PRBO Conservation Science presents Los Farallones

Farallon Update - Nov 8

A crew transfer occurred on Oct 25th ushering in a shift from the early and mid season migration to the late season migration. During fall migration, the early migrants include the bulk of the shorebirds, flycatchers, and warblers which pass through mostly during late August and September. During October, these species begin taping off rapidly while the sparrows and kinglets rapidly increase. This overlap of early and late migrants creates the greatest avian diversity on the island in early October when we hold the Farallonathon. During November, the late period, gulls, sparrows, and thrushes typically dominate.

After the big rain in mid October, northwest winds returned to the island and kept most of the migrants on the mainland. The crew transfer was a bit dicey as the East Landing crane, our normal mode of getting on and off the island, is need of drastic repairs. This meant we needed to use North Landing which is less protected from the prevailing northwest swells and wind. Luckily, the swells were not too big on the day of the transfer and everything went smoothly. As we were transporting our food and gear from the landing to the houses, the winds really began ramping upwards. By the following day, the winds were a steady 25 knots gusting to 35. The one good thing about this wind at this time of year is that it occasionally brings us some long-winged goodies. On 27 October, a Snow Bunting was found by two interns conducting a standardized area search of the island.

Another exciting arrival was a Golden-crowned Sparrow that we first captured in 2006. We color-banded it with the combination S/OOY: silver on the left, and orange - orange over yellow on the right. This bird has overwintered on the island every year since then. It's fun to imagine this bird flying out to tip of Pt Reyes and gazing longingly across the 20 miles of open ocean to its winter home of barren rock.

The following day the winds calmed down a bit more and we were rewarded with an even more unusual bird for the Farallones, a Western Bluebird. This was only the 3rd record for the island; the last two records occurred in the late 1980's. Although Western Bluebirds are regular along the coast, there are nearly 10x as many Mountain Bluebird records.

Not even a week later, a Mountain Bluebird showed up. Note how the rufous on the chest of the Mountain Bluebird is paler than on the Western, and that it has splotches of blue mixed into it. Also note how the pale rufous or buff color extends up into the throat whereas the pure, dark rufous chest of the Western is abruptly cutoff by the dark gray throat - the pattern on the Western is similar to that of the male.

We also spotted a Brown Booby which is becoming more regular to California and may even start breeding here if global warming continues unabated. We have recorded Brown Boobies on the Farallones annually over the last few years. On October 30th, we went out on the zodiac into Fisherman's Bay to photograph this bird while it was perched on Sugarloaf Islet with cormorants and pelicans.

On November 3rd, a Common Raven began croaking on the island. This was only the second fall record since PRBO began collecting data on the Farallones 42 years ago. Historically, these birds occurred on the island until the islanders shot and killed them over 100 years ago. There is still a place on West End called Raven's Cliff where it is believed that they bred. Since their extirpation, records on the island have been widely scattered with a record in April 1972 and then another on 4 October 1995 that rode out on the gusty east winds associated with the big Pt Reyes fire. However, a few years ago, they began arriving more frequently during the winter and spring. Last spring a pair spent a few months on the island and it seemed as though they might start breeding, but they did not. Although it would be great to have ravens breeding on the island as they once did, they are also highly intelligent predators that were frequently seen digging Cassin's Auklets out of their burrows. The level of mortality that seabirds (or any species for that matter) can withstand is tied directly to their reproduction. When ocean conditions are good and productivity is high, then a predator has little impact on a seabird colony, but when ocean conditions are poor, as they have been periodically this decade, the additional mortality can be devastating.

Sometimes the raven did a good deed such as eating the Siberian House Mice that were introduced in the 1800's by Russian sealers.

The only noteworthy insect for the period was a Brown Lacewing that was perched on the lighthouse. It is probably Hemerobius stigma which is considered the most common conifer-inhabiting Brown Lacewing in North America. We are currently uncertain as to whether this species has occurred on the Farallones before.

Farallon Update - October 21

Well it’s been a quiet week on Southeast Farallon, our home island, out here on the edge of the continental shelf. With September being one of the slowest on record (we banded 90% fewer birds than average), the crew was a bit downtrodden. We had to take joy in the few birds that were showing up. On Oct. 1 a couple of White-tailed Kites made a lap around the lighthouse, and we discovered one of the Burrowing Owls that was banded in 2007. A5 (the number on its blue color band) has spent the past three winters on the island in the same auklet burrow. The next few days were pretty windy, leaving us with fairly low bird diversity, and even lower spirits.

