Travels with Klaus

What a great weekend! I really needed to get out of the city so Camille and I loaded up Klaus with sleeping bags, chairs, books, firewood, food and beer, and we headed out on a road trip. First we went up to Mt. Hood to get a look at the mountain and to see some snow. We still have a fair amount of snow up in the mountains here in Oregon and Timberline ski are is still operating up on Mt. Hood. We got lunch at Timberline Lodge, which is one of the grand old lodges of the west, built by the WPA and dedicated by FDR himself. They didn't use beams to construct the interior structure, they used old growth logs! If you have ever seen the Stephen King movie "The Shinning," all of the exterior shots of the lodge, with all. of the crazy snow piled up, that is Timberline Lodge. Anyway, we got back on the road and headed out to the desert for Smith Rock State Park and the BLM campsite at Skull Hollow. We had a terrific night camped out in the sagebrush country, with a nice warm fire. We even raosted up some marshmallows over the coals! The next day we headed over to Smith Rock for some hiking. Smith is an outstanding park, with big red rock formations jutting up out of the desert floor. It is a rockclimbing mecca, and for good reason. Back in graduate school I used to go out there all of the time with friends or teaching climbing classes for the university. It was good to be back there after so many years.

Klaus the AutoBaus

Well, after a 13 year hiatus, I am back in the Volkswagen ownership game! A few weeks ago I picked up a 1966 VW Camper from a fellow up in Seattle. It is in fantastic shape for its age and I get compliments on it wherever I go. The bus rolled off the production line in Hannover Germany on December 16, 1965, part of the 1966 model year. It is one of the old version, split windshield transporters that preceded the typical VW hippie bus of the 1970s. Klaus, as we have come to call the bus was originally produced as a panel van; with no windows other than the windshield, drivers and passenger doors and a rear window. He was imported to Seattle and likely made his way down to Vancouver Washington where a company called ASI was converting panel vans into campers for the Riviera Company of Beaverton Oregon. ASI put a picture window on the drivers side and cut two windows into the loading doors on the passenger side. Klaus has a fold out bed in back, with a closet, a cold box and storage under the seats. A stove was certainly a factory option but it is long since gone. This weekend Klaus and I are headed to a VW show in Woodburn Oregon to check out other buses, look for parts (he is not without his problems) and generally relax in the VW culture.

Fuzzy Little Friends

Well, I'm back to Midway after a two month whirlwind that took me all over the west coast and Hawaii. It feels good to be back with the birds and to see the progress that all of the chicks are making. When I left here in early February most of the eggs had not hatched yet. Now things are completely different! There are fat fuzzy chicks waddling around all over the place. They are fattening up on squid oil provided by their parents, which is just loaded with energy to get them growing fast.

I am here to band chicks from nests that we began monitoring back in mid-November. It is such a trip to see a pudgy Ewok of bird and think that when I got here it wasn't even laid as an egg yet! The most striking are the birds that live on the driveway of my house. I watched their parents incubate them as eggs over the course of the entire winter, now the little ones snap at me as I walk by to get on my bicycle. Yes, the little chicks are cute, but that hooked bill of theirs can still pack a mean bite. I have a nice slice on the palm of my hand where a cute fuzzball latched onto me and ripped at my flesh!! It is hard not to admire these wonderful creatures.

Kauai Wandering

Camille and I just finished up a wonderful week of vacation on the island of Kauai. We had a fantastic time and a much needed break from the hectic lives we have been leading over the last few months. Over the course of our stay we managed to pack a lot of activities in, plus we put in some good beach lounging time. We tried to swim in the ocean at least once a day, including playing in some nice big waves. The water was nice and warm and clear, great for swimming. I only got trundled under and near-drowned a few times!!

We did get away from the beach for a day or so when we went up to visit Kokee State Park and Waimea Canyon. The canyon is pretty spectacular with red rock and lush green vegetation. We went on a really wonderful hike in Kokee that led us out on to a knife's edge ridge with views down either side plunging almost straight down. It is a pretty dramatic location. In the picture of Camille the cliffs start right in front of her! One of the highlights of our time in the mountains included seeing 9 different short-eared owls in 30 minutes while driving up to Kokee one night.

When we weren't hiking through the forest or lounging onn the beach we spent our time eating wonderful food and seeing the sights. We spent our first Friday night on the island touring a bunch of little art galleries in the town of Hanapepe. Camille picked up a few nice things at a little boutique. My favorite sight-seeing stop of the whole trip though was the Kauai Coffee Estate. It is a working coffee plantation that produces some amazing beans. We sampled different coffees and and took a tour that explains all of the steps in the coffee making process. By the time we left I was completely jacked-up on caffiene. I also had a bit of work to do while we were there, but it was fun work. We went and visited a friend of mine who is the widlife biologist at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. She and I needed to discuss some details of the albatross project that I am running. Camille got to hold an albatross while Brenda banded it, and we got to see hundreds of Red-footed Boobies flying all around the cliffs of the refuge.

Journey to Laysan Island

I have just returned from a research cruise out to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and it was a remarkable trip! I hopped on a boat in Honolulu (the M/V Searcher) and we headed out to drop a crew off on the remote and uninhabited island of Nihoa. It is an amazing little island, very rugged and tough to get people on shore due to the cliffs that surround most of the perimeter. Once we dropped the crew off we headed out on the four day journey to Laysan Island. There is a permanent field camp on Laysan and I was headed up there with the incoming crew that was to replace the three guys who had been out there for the last six months. Like Nihoa, Laysan is remote and not open to the public. Laysan Island is a major seabird colony with a large poulation of both Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses. The island also has a population of Greater Frigatebirds. The breeding male frigates were diplaying all over the place with their large red pouches inflated to call in all the ladies! All three species of Pacific Boobies (Red-footed, Masked and Brown) nest on the island. I am a huge fan of the Boobies and it was great to have so many all around to photograph!

