Day 119: Quiet, calm, and catching cute storm-petrels!

Well it's finally down to the last two weeks of my stay on Kent Island!! I can't believe I've already been here for almost 5 months of my life. Time has flown by, summer has flown by! It's been a wonderfully warm, dry summer here on the island, but there are already hints of fall starting to creep in. Cooler breezes, migrants passing through, and berries, berries everywhere!

As promised last time, today I'm going to talk about how I got to play with petrel babies for the past month (the Leach's storm-petrel to be precise, AKA fluffy adorableness)! Once I returned to the island from my brief, but busy, vacation, Savannah sparrow field work was at a bit of a winding down point. Adults were done breeding for the season, which meant no more nest searching, no more recording. It was very odd to return to such a quiet island (except for the speakers blaring out Alaskan Savannah sparrow songs). Thankfully, this also meant the gulls were finished breeding and incubating, making them significantly less angry! 

It was also quiet on the island because the Bowdoin students finished up their summer field work and headed back home. Unfortunately, they left the same day I returned, and our paths did not cross (sad faces). However, with the kitchen back to ourselves, Raquel and I (the last remaining Kent Island inhabitants) managed to keep up the steady flow of baking, and we welcomed any visitors with our over abundance of treats.

Since we had a bit of extra time during our daily schedule, we volunteered to help with the long-term petrel project here on the island. Leach's storm-petrels nest in the thousands (possibly up to 10 thousand pairs or more!) on Kent Island, but because they spend most of their time far out in the sea, and because they nest in underground burrows, if you didn't know what to look for (or listen for) you may never even know they were there! Our job was to monitor twenty burrows and measure the daily growth of any nestlings in those burrows. This basically involves sticking your arm into a hole in the ground (a method researchers here call 'grubbing') and pulling out a little ball of fluffy jelly. When I say this I am not exaggerating. The burrows are sometimes so deep that you have to reach in all the way up to your shoulder. Some burrows are too deep or curve too much to actually reach into, so the researchers have to dig new entry holes, just to access the birds for banding and measuring. These holes are then covered with a 'roof board', and act as a secret entrance just for us.

The dirty arm tan: a sign of a successful day of grubbing

Here's a little video of one of the burrows I grubbed on a daily basis:






As you can see, they are indeed little fluffy balls of jelly!! They are squishy and adorable and this is exactly  how they look when they hatch! What a difference from ugly, naked little songbird nestlings! Which, by the way, I still find cute in their own way. But seriously.. what's cuter than this?

It's so fluffy I could die!!!

There are eyes somewhere under that fluffy shag

If I could do nothing more than cuddle petrel chicks, my life would be complete

If that wasn't convincing enough, here is a video of a petrel baby making appropriately cute squeaking noises:


 


It was incredible to see how much the nestlings grew within a single day. It was like watching babies grow up right before our eyes! Except like a million times faster than human babies (sometimes they gained up to a third of their own body weight in one feeding)!!

Big Bertha

Needless to say, reaching our daily fluffball quota was definitely my favourite part of the day during the slow SAVS season!

And of course, the adults are pretty cute too. Not so fluffy, and not nearly as fat (nestlings actually gain enough weight from feedings that they eventually outweigh adults, and have to fast before they will be able to leave the burrow and start flying!).

I make cute, fat babies. Also, I was once a cute, fat baby.

Probably more adorable than the looking at the adults though, is listening to them. As you may remember me describing in one of my earlier posts, the petrel calls are absolutely magical. Since I really can't do them justice by describing them, here is a video (a very dark video, taken at around 3am) with some audio of them singing. Not much to see other than me looking at trees in the dark, but sit back and listen! It's a bit quiet, so turn up the volume.






Other than petrel cuteness and excessive baking, we did manage to achieve a Kent Island first. We finally took the plunge (literally) and jumped into the icy waters of the Bay of Fundy. No need to worry about the current sweeping us away though (or, like, sharks and stuff). During low tide, at the very south end of the island there is a small tidal pool deep enough swim in, and this is where we took our 'refreshing' dip in the sea. Just to prove our plight, here is a video of us braving the icy Atlantic! There may be some non-PG-13 language expressed shortly after the jump, I apologize, but this was not just your run-of-the-mill ice bucket challenge.