On Oct. 5 we saw a ray of sunshine with a small increase in diversity, including a couple unusual species. Great Blue Heron, Northern Harrier, Black-bellied Plover, and Varied Thrush all made an appearance. The weather forecast was showing some favorable conditions over the next several days, so we decided to start the Farallonathon. This is an annual event each fall in which we attempt to score points by finding as many species as possible, including marine mammals, fish, salamanders, butterflies, dragonflies, as well as birds, over a seven day period. Farallonathon usually starts sometime in late September with one of the bigger waves that usually come that time of year. As this year is unusual, we waited until October to start.

The next day we garnered a few more points from Minke Whale, Monarch, Black Saddlebags, Mew Gull, Short-eared Owl, Barn Swallow, Hermit Warbler, Clay-colored Sparrow, and White-throated Sparrow, among others. We were literally scrounging for points on the 7th as the winds continued to come from the WNW with Mark looking around for Arboreal Salamanders (he found one). A rush of excitement came in the afternoon when Matt flushed a nightjar, which we then chased for an hour up and down Lighthouse Hill. This cryptically colored group of birds can be very difficult to identify when seen. The calls of these birds are the easiest way to identify them, which they usually give at night. After several fleeting glimpses of the bird and discussion of the features each of us had seen, we came to the conclusion that the bird was a Common Poorwill. With less than 10 records for the island, it's a rare bird for us even though they are relatively “common” along the mainland coast.

Light winds and high overcast greeted us on the morning of Oct. 8 and brought more birds to the island, though not the wave we were hoping for. The new species we saw were mainly migrants from the western US, which still give us Farallonathon points, but don't get us nearly as excited as the vagrants from the east. We added Black-vented Shearwater, Wilson's Snipe, Warbling Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Western Tanager, Grasshopper Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, and Purple Finch. The one eastern bird we did see was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Farallonathon points that day also came from Harbor Porpoise, Hoary Bat, Green Darner, Variegated Meadowhawk, and a shark attack off of Saddle Rock (those are worth 5 points). So on day 4 of the Farallonathon, we were at 118 points. Last year we ended with 129 points which was the lowest ever. Could we get eleven more points in three days?

No problem when you get hit with a WAVE DAY! The long awaited wave of migrant birds appeared on Oct. 9. The biologists were feeling as light as the south winds and flying as high as the overcast skies. Birds were flitting about everywhere, from the marine terrace to the lighthouse. A flock of 20+ Hermit Thrushes was seen around the top of Lighthouse Hill early in the morning. Yellow-rumped Warblers (both Audubon's and Myrtle) seemed to be covering every square meter of the island. A flock of about 250 Violet-green Swallows was swirling around the island. After getting past the shear numbers of birds, we started to sift through the flocks and pick out some interesting birds. Early on we saw a Chestnut-collared Longspur that arrived at the lighthouse and then made its way down to the terrace, where we were able to get some great pictures. Then a Red-eyed Vireo was found in Twitville. As for warblers we added Tennessee, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, MacGillivray's, American Redstart, and Ovenbird. Bobolink, Least Flycatcher, and Lawrence's Goldfinch were also good finds. A Solitary Vireo was seen that suggested a Blue-headed. With a nice photo by Kristie, we were able to confirm that ID. The big find that day though was a Gray-cheeked Thrush. There have only been 21 records of this species in California, over half of which are from Southeast Farallon Island. This bird was found in a flock of Hermit Thrushes atop Lighthouse Hill and was accommodating enough to allow everyone to see it.

When it was all totaled up in the journal, we had seen 87 migrant bird species and 1332 individual landbirds. We set island high count records for Violet-green Swallow and Audubon's Warbler and saw 16 species of warbler and 16 species of sparrow. With all the new birds and a couple shark attacks, our Farallonathon total shot up to 158. Though our goal of “not being the worst” was pretty low, we crushed it with two days to spare.

With visions of vagrants in our dreams, we went to bed exhausted and elated. What would tomorrow bring? As we starting birding on the 10th it was obvious that there were fewer birds on the island, but there were different birds around. The numbers of Hermit Thrushes and Yellow-rumped Warblers were reduced by two-thirds, and Golden-crowned Kinglets doubled. We found Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Palm, and Black-and-white Warblers. Long-billed Dowitcher, Band-tailed Pigeon, Hammond's Flycatcher, Northern Mockingbird, and Orchard Oriole were also nice additions. To add to the frantic pace of the day, we were also switching crew members and getting our food shipment. Jim, Matt, and Kristie were leaving, and Pete Warzybok and Andrew Greene were arriving.

