A full day. Thomas, Ann and Karin joined the Refuge team for red-legged kittiwake resighting and capture. Wind had dropped, and all the birds were settled and calm on nests, it was perfect capture conditions.We caught five new birds and gave each of them a leg band with a geolocator logger attached. They’ll carry these geolocators for the next year. The birds will be recaught next summer, and the data from the loggers downloaded. These data will show us where the birds traveled to over the winter. Thomas was in charge of data-recording, and did a great job keeping track of numbers.
After a break, we headed back over to the harbor. Karin and Thomas finished the first round of rat trap checks. And, Cordell, Tristen and Ann checked the least auklet nest boxes. Cordell has eagle eyes for finding hidden boxes, and Tristen was the main box-checker. We were a good team. A few boxes have been lost with winter storms, but we found all the others. No sign of any nesting yet.
A beautiful sunny evening, and we saw the reindeer herd on the drive back to town.