Eternal Glory

It has finally happened.  I have tied the Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive's Midway Atoll List.  Well, kinda.  I have a very sketchy tick.  My snipe is still unidentified, causing me great distress.  Still, I have a month to go, and I'm counting on a few more species to arrive by Feb.  In any case, as you may have guessed, I got an Island Bird today.  Black-bellied Plover.  I found it while walking along the beach on Eastern Island.  It really stood out after staring at hundreds of golden-plovers over the last 2 months.  I have officially advanced in the Global Birder Ranking System (GBRS).  What a proud day for birders everywhere.

Felonious Jive: 39 species

Green-winged Teal
Laysan Duck
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Laysan Albatross
Black-footed Albatross
Short-tailed Albatross
Bonin Petrel
Bulwer's Petrel
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Christmas Shearwater
Tristram's Storm-Petrel
Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Masked Booby
Lesser Frigatebird
Great Frigatebird
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Cattle Egret
Pacific Golden-Plover
Whimbrel (Siberian and American)
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Grey-tailed Tattler
Wandering Tattler
Ruddy Turnstone
Glaucous Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Little Tern
Least Tern
Sooty Tern
Grey-backed Tern
Brown Noddy
Fairy Tern
Black Noddy
Common Myna
Canary


Handsome Dan: 39 species


Brant
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Laysan Duck
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Laysan Albatross
Black-footed Albatross
Short-tailed Albatross
Bonin Petrel
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Masked Booby
Great Frigatebird
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Cattle Egret
Black-bellied Plover
Pacific Golden-Plover
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Grey-tailed Tattler
Wandering Tattler
Snipe sp. (probably Common)
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Peregrine Falcon
Short Eared Owl
Brown Noddy
Fairy Tern
Black Noddy
Common Myna
Canary

The Black-bellied Plover, proving that it's a Black-bellied Plover.

Cattle Egrets.  Insufferable pests.  We also came across this nest today.  Aren't they cute?  Too bad they are slated for destruction.

Island Bird Day

Island Bird today.  I am within inches of FJ's record, which was previously thought to be unbeatable.  I can almost taste all the Fame and Eternal Glory.  I got a hot tip from one of the Albatross counters that they had seen two Short-eared owls out by the water tanks.  I blasted out there and ticked that shit off like it weren't no thang.  


I've been reading this book called She's Come Undone.  It's good.  It's about this girl who grows up with hecka crazy parents and then gets raped by a neighbor and then gets super fat and then goes crazy herself when her mom dies.  It's very depressing, but I'd still recommend it to anyone.  I think it is the fourth book I've read since being here.(also an Asimov, a cyber punk novel, and a crappy novel based on a move called Event Horizon)  You have plenty of time to read out here while trying to get into a normal sleeping pattern.  I often wake up before 5 AM on accident.


Lastly, I'd like to congratulate Matt Brady on seeing his 10,000th County Bird in California (a Rock Wren in Colusa).  This is an incredible milestone, and I am genuinely proud of my friend for all his hard work.  Rage.

Volunteer Nick gets a look at the Short-eared Owl.  To bad I wasn't standing where he was standing.  My photo would've been much better.

Boobies.  Still fun to look at.  This is a Masked Booby on Eastern Island.

It Is So Effing Early

This post is dedicated to keeping score of the birds seen on Midway by Felonious Jive (Steve), and Handsome Dan (me).  The winner of this noble contest will receive Eternal Glory and Fame, and it will probably advance him in the GBRS (Global Birder Ranking System).  I will update as scores change.  FJ, if you find any problems or inaccuracies with the lists, notify the TPAD administrator immediately.  Here is the rundown:

Felonious Jive: 39 species

Green-winged Teal
Laysan Duck
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Laysan Albatross
Black-footed Albatross
Short-tailed Albatross
Bonin Petrel
Bulwer's Petrel
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Christmas Shearwater
Tristram's Storm-Petrel
Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Masked Booby
Lesser Frigatebird
Great Frigatebird
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Cattle Egret
Pacific Golden-Plover
Whimbrel (Siberian and American)
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Grey-tailed Tattler
Wandering Tattler
Ruddy Turnstone
Glaucous Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Little Tern
Least Tern
Sooty Tern
Grey-backed Tern
Brown Noddy
Fairy Tern
Black Noddy
Common Myna
Canary


Handsome Dan: 35 species

Brant
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Laysan Duck
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Laysan Albatross
Black-footed Albatross
Short-tailed Albatross
Bonin Petrel
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Great Frigatebird
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Cattle Egret
Pacific Golden-Plover
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Grey-tailed Tattler
Wandering Tattler
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Peregrine Falcon
Brown Noddy
Fairy Tern
Black Noddy
Common Myna
Canary

This is Nuom and Pong.  They are bad ass cooks and keep me well fed.  They both left for 2 months on thursday.  Nuom (striped shirt) had his house badly damaged in the Bangkok flooding and has to go deal with that horrible mess.  If any of you are ridiculously well to do and would like to donate to his family, contact me and I'll tell you how.

Here is Patty at the airport scene on Thursday.  Patty is our doctor.  If anything bad happens to me, she will save my life.  There were a whole bunch of people out of the runway to wish John Hanna farewell after hella years of service on Midway.