Our work is done…at least the actual counting part is.

After a no-count morning yesterday due to high winds and the fact that our remaining two sectors included some wooded areas, I was less than confident that we could get both started and completed in just an afternoon. However, our two teams rocked it.

Thanks to the FWS efforts that have cleared trails in a very heavy naupaka sector, one team was done in record time and was able to ‘hop next door’ to our sector to help us finish, despite the weather gods playing with us. Many of us started in rain gear (just in case) but, as the temperature rose during the afternoon, layers were stripped. Then, just as we were all on our last pass, we were dumped on by torrential rain and chilling winds. Both teams were in sight of one another, and both clicked our last nests at 3:55pm!👏🎉

So now we prepare to bid a fond farewell to six of our crew who leave on Thursday night’s plane to Honolulu, though there’s still plenty of work to occupy the rest of us who will be leftovers for another two weeks.

Today, we switched gears and joined FWS to move a whale carcass that had washed up a few days ago.

The next task was preparing for the upcoming Laysan duck banding, so we helped carry equipment to ‘Brackish’.

After lunch, most of our team spent the afternoon helping FWS with seed planting in the greenhouse, while we leaders started our post-count tasks: testing clickers, identifying burrow shoes needing repairs, doing an inventory of remaining paint and other supplies.

Today the weather gods took pity on us; it was a glorious afternoon, and we had just enough time before dinner to enjoy a bike ride to Rusty Bucket, one of my favorite areas of the island, which holds special memories from past years.