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Here's a chance to apply your skills as a citizen scientist! There are over 25 white tern eggs in trees scattered around Honolulu. At least there were the last time the trees were surveyed back in August. We need some volunteers to check the nesting spots again to see what became of these eggs. Here's all you need to do: - Check the Google Earth map photo below for the locations of trees with eggs. Pick the tree(s) you want to check and note the Nest ID (ex. KS300101). You can also view this map on the Active Egg Map on this website. - Go to the online data base on our webpage at www.whiteterns.org. Click the Database tab. Then click the little magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner of the database window and enter the Nest ID. - Look at the photos in the database for this nesting event and note the location of the nesting spot in the tree. - Check the nesting spot in the tree and note what you see. - Report what you saw. You may see that the adult is still in the same spot in the incubating position. If so it's likely the egg is infertile, or the one we documented earlier failed and the pair has relaid already. Or you may see a chick at or near the nesting spot. You may also see an adult (NBA) at or near the nesting spot and no chick. Or the nesting spot may be vacant. There are a number of ways you can report your observations. You can click on the Citizen Science tab on our webpage and fill in the form. Since you have a Nest ID you can skip the fields asking for tree location and species information. The most important fields for this exercise are the date of observation, Nesting Event Status and observer name and contact info. Any additional details you can provide will be appreciated. Or, if you prefer, you can just email your observation to us using the Contact link on our webpage. Just be sure to include the Nesting ID, Nesting Event Status (Egg, Chick, Vacant, etc) and observation date in your email. You can contact me directly at richdowns@gmail.com if you have any questions. A big "Mahalo!" in advance for any help you can provide us in checking up on these eggs!   |