Back to the cold!

Hello Everyone! Hope everyone is having a good Holiday Season!!! I finished up my last week on Round Island  last week!! We have spent a lot of time doing plant monitoring all over the island to tally up the native plants that have been planted over the last 10 years!!  Last week the Reptile team came over, as well as the very anticipated Tortoise relocation!! This meant a big influx of people to the island and to make some room I returned to the mainland a bit early. Leaving the Island was very awe inspiring, because this time we got to take the Helicopter! This was my first time ever in a Helicopter, and by the time I landed I was convinced I wanted to be a pilot! Ha, ha.

On my way back to Canada, I got the opportunity to spend a couple nights in London, UK. I used this time to go to the Natural History Museum, which was AMAZING! It was neat to see the life-sized Dodo and the models of the Tortoises!! I spent most of the day walking around looking at models of things that they had in Mauritius, and feeling completely grateful that I got to work with the real deal! Many people would only have the chance to see these things in Museums and on television! It really made it sink in that much more what an incredible opportunity I have been given with the New Noah Program. Ok, well I am getting all nostalgic so I will say bye for now before I start getting too sappy :)

Please check back for some pictures to be loaded on my next posts!

Thank you everyone for following me on my adventure and to Wildlife Preservation Canada for everything! This experience has changed my life and inspired me so many ways! I am ready to bring what I have learned back home and start helping species in Canada!!!

Back to the Island :)

Hi Gang! I have been back on Round Island since Friday and thought I would write a little note to let you all know the happenings of the week so far :) Our trip over was very nice, we came by boat and there was a Coast Guard change over on Flat Island (an island just west of Round where many Tourist take Catamarans to snorkel and enjoy the beautiful lagoon and beaches!) so we got to stop there and get off for a little walk on the beach! It was very nice to get a chance to see Flat Island up-close after seeing it from afar for so long.

We navigated the landing rock with ease and carried all our equipment back to the field station on Friday. The remainder of the day was spent quarantining all our food and equipment to insure nothing was brought back to the Island. Saturday we spent the morning cutting back the planting cages for the plants that had out-grown them and were now growing through the side of the cage; a hot task, but a very important one!! In the afternoon we GOT RAIN!!! It hadn’t rained here since I have been on the Island (8 weeks!) so the 4mL we received Saturday was a welcome change! Between the showers we got some plant nursery work done, moving plants around to make room for the new ones and get ready for the influx of plants to begin the planting season in January.

The last couple of days have been very hot here. It was 28 degrees Celsius at 8 a.m. Monday we watered the plants in the morning and then spent the afternoon we tended to some invasive weed sites. In these sites invasive weeds had been previously found so we monitor the sites monthly to insure they are no longer occurring in those areas. Over the original area where the weeds were we placed heavy black plastic held down with rocks. The plastics blocks out the sun and heats the weeds to extreme temperatures. This hopefully will kill all the plants and seeds.

Tomorrow there is another lot of 10 Mauritius Fodies coming to the Island to be trans-located!! Some of -them are adults and will be hard released immediately. The others have been hand-reared and need to be kept in cages for a couple days to get used to things before being released. We spent today filling the cages with branches so everyone will be nice and comfortable in their new homes! Well it’s about time for supper here so I better go! I will let you know how everything goes with the Fodies tomorrow, fingers crossed everyone!

P.S

I hear it is starting to get a bit cold in Canada, brrrr, just thinking about it gives me goose bumps!

Pictures from Ilse au Aigrettes

Petrels, Sea birds and Fodie, OH MY!

Hello Everyone,

Its been a very busy time here on Round Island over the last few weeks. The first exciting news is that Round Island is now home to some Mauritius Fodies!! The second lots of birds were brought over in a Helicopter and release a week or so ago. The population seems to be doing well and the Fody team is working hard following them to see how they are using their new home! Two more lots of birds are scheduled to come over in December bringing the population on Round into the twenties!! It was a very exciting time and a great honor to witness their introduction to Round Island!!!

Over the past 10 days we have been busy busy on the Warden team working with Malcolm Nicoll. He was visiting from the University of Reading (UK) to train us in distributing geo-locators to the Round Island Petrels. Little is known about these birds migration patterns and there is lots to be learned using these little tools. The locators are placed on bands on the birds' legs and record sunset and sunrise information as well as sea temperature. This information will then be entered into a computer program when the locators are removed next fall to see where they have been over the past year. We got extensive training in taking blood samples from the birds and correctly placing the geo-locators. Though the week involved a few bloody fingers from the snappy birds, it was an amazing week learning about the species and the project!

