four clear wings!!   I was looking at the indigenous Green Darner dragonfly, pinao in Hawaiian, Anax junius.  Here it was, out in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, in a seep, in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge!

The dragonfly seemed to be struggling in the grass.  "Oh dear," I thought.  "The insect is caught.  I'll use a small stick to help it escape."

But as I looked closer I realized the little guy wasn't in need of my help.  It had just come out of its old skin (which is to the left of the insect's head in the second picture.)  The dragonfly had metamorphosed from being a nymph to now being a full-grown adult.  It was just taking time to pump up its new body and wings.  You can see in the picture that the left wings are still a little folded, and definitely need some more fluid pumped into them.  During the nymph stage of a dragonfly's life cycle it lives underwater; in fact, it is a big, tough predator among pond life.  As an adult, the dragonfly will be a predator above the pond.  Go, go, go; get those flies!

Growing Up as an Albatross

My chick, P303 -- growing up so fast!  Look at dis picha; can you believe how much he's changed, Barb, since da first time you saw him on May 29th?!  Look: not much down left, just small fluffs on his neck and head.  He's an FFC, a Fully Feathered Chick!  He's fledged!  I really can't believe it.  Soon I'll be saying aloha to him.  Today I fed P303 for da las' time.  Now, when he gets hungry, he'll have to fly away from Midway and catch his own food!

He's already started to open his wings, flap 'em, and hop around when da wind gusts.  Notice in da picha dat none of da odda chicks has wings open, only my chick.  Nothin' wrong wit' doz oddah chicks; it's jus' dat my P303 is one smart chick; he's advanced. 

I remember my small kid time.  My first memories? --being in my egg; really tight in dere.  Da more I grew, da tighter it got.  I remember my wings felt kinda itchy, crammed up against da shell. 

I felt lots better after I hatched outta dat egg; whew!  But den I pretty much had to stay right where my mom laid my egg.  If I moved away, and mom or dad came back to feed me and couldn't find me...well, missed my food!

I also spent a lot of time unda mom or dad.  They kept me da right temperature and protected me from da rain, li' dat.  But my wings kept gettin' all hemajang.  I had to keep 'em folded up tight if I wanted to fit under a parent.

FINALLY, as I became an FFC, I could stretch my wings...and FLAP 'EM for da first time!  Felt great; maika`i!  Den I knew what wings were for!  I could use 'em to fly up to the blue sky, like mom and dad.  I wasn't gonna have to stay in my nest any more.  I one adult Laysan Albatross, and now I fly t'ousands of miles across da Pacific Ocean.  It's a great life, kinda like being Nature's hang glider!

Sooooo, dat's da future for P303, too.  Since he's fully fledged, we gave him a name: `Ōpua, which da dictionary says means "puffy clouds, as banked up near the horizon."  I like dat name; it has plenny mana for him to fly far.  My partner Kanoa wanted to call him Lopaka, or Robert.  Dat's a nice name, but not special enough for my son, P303.  Isn't he handsome?!

Fred the Monkey Cares about Midway

Fred's first visit to Midway was about a year ago, in June 2009, when he came with his buddy, Ron Hirschi.  They were part of the PA`A program, and they learned a lot about Midway's environment, especially the impact of marine debris on wildlife.

Ron and Fred started the SOAR website to spread the word about stopping marine debris.  And they also travel around the world to bring the information directly to community and school groups.

This year Fred returned to Midway to join the PA`A 2010 group.  In the first picture he and friend Randi, a Big Island of Hawai`i teacher, are resting after having planted the native Hawaiian grass, Kawelu, or Bunch Grass (Eragrostis variabilis.)  Fred also shook hands/beaks with a new friend, a 2010 Laysan Albatross chick.

Midway's Red, White and Blue

RED from the beak of a Tropicbird (Koa`e `Ula, Phaethon rubricauda), WHITE from albatross foot prints on sand, and different shades of BLUE from the ocean and sky.  










Happy Independence Day, America; take care of your natural heritage!

Laysan Ducks: Battling Botulism

Adam holding sick Laysan Duck

Hi FOAM friends; this is Kahiko, and we Laysan Ducks are fighting a poisonous condition called botulism.  The sickness sometimes hits us when our seeps (ponds) get hot and low in oxygen in the summer.

Botulism (botch-uh-lih-zum) is a kind of food poisoning.  It's caused by a bacterium called Clostridium, and they love places with low oxygen, like old cans of green beans.  If you ever see a can of beans that's "outdated" (meaning: beyond the date marked on the can), DON'T EAT THE BEANS!  Clostridium bacteria make a poison that attaches to nerves.  Then the nerves can't control muscles, and people get sick.  Sometimes botulism attacks the nerves that connect to breathing muscles, and people die!

There's another species of Clostridium that causes botulism in Laysan Ducks.  Sick and even dead Ducks have been turning up on Midway.  Adam found the first sick duck at the Aviary seep.  (Click on the page for the Midway Map in FOAM's top menu bar.)  Look at the picture at the right.  Notice that the duck's eye is closed?  That's because the Clostridium is probably in the nerves for the eyelid muscles, and the duck just can't open its eye.  Adam brought the sick duck to the USFWS office where it was treated by Fish and Wildlife staff.

John Klavitter, wildlife scientist

First it was given a shot of "antitoxin," a medicine that will fight the botulism poison.  Next, John Klavitter gave the duck some food (Ensure, with lots of soy protein) and Pedialyte (electrolytes, or different kinds of salt.)  The duck was held in a small, clean towel while it was carried to the aviary, which is a cage or enclosure for birds.)  You can see  the duck peeking out of the towel with its left eye open; that's a good sign!

In the aviary, the towel became a bed for the sick duck.  Since the duck's nerves and muscles aren't healthy, the rolled towel propped up the duck's head.  Perhaps you can see the duck in its towel-nest under the "A-frame" within the aviary.  When the duck got healthy enough to eat on its own, there were bowls of water and food right next to it.

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After several days in the sick bay aviary, with daily care, the duck was healthy and ready to be released.  Ray Born carried the duck outdoors and put it into a special water area, which is more protected from sun and large albatross than the 20 wetland areas around Midway.  Good news; after several hours the duck had left the protected water area, free to travel anywhere on the island!  

(If you're interested in learning more about avian botulism, please visit the National Wildlife Health Center.)

Goofy Gooney "Hair Cuts" -- Hana Hou!

Everyone seemed to enjoy the FOAM post from June 21 entitled "Goofy Gooney 'Hair Cuts'," so I decided to do an encore (hana hou, in Hawaiian) for more fun!    Can you pick out which gooney is soaked from the rain?!  Down feathers get really soggy when wet!

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