Count'n Terns

  
    The other day the first tern hatched on Falkner Island, that means it's time to go count eggs!  We wait to count until they start to hatch because that means they're pretty close to wrapping up the laying.
    Counting tern eggs is a bit of a process.  You need to wear the appropriate attire to venture out among a few thousand birds that use feces as a weapon.  The refuge was kind enough to supply us with jumpsuits after we supplied them with sizes.  I told them large for each, but Candice took offense to that and changed hers to a medium.  I now wear the medium and have Tommy Boy running through my head the whole time.  Love ya hun.  Along with the suit is a sombrero, without it the terns would impale your skull and crap on you while they do it.
    Terns lay their eggs all over the Island.  A popular spot is on the beach that is covered with rocks that look a lot like tern eggs.  So, you make a line across the width of the beach taking slow deliberate steps yelling out egg numbers to a recorder who is walking behind.  The island is broken into plots and the numbers are recorded for each plot.  Sounds easy enough, but bare in mind there are nests everywhere, you have maybe a half dozen people yelling simultaneously, the terrain is rough and of course there are the terns.
    All told it is quite an experience!  I would recommend if you're in the area some time in early June you should volunteer for a count.  I would not however recommend volunteering to live on the Island for the summer unless you're one of those crazy bird people!