This week I’m back in the field again – looking for little shearwaters! One of the highlights of working on the islands (apart from all the birds!) is the amazing numbers of other critters like geckos and tuatara. The Duvaucell’s geckos particularly enjoy scuttling around the roof of the wee hut, making a disproportionate amount of noise for their size. Did you know that geckos scream? It’s a little disconcerting to have a lot of scuttling and screaming happening inches above your face in the ceiling. At least it’s not rats! Most of the island I work on are pest free, which is why these guys are so prolific, they don’t do so well on the mainland. To keep it that way we go through strict quarantine of all our gear before landing on the island, making sure we have no stow-aways. These precious islands are Aotearoa as it should be, a glimpse of what the mainland once was and could be again…