Mother Nature is Not Always on Our Side

Yesterday was a bust. Micky, Marc, and I went to the Neck of the Island again, but this time we were spending the night. It is kind of unbelievable how much stuff we have to bring with us each time we go. For example, there is…

1-Pelican case of puzzle equipment, which inside you would find, 2-dog enrichment toys converted into Johnny Rook intelligent testing devices secured to thick lead sheets (making the box extremely heavy). At least a dozen wooden slats painted white and black that go into the pipe puzzle. Extra Kevlar string, which make excellent bootlaces when your new Keen laces break, not that I would know from personal experience. 1-plastic hammer to help drive the steel stakes into the ground for either the trap or the meat we use as bait. 3-long pieces of ropes that have a snare knotted at the end used for trapping a specific bird. And 3-bags that we use to hold the Rooks after we catch them.

1-Pelican case for the lead analyzer. This is a small machine that we use to test a small amount of blood taken from each Johnny Rook to determine how much lead is within its bloodstream. Why is this important? Well, just as lead is harmful to humans, it is also harmful to birds. For example, a very miniscule amount can kill a Bald Eagle! Where do they get the lead? Our Rooks mainly get lead into their bodies after they eat a goose that was shot by a local farmer. When the bullet is shot, lead fragments disperse into the body of the goose. Back home, birds consume lead for similar reasons and can also consume lead by eating fish that may have had a lead weight attached to it after it broke the line of a fisherman. There are alternatives to using lead but unfortunately, sportsmen and women choose not to pay more for these alternatives. 

You can learn more about the alternatives here though: 

http://www.huntingwithnonlead.org/index.html 

You can also read about research that has been happening on Bald Eagles and lead in Iowa here: 

http://www.soarraptors.org/leadresearch.html 

1-Banding box, which is actually a toolbox converted into a banding box. Inside you would find everything from, banding pliers to Q-tips! However, the most important thing the box includes are the bands (aka “rings”). Originally, aluminum bands, which are used on most raptors, were placed on the Rooks. However, it became apparent they would not work well on our birds that like to dig in the sand and kelp beds looking for insects to eat. The bands become very scratched and extremely hard to read. Now we use a band made out of durable plastic called “Darvic”. They are made in Poland (yay, heritage!) and contain an alpha-numeric combination (example: A2 or C32). Each island we have a study site on has a special color. Saunders Island is yellow, Carcass is white, Steeple Jason is black, and New Island is green. With the help of citizen scientists, the bands allow us to track which islands these birds travel to. 

1-power drill, which is used to remove the old aluminum bands so we can replace them with new plastic ones.

1-long ruler to measure the bird’s longest feather on its wing. Biologists call this the birds “wing cord”.

Then we just have our personal belongings. For me that means a minimum of two bags, 1-camera bag and 1-personal bag. We also bring food for ourselves, and meat to lure the Rooks in with.

So needless to say, after we pack all of this, drive for an hour to the other side of the island on a very bumpy road, and are greeted with such strong winds that even the Rooks don’t want to fly, you will be left with 3 very disappointed biologists. We sat inside the cabin all day yesterday. As we listened to the cabin creak each time the steel cables strained to hold the cabin down against the brutal force of the wind, Marc played solitaire and graded some tests, Micky took a nap and fiddled around on his computer, and I finished organizing the master banding and lead lists. The master banding list has taken over a week to organize and has been a complete frustration from start to finish.

Advice to future biologists:

Although, it may take more time at the beginning to organize the data as you enter it, I promise you it will take far less time than it does later on when you find yourself having to go back through it. 

However, now with the list finished, it is known that a total of 614 Johnny Rooks have been banded in the Falkland Islands since 14 December 2010! Since we only band for an average of 4 months out of the year that is about 43.9 birds/month!

Around 18:00 Micky decided he was going to go for a walk to the other side of the Neck (~5 km/3.1 miles away). I happily tagged along after being stuck inside all day. We walked to “the pond”, which is an actual inland pond. There I added Black-necked Swans to my life list. Unfortunately, the wind was still quite strong and the lighting wasn’t the best so there aren’t many great pictures to show from it. We didn't get back until 21:15, which made Marc a little uneasy since it gets dark around 20:30. All three of us chipped in making dinner (steak and mashed potatoes), which we didn't eat until 23:00 (I hate eating so late)! After the boys did the dishes ;-) we all sat down and watched Taken 2 on my laptop. I definitely didn’t make it to the end though and went to sleep around midnight.

Black-necked Swan taking off without the rest of his family.

Today was a new day though, and we had until 12:30 to get some actual work done. At 7:30 there were Rooks at our window and running across the metal room of the cabin. Two birds had metal bands! Micky went out and attempted to trap them, but soon all the juvenile Rooks showed up at the bait causing the adults with the metal bands to become shy and stay away. Keith came on his ATV and dropped off the GPS-transmitters in case we could get a bird that was deemed worthy enough to carry one (i.e., a 1 year old juvenile banded by Micky on Carcass Island last year at/near its nest). Micky and I tried all morning to catch H2 White and failed. Around 11:00 it seemed like a lost cause and we packed up and I went to take pictures for the last hour. When I returned though, I was told that M0 White had shown up just as Marc and Micky were going to have their afternoon tea (have I mentioned I have grown to absolutely love the idea of tea time?). Micky caught him/her and they were able to put the transmitter on it. We are back up to having 4 birds flying around carrying small solar-powered transmitters on their backs like a backpack. Did I mention these birds are now worth $4000 each!? That is how much each transmitter costs and why it is so important for us to try to find them if they fall off. When it comes down to it…

Scientific research is not cheap.

(Care to donate to the Johnny Rook research cause?)

Tomorrow we fly to Carcass Island, which is located next to Saunders, so the plane ride should only be about 12 minutes, providing there is good weather. My access to Internet though is not as nice as it is here, and I have to buy data cards that cost 10 pounds each to get on! The worst part is that you never know how much time you have when you start, or during your session, before it just turns off (it is never very much time though when it comes down to it). Needless to say, I do not know if I will be able to update this blog in the next week.

Until next time though, wish us luck and good weather! Oh, and that I see my favorite bird, T2 Yellow, aka “Tetley” the one we imped feathers on last year, on Carcass! That would literally make my entire trip if I did.  

PS. Just found out that my first manuscript as first author has been accepted for publication!