Photo a Day Returns

Only a few weeks left for the seabird season. Keep up to date with your daily photo!
http://farallonphoto.blogspot.com/

Sefi has shorebirds too!

On Southeast Farallon Island there are 12 different breeding species of seabirds, many of which have been profiled on this blog. However, there is one species that has not been showcased yet, the Black Oystercatcher. Oystercatchers are the only breeding shorebird on the Farallones, nesting primarily along the rocky margin of the island just above the reach of the surf.  One of my projects is to observe the birds in order to determine the number of active breeding sites and the total number of chicks produced on the island. A site is considered active based on different behaviors, including nest building, defending a territory, carrying prey items to the nest sites, or seeing a chick. However, finding the birds and their nest sites can be quite challenging and an exercise in patience. Oystercatchers are cryptic, build inconspicuous nests and are often hidden behind rocks or logs.  I spend many hours scanning the shoreline for signs of activity and attempting to locate territories, nests and chicks. There are roughly 26 active sites on the island this season. Here are some observations from one in particular but first let’s have a quiz!
Here is a photo of the site, can you find the Black Oystercatcher?

   We are not able to visit most of the areas where the Oystercatchers breed because it causes disturbance to other species, so most of my observations are done with a spotting scope from the top of Lighthouse Hill. This view is typically what I see through a telescope. To locate the bird I look for clues such as body shape, size, color (the orange bill and flesh toned legs) and movement. Sometimes I can observe a site for ten minutes before one magically appears!
    In the first two weeks of observations, I noted two birds were flying as a pair in the territory. Occasionally I witnessed the pair defending the area, flying aggressively towards any Western Gull that happened by. In the third week I found one preening but also alert for approaching threats. At one point the bird wandered in the area and a second oystercatcher stood up. Quickly, the first bird sat down in the same spot. Was this the nest site? I continued to observe the area hoping to see a nest or eggs. The bird sat still the entire time and I never saw the nest or eggs that day!

     Since they build a nest that is not always visible, I made a few notes in my notebook on how I could relocate the site. Black Oystercatchers do not build a typical nest. Instead they create a scrape. A scrape is formed when a bird presses their body against rocks or dirt. They may also use their feet to excavate extra dirt. They generally build their nest near the intertidal zone. This area is a great place to find food! On the Farallones oystercatchers enjoy eating limpets, chitons, California mussel, crabs, sea urchins, barnacles and various types of worms.

     I never saw any eggs at this site during my observations but that is normal for many sites. The eggs are difficult to see because they blend in with the environment. They tend to be cream colored with brownish black markings. The color and markings help hide the eggs from predators and from the research assistant. A clutch size can range from one to four eggs.

A few checks later I wondered if I would finally see any chicks. It had been about twenty-five days since I first saw the mate switch. The incubation period is about 26 to 32 days. I focused the scope and began my search.  I found one Black Oystercatcher sitting, so I waited and waited ……..and then…. an adult bird flew into the site! I noticed that the bill seemed longer and I realized it held a prey item. Out of nowhere a small downy black chick appeared and quickly ate the food! Just as quickly the chick disappeared behind a rock! I continued watching the sight and saw a total of three chicks.

      I only have a few weeks left on the island and I look forward to watching the chicks grow. The adults will continue to bring food to the chicks until they are able to forage for themselves. Around day two they are able to walk and by day forty they can fly. However the chicks will remain within the territory until the fall.

     Now back to the quiz. Could you find the oystercatcher? There are actually two birds in this photograph! One bird is standing guard and is looking for Western Gulls and Brandt’s Cormorants to scare off. The second bird is incubating the eggs.

                                    Incubating posture                                                       Standing guard

Text by Sarah Kebler

Photos by Annie Schmidt and Sarah Kebler 

               

The Tufted Puffins of the Farallons

Imagine yourself as young tufted puffin. You have been on the open ocean since you first left the cozy crevice where you were born on the Farallon Islands. You’ve fished for food, diving and swimming underwater; slept on the ocean; and ridden out winter storms. Now it’s springtime and you’re looking good, you’ve grown long blond tufts on your black head. The tufts sweep back from your crisp white eye patch. Your beak has enlarged and turned bright orange, and your body has turned a dapper black. This is your first year to return to the island, the first time you will stand on land after three years in the rough North Pacific Ocean. This year you will find a lifetime mate and a home for your own family on the steep cliffs of Farallon Island.

