And this little birdie..

After my last trip to Bird Island (as it is fondly referred to by the locals) on my canoe, I found those two Kelp Gull chicks, and decided that they should be old enough to ring this past week. Kel and I had planned a bit of a girls outing, to paddle across and ring the chicks (coz that's what the cool girls do!). As it turned out, this was not possible. So on Friday morning after dropping Kate at school we, Kel, Jesse and myself, headed over to a spot on the beach where we could easily walk across to Bird Island, unfortunately arriving on the wrong side of the island to where the chicks were. So we headed out, trudging through the sand on the lagoon side which was water logged and squishy. Jesse was full of energy and put Kel and I to shame jumping and running around! Unfortunately we were only able to find one of the two chicks that I had hoped to ring. Kel held the little fluffball and I ringed it, and it left her with a big 'I don't like you' poo down her shorts! Thanks bird! Jesse let the little thing go, which was so wonderful to watch. Budding ornithologist! Before we began our walk back I picked up an old, abandoned egg which I will blow out and use as a replacement egg when we are catching the adults. We then slowly walked back to the car, along the beach side this time which was easier on the legs! There was a brief chase after two other juveniles (with the egg in my pocket!) which was aborted after I realised both had rings on already! Awesome! Along our walk back, we searched for shells. The beaches here have such beautiful, large and intact shells, it is amazing to live here! We returned home after a successful trip! 1 chick ringed, 1 egg collected, and 2 odd shells that were later idenitified by a friend as razor clams, Solen capensis. Later that day I realised that the egg has a crack and is slowly leaking. So I rotated it and now it sits on my desk. It will need to be a brave day for me to tackle the smelly inside!

The little one with it's new ring.

Went running from the big featherless creatures.. Complete with new bling

The gull egg.

Interesting shells, identified as razor clams, Solen capensis.