Stillwater Oklahoma November 2023 | Page 12

Braving the elements for

FLIGHTLESS

BIRDS

It takes a special person to handle hardship , but when one is obsessed , it doesn ’ t matter .

Among Penguins , A Bird Man In Antarctica ” by Noah Strycker gives the reader a personal account with life among explorers , bird experts , and those that endure extreme weather .

It takes a special person to handle hardship , but when one is obsessed , it doesn ’ t matter .
Few claim to know wind chills at minus 40 and wind speeds of 85 miles per hour . When your specially constructed tent for extreme weather conditions implodes , bending the metal poles like toothpicks , you are happy that you were not in the 36-hour storm in it . For three months , you live without showers , flush toilets , or laundry facilities for the experience .
Your consolation prize is close contact with Adelie and Emperor Penguins , Waddell Seals , South Polar Skuas , Snow Petrels , Northern Fulmars , Minke and Killer Whales and more .
Your home with two other researchers will be at Crozier , the only individuals seen once you are left there , much like researchers last century .
You are a penguin census taker , including their young once they are hatched . Learning to corral birds for vital statistics can be tricky and some of the ‘ tweens , or two and three year old penguins , can be hard to handle , delivering painful flipper blows .
Terrain is hazardous , and one wrong step even with crampons can net you a broken leg . It is quickly learned never to trust a penguin , because they can go anywhere and not have far to fall , unlike humans . Area M is your responsibility to record breeder ’ s flipper numbers , but when it is time to band your chick , you will be treated to the best way to corral numbers of them because a thousand birds take time , even
though you are provided extra assistance up to the last minute . Your transportation will be strictly for your heavy gear , a one-mile trip from your base camp .
Paired penguins take turns with egg incubation , while a mate goes to sea for food . When in the colony , it is difficult for the birds to remain clean due to fresh guano , and the unfortunates that were forced to nest in not-so-ideal conditions add frozen mud . After several days at sea , the returning mate was easy to spot , as they were pristine from seawater , but not you .
In these colonies , dead penguins do not decompose . They just pile , dispersed only through scavenger skuas . Some of the freeze-dried carcasses might be thousands of years old .
There were some redeeming features in this research project , including a couple of penguins of note for their unusual coloration including unrelated Adelie Penguins Blondie and Blackie . Blondie had gone years without a mate , and finally met one to provide the egg and help raise a normal-colored chick to adulthood . Blackie was an all-black female with a separate mate .
Ingenuity permitted an easy way to weigh these penguins with plastic fencing and one entrance , simply walking over the scale . Some of the birds with flipper implants were scanned for data automatically stored on a computer .
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Could you handle this ordeal ? Read it …
STORY BY : Deb Hirt Stillwater Oklahoma Magazine
PHOTO : Provided
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 12