In the beginning of April each year, the tufted puffins return to the Farallons. They’ve been at sea all year or as in the case of our first time breeder 3 years.The older birds that have been here before return with their mates to their prior breeding sites to attempt to raise a chick. These sites are all natural crevices in the rock, usually quite narrow and longer than the reach of the human arm.The puffins pull dry grass from the slopes and bring it into the nest site deep inside the tunnel. The male and female spend time outside their site renewing their bond - standing hunched over, facing each other with their bills together, flipping their heads back and fourth.

After billing they fly out to sea, where they will copulate and begin making that egg. The female lays a single large egg, and for the next 45 days the pair will take turns incubating. Once the egg hatches, the parents bring fish to the chick for another 45 days. So 90 days after the egg is laid, the chick fledges and flutters off the cliffs to the ocean. This is a very long incubation and nestling period for a Farallon seabird, an adaptation perhaps to variable food supply during a breeding season.

Young puffins coming to the island for the first time since fledgling fly around in groups of 5-10 birds. They compete for mates on rocky outcroppings and then investigate possible crevices with their new partners. The first year on the island the pair spends time loafing, sleeping and preening at their chosen site. Next year when they return they will come with their mate to the site they have found this year and begin the breeding cycle.

The Farallons, are the southernmost breeding colony for Tufted Puffins. It is a small tenacious group of 70-150 breeding birds that have been monitored for over 20 years. The puffins face challenges of variable food supply and warming sea surface temperatures. They have responded with boom and bust cycles, not breeding during poor food years, as well as breeding later than in the past.

Nonetheless, the puffins are a lively and joyful sight each spring and summer when they soar over the island and perch on the cliffs. They continue to return and maintain their life rituals on the Farallons, a unique and wonderful seabird we are lucky to have our offshore waters.

Text by Else Jensen

Photos by Annie Schmidt

Get your daily photo fix

                        
After two weeks off, Farallon Photo a Day is back!

People Power

Farallon Seabird Crew 2007

On June 7th, 1967, C.J. Ralph and John Smail became the first PRBO biologists to overnight on the Farallones. They spent 4 nights on the island, as guests of the Coast Guard who were still permanently stationed here. I'm sure these biologists could not imagine the idea that PRBO would have a continuous presence on the Farallones from April 3rd 1968 to the present day.

We often focus on the research and conservation efforts of PRBO's 40 years on the Farallones, but we can never forget that lots of hardworking people have made this happen - be they PRBO Farallon Biologists, volunteers, USFWS staff, outside researchers, or contractors etc. From 1967 to April 30th 2011,  1405 people have been fortunate enough to spend at least one night on the Farallones, working with PRBO or USFWS activities. Most time has been spent by PRBO biologists and volunteers, who now spend at least 6 weeks at a time on island stints. Back in the late 1960's and early 1970s, Some PRBO biologists spent well over 200 days a year on the island.

Steve Morrell crossing Jordan Channel 1977

Though much has changed in the Farallon ecosystem over 4 decades, what has not changed is the role the Farallones has played in shaping multiple generations of biologists. The first photo below is of Farallon Biologist Ron LeValley with a Cassin's Auklet chick in 1977. Below him is volunteer Matt Barbour, also with an auklet chick, but in 2007.

Within a field season, many volunteers spend multiple months on the island, often with an occasional 2 week break. This long term staffing helps to create better scientific data, as well as excellent experience for up and coming scientists to learn from. In addition, many Farallon biologists have spent many years working on the island, as we all feel very strongly connected to our work, this incredible place, and the amazing passionate and committed people one finds out here.

Brandt's Cormorant Banding 2006

So the next time you ponder the Farallones, remember all the people whose hard work and dedication has made our unique program a reality. Below are the 22 men and 3 women of the the Farallon "Top 25", in terms of numbers of nights spent on the island during PRBO's tenure, as of April 30, 2011. ID# shows where an individual fits in in the PRBO Farallon timeline, as the first person in 1967 was #1.  

What is that MUSKY smell?

