27th nov – 3rd Dec. PENGUIN COUNTING AT SHIRLEY ISLAND
Hey All,
How is everyone? I have to say – I am just FABULOUS!!!
I was more than pleasantly surprised this week to realise that I had messed up my countdown. I believed I still had 5 weeks to go. I was wrong. I only have 4 weeks until I leave. YAY!!!!!!! I am enjoying the remainder of my time immensely. In fact I am having a great old time currently, but I am still more than ready to come home. It certainly won’t be a sorry expeditioner standing on the bridge of the Aurora Australis waving goodbye to Casey Station in 4 weeks time that is for certain. I will leave happy that I have crammed it all in. (I am sure I have written that before haven’t I?)
Another station debacle occurred this week. One of the operators cut through a Mains power cable running down to the old station. This took out all of our Comms equipment at the wharf plus at the IPS site. Botheration! Power was restored with 72 hours and I did the rounds of turning all the equipment back on and running it up. Thankfully it all came up first go. The sea ice in Newcomb Bay is pretty well gone now. While I was down at the wharf I watched eight penguins playing in the water. It was a lovely site. Not a bad day at work when you can spend half an hour standing on a wharf in Antarctica watching penguins play is it?
This week saw the weather start out fairly well, then turn less than ordinary. I had volunteered to walk over to Shirley Island and do some penguin counting for the penguin science project. Typical, the day I was to head off was cold, windy and snowing where it had been warm and sunny the day before. Botheration! However, I am an intrepid winter Expeditioner! Ha Ha. So, accompanied by Brian, I headed into the wind, rugged up warmly, packs on backs to count penguins. It turned out to be good afternoon. The first hour and a half was bitterly cold with the wind biting into us. Then suddenly the wind dropped to nothing and the snow started softly falling, which was lovely. After making our way around to count ten colonies the snow changed from a light fall to a much heavier downpour so Brain and I decided four hours of bird counting was enough for one afternoon and headed home. It had been lovely to spend time with the penguins. They are very curious and love coming up for a look. If you sit in one place long enough they gather around in groups of up to six birds. Then one will suddenly race away and seconds later all the others race after it. Slowly another set of birds will come up to you and settle for a while, only to race away quickly for no apparent reason. They really are clowns these little birds. I love being amongst them. They have none of the grace of the magnificent Emperor penguin; however I enjoy them more because they have such character and are a lot of fun to be amongst.
There are fifty-eight known colonies on Shirley Island and each year counts need to be made of birds arriving at the island to nest and mate. This count is done prior to December 5th. Another count is conducted in February of both birds and chicks after hatching has completed. Overall the population on Shirley Island has tripled in the last ten years. This shows that Casey station, rather than having a negative impact on the birds, is really having no impact at all. There are nesting sites closer to the station that now lay abandoned; however there are more sites and more birds on the rest of the island. I have to say, being over at the Receiver farm; which lies opposite the edge where Shirley Island is the most distant from Casey station, is a pleasure. There is no generator noise and no plant equipment noise. If I was a penguin I too would move away from the constant hum of the diesel generators to the quieter suburbs of Shirley Island also. ;o]
I was on Comms all weekend while Andrew went away and Ian had the weekend off. Being confined to station working, it was a great opportunity to start packing up my room. I am now living in a box cupboard! Ha ha. In the next few days I will get all the boxes down to the green store, ready for their long trip home. I have a busy last few weeks coming up so had to pack up early. I also took the opportunity today to give myself a facial and hair treatment. A girl has to look after herself. Ha ha. Actually I look a little like Buddha at the moment; I have a bit of a pot belly from not enough exercise. ;op It wont take long to get back in great shape once I get home, so I am not at all concerned. Running Maxy the dog every day will soon whittle off the 3 kilos I have put on.
Next weekend I am off to Jacks for two days, the weekend after, I have been invited on a Girls Only weekend at the Wilkes Hilton. That will be a hoot. The girls here at all lovely and are a lot of fun to be with. The weekend following that is Christmas and then I am OUTTA HERE!!! Goodness, not long to go at all. Being so busy, the time will simply fly by.
Typical of Casey weather, the day after I went bird counting, the sun came out and the skies were blue. The weather warmed and the rest of the week was postcard perfect. I took several walks around the extended station limits after work. Over to Reeves’ hill and also down in the direction of the wharf and Thala Valley. It is a beautiful place to explore and I do enjoy being here. I am getting my last fill of the sights and surrounds so they last me a lifetime once I depart from this amazing and wonderful playground I have been lucky enough to live in for more than twelve months.
With a bit of luck next week I may get to go over to Whitney Point for some more penguin counting. Whitney Point is on the tip of Wilkes and is an ASP (Area of Special protection). So unless you have a scientific purpose for being there you never get to see it. It looks no different to anywhere else down here but it is always nice to visit new places regardless.
OK, I still have boxes to pack so I am off till next week.
Have a good one.