About an hour before Jim was supposed to get on the boat and leave, he and Pete came across a bird that Jim didn't recognize. That's code for “it's probably not from North America.” He called out on the radio that he had just seen an “Asian bunting,” which sent us all running. Unfortunately, the two minutes it took for others to get to Jim were just long enough for the bird to disappear. It wasn't seen again. Jim consulted a field guide and identified the bird as a Yellow-breasted Bunting. The only records for this species in North America are from Alaska, and there are only a few. It has never been seen in the lower 48. Super mega, mega rarity. Then Jim left, and the bird was never refound. The other biologists were left in a state of shock. Such an amazing bird, that we didn't get to see, even on this tiny, barren island. What other birds have we missed? No sense in dwelling on it though. Ten Farallonathon points anyway.

Sunday, Oct. 11 was the last day of Farallonathon, and we were determined to squeeze out some more points. Diversity and numbers were down, but new species were still being found. A few of the highlights were Northern Shoveler, Tropical Kingbird, “Siberian” American Pipit, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Lark Bunting, and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Interesting fact for the day was that we saw all three Black-throated warbler species (Blue, Gray, and Green). Our Farallonathon point total was 193, which was the sixth highest total since it started in 1992. Hooray for wave days!

The following week saw a big change in the weather, as we were slammed by a storm on the 13th. We'll try to post some pictures of that soon. As would be expected, the numbers and diversity of birds are down. We had a flock of blackbirds that included Brewer's, Red-winged, Yellow-headed, and Tricolored Blackbirds with a few Brown-headed Cowbirds. That's a nice icterid flock. A Virginia Rail was found (and banded) on Oct. 12, followed by a Sora (also banded) on Oct. 16.

That's the news from Southeast Farallon Island, where all the biologists are strong, all the Elephant Seals are good looking, and all the vagrant birds are above average.

It's October....Where Are The Birds??

It has been about two weeks since our last update from the Farallones, and although a few birds have come and gone, we are still awaiting (hotly anticipating) a Fall fallout. Strong Northwesterly winds and dense fog have conspired to keep birds away from our Island, but we remain hopeful that things will pick up as September ends and October begins.

In the two weeks since our last update, a few birds have managed to find the Island, despite the strong wind and dense fog, but in far lower numbers than are expected from this time of year. For example, while we expect to see greater than 100 Yellow Warblers in a given Fall season, we have only recorded ten individual Yellow Warblers so far in the 2009 Fall Season! The same is true for most of our other typical Fall migrants: 'Western' Flycatchers, Willow Flycatchers, Warbling Vireos, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Orange-crowned Warblers, Townsend's Warblers, Wilson's Warblers and Common Yellowthroats are all way, way down from their usually abundant numbers. It's still too early to be sure if later Fall arrivals, species like Hermit Thrush, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Fox, Lincoln's, White-crowned , Golden-crowned and Savannah Sparrows will make a decent showing, but we still await our first Hermit Thrush, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Lincoln's Sparrow of the Fall.

As is usual for the Fall Season, a few rare vagrants have shown up this year. Some, such as Blackpoll Warbler, Tennessee Warbler and Clay-colored Sparrow show up every fall, generally in small numbers. This Fall has also been slow for these "usual vagrants", but representatives of many of them have made an appearance. Every year we also expect a few rarer birds to show up. This year some of the highlights have included a Connecticut Warbler (the first on the Island since five appeared in 2006) on September 18th , a Brown Booby observed on seawatch on the 19th, a dark-lored White-crowned Sparrow, of either the mountain race oriantha or the eastern subspecies leucophrys was observed, and on September 27th, a minor day of arrivals, a Prairie Warbler (the first since 2005), a Bay-breasted Warbler, and a Painted Bunting, one of fewer than 15 records for the Island, were all discovered. The Painted Bunting was a very disheveled-looking individual, that when caught and banded, was aged as a second-year bird. Painted Buntings are one of the very few species of North American birds that can be aged as second-year in the fall.

