Albatross Island 2016 Day 6 : 10-12-2016

A great start to the day. Sun lit the sky. The temperature has dropped significantly and there is a cold wind blowing , but no rain. Penguins chattered all night again but I slept soundly. We were kept snug and warm by our down jackets. Our first task was poo patrol in North Colony. The sun hit us like a warm blanket as we left the cave. Mornings are good times for poo as some adults are changing duties on the nest and chicks are being fed. Sitting watching the birds is fascinating. Parents feeding, greeting partners back to the nest, preening each other. And the chick, finding a position of comfort under the parent, sleeping, scratching and most importantly for Julie, pooing. 

Next it was back to South Colony for more poo and to retrieve the second tracker. At the sheltered mouth of the cave we thawed out for a few monents in the sun. The trek to South Colony is an interesting one. Past our Little Penguin in the wood pile, down to the seals and slowly past them, through the sealers cave, littered with bones and into a sheltered area called The Trap (sealers would herd the birds into this area and club them to death). Next is up the ladder and you arrive at South Colony. The bird with the tracker was not there as it was the partner bird on the nest. We will keep checking for the other to arrive while we are here.
Lunch, then off up to North again ..
At North we did a count of all chicks and eggs in the control area. Amazing to be part of the data collection. Kris and Julie made sure they did exactly the same process in the control area to ensure a fair test! Tomorrow is spraying day.