Thanks Matt.
A very good article. Back in 1999 I flew an experiment out of Nauru for about 2 months and there wasn’t much to do on non-flying days. Scattered along the eastern coast line edge were numerous very large aviaries made with bamboo poles covered by light weight fishing net which each housed a minimum of twenty frigate birds. I was fortunate to be befriended by a bloke closest to the one and only hotel on the island who owned the largest aviary and the most birds. It is a status symbol amongst the islanders which relates directly to the number of birds owned by an individual. Each owners bird is identified by a specific shape he cuts in the feathers between two adjoining quills near their trailing edge. The shape is registered by a local authority. After gazing at the caged birds for some days I was invited into their enclosure with the proviso I stood next to the door with my face to the net so I could escape if they didn’t like me. After a while I was told it was OK to walk toward the far edge (S/E) and I would be alright. Before proceeding a description of the place is warranted. Nauru is an isolated coral island –.032S/166.55E. It stands in the Pacific Ocean resembling a mushroom and with its stem eroding rapidly is a quite precarious position to be. At the time I was there it was generally agreed an earthquake could easily break the stem and the cap would fall into the ocean and disappear – no more Nauru. Nauru is basically circular. N/E through East- South to West the shore is a coral cliff about 5m high created by the S/E trade winds. Lower areas are coral with sparse vegetation while upper levels are pitted with the remains of open-cut phosphate mining area which in itself is littered by millions and millions of dollar’s worth of abandoned heavy machinery. I took an ex worker with me while I viewed the place and he pointed out various machines he knew the history of. The most amazing was a Euclid tipper which had only one day’s work when it suffered a tyre puncture. The fix – on advice from Aus. advisers present – order a new one. Numerous books have been written re. Nauru. Walking toward the windward face of the enclosure and into a 10-15kt trade wind the frigate birds inspected me at eye level while remaining stationary. After they’d all inspected me some came back and at times, in a pair, hovered so closely over my shoulders-with wings overlapping - I could stroke their head, shoulder and breast feathers. I looked back at their owner – an old man – and saw him squatting , with his palms together, in a pose of prayer. From: Aus-soaring [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Matthew Scutter Sent: Friday, October 28, 2016 10:58 AM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.; Gliding Australia Forum Subject: [Aus-soaring] Frigatebirds study http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12468 Fascinating study in Nature which documents how frigatebirds are able to cross oceans without flapping, using thermals over water, while asleep. Amazingly they manage to thermal with only one eye open and one brain hemisphere asleep, which suggests there may be more in common between glider pilots and frigatebirds than previously thought.
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