However, even such exciting birds as the Connecticut Warbler and Brown Booby pale in comparison to the star of the Fall (so far!), a Brown Shrike, discovered by interns Matt Brady and Ryan Terrill on September 24th. It was eventually captured and banded. This species, a very rare stray to North America from Asia, has only occurred two times before in California, and fewer than a dozen times for North America as a whole - mostly from western Alaska, but also one record from Nova Scotia. The two prior records from California were both from the mid 1980s: the first record was of a juvenile bird, caught and banded right here on Southeast Farallon Island in late September, 1984, almost exactly 25 years ago; the second record was of a juvenile bird discovered by Oregonian birders visiting Pt Reyes in late October, 1986. That bird spent the winter at Olema Marsh, near the town of Pt Reyes Station, and was last seen in March, 1987. Unlike both of those older records, this year's bird was determined to be an adult female. Although juvenile Brown Shrikes can be confused with juvenile Northern Shrikes, adults are unmistakable. This one, with a bright rufous tail and cap, and slightly darker back, was deemed to be of the nominate subspecies, which is what all other records from North America have been attributed to.

In addition to the birds, we have had some interesting insects as well. It seemed that even in the dense fog, a few Odonates and Butterflies were able to find the Island, and on most days a few were found and identified. Although both Painted and West Coast Ladies were seen most days, the big insect highlight of the fall occurred on September 22nd, when two Western Pygmy Blue butterflies were photographed. These were the first identified on SEFI since 1998! We have also had our first Monarch of the year, as well as good numbers of Familiar Bluets, and a few Variegated Meadowhawks and Black Saddlebags. Only one Green Darner has been seen, which is normally one of the more common Dragonflies for the Island

Continuing their strong showing from the Summer, Whales have maintained a constant presence around the Island. While Humpbacks have been the most abundant species, with up to 25 individuals on some days, a few Blues have been around, too. Our resident Gray, whom we have nicknamed Dorian, has been seen just about every day. Sometimes it will come so close to the Island that we can almost imagine reaching out and touching it!

On September 19th, Jordan Casey, our Seabird Season holdover, departed the Island. After she left the Island, she visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where she finally got to see a Great White Shark, then headed back to the East Coast. She'll be spending the winter doing seabird work on another set of rocky islands: the Galapagos! Cassin's Auklets are cool, but can they compare with Nazca Boobies? Jordan will have to keep us posted! We were joined by Mark Dettling and Kristie Nelson, two SEFI Fall Season veterans, on September 26th. With six birders on the Island, what astounding rarities will be found?? Stay tuned to find out!

Farallon Bird and Insect Update_15-Sept-09

The weather this fall has not cooperated much to bring migrants to Southeast Farallon Island. Typically in the fall, nocturnal migrants land on the island when there is a light east to southeast wind that pushes the birds offshore. If there is cloud cover over the coast (usually a marine layer or fog), then the birds do not realize that they are over the ocean until they descend through the clouds in the morning to find food. If the ceiling is high enough so that the visibility is 5-15 miles (Pt. Reyes is the nearest shoreline at 20 miles), then the birds can see the island, but not the coast. If the ceiling is too high, then birds with sufficient energy will fly back to the coast. If the ceiling is too low, then the birds cannot find the island. The weather this fall has alternated between dense fog and gusting northwest wind. Neither allows many birds to find the island.

Although many migrant songbirds probably flew right past the island without even knowing we exist, a few hours of good weather on 9 Sept brought some nice surprises such as the Canada Warbler that we eventually caught in the Heligoland mistnet.  Other interesting birds seen this day were a pair of Purple Martins flying over the lighthouse, a Baltimore Oriole seen in a cave during an area search, and a Clay-colored Sparrow in Twitville.

The fog briefly dissipated today and brought a few more birds like this juvenile Orchard Oriole. 

Thankfully, some birds that arrived earlier lingered in the bad weather while others that remained may decide to overwinter. While the Farallones has had many species of shorebirds migrate to the islands, only a few species of shorebirds overwinter. The ones that do overwinter usually are ones that can utilize the extensive rocky shoreline such as Whimbrel and Wandering Tattler. During high tide, PRBO biologists conduct a shorebird survey that attempts to locate high tide roosts where large numbers of these "rocky" shorebirds congregate. Other species such as Long-billed Dowitcher turn up at the few small ponds along the water's edge or on the Marine Terrace where there is soil for foraging.

