Field Officer, Hannah Greetham shares her experiences of collecting data in some very special locations.
I am obsessed with seabirds and the remote islands that come with it. This year I was lucky enough to visit two of the remotest uninhabited islands within the UK Overseas Territories, Gough Island (a sub-Antarctic Island in Tristan da Cunha) and Henderson Island (a tropical island in Pitcairn Islands). To get to these islands involved flying to the nearest land mass, Cape town or Mangareva and then a several day boat journey to the uninhabited island. Once you get to island, if you haven’t got anything then that’s it no shops, no boats for delivery, you learn to be adaptable and or make things. On Gough I had to double sock it to make my wellies a snug fit to stop Mildred mire, a boggy area on Gough Island, from taking them.
Gough Island, with Giant Petrel
Henderson Island
Gough already has a base, but Henderson required the building of a kitchen and storage areas, as well as digging long-drop latrines. Internet connectivity is either very limited (whatsapp only) or absent. For the first weeks on Henderson we had no Wi-Fi. Weirdly However, when the internet got connected it was tempting to cut the cable! Sometimes it is nice to go back to basics and be completely cut off from world (I think I might suit remote work). .
Gonydale camp, Gough Island.
The luxurious cave on Henderson Island
On both islands camping was involved, one tent was more waterproof than the other and sometimes caves were a luxury option. Henderson had limited fresh water so all washing; body and clothes was done in the sea, though makeshift washing lines did not keep your clothes from falling in the sand and getting pooped on by the Masked Booby chick. Gough was not short of water but there were still wildlife interferences with domestics. Skuas would pull on the guys of the tent and steal our walking poles, and the buntings would knock over bowls and equipment.
Masked booby and Chick Henderson island
Tristan skuas around Camp, Gough Island
Field work
Fieldwork on these islands required exploring different parts of the island and encountering the native wildlife. Gough was a more hands on experience with monitoring and handling seabird and land species. Most of the monitoring was of breeding success and adult survival, this required reading rings and applying new ones so individuals could be identified, some birds were more accepting of this that others. Giant Petrels would try to incubate your hand as you checked the egg and ring number. Some of the Tristan Albatross (especially the females) would preen you.
Tristan Albatross being curious on a nest check
Tristan albatross pair
Unfortunately there is a downside to the fieldwork, and in the case of Gough it is mice. They are an invasive species and due to the lack of natural food they have turned to eating seabirds, even adult albatross. This played heavily on my mind, and I was prepared for the worst especially when it came to monitoring the prions that previously had suffered poor reproductive success as a result of predation by mice. The McGillivray’s Prions nested in a cave, one that you could hear before you could see, as the birds cackle and chat to each other all day and night. As you climb into the cave you prompt a “Mexican wave” of calls through the cave, with echoes bouncing around. Every week we checked the nest and watched the chicks grow from fluff balls to adults with some funny downy patches. The 2023-24 season was a good year for these chatty birds, with no recorded mouse predation in our study nests. I hope that these chicks will return to the cave and breed in the future.
Henderson was more passive monitoring and observations, to understand the difference in the ecology especially the endemic land birds and the effects of invasive Pacific rats. I enjoyed this experience as it helped me see what you need to consider when planning future conservation actions. I also got to wield a machete, to cut trails to access the parts of the island. The wildlife encounters on Henderson were also as phenomenal, Humpback Whales would breech around sunset just before tea, Turtles were bumped into whilst taking the evening wash in the sea and Hermit Crabs would pinch your toes as you washed the dishes. We did have a surprise guest of an Elephant Seal (not full size) turn up that had everyone sprinting up the beach.
Elephant seal on Henderson Island
"Women in the Field"
Being a woman in the field has some challenges. In most of my career I have been the sole woman on a male team, you quickly learn to be open and honest about menstruating and wild weeing. I have been fortunate that the men have always been understanding. Lessons learned include not leaving the reusable sanitary pads on the communal washing line, they get mistaken for arm guards. On Henderson ideally you pee on the shore line; however, this is in the open, so you either had to time it right or announce it!
It was all female RSPB team on Gough, only the second year that this has happened. It is important to have all forms of diversity and hopefully there will be more of a change in these remote islands in years to come. There have been plenty of times throughout my career that I have been patronised and dismissed just because I am a woman, so please keep going, you will get to where you want to be. There are not many women whose work takes them from remote island to remote island to remote island but the tides and times are changing.
Though it is a lot of fun and adventure, the trips to these remote islands are hugely important to monitor the endemic wildlife and the impact of invasive species and to prepare future conservation actions to protect these endangered birds. To visit both these islands in one year is a rare thing but I hope to be back again sometime soon.