Alan!! We have adopted a pet, an unwanted pet, but an entertaining pet.  An overly friendly ground squirrel has been causing problems if we try and keep food in or around our tents. Early one morning I was cursing Roland for banging pots and rustling plastic bags noisily, before I rem

Nige and myself start packing from 0800, downloading video to take home, making last plans with Liz and Roland. We say goodbye to our ‘workmates’ and leave them to a difficult month ahead. Roland has every night shift with the birds from now until he comes home. He will need to keep p

We finished building two more coops, this makes four outside, we set them up with tundra and moved another two groups of chicks out into the sun.  Lots of final touches to the aviary, got the electric fence going.  Nige and Liz spent time cleaning the feet of the oldest chicks. Liz ha

Building coops, looking after birds. It is a race against time as Nige and I are off on the 19th. We spend all of both days until dusk on the job, Roland and I riveting and drilling and cutting hour after hour after hour, Nige totally involved in setting brooders up, Liz in watching c

It was another day building of coops, the aviary and looking after chicks. In the afternoon Nige and I have to go to an office at the airport where the military and customs reps await with a translator. We are asked to apologise for our crime…..it turns out that our visas are to

Nige and I were at the flat, Roland and Liz were in a nearby town for the night. The last two chicks hatch 0330hrs. It was a full day of constructing coops, Nige, Roland and myself all outdoors facing a huge amount of work yet to do. We grafted all day but it seemed to go very slowly.

1023am Nige got busy sorting the storage containers with Roland. There was a lot to do, lots of equipment to move to the rearing site. Liz and myself spent the morning with the chicks. We were still getting the little ones to feed, a combination of mosquitoes and the artificial food,

The whole day still carrying out our routines, we had a good system despite the cramped conditions, it was all catching up with us, Nige and I felt well down, worn out. At 7.59pm Liz and Roland arrive, it was a very low start to the day with a better finish. It must have been hard for

We were both on autopilot, carry on with the regime we had set up. 1930 hrs Jochen  and Liza arrived, Jochen rings eleven of the chicks, he has probably ringed more SBS chicks in one go than anyone else ever in the world. We felt that our shaking hands and tired minds were not up to t

We got a rest, later today it would be very stressful. Another move with eggs and chicks from boat to mainland. We had a good breakfast and managed a few good hours sleep, Nige slept with the birds. We waited for the signal to move. All the passengers were ashore, the problems with cu