Trace :o]
How is everyone? I have to say – I am just FABULOUS!!!
I was more than pleasantly surprised this week to realise that I had messed up my countdown. I believed I still had 5 weeks to go. I was wrong. I only have 4 weeks until I leave. YAY!!!!!!! I am enjoying the remainder of my time immensely. In fact I am having a great old time currently, but I am still more than ready to come home. It certainly won’t be a sorry expeditioner standing on the bridge of the Aurora Australis waving goodbye to Casey Station in 4 weeks time that is for certain. I will leave happy that I have crammed it all in. (I am sure I have written that before haven’t I?)
Another station debacle occurred this week. One of the operators cut through a Mains power cable running down to the old station. This took out all of our Comms equipment at the wharf plus at the IPS site. Botheration! Power was restored with 72 hours and I did the rounds of turning all the equipment back on and running it up. Thankfully it all came up first go. The sea ice in Newcomb Bay is pretty well gone now. While I was down at the wharf I watched eight penguins playing in the water. It was a lovely site. Not a bad day at work when you can spend half an hour standing on a wharf in Antarctica watching penguins play is it?
This week saw the weather start out fairly well, then turn less than ordinary. I had volunteered to walk over to Shirley Island and do some penguin counting for the penguin science project. Typical, the day I was to head off was cold, windy and snowing where it had been warm and sunny the day before. Botheration! However, I am an intrepid winter Expeditioner! Ha Ha. So, accompanied by Brian, I headed into the wind, rugged up warmly, packs on backs to count penguins. It turned out to be good afternoon. The first hour and a half was bitterly cold with the wind biting into us. Then suddenly the wind dropped to nothing and the snow started softly falling, which was lovely. After making our way around to count ten colonies the snow changed from a light fall to a much heavier downpour so Brain and I decided four hours of bird counting was enough for one afternoon and headed home. It had been lovely to spend time with the penguins. They are very curious and love coming up for a look. If you sit in one place long enough they gather around in groups of up to six birds. Then one will suddenly race away and seconds later all the others race after it. Slowly another set of birds will come up to you and settle for a while, only to race away quickly for no apparent reason. They really are clowns these little birds. I love being amongst them. They have none of the grace of the magnificent Emperor penguin; however I enjoy them more because they have such character and are a lot of fun to be amongst.
There are fifty-eight known colonies on Shirley Island and each year counts need to be made of birds arriving at the island to nest and mate. This count is done prior to December 5th. Another count is conducted in February of both birds and chicks after hatching has completed. Overall the population on Shirley Island has tripled in the last ten years. This shows that Casey station, rather than having a negative impact on the birds, is really having no impact at all. There are nesting sites closer to the station that now lay abandoned; however there are more sites and more birds on the rest of the island. I have to say, being over at the Receiver farm; which lies opposite the edge where Shirley Island is the most distant from Casey station, is a pleasure. There is no generator noise and no plant equipment noise. If I was a penguin I too would move away from the constant hum of the diesel generators to the quieter suburbs of Shirley Island also. ;o]
I was on Comms all weekend while Andrew went away and Ian had the weekend off. Being confined to station working, it was a great opportunity to start packing up my room. I am now living in a box cupboard! Ha ha. In the next few days I will get all the boxes down to the green store, ready for their long trip home. I have a busy last few weeks coming up so had to pack up early. I also took the opportunity today to give myself a facial and hair treatment. A girl has to look after herself. Ha ha. Actually I look a little like Buddha at the moment; I have a bit of a pot belly from not enough exercise. ;op It wont take long to get back in great shape once I get home, so I am not at all concerned. Running Maxy the dog every day will soon whittle off the 3 kilos I have put on.
Next weekend I am off to Jacks for two days, the weekend after, I have been invited on a Girls Only weekend at the Wilkes Hilton. That will be a hoot. The girls here at all lovely and are a lot of fun to be with. The weekend following that is Christmas and then I am OUTTA HERE!!! Goodness, not long to go at all. Being so busy, the time will simply fly by.
Typical of Casey weather, the day after I went bird counting, the sun came out and the skies were blue. The weather warmed and the rest of the week was postcard perfect. I took several walks around the extended station limits after work. Over to Reeves’ hill and also down in the direction of the wharf and Thala Valley. It is a beautiful place to explore and I do enjoy being here. I am getting my last fill of the sights and surrounds so they last me a lifetime once I depart from this amazing and wonderful playground I have been lucky enough to live in for more than twelve months.
With a bit of luck next week I may get to go over to Whitney Point for some more penguin counting. Whitney Point is on the tip of Wilkes and is an ASP (Area of Special protection). So unless you have a scientific purpose for being there you never get to see it. It looks no different to anywhere else down here but it is always nice to visit new places regardless.
OK, I still have boxes to pack so I am off till next week.
Have a good one.
Trace :o]
posted by Tracey in Casey - Antarctica at 9:44 am
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