SEFI is bustling with many smells…


the fragrance of blooming weeds,

the fetid whiff of marine mammals,

the ambrosial scents of a Sunday brunch,

the putrid smells of seabird guano, the tantalizing aroma of Jen’s fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and many more. But, of all the myriad smells we experience daily on this island, my favorite is a dirty musk that fills my nose when I enter the Habitat Sculpture, crouch down near a small rock crevice, or sweep the northeast corner of the Carpentry Shop. I like it because it reminds me of an Ashy Storm-petrel…



Ashy Storm-petrel

These aromatic seabirds are the size of a swallow but have the ecology of an Albatross. They spend most of their lives at sea, are strong fliers and are long lived. Storm-petrels are members of the order Procellariiformes and easily identified by the tube on top of their bill, which gives rise to the more common moniker for this group, “the tubenoses”. This tube aids storm-petrels in both olfaction and the ability to excrete excess salts.

Western Gulls amongst the grassy hillside

Ashy’s are found only between S. Oregon and N. Mexico and are a species of special conservation concern in California due to a small global population. In fact, half the world’s population of this diminutive seabird lives on the Farallones, making the Farallones a critical colony for monitoring and conserving this species. Unfortunately, the Ashy population significantly declined since the 1970’s when PRBO began monitoring them on SEFI and the future status of this species remains uncertain.  Like most seabirds, Ashy’s are vulnerable to the effects of a changing ocean climate which may affect the abundance and distribution of their primary food, mostly krill and other small zooplankton. Other major threats to Ashy’s on SEFI include predation by Burrowing Owls and Western Gulls and habitat change, specifically increases in non native grasses.

Ashy Storm-petrel at sea

Most of my work on SEFI is accomplished during the daylight hours, but, last week, for the first time this season, we also did night work. The crew worked until a grueling 2:00AM mist-netting for Ashy Storm-petrels. Because these birds are primarily nocturnal when they are at the colony, this is the only way that we can capture and band them. By banding Ashy Storm-petrels PRBO hopes to determine population size, status and survival of adult birds. To attract Storm-petrels to the mist net we played vocalization of adult birds, you can listen to an Ashy vocalization by clicking below:

Lying down on a bed of rocks beside the net we waited for the birds to fly in. Ashy’s can wriggle out of the net pretty quick so once in we rushed to extract them. My first Ashy extraction went smoothly. And while the Ashy’s bite did not leave a mark like the Cassin’s Auklet, the Ashy did regurgitate a highly concentrated oil that left my hands reeking of the remindful musky odor. This oil is an important nutrient rich food for their chicks. The night brought us a total of 28 Ashy Storm-petrels including one recapture.



Storm-petrel burrow



Later this season I will help study the breeding success of Ashy’s on SEFI. To do this I will suit up armed with a burrow camera, aka the SeeSnake, and traverse the island visiting known burrows. Ashy Storm-petrels nest in small cavities in rocks and crevice in some of the human created structures on the island. Each burrow is marked with a yellow stake and number. The holes are so tiny that we use the camera to peer in. We hope to find adult birds, eggs, or chicks.

Ashy Storm-petrels are amazing seabirds that travel over 300 kilometers each night garnering food to feed themselves and their chicks, but their population is declining. PRBO biologists on SEFI hope to learn more about this unique species to help conserve it. Even though the musk of an Ashy is not as sweet as the Egyptian Musk oil I sometimes wear when I am on the mainland, I will always flash a smile when I get a whiff, because it means an Ashy Storm Petrel is near.

Ashy Storm-petrel chick

Photo a Day project

New Farallon photo project by Annie Schmidt. Check it out!

Farallon Photo a Day: 2011

The Birds Have Arrived!

The seabird breeding season on the Farallons has begun! We’ve been watching Common Murres, Brandt’s Cormorants, Cassin’s Auklets, and Pigeon Guillemots arrive to the islands, as they do each spring/summer season.

Common Murres at nesting sites

The first birds to start nesting were the Cassin’s Auklets. These are cute little seabirds that hang out at night on the island (safety from the cover of darkness) and spend the day at sea or at their nest. 

Their nests are burrows in the ground that usually consist of a long tunnel with a turn right before the actual nest. Cassin’s Auklets will also nest in crevices in rocky habitat. We want to be able to collect data on these birds that breed on the Farallons as a way to monitor the health of the population. Parameters such as reproductive success, timing of breeding, and chick growth and development can be used to accomplish this, and this data can easily be collected by simulating the nest environment using nest boxes. We make the nest boxes out of plywood and construct a tunnel using PVC pipe. The top of the box has a removable lid that allows us to see inside the nest and collect the data.