In the week leading up to Malcolm's visit I got to participate in the monthly Red-Tail Sea Bird survey they do on the island. This involved walking around to 50 different nesting site and collecting information on the residence of theses humble abodes! If there was a bird in the site we would catch it up, take the ring number or give a new ring to any un-ringed birds. It was the middle of chick season so there were many little 'punk rocker' looking chicks found. They are very adorable but make the most ear shattering noise I have ever heard!! It was great to get to handle these birds up close!! They look so majestic and huge flying over the waters near Round Island that it was really something else to get up close and personal with these Island Residence!

Other then that we have been busy with the Island maintenance. Weekly watering of the plants and tortoises and weeding of the older planting sites takes up a lot of time on Round Island and is a great way to see the Island and has resulted in some major leg muscles...since most of it required a hike to the summit :)

I am starting my 2 weeks back on the mainland and will be able to post some pictures once I am back in Black River! I will be returning to Round in a couple weeks with the next group of Fodies to be released...this will be my FIRST HELICOPTER RIDE EVER!

Hope everything is going well in Canada! I hear it is getting colder by the day!

Welcome to Round Island!!

Hey Everyone! I have been in Mauritius for about 3 weeks now and I love it here! I am currently on Round Island, an island off the coast that has been made into a Nature Reserve. There are currently 8 other people on the here with me. It is a bit hard to Blog from here as the internet connection is a dial up and we are also incredible busy!! I will post some pictures when I get back on the mainland and update everyone on what I have been doing.  I am an Assistant Warden here so I am getting to do a lot of neat things and dabble in a bunch of different things. I have done Petrel Nest site surveys (and actually get to catch them and band them!!), weekly watering f the Tortoises and plants and some weeding, and plant nursery work. The thing I have been enjoying most is the BOA SEARCHES!!! They are so amazing and fun, and can only be done after dark! I have may cool pictures to share from these nights!! Well I am leaving the Island on Nov 12^th for my two weeks off so I will get on here and post some pictures and share some stories from my first month on Round Island!!

Arrived in Mauritius

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I have failed to update this in so long :( I had to go back to Canada between my Jersey stay and arriving here in Mauritius because of a delay with my Visa. I talked to some people here and they have had similar issues. I can't say it was all bad as it was wonderful to experience some of the amazing weather we had in Nova Scotia and spend time with Yvon, my family and friends :)

I finally arrived in Mauritius on Thursday morning at 7:25am, that's midnight for all you east coaster back home. The first two days were spent shopping for essentials, getting poked and prodded for my medical and meeting all the people in the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation Office (MWF). Everyone at the office was great and made me feel very welcome and excited to get started!!

I got to spend my first night on Ile aux aigrette, a wonderful little off-shore Island which is a Nature Reserve here. MWF has a field station and does a lot of work on the island. No one actually lives on the Island accept the MWF staff .....oh and a few GIANT TORTOISES!! There were really amazing species like the Mauritius Fodie flying around. We then returned to the weekend house for...well the weekend...and I got to meet everyone on all the different project. Everyone is so nice and a lot of fun!!

I will  be working back on Ile aux aigrette this week and living in the field station. My main work there will be helping in the plant nursery. I then will spend my second week working with Venessa, one of the Round Island wardens, on Ile aux aigrette to get some training before I head to  Round Island. I have been given the role of Warden Assistant on Round Island which means I will get to do work on all the projects there as well as the day to day conservation work there. I am really honored to have such an amazing posting while I am here!!

Well I guess that's about it for today! There is no internet on Ile aux aigrette so I will be keeping a written blog while I am there and post it next weekend. Also, I have decided that since there is so much incredible experiences and adventures in my future I would start to keep another blog. The new blog will be my personal experiences and weekend stories outlet, and this one will continue to let you all know what is going on with my MWF work and projects! I encourage you all to follow both! The new one is called VISITING THE DODO and can be found on this same website.

Lastly, if you feel like leaving a comment or just want to say hello, I'd love to hear from everyone reading this!

LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN!!

