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!

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