Laysan Albatross Return to Midway Atoll: You Are There

Laysan Albatross Photo Gallery; James Lloyd, 2007

What a difference a month makes!  Have a look at this ~30-second video that Joanna recorded on October 17.  See any albatross?  Nope, because there aren't any on the entire Atoll.  There's no audio to this video, but if there were, you probably would hear only the breeze and maybe some White Tern "rubber-band" calls, since these birds live on the Atoll year around.
Midway Atoll, October 17, 2010 from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.

Now watch Joanna's video from a windy day on Sunday, November 14.  Can you see that there are now albatross present?  And she says only a little more than half of them are back; more are arriving every day!  In the video, you can hear the wind...and albatross whistles.
Midway Atoll, November 14, 2010 from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.
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December 2010 update:
Here's the newest video by Joanna; LOOK AT ALL THE LAYSAN ALBATROSS!!!  Pretty amazing, huh?!  And do you hear them?!  Albies: welcome back to Midway, your largest nesting colony in the world!

Midway Atoll, December 14, 2010, from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.

Rubber Band Birds

When they are on Midway, the peculiar whistling and clacking albatross calls are the loudest bird sounds of anybody.  Sounds from the Red-tailed Tropicbirds are also loud and squawk-y.  But what does Midway sound like when the albatross and Tropicbirds have flown away?

White Terns are year-around Atoll residents.  Don't you think they make a sound like the twanging of a rubber band?!


Rubber Band Birds from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.

Red-tailed Tropicbirds are NOT Songbirds

FOAM has had a lot of posts about albatross.  As of today, July 20, there have been a total of 29 albatross posts.  That's okay.  After all, FOAM means Friends of Albatross on Midway.

But there are other birds here as well.  I have sort of a "love-hate" relationship with the Red-tailed Tropicbirds.  I love how beautiful they are.  Look at these pictures of adult RTTR.  What a glossy white bird, with striking black feathers around the eye!  And isn't that a beautiful red bill?  If you look closely at the top picture and the one to the right left-hand picture, which shows an adult resting in the native `Akulikuli (Sea Purslane, Sesuvium portulacastrum), you can see the red tail-feather that's present only during mating season.  After mating season the feather falls off.

But I hate the Tropicbird's call.  If you get too close to one of these birds it screams at you with a really loud, raspy squawk.  The video below was taken from the porch of Midway Atoll's Clipper House, a lovely place where our meals are served.  If you look closely, you'll see the famous circular mating flight of some RTTR in the distance.  They fly in a vertical circle: flying up toward the sky, then backwards, then down toward the ocean, forward, and then repeat.  (I know, I know; you wish I would zoom in on those white specks that are birds!  I have a really, really simple camera, and if I use the zoom, the video gets fuzzy.)  The good thing about the video is its audio, which gives you an ear-full from the Red-tailed Tropicbirds sailing overhead.  They definitely are not songbirds!


Strange Flight of the Tropicbirds from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.

The Loud Din of Birds

Midway Atoll is called by that English language name because it is mid- or half-way between North America and Asia.  But it probably had an earlier name given to it by the ancient Hawaiians, who were most likely the first people to visit the atoll.

Many people think the original Hawaiian name was Pihemanu, which means "the loud din [noise] of birds."  What a good name!  When I was trying to fall asleep on my first night on Midway, this is what I heard: all the sounds of the Laysan Albatross.  Close your eyes...and listen!  Can you imagine trying to sleep in all that noise?!

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.

360-degree View from an Atoll Island

 

Midway Atoll is...well, about midway between Asia and North America in the North Pacific Ocean. Imagine you're standing on an old World War II runway in the center of Miday's Eastern Island and you turn slowly around in a circle.  You'll hear the wind and LOTS of Sooty Terns, `Ewa`ewa (Terna fuscata oahuensis.)

360-degree View from Midway Atoll's Eastern Island from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.