7 March 2013

Sunrises and sunsets are not as spectacular as they are up north, but I still enjoy them. Cottages By The Sea sits in the heart of Frederiksted Harbor on the West end of St. Croix. To the east are low hills that obscure the sunrise. This evening a cloud bank hid Ra's exodus, but several Least Terns and a lone Brown Pelican entertained us as they enjoyed their fish dinners. It is easy to identify the foraging success rate of pelicans because they tip their bills to the sky to swallow. Tonight the score was pelican two and fish zero. It is not as easy to track the success of Least Terns, especially with old eyes and no binoculars.

Today was a typical Crucian day. I called Toby this morning (he is the contact person while the two refuge biologists, Mike and Claudia, are off-island) and he met me at the refuge at 3:00 pm. I was able to retrieve my equipment that is stored in the refuge headquarters, but not my traps which are stored in containers in the yard because Mike changed the locks and Toby’s key doesn’t work anymore. Toby offered me some traps to use but they were at his home on the other end of the island. Fortunately, his significant other was home and she agreed to meet me half way with the traps. I set out nine traps by 5:00 pm. I should have a few animals to show my classes during two Skype sessions on Friday morning.

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Cottages By The Sea in the Morning

Overlooking the Caribbean from Cottages By The Sea

Dianne and Brenda Hard at Work