Robberg

Robberg finally has eggs! And now I am grateful for the often strong winds on Robberg; it makes any divebomb attempts a little difficult! It was low tide and I enjoyed a break investigating some rock pools where I found the most amazing cushion stars! The beach was also teeming with sea snails, most buried up to the shells in the sand. Robberg always has an interesting sight to offer!

Cushion stars in the rock pool.

Nothing else to do when incubating but nap.

Sea snails.

So many sea snails!

GPS logger

We have deployed our first GPS logger! Exciting times! It was a nerve-racking experience, and a grumpy bird did not help at all! We caught it relatively easily but the rest of the process was not easy at all! We put a colour and metal ring on it, and did the standard measurements as well as affixed the logger onto its back. A smooth release and then it was in the water, washing all the human (how disgusting!) off. There were cheers when it flew, a mild irrational concern that it couldn’t, and went back to incubate the eggs. A huge sigh of relief! On subsequent trips to the peninsula I have checked up on the bird which seems to spend the majority of its time on the nest, hopefully this bodes well for its recapture!

Trapping the bird.

Attaching the logger. Photographs by Mark Brown.

Awkward photos at the end. Photographs by Mark Brown.

A smooth release. Photographs by Mark Brown.

A good wash. Photograph by Mark Brown.

And a short flight before returning to the nest. Photograph by Mark Brown.