That's all the edu-tainment I have for today folks! Hopefully I'll get a chance to do at least one last post before the field season is over. Can't believe it's almost time to go home! Next time there will be more SAVS related news, as we are in the midst of mistnetting adventures for the last stretch of our stay here on Kent Island. See you all soon!

Day 98: recap of July!

So... looks like I haven't posted in about a month and a half. OOPS. So lets just go ahead and recap the entirety of July, and part of June, and part of August: Lobsters, Canada Day, 4th of July fireworks, frantic last minute SAVS work before trip home, TRIP HOME, return to (mostly) empty island, petrel babies!

Okay so let's start from the beginning. In late June we got to go lobster fishing! It was both enlightening and horrible at the same time. It's always good to see first hand where our food comes from, so we can appreciate the work that goes into what magically appears on our plates. However, as cool as it was to watch the traps get hauled in and to help put elastic bands on lobster claws, the inevitable occurred for me. I got sea sick. I got reeeal sea sick. This may not come as a surprise for some of you who know me. Motion sickness has always been one of my downfalls! I can't even go on most rides at a fair, lame! Anyway, needless to say the gravol did not do its duty, and I had a less than enjoyable experience for the remainder of the boat trip. It didn't help that the boat was going in circles and circles and circles while pulling up lines of traps. But once we straightened out our course and headed for Grand Manan I felt much better! Plus, we had lobsters!

After that, we had a delightful afternoon on the island. This included real showers (and toilets!) at our lobster fisherman host's home, followed by a lovely meal of seafood and corn chowder (some of the lobster we caught was consumed the next night back on the island). We also made a trip to the Swallowtail lighthouse, at which we had a lovely tour and took lots of photos of the view:

Early morning on the lobster boat. Tranquil. Lovely. Before the nausea.

Raquel and her huge catch! Again, before the nausea.

Lighthouse selfie! After the nausea. You almost can't even tel!

Just a little imaginary fishing by Hannah?

View of Grand Manan from the lighthouse

Next on the agenda came Canada Day on the big island! Grand Manan has a very special tradition on Canada day known as the 'greasy pole'. It involves a horizontal telephone pole, mounted so that it overhangs the water, which is greased up with dish detergent. A large barrel is attached so a person can jump on it, propel themselves forward, and slide down the pole. The object of the game is to retrieve a small Canadian flag mounted at the end of the pole. Regardless of success, you end up in the chilly water. But if you have the flag, you are $10 richer. Needless to say, it is incredibly amusing to watch. Most fail. However, probably the most amusing part of the entire event, besides watching a few of our own Kent Islanders make attempts, was listening to the non-participating locals watching from nearby, as they commented in all seriousness on the methods and tactics each person used, and the best ways to succeed. You know they've been watching this event for years, and are now experts on this incredibly random skill.

Kent Islander attempt at glory

Yet another valiant effort... Unfortunately none of our American friends were 
10 Canadian dollars richer after this event.

After the greasy pole, we visited a few other fun tourist attractions on the island, in what was much like the fashion of a family vacation. This involved packing two vans full of people on a hot day, getting lost somehow on an island with one primary road, and questionable enthusiasm and decision making on where to go.

Our family vacation to the 'hole in the wall' on Grand Manan: "We're going to see this tourist attraction and you're going to LIKE IT" - Brad (possibly fictitious quote? I can't remember)

Onto the next July events! Since the island was largely inhabited by Americans, we decided to have a little 4th of July celebration, involving sparklers and fireworks on the beach! It was a fun little celebration, though brief. It was no greasy pole, though.

Oh yeah, and we can't forget about the tropical storm we survived in early July! With winds over 100km/h and a fair bit of rain, it was a bit of an interesting experience. However, it was not nearly as bad as it sounds. Although one building near the wharf lost part of its wall, it was not very disastrous. It was fixed quickly, and I was more concerned about the outhouse blowing over while I was inside it. Luckily, this did not happen.

