Albatross Breeding Season 2021
Saturday November 14, 2020
August 2021
July 2021
Geronimo has fledged!
His last week on the bluff he put on a show. Flapping his wings, hopping off the ground for one or two seconds and preening his feathers for hours. He shed almost all his baby gray feathers with just a few remaining on the back side of his head. He regurgitated his "bolus" of squid beaks and yes, unfortunately some pieces of plastic.
We tried so hard to witness his big fledge but, in the end, he took flight on his time. In all the years of watching over the albatross we've actually never seen one fledge for the first time. Some moments of nature must remain with nature.
How did he prepare for his big fledge?
It's hard for us to know all the puzzle pieces he had to align in order to make his big leap. Has he shed enough of his baby feathers? His adult feathers, are they preened and lined up? Are his muscles strong enough? Is he too heavy? Maybe too light? Should he wait for another squid meal? Are his parents even returning with one? Is the wind strong enough? Is it too strong? Maybe he should wait? Or go?
The ocean is 200 feet below his bluff and the shoreline is rocky...all things to consider, he has never ever flown and has only one chance to get it right. Talk about anticipation/pressure.
But he did it! At 5 months and 6 days old he took flight for his next adventure, life at sea. His parents were not there and neither were we. He was first to fledge from our colony so all of this season's 12 chicks got to witness his leap. We hope they took good notes. Their fledge clock is ticking.
Since Geronimo took flight four more chicks have followed suit and fledged. We still have eight chicks gearing up for their flight.
June 2021
How many more squid meals will be needed? Time will tell...
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
Look how big I am
Chick C is now 8 weeks old and growing in both size and curiosity.
Mom and Dad must forage greater distances for hefty squid meals. This provides the perfect opportunity for Chick C to sneak out of the nest, explore the bluff and make friends with other chicks.
Chick C and buddies waddle around their colony building new nests, tugging on low-hanging branches and are ever so fascinated with picking up and tossing sprigs of grass, little pine cones, seed pods, really anything that fits in their little beak.
Food is always on their mind
While they may be busy being little explorers they are truly always on the lookout for the return of Mom or Dad with food.
Most of the albatross coming in for landing are the adolescents but when a parent does arrive it's feet will have barely touched the ground and its chick's "feed me" chirp is already blasting on full volume. A parent always knows which chick is their baby and often will make the chick return to it's original hatch nest before being fed.
The warm squid meal is delivered (aka regurgitated) and often in 10 minutes time the parent takes off again in search of the next meal. Soon parents will fly thousands of miles just to deliver one meal to their chick.
Feb 2021
It's a rare sight to see but we were on the bluff at the right time last week and got to witness a Papa bird return to the bluff and meet his newborn chick for the first time. He literally landed and sprint waddled straight to his mate on their nest squeaking in excitement. Needless to say our hearts melted. Photo above of Papa's first greeting.
Hatching is officially complete!
We have 15 adorable chicks this season.
Did you know? The chicks have a temporary "egg tooth" on their bill to assist them in hatching. Once the chick makes the first pip or hole to its eggshell it can take 2-3 days to break free and fully hatch. The parent does not physically assist the hatching but plays an endearing role by peering in the egg hole and making encouraging sqeeks and chatter to its baby. The newly hatched chicks spend their first few days nestled under a parent for warmth, only being exposed mere minutes a day for quick feedings.
Mom and Dad will initially alternate responsibility of nest duty and foraging for squid duty. At about 2 weeks old their chick's ever demanding appetite for regurgitated fish eggs and squid will require that both parents forage for meals. The chick will be left solo in its nest finding warmth in the daytime sunshine. Mom and Dad will make round trip flights from their chick to the North Pacific Ocean, basically non-stop for the next 5 months. Talk about having your parents wrapped around your cute little beak.
Jan 2021 
With the first egg laid back on Nov 24th and an average incubation period of approximately 60 days we are officially in the window of absolute cuteness hatching.
Over the next couple of weeks the baby chicks will slowly start to emerge from their egg shells. Their little beaks begin to tap tap tap away at their egg until they break free.
The newborn chicks are the cutest balls of fluffy white and gray feathers and will stay nestled under Mom or Dad for warmth and protection for a few weeks time.
Dec 2020
Excited to report that our nest count is now 17! Which means 34 birds have reunited and we have at least 6 albatross patiently awaiting their mate or in search of a new one. We've strung up some mistletoe to help things along as we are hoping for a few more nests this season!
Each year in mid December we have a very special day, egg adoption day. Albatross pairs with an infertile egg get a new fertile egg delivered to their nest.This is an amazing program that involves federal, state and private entities.
Where do these "extra" eggs come from? The Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai's west side is also home to nesting albatross. You can imagine for air traffic safety having these beautiful birds with over 6 foot wing spans soaring in your airspace is of great concern.
Lola was invited by the biologists to assist with this year's egg adoption for our colony. The team visits each nest, gently removes the egg and swiftly candles it inside a dark cloth enclosure...if fertile it's returned to the nest and if infertile the egg is replaced with an "adoption egg". Those birds receiving a new egg happily accept the new egg as if it were their own.
We are happy to report our colony is very healthy and continuing to grow in population each year. Only two eggs were infertile. If the last 30 days of egg incubation goes well we have a great chance of seeing 18 baby chicks this season!
Nov 2020
We are so EXCITED to share this albatross season with you!
The first bird is back! Early morning on Nov 10th we found Manu resting on the bluff under the ironwood pine trees. He's a long time bird of our albatross colony and often one of the first to arrive. We've been greeting him yearly since 2007.
He spent most of the morning napping but proudly stood and supervised our trimming of the shrubs in the albatross take off zone...notice the hedge trimmer laying on the bluff edge?
Fun fact: He is very punctual! In 2017 he was also our first bird back and his arrival date was also Nov 10th!
On Thanksgiving morning we made a fresh batch of Noni Fruit Leather and then we hurried out to check on our friends the albatross. We found our first nest and egg! This means late January we should see our first chicks start hatching!
A Preview of what's to come this season:
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