Seven captive reared Palila were helicoptered in from the KBCC captive rearing facility. Their journey took 15 minutes, while it takes 4 hours for us land-crawlers to get to the release sight by truck. They're all doing great in their hack towers where they'll acclimate to the new (and cold!) environment for 2 weeks before being released with transmitters. They eat...all...day...long. They especially love mamane flowers; I fear for mamane flowers upon their release.
The north slope camp is much as I remember, and is quite luxurious for a field camp with propane fridge, hot water heater and stove. The first two nights I was up there were frickin' freezing, down in the 20s! But when the birds got there, the overnight lows rose to a balmy mid-thirtys. The hike to transect 119 is hellish as ever, the air is still dry, the black volcanic sand is still slidy, and the slope is just as steep as I remember. It's great to be back up there for 9 days at a time.
When I left yesterday only 3 color banded wild birds had been seen, plus one or maybe 2 unbanded birds. The unbanded birds are exciting since they are most likely fledglings from the past couple years. I personally saw one pair of wild Palila. One allofed the other, which probably means they are gearing up for the breeding season.
The drive to and from Palila camp never fails to depress. Cattle are in the mitigation land. Giant skeletons of ancient Koa trees litter the otherwise barren, rolling, grassy landscape. And discussions about what can be done always end in frustration with state government and private landowners. But there are seven little Palila birds ready to give it their all to survive in an increasingly difficult world, so the least we can do is watch to see how they do, and speak on their behalf.
The north slope camp is much as I remember, and is quite luxurious for a field camp with propane fridge, hot water heater and stove. The first two nights I was up there were frickin' freezing, down in the 20s! But when the birds got there, the overnight lows rose to a balmy mid-thirtys. The hike to transect 119 is hellish as ever, the air is still dry, the black volcanic sand is still slidy, and the slope is just as steep as I remember. It's great to be back up there for 9 days at a time.
When I left yesterday only 3 color banded wild birds had been seen, plus one or maybe 2 unbanded birds. The unbanded birds are exciting since they are most likely fledglings from the past couple years. I personally saw one pair of wild Palila. One allofed the other, which probably means they are gearing up for the breeding season.
The drive to and from Palila camp never fails to depress. Cattle are in the mitigation land. Giant skeletons of ancient Koa trees litter the otherwise barren, rolling, grassy landscape. And discussions about what can be done always end in frustration with state government and private landowners. But there are seven little Palila birds ready to give it their all to survive in an increasingly difficult world, so the least we can do is watch to see how they do, and speak on their behalf.