Highs and Lows

When we were applying for this job and contacted people who had been here and who knew the island, the general trend was that there were very big highs and equally poor lows. Well the numerous new wildlife experiences, like the turtles and the hatchlings, together with working with Magpie Robins have provided some unforgettable highs and I’ve kind of been waiting for the lows, knowing that poaching and seeing the devastation is causes would be one.

However I don’t think I was prepared for another ‘low’, which is rather apparent at the moment, and that has got to be the effect of Pisonia, the pioneering species of tree that has colonised the island since the coconut plantation was removed. It is a very clever species; it has a rather evil side and is responsible for many bird deaths. How? - well it has got very sticky seeds, which is how it spreads, but the seeds are so sticky that they literally stick everything together, as you walk around the paths they stick to your feet. To birds this is devastating and fatal, the Pisonia sticks to their feathers, so well that it sticks their wings and tails together and they literally cannot fly. It is horrible to see as the birds limp along trying to avoid you covered in this deathly sticky seed. The main birds that suffer are those that nest on the ground, like the white tailed tropic birds, however it is now common to see fairy terns, brown and lesser noddys, turtle doves, moorhens and even magpie robins. Some birds deal with it better than others, the terns don't seem to stand a chance, where as the robins, moorhens and doves seem to manage to pull the effected feathers out. Some of the terns that aren't too badly affected and that can be caught can be de seeded, it can be a difficult task, but it’s that or die anyway. It is the best feeling when you manage to clean a bird, throw it in the air and watch it fly off shaking itself disgruntled but very relieved to feel free and able to fly again.

The last couple of days have definitely been the worst I have seen it, the tropic birds particularly are suffering, they are such awkward birds, made for life on the sea, they struggle on the ground the best of times and once Pisonia is attached they find it almost impossible to take off or get rid of it. They spend so much time on the floor they inevitably in an attempt to get away just become more and more pickled in it. It is extremely distressing to see them, as there is absolutely nothing you can do. Today alone doing the fairy tern monitoring, I came across 3 on the path - just today in the space of 2 hours. We can't believe that the breeding birds are replacing the number that are being lost, especially the tropic birds. The most distressing thing is seeing the trees full of seeds, just ready to mature as the breeding season approaches; already the ground is becoming covered, catastrophic for our feathered friends. It would seem to us that poaching has nothing on Pisonia, for the number of lives we have already seen it take.