Survivor of tropical storm Arthur. The aftermath is not really that impressive...

Shortly after the great Arthur passed through, I finally took a short vacation from the island!! Yes, after about 83 days of living on Kent Island, I said goodbye to the Bowdoin students and began the 2 day journey home that consisted of a half hour boat ride, a night on Grand Manan, a 2 hour ferry ride, an hour car drive, 2 flights (Saint John to Toronto, Toronto to Winnipeg), a 2 hour drive home to Kenora. As you might have guessed, I was incredibly happy to be back in my comfy bed again. Especially after sleeping on a rock hard mattress for almost 3 months! I got to do some fun stuff while at home, including fishing and boat rides, swimming, perogy-making, hot tubbing, sauna-ing, and more!

Me and the fam jam out on a beautiful day on the Winnipeg River, right in my back yard

View from my deck, sitting on the swinging chair. Also, I assure you my house is architecturally
 sound, it's just the wide angle lens making it look like a funhouse.

This fine specimen let us get a really nice close up!

Eep! I've been spotted! This was one of about a dozen eagles we saw on
 our evening boat ride!

After a brief, but awesome, visit home, my parents and I packed up my car and drove down through Northern Ontario all the way to Kitchener-Waterloo to visit my brother and his girlfriend in their new house. After a short visit, I left my parents behind to fend for themselves and I headed to Windsor for a day before departing back towards the island for round two of island life.

That brings us back almost up until now! Since this post is getting to be ridiculously long, I will save the rest for next time, and will likely devote an entire post to my adventures with storm-petrels so far this August! Be prepared for cute fluffiness!!!

I'm an awkward teen now, I'm still cute though right??

Day 66: babies, birds, blood, and (dive) bombs

Hello all, it's day 66 and it's a beautiful sunny summer day on the island! However, I have decided to dedicate some time to adding a new blog post.... that was supposed to make you feel guilty for making me stay inside on a nice day. It probably didn't work though. Especially since I'm outside every day anyway!

Things are still very busy around here, hence my sporadic blogging. I spent the last couple days setting up all the speakers once again, to start phase 2 of the playback experiment. Everything is now up and running, but not without a few hitches along the way, of course! In other news, babies are everywhere. Baby birds, everywhere you look (and step!). Savannah sparrows, as you might imagine, are about as ugly as most altricial nestlings: mostly naked, see-through skin, etc:

Born with nothing but an aura of fuzziness...

 But once they reach about 7+ days old, they are suddenly adorable!!

Psych! Now we're cute

It is at this much cuter state that we band and bleed them (the cuteness factor is important in determining the timing of this). For those of you not familiar with bird banding protocols, the 'bleeding' part of it is for collecting DNA from each individual. We poke them with a needle, collect a small sample of blood, and then back to the nest they go! I think banding nestlings has become one of my favourite SAVS activities! Plus it's kinda nice that they can't fly away yet.

But Savannah sparrows are not the only babies present on the island, oh no. There are gull babies EVERYWHERE. And the adult gulls are pretty convinced you want to eat their babies. I try to convince them otherwise, but none-the-less, the gulls are about as psycho as moms who think you're gonna eat their babies anyway. So, consequentially, the dive-bombing has reached new heights:



And perhaps the dive-bombing is partially my fault in some cases, because of stunts like this:





And this:




But because I am performing these stunts for your viewing pleasure, the dive-bombing is actually pretty much your fault. So I feel better about that. Plus they're just so adorable! Almost makes the dive-bombing worth it. Almost. 

As you can probably see/hear, I have (sort of) figured out the volume problem with my GoPro! Turns out you really can't hear much through the waterproof case, but the trade-off is that it also picks up a ridiculous amount of wind-noise. Which is probably why they sell a separate microphone. Alas, here is a short video of me on Day 63! You can hear at least parts of it through the wind, so I apologize for the background noise!




So that's about it for today's update! I have lots of videos from around the island and will continue to collect more for future posts. My computer is pretty slow, and the internet/charging capabilities on the island are somewhat limited, but I will do my best! In closing, here is me with a baby bird:

Friends forever! Or at least until you grow your wing feathers...