One group of birds whose numbers do not seem to be too adversely affected by the poor weather are migrant gulls. During the early part of the fall, large numbers of California Gulls migrate away from their inland breeding locations to overwinter along the Pacific Coastline or out on the open ocean.  Hundreds of these gulls roost on the island each night. We have suspected that a large number of these birds originate from the relatively close Mono Lake or the burgeoning colony in South San Francisco Bay. On 8 Sept, we photographed a 2nd-year California Gull roosting on the Marine Terrace that was wearing a band. Three of the digits on the band (575) were legible. I contacted Kristie Nelson, a PRBO biologist who bands California Gulls at Mono Lake, and asked her whether it could be one of her bands. She said that they finished banding in 2008 with band number 945-57575. So it likely that the band I read was one of the 75 birds that had 945-575XX.

Frequently when we have even semi-decent weather, we see a few migrant insects such as butterflies and dragonflies. These two "ladies" are supficially similar, but if you look closely at the outer part of the forewings you'll notice that Painted Lady has two white spots along the leading edge while West Coast Lady only has one white spot.  Over the last few years, Painted Ladies have been far more abundant than West Coast Lady.  Although we're seeing a typical number of Painteds (n = 9) over the past 3 weeks, we've had >6 times as many West Coast Ladies as Painteds.   Clearly this is a good year for West Coast Ladies!

 

The Fall Season Begins

August 22nd marked the start of PRBO Conservation Science's Fall Season here on Southeast Farallon Island, when focus shifts from the spring and summer breeding seabird monitoring, to the Passerine migration and Great White Shark monitoring of the fall. PRBO Biologists that arrived on the Island yesterday were Jim Tietz, Ryan Terrill, Jill Gautreaux, and Matt Brady. One Seabird intern, Jordan Casey, will be staying with us to continue seabird breeding effort monitoring. 

During this transitional time, several late-nesting seabird breeders linger on the island to feed their downy chicks. While others that either already fledged their young or failed at nesting, return to socialize and perhaps prospect for next year. Tufted Puffins are particulary abundant at this time of year and we frequently see them flying closeby the lighthouse and land around crevices in small groups and then appear to discuss its potential.



Although the weather over the last two weeks has not been condusive for many migrant to find the island, we have had a smattering of West Coast migrants and a handfull of vagrants from the East Coast. For the first few days after our arrival, we experienced decent weather with high cloud cover and light northwest winds. This allowed a few of the western birds to find the island such as a Dusky Flycatcher on Aug 23rd which is actually an unusual bird to the Farallones in the fall. In fact, there are fewer than 40 records of Dusky in the fall which is odd when you consider that we have over 100 records of Least Flycatcher - a very uncommon bird along the California Coast. It is believed that most Duskies fly along the inner mountain routes and mostly avoid the coastline.





During late August and September, we typically capture large numbers of Yellow Warblers and Townsend's Warblers in our mistnets. We then colorband them so that we can better determine the number of days that each individual is present and better estimate the number of each species on the island.










In addition to these birds, a few other western birds were present such as a Rufous Hummingbird, a couple Hermit Warblers, and both Western and Eastern Kingbirds.





















On the first of September, a few more migrants found the island including a Tennessee Warbler and a Virginia's Warbler – the Tennessee is a vagrant from the northeast while the Virginia’s is a vagrant from the desert southwest.


 

In addition to birds we also collect data on sharks, insects, bats, whales, fur seals, and anything else of interest. We’ll give some information about these other taxa in future blogs.

There Be Whales Here!

With the arrival of August, we have seen the departure of many breeding seabirds. Most Cassin’s Auklets chicks have fledged, Common Murres are no longer present, and Western Gull fledglings are beginning to take flight. The fog has lifted most days, giving us excellent visibility for whale watching. While there has been a great reduction in forage fish populations like anchovy in the Gulf of the Farallones this year, krill is abundant. This food supply has likely led to recent increases in the numbers of Humpback and Blue Whales present near the island.

Humpback Whales near Middle Farallon

When feeding conditions are good, both of these species are drawn to the Gulf in the late summer and fall from their breeding areas further south along the coast of Mexico and Central America. Humpback whales are the acrobats, leaping out of the water and slapping the surface with their immense pectoral fins. You can often see massive splashes from the breaching miles away, even without binoculars.