Cassin's Auklet Nest Box

We are able to look at both mates of a nest because Cassin’s Auklets take turns incubating the egg each day. In most cases, if you find a bird in a box one day, the next day you should find its mate. Checking a nest box is an interesting task. First you must completely block the entrance to the tunnel using your foot or knee so that the bird can’t escape. At the same time you must be able to bend over and peer under the box lid. It’s a bit like doing yoga. If a bird is present, you need to grab it in one swift movement to avoid hurting the egg or the bird. A biologist here described this as being not unlike an alien abduction. Imagine a bright light as the roof of your home opens up, you are snatched up, measurements are taken and you’re returned with a metal band on your ankle. I try to keep this perspective in mind when I’m holding a Cassin's and its beak is clamped down on my fingers or its claws have lodged themselves under my cuticle. I also know that the collection of this data will aid in monitoring these birds.

Nest box check

 

We can track specific individuals in a population by putting a metal band around their leg with a unique number for each bird. We know the ages of birds that we banded as chicks, and we always check band numbers to see if a bird we find is one of known age. We also band birds that are mates of known age birds.

Banding a Cassin's Auklet

New bands

When known age individuals are found, both they and their mates have condition data recorded. This includes measuring the bill depth (used to sex the individual), wing cord length, weight, and egg size.

Measuring the length of an egg

Measuring the wing cord of a Cassin's Auklet

Weighing the bird in a bag

Bird in a bag

We have over 400 boxes that get checked every 15 days as the breeding season progresses. Our first check yielded about 70 birds and our second yielded about 150 additional birds! We continue to check the boxes without birds in them through the summer to see if any new Cassin’s Auklets decide to move in. Each time I lift the lid of a nest box is like a surprise. Will there be a Cassin’s Auklet? Will there be another species of bird? Will there be an egg? Two eggs?? Fortunately, there are over 400 surprises out there waiting for us.

Spring, Seabirds, and Spray

In mid March, after 3.5 months on the island, the winter crew departed in one of our seasonal crew switches. It is now seabird season, and the seasons of wildlife have changed with the weather. After a very wet March with storms from the south, clear skies, and strong northwest winds have returned, as you can see from this video today of Saddle Rock on the south side of the island.

Elephant Seal cows and bulls have departed, leaving their weaners here on the island. Most will enter the ocean soon for the first time and depart the Farallones. Cassin's Auklets, the small burrow nesting and krill eating seabirds that our one of our focal species, began nesting in early March. The discovery of the first egg in a nest box on March 2nd was the earliest we have ever recorded. Common Murres, Western Gulls, Pelagic Cormorants, and now even some Brandt's Cormorants, are attending the island in preparation for their breeding seasons.

Spring is characterized by strong northwest winds, which help drive productive upwelling which feeds the Farallon food web. Today's 35 knot winds are typical for this time for year on the Farallones. The video below shows what it's like walking to the north side of the island during these conditions. I'm trying to hold the camera as steady as I can! 

These conditions can whip the ocean up into foam, check out "Farallon snow" at North Landing!

 

Stay tuned for regular posts from the Farallon seabird season...

January Showers Bring February Flowers and a Weaner Pod with Superpowers

We’re starting to notice veritable signs of spring here on Southeast Farallon Island (SEFI). The endemic Farallon Weed covering the island has morphed into a carpet of golden flowers. Some of the seabirds, such as the Pelagic and Brandt’s cormorants, are starting to display their breeding plumage. The Pelagic cormorants exhibit a white patch on the flank behind each wing which is very obvious in flight, as well as a red patch on the face and tufted feathers on the head. We have also seen several Brandt’s cormorants with white whiskery plumes on their heads. And the elephant seal breeding season is heading towards its end. The last new pup of the season was born on February 7, and all but 4 of the pups on the island have been weaned. Currently, there are 55 weaned and 4 nursing pups on SEFI.  We’ve also found 12 total weaners and 4 nursing pups on West End.

Miner's lettuce and Farallon Weed in bloom

Pelagic cormorant sporting breeding plumage

Weaner pod

Since they are often chased around by the last of the protective mothers and belligerent males, the weaners have started clustering in one half of Sand Flat, often in small groups called ‘weaner pods.’ Although they spend most of their time sleeping, some of the weaners are beginning to interact with each other, with the males clumsily play-fighting. They will remain at their natal colony for up to two and a half months before they leave for their first long foraging trip out to sea. During the time that they are here, the weaners will fast while learning to swim in shallow water.  So far, the thick blubber layer that they have accumulated during a month of nursing has impeded their mobility, and they clumsily roll and bounce about the rocky terrain. They are unable to move very quickly, and a few of the weaners have been gravely injured by falling in the way of charging breeding bulls. MC Hammer has singlehandedly killed four weaners within his territory at Mirounga Beach with deep gashes to the head. Most of the attacks happened on the days that those pups were weaned, and we are not sure why he has targeted these relatively helpless animals, many of which are probably his own offspring. They may have gotten in his way when he was mating with the cows, or it may simply be displaced aggression. We have not witnessed any other subadult or adult males injuring weaned pups in the same way, especially not our Sand Flat 'lovebug' Rusty.