Day 45:Going Pro

Hello friends, I apologize for my late posting! I actually recorded this video for day 45 last weekend but have not had the time (or the battery power) to post it yet. It has been busy, busy, busy since everyone else has arrived. There are now 20 people on the island! Luckily, I don't think I was 'too far gone' on the crazy spectrum to behave like a proper human being upon their arrival. Having a cook and social interaction so far has been great. However, now that our prior 'shower room' is occupied, we have switched to using the actual shower house, which is little more than a trickle of water at best. The bucket method is preferred.

So, some exciting news: I got a GoPro! This should make videos a little more interesting from here on in. I've only had time to play around with it a little bit, and I attempted to make a video tour of the northern tip of the island... However, I did not realize until later that the audio wasn't picking up very loudly because I had the waterproof casing on it. Alas, I am going to post this video anyway, because it will be more fun to watch than me sitting in front of the computer, even if you can't hear me very well. I will give you the gist of what I said below:

So if you weren't able to hear any of that, the main points are: got a GoPro, views of the northern tip of the island (whoa!), birds, me trying not to break an ankle on rocks, people are here and it's crazy, saw petrels (!), level 5-6 dirty, more fun with GoPro to come! That's about it.

In other news, I finally took my first trip off the island! Mind you it was only a short boat trip to the next nearest island which is much smaller than this one, but it was very liberating none-the-less. Also we saw this:

Holy crap WHALE

And this:

I risked my life to take this photo, so ENJOY IT.
And no, I didn't get pooped on... this particular time.

We have also had a friendly visitor hanging out around the main buildings over the past week:

I can feel him Mocking me. Get it? Anyone?

Since this is a week-behind post, I will try to post another entry soon. Today is another day off, so possibly another journey with the GoPro is in store! Perhaps featuring more birds!

As a final note, my outhouse birdlist is sadly lacking. In addition to my previous entries, I have also acquired Canada goose, Song sparrow, Black-capped chickadee, and Eastern Towhee. I might need to spend more time hanging out in there to improve this list... but then again, that doesn't really seem worth it...

Also, here's me goofing around on the wharf at sunset!




Until next time...!

Day 35: Nuevos sombreros, etc.

Hey all! Day 35 has already arrived - 5 weeks on the island!! Lots of fun stuff going on around here, mostly bird-wise of course. More migrants all the time, soo many warblers to watch! Also, BOBOLINKS! SO MANY BOBOLINKS. AKA birdsong that sounds like futuristic sci-fi robot sound effects from movies from the 70s. In my opinion. Also seals!!! Adorable sausage-like mer-puppies!! No photos yet, but soon I hope!

In other news, we took down all the playback speakers today, so that means phase 1 of the project has been completed, and n=3!! This means I get to focus on other SAVS related tasks for the next few weeks, like nest searching! Saw my first SAVS copulation today, so the birds are having the good times too.

Lots to talk about in this week's video, so check it out:

Some recent photos for your viewing pleasure:

Oh hai Magnolia warbler

Tree swallow nest boxes: not just for sparrows anymore!

Can you name that mammal? Hint: it's one of two species on the island and it's not human.

Mmmmm dirt.

And yes, I'm perfectly aware that is nest material in that gull's beak, but it's funnier this way because the gulls are ridiculous.Today I saw a gull fly from the west beach of the island with a mouth full of nest material to the east side of the island. Was it really necessary to carry it from that far? It's the same damn twigs and grass all over the island!

Finally, as some of you know, I recently found a 'teach yourself Spanish' style book here on the island. It's turning out to include some of the most useless conversational phrases ever, unless you're a travelling businessman from the 50's. For example, in English: "The cuffs on this silk shirt are too long", "Where is there a good and inexpensive watch repair shop?/Are diamond watches expensive?", "Do you typewrite your letters? Yes; today every modern house types its letters, and ordinarily they make two copies", "Wouldn't you like to first send a radiogram to your agent?", and finally "Will he need a power of attorney from the firm in order to legalize his transactions?" I'll be having completely normal conversations in Spanish in no time! But my absolute favourite phrase, and now my excuse for everything is this:

"I'm sorry, I have to go buy myself a hat..." Feel free to use this one whenever you need it. You're welcome.

