Biologist Account: Heather:
“We hopped into the helicopter and headed out to Alau on a windy, rainy day. During the long trip from Kahului to Hana we were able to catch glimpses of countless waterfalls that lined the slopes of Haleakala. Landing on the islet set 50 roosting Great frigatebirds into flight and the large birds continued to circle the islet, watching our progress, throughout the day. Stepping out of the helicopter we were immediately greeted by Wedge-tailed shearwaters. It was my first opportunity to see them since their return this season and I was happy to have them back. The islets just seem to empty when they’re gone. Of course their presence makes walking around the islet a bit of a challenge. There were freshly dug burrows everywhere, many occupied by a pair of shearwaters, although, some didn’t seem to have a burrow yet and were lounging in the open or under clumps of grass. The birds return to their nesting grounds mid-March to pair up and dig out their burrows (many use the same burrow each season). It’s sort of like a big shearwater party and like a typical party, the action really picks up in the evening – more birds return fly in where they sit outside their burrows in large groups. They fight and court, making an incredible amount of noise until sunrise when they either head back to sea to fish or cozy up in their burrows. The party period will last for several weeks. At the end, the birds will mate and head back to sea for a month to fatten up. When they return, they lay their egg and the long process of incubating and caring for their chick begins - no rest until the chicks start to fledge in November. Anyway, with frigatebirds overhead and shearwaters underfoot, we carefully set about our work. Hank had brought 4 endangered Scaevola coriacea (dwarf naupaka) plants to outplant on the islet and he set out to find the perfect spot. Ken set out to check on the status of the rare plants on the islet such as Portulaca villosa and Schidea globosa. A little trickier than it sounds since the Schidea is confined to a sheer cliff on the side of the islet and he had to rappel down to check on the plants. In the meantime, I was missing my trusty volunteers. The islet was fairly large and heavily vegetated meaning I had a lot of work to do and little time do it. On some islets you have to work hard to find any insects, this certainly was not the case here and I collected furiously throughout the day. Interestingly, there were few ants on the islet and many natives like Nysius bugs and Odynerus wasps. We also saw a Monk seal resting on the small beach on the backside of the islet and courting Black noddies before the day was done. Alau is a really unique islet.”