Weeks have a different shape on Rangatira. It is hard to remember what day it is anyway, but instead of five days and then a weekend, we have three days work then a morning off. What do you do with spare time on a tiny island? Well, most of the robin work is in the bush near the hut.
View of Thinornis Bay
So usually on our morning off we try to get to the more isolated parts of the coast. I like Thinornis Bay best: it is pretty, there is a seal colony and you can walk the whole way there around the rocks without once having to put on your petrel boards.
Seal at Thinornis Bay:
I am among the seals before I see them. It is a beautiful day and they are curled up asleep in the sun, perfectly blended into the rocks. Suddenly they smell me! (I haven’t done laundry in a while, yikes!) Their heads pop up, their big moustaches quiver, some of them bark and I quickly climb up out of their way. Further round a giant petrel is making long, lazy, gliding circles above the breakers (wingspan of over two metres!!) There are scarlet anemones in the rock pools, half closed up from the low tide.
Scarlet anemone in the rock pool:
Scarlet anemone in the rock pool:
Chatham island oyster catchers catnap on their feet, their red beaks tucked into their feathers. They are really rare, with only 142 birds left when they were last counted, and only eight on Rangatira.
Chatham Islands Oyster Catcher:
No comments:
Post a Comment