I compartmentalize my life into two spaces: before Midway and after Midway. Let’s call it BM and AM.

In 2012, I had the ridiculous privilege, honour, good fortune, what have you, to spend four months of my life at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, located on Midway Atoll.

And it is where I fell in love with birds. Let me explain.

Midway is so named because of its proximity to both the US and Japan: it is “midway,” in between. It was made famous during the Battle of Midway (6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor) and was an important naval base during WWII. Since then, it has become a wildlife sanctuary. In fact, between Midway and other islands in the Northwest Hawaiian Island archipelago, 99.7% of the Laysan Albatross species calls it home. It’s also home to several invasive plant species and many other seabirds, notably Red- and White-Tailed Tropic Birds, Brown Noddies, Blue-Footed Boobies, and Great Frigate Birds.

BM, I cared not a fiddle about birds. I knew there were different species and lots of them, but I didn’t notice. I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you what an albatross was. I didn’t even have the word “albatross” in my mental lexicon.

Midway was my turning point, in a lot of ways. Chief among them was my ascent into birding.

An island of birds

I still remember landing on Midway. In June, when I arrived, we had to fly in at night, to avoid collision with the birds. You see, the island is home to thousands of albatross and they all fly around during the day. They fly around less so during the evening. Midway has a singular, teeny tiny runway (on Sand Island, one of its three islands) and I will never forget how the gentleman said — sitting next to me on the tiny jet as we descended — “Welcome to the middle of nowhere.”

Stepping off the plane, I was met with a wave of warm, tropical air and the incessant sound of “moo-ing.” No joke.

It turns out, albatross are um…vocal and their singing and dancing sound like cows in a field. And on that warm, June evening, before I could even hear the birds, I knew I loved them.

Plastics & birds

The reason I was on Midway was actually because of my attachment to plastic pollution, an issue near and dear to my heart. At the time (2012) I knew that Midway was at the center of the plastics issue in the Pacific and, with a background in marine biology, I wanted to learn more and gain field experience. So, I packed up my stuff, sold my car, and moved to Midway for four blissful, healing months.

I got more than I bargained for.

For starters, I had no idea I would fall head over heels in love.

With birds.

(and as it turns out, a person too but that’s a story for another day)

Foreign land

Waking up on that first morning on Midway was like being transported into another world. I walked out of my front door (a post-WWII cement bungalow complete with centipedes and leaky faucets) to find a full-size adult albatross sitting on my stoop. Venturing a few metres further, I encountered another one. And another, and another…until I looked up and realized they were literally everywhere.

Albatross outnumber humans on Midway to such a high degree, I can’t even approximate a ratio. 100:1? 500:1?

The thing about these birds is that they are so unafraid of humans, that they will walk right up to you, nibble at your clothing, and mosey on their awkward way. For albatross are true seabirds, not accustomed to life on land. They are graceful at sea, gliding on breezes with their wings locked, able to fly to the Aleutian Islands without breaking a sweat. Being on land is a different story and they are silly as all get out, bobbing to and fro as they find their nest spot.

Albatross and…

The benefits of working on Midway were numerous but among them was learning about other seabird species besides albatross. We were tasked with banding a few rowdy Red-Tailed Tropic Birds and preserving a cohort of White Tern chicks displaced by habitat restoration efforts (in an odd twist of fate, the removal of invasive ironwood trees to make way for natives meant the destruction of prime Tern habitat!).

Along the way, we ran into Gray-back Terns, Brown Noddies, Laysan Ducks (highly endangered!), Black-Footed Albatross, Short-Tailed Albatross, Black Noddies, Sooty Terns, Bristle-Thighed Curlews, Ruddy Turnstones, Shearwaters, Petrels, and more.

Suffice to say, after four months with all these two-legged feathered friends, I was obsessed. I still remember coming home to western NY, in December, and camping out in front of my mom’s bird feeder. Passerines (songbirds) were not nearly as presence-commanding as large seabirds but they were all I had and I became similarly obsessed. I even drove a half hour to the next town over, to join up with a local birding community as they related their Christmas Bird Count tallies.

Lifelong birder, thanks to Midway

It’s been ten years since Midway and a lot has happened. I was able to see the albatross again a few years ago while on Kauai, and I’m still a bird-lover. Periodically I find myself at my local landfill with binoculars where I gape at bald- and golden eagles, ravens, and red-tailed hawks. And, I’m becoming better at spotting the tiny passerines: Cedar Wax Wings, Chickadees, Finches, and Robins are among my favourites.

I owe this all to Midway. BM, I saw birds but didn’t really “see” them. AM, I hear a bird calling and I notice it. I stop what I’m doing and watch it hop around, sing, dance, dive, eat. I don’t know their names always but I always appreciate them.