I have too many cool pictures to be contained in only one post!  To keep from blowing your mind, I've split them up into two separate posts!  This is the continuation from the previous post.




Before I left Guam, I got an amazing opportunity.  The beach site, referenced in the previous post, plays host to 4 captive Fruit Bats/Flying Foxes.  2 females and 2 males are either rehabilitating or were saved from hunters as infants.  In the small science world here, I found out that the biologist in charge of caring for them is from OSU and super friendly.  So I paid her a visit; we had a nice chat and she let me photograph and play with one of the males.

Interesting (and sad) background info:  The bats are considered a delicacy by locals.  Long ago when Chamorro chiefs presided over villages, they would dictate how many and how often bats (as well as sea turtles) were killed and eaten.  Currently, fruit bats remain in small numbers on only a couple of the Mariana Islands (i.e. Guam and Saipan).  This species is now listed as endangered mainly due to (1) the illegal poaching of hundreds of bats to sell overseas and (2) locals over-harvesting  the bats for food. 

Here are a few pictures taken during my encounter with the Marian Fruit Bats.

This is the other male in a separate enclosure.  I didnt get to handle him at all b/c he's really feisty. 

Since bats spend a lot of time hanging upside down, have you ever wondered how they poops w/o getting dirty? They just turn right-side up like this.

I stumbled on this little bird nest while walking to one of my field sites.  The entire cup nest is about the size of a pool ball.  It belongs to a Rufous Fantail. 

This last batch of picture I took atop Forbidden Island.  The snorkeling in a large tide pool at the base of FI is some of the best on Saipan.  For the adventurous few, there is a small rough path which scales up the side of FI.  Parts of the climb to the top are treacherous and require assistance of climbing rope and tiny footholds.  Once you reach the table top of this plateau the view makes it all worth it.  The cliffs and top of FI are a breeding ground for the Black Noddy and the Brown Noddy.

This panoramic picture of the bay is taken close to the trail head before you descend to FI.  FI can be seen at the right in the picture below.  During low tide, it isn't difficult to wade through the water which just barely separates FI as an actual islet instead of a peninsula connected to Saipan.  I reached the top of FI by climbing up the near side facing the camera.

Noddys (and their nests) were scattered all over up here and many have chicks in various stages of development.  It is amazing that eggs and chicks sit only inches from the cliff edge.  Some of the eggs are literally stuck between a rock and hard place or in a tiny cleared area where a small twig or pebble is the only thing keeping from them from rolling into the ocean.  Crazy! 

And beautiful view of the Saipan coast from the top of FI.

So thats all I've got for right now.  I will try not to wait so long between posts.

Happy Father's Day!

All pictures presented in this post are property of the author.  Unauthorized use of these pictures is prohibited unless given explicit permission by the author.

I'm dropping the ball big-time!  Sorry that I've waited so long between posts.  What started out as a post every 2-3 days has now morphed into a post every couple weeks.  I know most of you are checking this blog twice daily anxiously awaiting the next installment of my Big Adventure in the Tropics.  So sorry to keep you wondering if I'm still alive over here or not.  Fear not, I'm very much alive and well!

I think the long lull between my posts is due to a combination of exhausting days, which leave me less than enthusiastic about writing, and a current lack of interesting pictures and stories.  Most of my days consist of field work instead of island exploring or being a tourist, which is a good thing I guess since that's the reason I'm over here.  I doubt my Advisor would be thrilled about me spending more time doing fun things instead of the research that I'm getting paid to do-that's just a hunch though.


To fill you in on what I'm up to now:
I'm back on Saipan (as of 6/8) and will remain here until 7/6 when I'll fly back to Guam.  I carried out a 3-week series of experiments/observations on Guam and now I'm replicating those same experiments/observations on Saipan so I can compare the results of one island to the other island-All this to get at the effect that losing birds has on plant pollination.

Since I havent done much WWII exploring since my return to Saipan I will share some cool picture and tell you a little bit about each.  My intent is not to boast as I show off these pictures but these islands are beautiful and I want to share it with all of you.  Keep in mind that picture just dont do this place justice!  I have a few panoramic views where I've mashed several linear pictures together in an attempt to give you a ~360 degree view of the landscape.