Weaner pod staying out of harm's way up on Omega Terrace

Play-fighting

Rusty with cow and pup

We’ve seen a few success stories too. Several of the Sand Flat weaners have been washed out from the area during high swells, and a couple have fallen into Breaker Cove at the edge of the territory. We considered them as good as gone, but surprisingly, we’ve been finding the ‘lost’ weaners all around the island. One ended up on West End, a couple on Weather Service Peninsula between West End and Sand Flat, and some in gulches on the East and North sides of SEFI. Some have disappeared from Sand Flat and reappeared at other places on the island, returning to their natal beach several days later. While they may not be strong or experienced enough yet to undertake their first long trip to sea, they apparently have the capacity to remain afloat and even to swim back home after getting washed up on other beaches. We keep wondering how they get to where they end up, and imagine them setting 'sail' around the island.

'Missing' weaner with subadult male on Weather Service Peninsula

We have been tagging each of the pups as soon they wean, as well as measuring their length and girth to gain an estimate of nursing and weaning success. The measurements have been fairly consistent between the animals, ranging from 140 cm to 160 cm for length and 127 cm and 147 cm for girth. Similarly to previous years, we’ve found that the weaners born on Marine Terrace are larger than those born on the crowded sand flat. With the weaners being almost as large around as they are long, they will have to lose some of their ‘baby fat’ before they can navigate the water.  Some weaners, however, are not always ready to start losing weight once they lose their mother. One of the weaners in Mirounga Beach had found a surrogate mother and suckled for an additional 19 days from its second mom. It became what we call a ‘superweaner, or ‘double mother suckler.'

Superweaner

 We have had some extraordinarily warm and sunny weather this winter, brought on by a La Nina ENSO event which causes dry and mild winter weather along the Pacific coast. One of the highs so far has been 19.5 degrees Celsius (67 degrees F). Although the humans have enjoyed the weather, the blubbery Northern elephant seals found it hard to bear. To prevent overheating on sunny days, elephant seals will often throw flipperfuls of damp sand on their backs to cool down. You will often see this on sandy rookeries such as those at Point Reyes or Ano Nuevo. With little sand or loose dirt available on Sand Flat (the sands which originally covered the area were washed away over several decades by rough storms), the elephant seals at SEFI have not been able to cool down in the same way. Instead, they were trampling each other in the mad dash for the last remaining droplets of the rain and swell puddles at the edges of Sand Flat, or for the tiny bit of shade in a narrow alley between two rock terraces.

Seals vying for the last remains of a cooling rain puddle

Cooling off in the puddle

Several of the males that are subordinate to the alphas Rusty and MC Hammer spent the warm days waiting in the alley for cows to come seeking shade. There, they were able to mate with the females without being chased off by a dominant bull. As more cows became sexually receptive, the competition between males for access to them had intensified. At the height of the season, Rusty was unable to hold down the entirety of the Sand Flat territory, and many other subordinate males were able to sneak into the periphery and copulate with females leaving the colony to return to sea. After mating with the alpha male, the cows were often ambushed by at least one other male on the way back to the water. Several of the younger subadult males, often emboldened by the older guys’ pursuits, unsuccessfully tried to sneak into the colony. We often found them later in the day resting on the terrace overlooking Sand Flat with large gashes and puncture wounds on the backs, being unable to do anything other than watch and long for the rocky, cow-filled pastures below. They’ll have to wait a few more years before they can square off with the major game players. For (a lot) more photos of the elephant seals and a personal account of an intern’s experience on the Farallons, you can check out smellephantisland.

Subadult male on Marine Terrace

 
 The winter season is almost at an end, with the elephant seal crew getting ready to leave the island in a week and a half.  Like the elephant seals, the winter biologist and interns must return to their true homes. Everyone is quite wistful about leaving, but are enjoying their last days with the seals and each other. It has been a great experience for everyone new to the island, and most of us hope to return here again soon.