...and here is the Steeple

The boat ride to Steeple Jason was less than pleasant. I took Dramamine before getting on and just tried to sleep for 5 hours. I was doing fine and tried my best to ignore the other retching sounds and potent smells on board. Then the captain turned on the heat. Now, this isn’t the largest of vessels, so it heats up pretty well. I found out the heat comes from beneath the bed I was on, as well. For a girl who gets dehydrated and faints easily, this did not bode well for me. When we arrived and anchored offshore, I sat up and not long after felt like I was dripping in sweat and was severely dizzy. Mix that with incessant rocking of the boat and I was about to faint. It was not good at all.  Once I was on deck though, the fresh cool air relieved me (the dolphins playing about were probably a good distraction as well). However, after waiting for nearly an hour for the anchoring and first transport of goods and passengers by zodiac, I was no longer feeling well. Right when it was my turn to get on board the zodiac, my peripheral vision started closing in, I began sweating, I thought I was going to throw up at any moment, and still, I had to get on the zodiac. Luckily, I didn't miss a step and I made it into the small boat beneath me and I felt better shortly after that. Not so luckily, there is a thing called “land sickness.” Oh yes!! Turns out, I can suffer from such a thing. It took until the next morning for me to feel “right” again. Fortunately, the landscape of Steeple Jason makes up for all of that.

Day one, I introduced the two volunteers to Johnny Rook banding while Micky helped Rob from Carcass Island, and who also manages Steeple Jason, bring fuel ashore (took them all morning and unfortunately, all they succeeded in doing was getting a trailer and 4 barrels of kerosene bogged shortly after bringing it ashore on the other side of the island). One volunteer, Nathan (the Kiwi) has a wildlife background so he caught on quickly. The other volunteer, Miguel (the Chilean) who is a Spanish teacher and translator in Stanley, did well too. Overall, we managed to band 30 Rooks that day.

Days two and three were solely dedicated to Falklands Conservation’s Black-browed Albatross project. Even though I study birds, it does not mean that I have to like all birds. That being said, Black-browed Albatross are not at the top of my list. Picture 500 ground-nesting birds in an area of about 50 yards by 20 yards. Now picture each bird actively defending their nest by lunging and biting anything that passes by them with their 5-inch beak that is hooked at the end. I am not sure what their bite force is, but I think it is a top contender in the bird world. Imagine having to go through and either band an unbanded bird, check the bands of banded birds, and also place a nest tag in each nest. Micky and Nathan did all the banding but I still have bruises from just being within the colony recording all the bands and nest numbers. I would just be standing still, writing, when all of sudden it feels like pliers are being squeezed on my upper thigh and then twisting. Or, the few times when I would help Micky when he was banding, by holding the head still so he wouldn't get bit, I would get bit. Up and down my arm, on my hand, you name it. Each time, on the arms and hands especially, it would feel like nerves were being hit with each bite and my whole arm and/or hand would tingle as a response, in addition to the pain neurons firing. I would take three of the meanest, most annoyed Rooks any day versus one Black-browed Albatross.

Fun Fact: Nathan (and I have learned that some Falklanders as well) call Black-browed Albatross "Mollymauks". 

Another Fun Fact (I may have told you before): Those 500 or so nests are are only 1/1000^th of the estimated number of Black-broweds there are on Steeple Jason. Yep, half of 1 million. Incredible to think about, isn't it?

Day 5, we went back to the albatross site to mark down band numbers of mates changing over at the nests.  It went semi-quickly. Then we had to go back up the mountain and sit and count Southern Giant Petrels nesting below. There were 11 sections and each section had to be counted 3 times. I got done first, so I went walking down by the shore by the Sea Lions and then by the Gentoo colony. I found an amazing little spot to take photos of the Gentoos jumping ashore. It was too early in the day though so there weren’t many groups, unfortunately.         

Halloween was less than eventful. For one, we woke up to snow falling from the sky. Yes, SNOW! We actually were very spoiled the first few days here. The sun was shining and it wasn’t bitterly cold if you were moving. The snow didn’t last long, not even long enough to stick to the ground, but the cold temps seem to want to stay. Add the strong wind and I have been chilled right to the bone. Due to the weather though we had a late start. After lunch Micky took Miguel to count albatross and petrels on the other side of the mountain. Nathan and I stayed back to band some Rooks, but the weather made it difficult. We couldn't stand too far back from our nooses because the wind would close them and plus, if we did catch a bird we didn't want to have a Johnny Rook kite in our hands. Lots of birds turned up though, which is good and bad.

Good points:

1.     Lots of birds (duh…)

2.     I am sometimes able to sit near the feeding frenzy and reach out and grab the Rook I want by the legs with my hands.

Bad points:

1.     Lots of unbanded birds.

2.     It's hard to pick out which ones you want.

3.     Greater chance of having an “alpha bird” that will dominate the feeding frenzy.

Nathan and I were able to catch 9 birds before the group got too out of hand and before we were too cold. Those nine bring up the Steeple Jason count up to 68 Rooks captured this trip in 3 days. Not too bad.

The highlight from 1 November was witnessing Z9 Black kill a Rock Cormorant. It was awesome! He then removed the head and flew it over and gave it to his mate, Z0 Black. She came back with him near the kill site and he repeatedly came and got bits of the cormorant to go and share with Z0 Black. You could definitely feel the love in the air that night.

The last days on the island were spent banding more Rooks with Nathan, while Micky and Miguel counted penguins. In the end we banded 88 new Rooks and managed to recapture 22 already banded birds.

On 7 November, we traveled back to Carcass Island. This boat ride was much smoother than what we had on the way there, but still a little rough. I managed to take a nice 4-hour nap and miss most of it. On Saturday I traveled to Saunders Island. I am so glad that they had room to take me. I don't think my trip would have felt complete without visiting the Pole-Evans. On Sunday I went with David to the Neck and in the process was able to add a lifer to my list. The Macaroni Penguin! There was a pair last year, but I had never seen them since I always arrived later in the season. Luckily, I was able to see them before the cruise ship that had 103 people come ashore. I won’t lie; I was a little overwhelmed when they were walking towards me. For the last three weeks, the largest quantity of people that I was around was four.

Yesterday, Suzan took me along with her to gather some cows, which meant I got to get on a horse! It has been probably two years since I had last ridden, so I was very excited, even when the horse turned out to be a bit naughty. At one point she decided to have a lie down and a roll with me still on top. Luckily, I managed to get my feet out of the stirrups in time. Other than that, it was a nice and quiet ending to my time in outer camp. Today, I traveled back to Stanley and am very grateful to Liz of Falklands Conservation who has let me stay with her until I fly out on Saturday. I hope that tomorrow I will still be able to go to Volunteer Point, but those plans may have changed so we shall see.

As always, photos will have to wait until I am back in the States.