Towers and Tires

After another “short” work week I’ve got a couple days off before getting into the full swing of things. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Monday was the last day of our weekend, and our boss arranged for us to take a tour of the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center where they have captive populations of some critically endangered bird species. The most notable species is the ‘Alala (Hawaiian crow), which only exists in captivity. In addition to the captive birds here on the big island, there is a captive population on another island (Maui?), and one individual at the San Diego Zoo. That’s it. There are only like 120 individuals left on the planet. (By the way, I’m not allowed to post pictures of the birds without permission from the PR department, which is apparently a hassle, so ask to see them next time you see me! You can probably also Google pictures.) The center also has Maui Parrotbill, Puaiohi, and Palila. It’s crazy to think that these birds that I saw at the center (or even the ones that I am banding at work) could go extinct in my lifetime. I guess I’m pretty lucky to get some great views of them while they’re around.

After the tour we packed up and headed back to our field station in Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge (with many stops in Hilo for groceries and such). On Tuesday we banders did a lot of maintenance and repair work. We replaced some bent poles that were damaged in a wind storm last month, cleared vegetation out of our net lanes and trails, and our biggest challenge of all was figuring out how to fix the broken canopy nets. The regular nets are held up by poles that are pretty easy to set up (just support the poles with guy lines). The canopy nets are meant to catch birds flying around high in the forest canopy, so the structural ropes are tied around upper tree branches with the help of a sling shot. Most of those nets had one side still standing, but the other side needed to be re-strung. They are also far more confusing than the pole set-ups because there are lots of different ropes in different directions tied into the ground, hooked to each other with carabiners, setting specific opposite tensions, working as a pulley system to get the net up, etc. So when we approached the half-broken nets they all just looked like hodge podge piles of rope, carabiners, and zip ties that we had to make sense of. After a few hours and three canopy nets fixed we had a decent grasp on them. Also, using a massive sling shot and a beanbag tied to a fishing pole to get rope into the top of a tree is pretty fun, if not also a bit tricky.

We took a break from net-related things on Wednesday and helped our boss (Eben) set up some radio telemetry towers. As part of our banding we’ll be attaching radio transmitters to certain individuals to try and track their movements. The towers pick up the signals, and since we have several of them up we should be getting some fairly accurate location data by triangulating the signals. Anyways, Eben had a 20ft tower for us to set up. Most of the parts were already put together (cables zip-tied to the main pole, antennae put together, etc), so we just had to attach everything and heave it to a standing position. It was easier said than done when you factored in the 20mph winds and the exposed hillside we were working on. But with the five of us we managed to get it up with minimal problems! Then we took a lunch break before putting together all of the parts for a 40ft tower. This one we started from scratch, so it took a few hours to get it to look like a telemetry tower, and by that time it was 4pm and we were pretty wiped out. But we felt good about it – WE made it, and we were determined to make it work. But looking at the size of the tower, we figured it’d be best if we came back with more help the next morning.

So bright and early on Thursday (after a BEAUTIFUL sunrise) we came down with four of the nest searchers and Eben’s research assistant (Tracy), and the ten of us got pumped to raise this massive tower into the sky. We had four people holding guy lines at the 20ft mark, two people at the 40 ft mark, one supporting the base, one supporting the middle of the pole, one standing on a ladder in the middle to heave it into the air, and one at the end with the antennae to push it up. It was epic – it was 7am, we were all pumped, we were good to go, and at the count of three our project leader had us all start pushing/pulling the guy lines/etc. The pole bent wildly in the other direction from how it was resting without really leaving the ground, and then it promptly bent in half, completely breaking the pole. So… we spent a good 3 hours constructing it and it snapped in under 30 seconds. We figured it was because of how heavy the antennae end was (we could barely get it off the ground), but we had no idea it would just bend in half so quickly. We figured our problem was going to be controlling it while it was in the air, as in pulling on the guy lines the right amount rather than not enough and then overcompensating. So yeah… that failed. Now we’re going to hacksaw the bent bits off, take a 10ft section off, and try again with a 30ft tower! What could go wrong… that hasn’t already?

Before I forget, I should mention that that little cold some of us caught managed to wipe out over half our crew. To date it’s hit 3/4 banders, 2/6 nest searchers, and the assistant field leader. The nest searchers work mostly independently, so it probably wasn’t as bad for them, but nearly an entire banding team of sneezing and coughing people is kind of gross. Of the sickies, 5/6 were women, and we share that big dormitory with 4 sets of bunk beds, so when you walked into the room and people were coughing from beds on all sides it made it seem like an infirmary. I’ve done a number field jobs by now, but this is the first time I’ve seen a cold take out so much of the crew. It makes sense, but ugh!

I'iwi

Anyways, after the fiasco with the tower, we went out to do a day of banding at one of our sites – Pua Akala. It happened to be a “teaching change” day, which means that a group of high school (?) students was there learning about the goings on at the refuge, like the greenhouse, the native plants and animals, and coming out to see some banding. That was interesting because it was only our second day banding, but our boss was great at teaching the kids while pointing out key things to us as well. He even put radio transmitters on two birds, so our newly erected tower will have something to do!

'Apapane

We banded on Friday as well, but at the Koa site, which is an area where the forest is being restored, as opposed to the natural forest at Pua Akala. We don’t have any canopy nets at Koa because the canopy isn’t tall enough for that, yet. The vegetation looks very similar down at Koa, whereas there is a nice blend of vegetation up at Pua Akala. Both sites have plenty of birds, but Pua Akala seems to have more of the natives, at least it just sounds like it when you hear them calling all over. We’ll have to see what our catch rates reveal at the end of the season!

Tracy, jacking up the truck

Since the banders and half of the nest searchers were heading back to Volcanoes on Friday for a short weekend, we worked a half day and then headed out in the early afternoon. On the drive out (which has a solid 40-minute stretch on a dirt/rock road), we got a flat on the tire that our boss had managed to patch the day before. Luckily for us there were several people experienced with changing tires in the field, so we were out of there not *too* long after (having to read the manual to find where the jack was even hidden and how to get the spare out from under the car, and the car slipping off the jack added some time). But we did it! Now we’re wrapping up our short little weekend in Volcanoes. Half of us (the sick half) stayed at home on Saturday and just recuperated and caught up on internet things. Today we went into Hilo for groceries, a farmer’s market, and general wandering, but basically all of downtown is closed on Sundays, so that was bad luck. Tomorrow we head back up to Hakalau to start our first 10-day shift. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Beautiful sunrise I mentioned earlier - the house is above a nice puffy layer of cloud!