A Fistful of Courage, A Heart Full of Rage

A Red-tailed Tropicbird backpedals during an aerial courtship display. When they do this they always hold their long tail-plumes off to the side.....I call this move "The Whip".

Tomorrow is Songkran, the Thai New Year. Since the majority of people on Midway are Thai nationals, this is a really big deal. It involves copious amounts of water, food, alcohol, and some sort of white powder (not cocaine). It kicks off tomorrow at noon with a parade, which I am guessing will be incredible. We have been given the afternoon off, which is a great way to kick off the weekend. I think Gary and I are going to get some kayaking in......stoked.



Although Sooty Terns have been here almost the whole time Ive been here, they have been extremely reluctant to actually land anywhere until recently. They're pretty sweet.....in flight they are shaped a lot like a miniature frigatebird.



Seagull Steve + Laysan Albatross = ALBASTEVE

Marc Romano, the albatross guru of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, has been here the past week. We've been helping him catch adult albatross so he could put geolocator tags on them...its been a lot of fun. Although catching an adult albatross can be quite difficult, they are a lot more pleasant to handle than chicks.....the chicks are dirtier, are much more inclined to shitting and barfing, and generally lack the dignity of adults. It's been a lot of fun, although somewhat painful at times.