Humpback Whale diving behind Saddle Rock

Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever lived, and while the North Pacific Blues are not as large as their Antarctic relatives, they are still an impressive sight up close. With a blow like a fire hydrant and a 70+ ft body, there is no mistaking a blue.

 

Blue Whale in Fisherman's Bay

While blues and humpbacks have arrived relatively recently, we have seen resident gray whales at the island almost every day this spring and summer. As we have observed for the past several decades, 2-3 Gray Whales feed at the island throughout the spring and summer months. This is unusual behavior, as most grays migrate from breeding areas in Mexico to feeding areas in the Bering Sea each year. It appears that a small number of whales decide not to make the full migration, and spend their summers part way along the route.

Gray Whale off East Landing

In addition to whales, there are many species of dolphins which are present as well. Recently we have seen Risso’s Dolphins (heavily scarred by squid and each other), Pacific White Sided Dolphins (high flyers), Northern Right Whale Dolphins (look ma, no dorsal fin…), and Dall’s Porpoise (kicking up a rooster tail with their rapid swimming).

Risso's Dolphins off Southeast Farallon

Throughout PRBO’s 40 year history on the Farallones, we have documented sightings of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) as part of our long term studies on this marine ecosystem. These data have shown the recovery of several species – including Gray, Humpback, and Blue whales. We will continue to chronicle these visitors to the island, and never lose that rush of excitement upon seeing these incredible creatures.

Mist Netting for Rhinos

Often when you hear about mist netting, it brings to mind images of delicate perching birds, like warblers and thrushes, hanging in mesh before being picked out by biologists.  We do our fair share of this on the Farallones as fall brings waves of vagrant land birds out to the islands.  However, as the seabird breeding season extends into July and rhinoceros auklet chicks need feeding, our mist netting takes on a completely different character.

Rhinoceros auklets, so named for the horn they sport on their bills during the breeding season, are not actually proper auklets.  Rhinos are much more closely related to puffins, as evidenced by their larger size and fierce bite.  They also carry fish back to their chicks in the classic puffin fashion, with rows of horizontally arranged fish hanging out of their bills.  Rhinos ferry these fish back to their chicks in burrows the adults excavated at the beginning of the breeding season.  These feedings take place at twilight throughout the month of July.  This is where the mist nets come in.

Rhinoceros auklet with fish 

Right after dinner, we place a net just in front of occupied rhino burrows, lie flat on our backs, and wait quietly for the birds to hit.  And, careening through the air at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, they really do hit the net.  Rather than flitting gently into the mesh, rhinos crash into (and sometimes through) it, like feathered meteors.  Upon impact, we jump up and race to grab the bird and whatever fish it’s brought with it.  If you wait too long, your quarry is liable to escape or inflict serious damage to the net.  With their scissor bills, strong wings, and powerful heft, rhinos can shred a net in no time.  These same qualities make them a challenge to handle and they have been known to draw blood from an errant finger now and again.

Extracting a rhino from the net

An intern with a handful of rhino

Mist net post-rhino

Still, the data we collect from these uniquely intense mist netting sessions are invaluable.  All the birds that we catch in our nets are banded as part of a long term mark/recapture study to investigate survival and population trends. All birds are also weighed and measured in order to determine their sex (males are slightly larger and have a deeper bill) and overall physical condition.  Some birds have been returning to our nets since 1988! 

Rhinoceros auklet in breeding plumage with horned bill

The fish collection serves as an indication of what prey species are common in the rhino chick diet in any given breeding season.  Fish are identified to species, weighed, and measured, which helps us determine how much prey chicks are getting fed.  We can also determine which prey species are correlated with successful breeding seasons where high proportions of our followed rhino chicks fledge.  These data can also tell us a lot about the populations of the fish themselves. The species that are common in the diet tend to be those that have healthy local populations. When one species that is normally common in the diet is suddenly absent, this lets us know that the populations of those fish may be declining.

Pacific saury with bill marks

Taking measurements on fish

Diet samples with squid, Pacific saury, and myctophids

Thus far, the northern anchovy, a perennial rhino favorite, has been largely absent.  However, the plethora of Pacific saury and squid we’ve been seeing this summer bode well for the current cohort of rhino chicks.  With any luck, they’ll gain enough weight to fledge by early August and turn up throughout the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and beyond this coming fall and winter.  In the meantime though, we’ll be staying up late to catch rhinos and document their diet.

The Strange Case of the Missing Cormorants...