 

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Schools Out! ...and its turned into a zoo here!

Well school let out last Friday! It was great to have the course under my belt, but very bitter-sweet as nearly all my new friends from all over the world have left and residence is very quiet. Me, Cath (from the UK), and Blanca (from Spain) did our class project on the ring-tailed lemurs and brown lemurs. See they house the two species together in an amazing enclosure here at the zoo called Kirindi forest. Everyone seems to be settling into the new enclosure nicely, but the keepers wanted to make sure the two species weren't being aggressive towards each other (the brown lemur is out numbered 7-1 and has a baby on her back). We spent the week watching the lemurs for interactions and recording space sharing trends. What we found was.....drum roll please......that they are interacting, though very rarely...and it was only ever Reggie, the young male Ring tail, that was physically picking it with Millie (the female brown)! We also, this project also did a wonderful job of reminded me how much I HATE STATS....but we battled through and had a great project and presentation at the end.



I have been working at the zoo over the last couple of days (hence the title of this entry....I'd like to think it was so clever I don't have to point it out but clever isn't exactly my strong point....beautiful/smart/funny yes...clever not so much...what was I saying..Oh yeah the zoo...just kiding :P ). I have been in with the bird section this past two days and am working with the Macaques and Gorillas tomorrow and Thursday! I will write again at the end of the week to tell of my zoo adventures!



Last night me and Blanca (from Spain...now I feel as though I have to type that after her name, like a subtitle..ha) went to see ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the zoo. They had this really cool travelling acting group called the ODD Socks (http://www.oddsocks.co.uk/theatre/), and they perform outside after dark, using only a little gypsy trailer for their set! They were absolutely hilarious!! And the Flamingo pond was right next to where they were performing and the poor birds had no idea what all the commotion was about and kept making the loudest most un-ignorable (word?) noises ever...the actors had no choice but to include it in the play...ha-ha though they thought they were ducks, and kept commenting on the ducks,...ha-ha. I can just imagine all the little ducks sitting around the zoo looking at each other saying, ‘Man, what are we getting all the slack for?’ and the Flamingos snickering away (Kind of like when your little brother gets blamed for something your do..) .



Anyway, I just wanted to write a little something, but I am in desperate need of a shower and it’s getting late so I better head off. I will write soon about all the happenings at the zoo this week. Lastly I just want to wish my Dad aka Giggy A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope Mom didn't kick your butt too much on the course this weekend ! Love you all and miss you like crazy!!

Made it to Jersey!!! :)

Hello Everyone! Hope everything is going well!I just got in the door from setting some small mammal live traps out in the back field. We are doing it as one of the hands on activities here, hopefully we will get to see lots of little mammals tomorrow :)  I have been in Jersey for about a week now and settling in very nicely! Everyone is very nice and there are only ten people in my class right now so we are becoming a nice tight nit group!! Oh, I guess I should start at the beginning for those of you who are just signing on or trying to figure out what I am talking about.

I have been given an amazing opportunity by Wildlife Preservation Canada to participate in their New Noah Program this year. This program consists of a three week Endangered Species Management Course at the International Training Center (ITC) at the Durrell Wildlife Park here in Jersey, Channel Islands. I will then work in the Durrell Wildlife Park for an additional ten days to gain some hands on experience with the keepers. Finally, I will travel down to  Mauritius for six months where I will be working on some of the conservation initiatives there!

I have learnt so much in the first week that I couldn't possibly mention it all in this blog. We have dealt with case studies on everything from endangered birds in Hawaii to reptile relocation in Mauritius. They even make time to take us behind the scenes in the zoo area so we get to learn some important husbandry skills from the keepers in charge of caring for these special animals!! They have also implemented a new rule that if you are late for class you now need to sing and dance..which has been quite entertaining as well! .....I have not been late as of yet, although I do have a rendition of "I'm a little tea pot" in reserve if the situation arises!

I wish I could write more, but we are all meeting in the garden in ten minutes for a birthday party! There is a very nice lady names Jackie here from France to do some training and it is her husband's birthday today, so we are all going to wish him a happy birthday by singing in our native language :) Should be a great night. I hope you enjoy the pictures, I will post more really soon :)

Stay tuned for: Three Ladies and Some Lemurs....in my next post I'll tell you all about the project I will be working on while here on course....:)