New nephew, shipwrecks and winter arrives - 14 March to 20 March

So first the big news, my sister has had a son. His name is Cameron Viet, he weighed 2.58 kgs at birth and was 49 cm long. He was born on Saturday last week, so this really should have been in the last post but I did not have any photo's to post so I waited until I did...

So after the momentous news the rest of the week has been fairly quiet with nothing really happening beyond the watch officer of a 250 m long merchant vessel, the M.S. Olivia, falling asleep and running aground on Nightingale Island near Tristan da Cunha. She is out of Brazil and bound for South Africa with a cargo of soya beans. She has broken up and is leaking fuel oil into the sea which will have terrible consequences for the sea- and bird life. You can see photos and read updates on the situation here: www.tristandc.com/newsmsoliva.php
What a complete and utter mess. I guess that officer will be looking for a new career, somewhere far, far away from ships and shipping. Four islands in 1000000 square kilometers and he hit one of them. I have been asked by my boss at the RSPB to check for oiled birds regularly, although we hope that the birds don't travel that far to feed and that the prevailing winds and currents will push the oil North and away from Gough.

Dawn and the Skua dawn patrol

I paid my many-ith visit to Gonydale yesterday, in order to do more nest checks and log the adult birds. I was up before dawn and was rewarded by the most stunning sunrise. When it is not raining here, the weather really rewards you for effort. Winter has definitely arrived because the wind is blowing straight from the Antarctic to us and daytime temperatures are in the region of 8 degrees now.
I was also lucky enough to get to watch a Tristan chick hatch, unfortunately I don't have any pictures because my camera was deep in my bag and I did not want to disturb the adult by getting it out, so you will have to make do with the photo below of another one starting to crack its egg. The whole process took about 20 minutes from start to finish and it is truly something special to behold. The chick is folded up inside the egg like a pretzel and is seemingly boneless because there is no way it could fit into the egg otherwise. Simply awesome!

Dad watching expectantly

The news from the island seems really small and insignificant in the light of the terrible and shocking events unfolding in Japan, first the earthquake and then the nuclear accident, what an awful series of events. We have all been following the events closely and have been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the disaster. I don't know what to say but my heart goes out to all of them.

Skua waiting for returning night birds