XLVI

Superbowl was horrible.  Niners shoulda been there.  L.I.P.  I got out of the house for a good little while today.  Which was good.  Annie One-sock pounded on my bedroom door and forced me to go for a morning bike ride.  Thank you Ann.  The rest of the day was mostly superbowl.  Yawn.  The halftime show was exciting though.  It really was one of the dumbest things I've seen since Bush was president.  It's astounding that millions of people watch that shit.  And apparently I'm one of them.  Well, Happy Superbowl, loyal listeners.  Mahalo.

Fairy Terns are just like Elephant Seals.  If you run out of things to take photos of, just shoot the Fairy Terns.  Guranteed success.

Annie One-sock is by far the best swimmer alive today.  Here, she gives a suspicious Great Frigatebird the stink eye.  

Soldier Lost At Sea

I found an interesting treasure today while walking the beach on Eastern Island.  Well, first I found yet another glass float...yawn.  I immediately gave it to Karen as a birthday present.  It's best to get rid of those things as soon as possible.  The interesting thing I found was a small pelican case filled with the following items:  1 driver's license for a Patrick Laforester, 1 military ID card for Patrick Laforester, 2 credit cards for PL, 1 set of car keys, anti fog spray for a snorkeling mask, and 12 bucks cash.  I've been trying to find this mysterious soldier on the internet so that I can return his belongings, but have had no success.


Also, I saw the dreaded snipe again.  I think it's a Common.  But I have no street cred with such things, so I'm sending the shitty photos around and asking all the smart people I know.


It is now time to go celebrate the birth of fellow volunteer, Karen.  Should be a raging shindig.  Mahalo.

Well?

This is gross.  I'm not even going to say anything else.  Ewwww.

Freshly Shaven Onlooker

For birds, Midway is a safe haven.  A place to find rest and relaxation.  To find shelter from the harsh marine environment.  It turns out people sometimes use Midway as a safe haven as well.  Today a passing cargo ship offloaded a sick crew member onto the island.  He will be evacuated by a Coast Guard plane tonight, as soon as it's safe for them to land without crashing into birds.  Annie One-sock and I went out to the sea wall to watch the dramatic rescue mission performed by US Fish and Wildlife staff out on the safeboat.  The swell was apparently well over ten feet, but they puled it off.  Pretty cool.

The safeboat was halfway hidden behind waves and was completely dwarfed by the massive container ship.

Great Frigatebird looks on as the recue mission is underway.   Showing very nicely.  Freshly shaven I think.

We Finished Counting

I saw a bunch of great stuff on Eastern Island today.  No new birds, but Ann and I did find some kind of mysterious transmitter buoy that experts say is worth literally hundreds off dollars.  I also got some glass fishing floats, which are prized beyond money or gold out here.  The Gnarly Storm blew a bunch of stuff up on our beaches.  After all that, we finished the Albatross count sweeps that we have been working on since arriving.  The totals are in. It's official.  There are hella.

The ass-end of a Masked Booby.  It's nice, cause you can compare it to the ass-end of a Red-footed Booby in the background.

This Great Frigatebird just kept grabbing crud off the water and then dropping it.  It wasn't food or anything, I think he was just practicing.

Red and Gold 4 Eva

I spent about eight hours in Captain Brooks Pub today.  I left only to get food from the Clipper House during the single scheduled mealtime.  The rest of my day was filled with watching football, playing cards, darts, and Monopoly.  Quite a day.  I can't believe the 49ers are good again.  It feels like it's been so long.  It was super fun to watch them own the Saints today.  I look forward to the next game.  Maybe I'll make it into another all day marathon at the bar.  I'm hella tired now.  Watching a tv all day really takes it out of you.

Here's a Great Frigatebird that was pissed off at me yesterday for being too close to its bushes.

A magical rainbow appeared during the football game.  I ran outside to snap off some photos.  I failed at getting hella sicky shots.

Fishooks, Spiders, Scrotes, Oh My.

Went to Dr. Breck's Intro to Seabirds talk last night.  Thought it was great.  We mostly discussed adaptations for a bird's life at sea.  I think there might be another lecture tonight, we shall see.  Today was fairly chill.  There is a lot to do after our three day Christmas Break.  I capped the day off with removing a fishhook from the neck of a Black-footed Albatross.  It was gross and scary, but I reckon I saved his life.  So, good job to me.  

I found this Deadly venomous Giant Killing-spider (Arachnus murderensis) in my golf cart today.  I barely escaped alive.

The best way to advertise that you're ready to go to bed with someone:  Attach a scrotum to your face.  And make it red.  Bright red.

Mind Bottling

We were invaded by 15 new volunteer bird counters in the night.  At breakfast, I waded through unfamiliar faces to find my bacon, eggs, and coffee.  After breakfast I searched the freshwater seeps on the island for signs of Botulism (dead ducks).  I found one, a Northern Pintail.  Life is Pain.  Most of the rest of the day was spent entering data and banding Laysan Albatross on Eastern Island.  It was fun.  We even walked by the adult male Golden Goony.  He is spectacular.  His head is made of solid gold.  Tonight, a bunch of VIPs are flying in.  I think it's the head of Fish &Wildlife or some such person.  Cray cray.  I guess there's gonna be a fat rager to welcome him on Island.  I better go get cleaned up for the meet and greet.

Frigatebird identification baffles me.  It's mindbottling.  You know, like when your mind feels like it's in a bottle?  I'm pretty sure this is just a Great Frigatebird (not the fabled Lesser that I search for in vain every day).  But I'm not really sure why...

The Short-tailed Albatross of Eastern Island hanging out with his fake friends.  Check out how much bigger and cooler he is than the surrounding Laysans.

Buy Stuff, It's Christmas

I forgot to mention something that I discovered during the great Thai King Rage of 2011.  I am the second youngest person on Midway.  I was pretty sure I was in the top five or ten, but number 2?  Cray cray.  Just when I felt like I was getting old...  In other news, I went to Eastern Island today and saw hella boobies.  Also hecka Great Frigatebirds.  I bloodied my shins walking through the dry pokey sticks of Verbesina. (most hated plant on island)  Also, the Goonies seem to be getting meaner because they have started occasionally biting me on the legs when I walk by them.  Usually I call the offending bird a bad name and keep walking.  It helps me to feel better.  Hope you're all doing well in Christmasland, buying lotsa stuff for the people you love.  I know I am.

When I took this photo, I was sure I would look through the flock later and find some mega rare vagrant.  Nope, just Chuck Testa (google it) and 24 Ruddy Turnstones.

So sick.  In your face Great Frigatebird.