Day 27: birds, birds, BIRDS

Hello all! It's day 27 on the island, almost 4 weeks already! I thought island life was supposed to be slow, but maybe that's just the tropics? Some awesome birding this week, specifically for warblers... so warbling? That's probably not a thing. Anyway, I managed to snap a few nice pics over the past few days, including some lifers! Warbler species seen so far:

• Yellow-rumped (Myrtle)
• Palm
• Black-and-white
• Blackpoll
• Black-throated green
• Black-throated blue
• Magnolia (second fave!!)
• Northern parula
• Nashville
• Bay-breasted (lifer!!)
• Common yellowthroat
• Ovenbird
• Yellow
• Hooded
• Blackburnian (fave!!)
• Probably more I've forgotten!

I've also seen Black scoters and Purple finches, and I heard several Bobolinks but unfortunately I didn't get to see them. So that's my birdie excitement so far for the week, but there's time yet for more exciting migrants! For now, check out my video for day 27 on the island:

Here are some of my better shots from the past few days (I took a LOT of not so good ones too):

Black-throated blue warbler posing like a champ

Don't worry Common eiders, you're special to me!

I'm the prettiest Hermit thrush in allllll the land

As an unrelated side note, lately I have taken to talking aloud to the birds (e.g. "I came all the way up here to hear you sing, and you give me nothing... I bet the guys in the south field are singing.. what do you think about that??"). I'm not sure if this is a sign of any forthcoming madness, but I will keep you updated. Perhaps a little more telling is when I began speaking aloud to inanimate objects such as the playback speakers....

"Good hustle boys! You really gave 'em hell today. No, not you sparrow,
I'm talking to the speakers. THEY sing all day."

On that note, can't wait to find out what exciting sights and events pop up next! Stay tuned for more riveting tales from 'zee island'. 

Day 23: dedicated to the most important building

Hey guys! Now that I'm all up to date on past blogs, it's time for a new update. Lots of cool sightings and events over the past week! First exciting tidbit of news: n=2! Hurray! New bird singing the foreign stimuli! He is also aggressively squeezing his way in between three other adult male territories, and I must say, he is doing a fine job oppressing his elders.

Other exciting events: migration is finally in full swing around here! Seems like the poor weather and strong north winds were really backing up large groups of birds. But this week we had at least 3 full days of lovely sunshine and south winds, allowing for lots of new birdies to pass through! Highlights for me so far have been: scores of yellow-rumped warblers in beautiful summer plumage, lots of white-throated sparrows (songs that remind me of home!), black-throated blue warblers, and a couple lifer warblers for me including black-throated greens, Blackburnian's (now officially my new favourite warbler!!), and a hooded warbler! He was entirely out of his range, but I'm sure glad he made the mistake of coming to Kent Island.

Yellow-rumped warbler showing off his pretty colours

Hooded warbler!! So gorgeous!

So, since it's a rainy, foggy day and I have no intention of walking around the island, I'll take some time to tell you a little about the facilities here at the field station. As you may know (or may have guessed from my earlier mention of hauling water for dishes), the island does not have basic plumbing. It does have two cold-water sinks in the dorm, one in the mudroom for teeth brushing/hand washing, etc., and one in the kitchen for rinsing and drinking water, etc., but that is the extent of it. So that means all hot water either comes from a pot on the stove (it's a gas stove, so it heats up quick!), or from the hot water tank outside, which is solar powered (in fact, all power here is acquired through solar panels). It also means that there are no toilets or showers. Hence, my frequent shower updates (and infrequent showering). So yes, outhouses only. Here's a photo of the main 'two-holer':

Complete with wooden 'occupied' flags, and doors that don't actually close

Almost spa-like relaxation awaits. Note the actual bullet holes in the back wall

Also, note that this is the stall without the toilet seat. I couldn't show you too much luxury or you might get jealous. And no, there is no locking mechanism on these doors, which is why the flag system is key. At least you get a nice view of the outdoors while you sit! I believe there has historically been an outhouse bird list, for birds seen whilst using the facilities! So far my outhouse bird list consists of Herring gulls, American crows, SAVS, and Leech's Storm petrels if you count audio! Don't worry, I'll keep you updated on my outhouse bird list, because I know you're dying to know.

