June 8-14

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November 7, 2019 Johnston Update Just a little over a month until our ride arrives! I could write some stuff about time flying and blah blah blah but I don't like dwelling on that kind of sentiment more that I already do inside my own head. Somehow putting that out into the universe feels like it compromises my karma. So I'll stick to the facts!  Our replacement crew has been confirmed to have reached Oahu and I can just imagine them running around like chickens with their heads cut off, shopping and quarantining and packing just like we did when we got to Oahu. I hope they get to do at least HALF of the cool things we got to do as a group for team building and overall adventure. One of the kids is from Lopez Island! Pacific North Westerners/Island kids unite! I've started a countdown whiteboard so that the arrival of the IMUA doesn't take us by surprise. We have a lot we want to get done before they get here and we'll have to devote all our time to trai...
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A little about the Birds on Johnston

Johnston is a nesting ground for 14 pelagic seabird species and 5 wintering shorebird species. Obviously humans were directly responsible for the original decrease in seabird populations, simply because they were killed as a result of most JA operations. Less obvious at the time was the impact of pollution, which was brought to attention much earlier than the problem of invasive, specifically ants and the YCA.  Red Tailed Tropic Birds  -  RTTB nest on the ground under trees, shrubs, up turned rootballs, or rock outcrops. They are ridiculously clumsy and are often seen crash landing some distance from their nests and then using their tiny webbed feet (reminds me of penguin feet) to flop around on their keel, the large ridge of bone that has developed where our sternum is. They also tend to "scorpion" or have their rear end roll up over their head, flinging their tail feathers forward and smoothing their beaks into the ground when they land with force. This usually hap...
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