Here are a few pictures taken on the way to one of my field sites.  First you drive down the mountain toward the coast.  A very nice scenic lookout, wouldn't you agree?

While walking to this site, you must pass the shore overlooking a secluded beach which isn't open to the public.  This panoramic is not that great but you get the idea and can hopefully imagine the view.

 If you turn around from the beach and look inland you'd be gazing up at this massive plateau rising into the sky.  The pitch and height are difficult to describe and they are even hard to capture in a picture.  

A fun find from my trek back to the car.  As I descended from a rock face, I see a little blue object scamper across the dried coral.  The picture quality is not so great b/c I took it with my iPhone.

This small hermit crab is using a chewed up Bic pen cap as a shell!  Our field crew has amassed pictures of hermit crabs using an odd variety of interesting objects as their housing. 

After my run-in with the hermit crab, I stopped for lunch under a shade tree looking out onto the reef.  It reminds me of something you might see on a postcard or something.

After a morning of field work, I took a trip to the beach for an hour or so of snorkeling.  Unfortunately it rained so I didnt get in the water.  However, I did make a really cool find...  First, this panoramic is taken from a rocky peninsula separating two small coves.  [As a frame of reference, the trees on the left side are the same trees jutting out on the right side of the picture.]

It is rumored that historic sites can be found nestled up in the jungle a few hundred meters from the beach.  There are no signs or trails to these sites and they are hard to find.  Your two options are go with someone who knows where they are located or venture in random parts of the forest and hope for the best.  Since I was by myself, the latter was my only choice.  The sites are small and cant be seen from the beach so it's really a stab in the dark.  I lucked out and found such a site.  In a small clearing in the jungle, several pillars stand 6-7 feet apart.  These ancient pillars are known as latte stones.  These sites consist of usually 6 pillars capped with a half-circle stone (flat side facing up).  They generally ranging in height from 2-10 ft.  The stones can be made of limestone, which is pretty abundant.  Sometimes the hemisphere top stone can be coral collected from the ocean.  It is commonly accepted that these were building supports for the ancient Chamarro people to raise their houses and important buildings off the ground and protect them when the forest flooded during tropical storms.  Typically the chief's house and common gathering structures were built on latte stones.

The site I found had relatively small pillars.  Often latte stones have fallen over and are reconstructed.  However, these are so secluded that what you see here is most likely due to the normal wear of time and the elements.  B/c this isn't a tourist 'hotspot' there is no real need to reconstruct the stones since they aren't featured in too many photo ops.

 Below is an intact latte stone with another cap stone overturn in the foreground.

I am 6'3" (unless you ask Jackie who says I'm 6'2").  That should give you an idea of how tall these latte stones stand.  

Here was a gathering of 12-15 blue star fish under a boulder.  I wonder what the occasion was for this party?

Anyone care to venture a guess of the 2 species of sea invertebrates below??

A beautiful sunset enjoyed while sitting on the beach with a group of hippies.  They meet every Friday night and take a shot of tequila at the sun touches the horizon in hopes of seeing a green flash.  You can Google 'green flash' if you care to know more.

 Post sunset view from the hill above our Guam house.  Beautiful shades of blue and orange!

People here are extremely outdoorsy.  If you live here for an extended amount of time, you have to find things to do outside or you will go stir-crazy.  Paddling has a huge following and many compete on a national level.

It is great to be king!  Well Guam doesn't have a King but it is great to be Governor.  Here is a picture of just a section of the Governor's Mansion.  Impressive!  The grounds and buildings used to be a high school.  They were so nice, the Governor (not the current one) confiscated it for 'official' purposes.  Sound a bit shady if you ask me

On the flight from Guam to Saipan, we pass over Tinian.  History buffs should recall the significance of Tinian during WWII.  Bombers took off from the airfield (barely visible in the red box) carrying the two atomic bombs (Little Boy and Fat Man) which would devastate Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Pictures from Saipan to follow.....

All pictures presented in this post are property of the author.  Unauthorized use of these pictures is prohibited unless given explicit permission by the author.