My work on the island was pretty straight-forward. I was out there to check on the work that the outgoing crew had been doing on my albatross project. Laysan Island is one of the field sites that we are using to monitor adult survival and reproductive success so that we can assess long term trends in the population. The guys did a great job, despite having minimal guidance from me. In truth, I was learning how to do this work on Midway this winter while these guys were learning it for themselves on Laysan! I had a great time out there and I would have gladly stayed longer, but after four days we loaded up and headed back to the southeast to pick up the crew we had dropped off at Nihoa. The trip back to Nihoa and on to Oahu was pretty rough and I spent one long day pretty queasy as we bounced into some big seas.

Leaving Alaska

With heavy hearts but excitement for our future, Camille and I said goodbye to Alaska last week. Dustin and Cecille gave us a nice send-off party at their house. I said goodbye to some of my closest friends that night but I know I'll be seeing a lot of them either on visits to Alaska or down in Portland. We had an epic journey getting out of Alaska and down to our new home. After driving 750 miles from Anchorage, heading for the town of Haines (where we were suppossed to get on the Alaska ferry to Washington), we were stopped 40 miles short of our goal by a blizzard that shut down the highway. So, instead of a nice relaxing four day cruise on the ferry, Camille and I drove 2,200 miles down the Alaska Highway to get to Portland. The drive through the Yukon and B.C. was beautiful but extremely tiring. Both Camille and I were driving our own trucks with a cat on our lap. Fortunately Dustin let us borrow walkie-talkies for the trip and that saved us!! I am glad we did it because I have always wanted to drive the highway, and the hot springs at Laird River, right on the B.C. /Yukon Border made the whole trip worth it!

Tearing it up, Alyeska Style

Me and two of my good friends, Matt Crockett and Dustin Davis, had an epic day at Alyeska Resort today! The weather was pretty darn cold but the riding conditions were fantastic. Although the mountain has not received any fresh snow in over a week the trails were all in great shape. The groomers were fast and lots of fun. Dustin and I lucked out because Matt brought his camera with us and he popped off a bunch of great shots. These two pictures were both shot by Matt. In the group photo from left to right are Matt, Dustin, Shannon Roy (our old friend who works as a ski patroler) and me. Matt keeps up a real nice blog with lots of pictures. In fact, Matt is the person who inspired me to start a blog in the first place. He always does such a great job of sharing all of the high quality photos he takes. You can check out his blog at http://crockettsinak.blogspot.com/.

Albatross Chicklets

Break out the cigars and make sure you have a lot of them to share. We have many proud parents here at Midway because the first albatross eggs have begun to hatch. It is a very exciting time. Our first Black-footed Albatross chick was found on Monday and our first Laysan chick hatched today. Over the next few weeks we will have close to 400,000 eggs hatch and little ones will be all over the place. I haven't worked on a seabird colony for five years and this is so much fun for me to witness this explosion of life! The chicks are amazing. The little Black-footed chick in the photo above was still wet from being in the egg when I took the picture, but it was ready to eat. After 65 days of incubating the egg the real work is just beginning for the adults. They will have to work hard to feed their little ones, all they way through to June.

Unexpected Visitors

Last night a Japanese fishing vessel came to Midway in order to drop off an injured crew member who needed to be evacuated to Honolulu. The poor guy got a long line fish hook in his neck and needed medical attention. The crew had a very hard time getting their ship (the Kotobuki Maru No. 38) into the harbor due to high winds, big seas, and the limited maneuverability of their vessel. While they were making their way into the channel that leads to the harbor the ship struck the bottom, although we did not know this at the time. It took almost 30 minutes for the crew to get their ship tied up to the dock due to the wind but they finally got the vessel secure and were able to unload the crewman. I spoke to our doctor, who examined the man upon his arrival, and he told me that the hook was imbedded in the man's neck and had barely missed the carotid artery (extremely lucky). None of the crew from the ship speaks English but eventually a translator was brought up on the radio and the Captain was able to communicate to the staff here that they had hit bottom while coming in and were leaking diesel. Once we found that out our night got busy in a hurry! A crew was organized to assemble and deploy an oil containment boom around the ship. I was in the boat that pulled the boom into place around the ship (with John and Twan) while another crew on the dock helped secure the boom in place. The whole operation went smoothly, and everyone worked together very well. In the photo above, taken this morning, you can see the orange containment boom around the hull of the ship. As of tonight, the ship is still here, waiting for repairs and a Coast Guard inspection crew who are flying in tonight.

"Twas the Night Before Christmas....

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the Atoll, every creature was stirring, especially the party biologists." Well, it is officially Christmas here at Midway atoll, and we rang it in in style. After a long week of work the crew here cut loose a little bit and got funky on the dance floor to the sounds of our home grown jam band the "Chugach Band." The band is made up almost entirely of guys from Thailand who play a mix of classic rock, and funky Thai jams that got the party thumping. It was a very good time, and everyone on the island participated in the party. In the photo above are Caleb and Gretchen, two of the volunteers here who help me out with my work. Caleb is a botanist from Homer, Alaska and Gretchen has lived in Hawaii, studying Monk Seals for several years. They both are wonderful people and talented biologists. Gretchen was recently engaged to another one of the researchers on the island and they are a fun couple to be around. In the photo to the left I am boogieing down with Tanaya who is here to care for a group of captive monk seal pups that are going to be released into the wild in a few months. She is from San Francisco and is part of a research group that has pioneered techniques for the care and keeping of wild seals.