Back again for a while

I'm back from my 3 week vacation.  I was mostly moving boxes and furniture.  I got a little time off when I went to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary in Park Rapids, MN.  The whole family hasn't been together for many years, which is mainly my fault for being out in the middle of the ocean most of the time.  I finally got to meet my nephew for the first time and he's 3 years old.

Everyone on island is busy, as usual.  Checking for Laysan ducks with botulism is one of the things that has been keeping everyone busy. The person who drives around picking up dead albatross chicks has also been pretty busy lately.  We're getting to the time of year where they are either strong enough to fledge or they don't make it.  I haven't heard of people seeing the tiger sharks around, but I know they are out there getting some of the chicks in the water. 

 Here's an evening photo of the river at the cabins where we stayed in Park Rapids, MN.

A Laysan albatross chick is learning to fly near the water tanks at the catchment basin.

 The albatross chicks are gathering at the last hard ground at the edge of the harbor. A few of these birds weren't quite healthy enough to make it off the seawall.  While I was standing here, 5 birds did decide to jump and all were able to fly off, at least for a short distance.  They looked like they would make it.

 I found 2 White-tailed tropicbird nests this week.  They don't usually have good luck raising chicks here, but I hope they can figure it out sometime soon.

Here's another building photo for the people who like to see them.  This is the old radar facility, most of which is underground.  This was surrounded by enlisted family housing, which was taken out before the Navy left.