Since this already getting to be a long post, and obviously the outhouse deserved at LEAST this much time and blog space, I will save the rest of the virtual field station tour for another post!

And please, everyone take the time to appreciate your toilet today, for me.

I'm a Song sparrow, I feel under appreciated...

Day 17: major facility upgrade

Hello everyone, I've finally made it to my last catch-up video! This means we finally have internet on the island! This also means I can stop racking up my phone's data plan bill excessively! And finally, it means I can actually post my blogs as I make them. So without further adieu, here is my video from day 17, outlining some of the week's highlights, such as clean laundry, clean hair, and the installation of a toilet seat.

Mine, mine, mine

Day 10: n=1!

Exciting times on Kent Island! With the arrival of the first juvenile SAVS (Savannah sparrow), we have already seen the project's first success! I won't go into too much detail about what the project entails, since it isn't actually my project, but suffice it to say that we are essentially trying to teach juvenile birds new songs that are foreign to the island's native dialect (for those of you who are non-birders, SAVS have a wide geographic range and sing slightly different dialects in different populations across this range, sort of like the difference in dialects in the English language across the country/continent). Hopefully this will help us better understand how Savannah sparrows learn their song.

In other news, I'm please to announce that in the following video my personal hygiene has taken a turn for the better! Check out my video from day 10 on the island to find out more about what I've been up to:

YL.O (or 'yellow' as we fondly call him) is happy as a lark (or a SAVS) upon hearing about our sample size of 1.

La la laaaaaa

Day 8 on the island: snowy owl sighting

Day 8 on the island and my sanity remains intact. I think. Still catching up on old videos, but after watching this video again I am reliving the colder days on the island. Thank goodness for wood stoves. And a functioning water heater... even if we have to manually fill buckets with hot water and haul them to the kitchen to do dishes, or to take a shower. Between water hauling and D-cell battery hauling I should be in shape in no time! Here's my video from day 8 on the island:

Here are a few photos of the snowy owl we saw!!

Photo creds go to Jesse, who had a scope and an attachment for his iPhone. Beautiful photos of a beautiful bird!! We think it was a juvenile female, based on plumage and size. She stuck around for the day and permitted us to snap photos of her from various angles, but we haven't seen her since. I hope she had a safe journey up north! 

Also, as a minor correction to my comment in the video, max. temperatures actually do get into the 20's (Celsius) later in the summer. Phew! But in all honesty, 6 degrees with sun and no wind is really quite nice. Under my 5 layers, anyway.

It begins... Day 4 on the island

Hey guys, I've finally decided to put together a little blog about my time spent on 'the island'. I'm not sure how interesting it will be, but for those of you who want a few updates about my life every now and then, check this page out! I will try to add some videos and photos, somewhat regularly, about what's going on here on the island, and hopefully I will eventually include some actual in-the-field videos if I can!

I'm a little late in getting this started, so I'll try to post the first few videos soon to catch up to where I am now.

I arrived on Kent Island in the Bay of Fundy (map below) on April 18th, 2014, where I began my field work on Savannah sparrows as a research assistant for the University of Windsor. The island is about 3 km long, but is quite narrow across (I think a couple 100 m across at the narrowest), and the only way on and off the island is if a fisherman comes to pick us up! The island in uninhabited except by researchers during the field season (and of course by many birds and muskrats, year round), so the only buildings are the research station and the various cabins around the island (photos to follow). There are no reptiles or amphibians on the island, and the only mammals are muskrats! That means no mice or other small rodents either. It's very strange to live in a habitat that looks very much like the boreal forest I'm used to back home, but with pretty much just birds! So basically, when you hear something rustling in the leaves on the ground, it's a bird. Pretty cool!!



More details to follow about life (both animal life, and my life) on the island. But for now, here is my first video entry: Day 4 on the island