       It was the first indication that this year would be different: there were no Brandt’s Cormorants to be found on the Farallones in April. The colonies looked like ghost towns. Now and then a lonely bird would wander through the patches of murres, but the regularly spaced nests that made up the downtown metropolis of cormorantville were missing. The lack of Brandt’s Cormorants was even more puzzling given the regular, even high attendance of other species of birds. Common Murres were attending nest sites in ever growing numbers. Cassin’s Auklet, the small krill-eating bird that typically sounds the early warning bell of change, occupied sites early and in high numbers. Wind was strong and water temperature was cold. All indications were that a highly successful breeding season would be in order. So why were the cormorants missing?

 Cormorant colony in 2007

Same colony this year

         In early April, we began receiving reports of unusually high numbers of dead cormorants washing up on local beaches. The indications were that most birds appeared emaciated but not suffering from disease. It seemed birds were struggling just to feed themselves and lacked sufficient food to attempt breeding. Mystery solved? Not exactly. It simply raised another question, why would a lack of food, primarily juvenile rockfish and Northern anchovy, affect only Brandt’s? Many other seabirds on the Farallones eat the same fish, yet they seemed unaffected. Until recently that is…

        For nearly three weeks, beginning in late May the wind died. The skies cleared, temperatures rose and visibility was incredible. The flat seas made for some fantastic cetacean viewing. We were able to see multiple pods of Risso’s dolphins, Northern Right whale dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dall’s porpoise, Humpback whales, Gray whales and even a couple Killer Whales. In addition, Black-footed albatross were spotted almost daily from the island, with a high count of six in one day. The light winds favored a great land bird wave as well. During that period we had a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, a Summer Tanager, a small flock of Indigo Bunting, several Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a Blue Grosbeak, and a Bell’s Vireo (Arizona race) among many others.

 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

     Summer Tanager

      Although the warm weather and sensational visibility were enjoyed by the island biologists, it seemed to have unfortunate consequences for the breeding birds. Coincident with the decreasing wind and increasing temperatures, Common Murres began abandoning eggs and chicks in unusually high numbers. Murres almost never leave an egg alone due to the high risk of predation by gulls. This year, we have observed numerous birds simply get up and walk away, leaving their egg or chick unattended and vulnerable. A further indication of poor foraging conditions is the increase in adult murre aggression toward unattended chicks. With no parent to protect them, vulnerable chicks are being harassed unmercifully.
        To add to the confusion, during this period when murres were taking a turn for the worse, Brandt’s cormorants finally appeared. Not in the volume we would expect at this time of year, but a small number of birds have showed up, set up nests and are now incubating eggs. And so the mystery continues. The unusual patterns emerging this year demonstrate once again the invaluable perspective that PRBO provides on the Farallones. This year is just the latest indication of new changes occurring in marine ecosystems. The mysteries developing from these changes can only hope to be solved by examining long-term data sets such as those from the Farallon Islands.

A Mighty Wind

Our annual spring switchover has come and gone on the Farallones. The winter crew has departed along with the breeding elephant seals and the seabird season has begun. It’s been an interesting start to the season for us – Cassin’s Auklets are breeding and look to be off the their best start in several years, while Brandt’s Cormorants remain strangely absent from breeding colonies for a second straight spring. There has been one constant over the most of the last month – Wind, and lots of it.

For several days last week and many more over the last month, northwest winds were blasting the island at a steady 40 knots, and gusting upwards of 50 knots. The sea heaped up in great waves of white foam and salt spray coated everything.

Wind is one of the great driving forces in the ocean. Its patterns can dictate currents, drive nutrient rich upwelling, and shape the distribution of marine life at all levels of the ecosystem. But while wind is crucial to biologically rich areas of the ocean, like here in the Gulf of the Farallones, it can also make things difficult when you are living and conducting research on an isolated island. When it really starts to blow – there is no place to hide…

Biologists struggle against the wind while performing a Cassin's Auklet nest box check.

It’s difficult to know what 40 or 50 knots of wind really means unless you are lucky enough (some might say unlucky enough) to experience it. In those kinds of winds – everyone is just trying to hang on. Western Gulls are tucked low to the ground, facing into the wind, drawing their necks in to reduce the wind’s effects. Those gulls foolish enough to stand with their back to the wind were forcibly flipped into cartwheels by the gusts.

We biologists are hanging on too. It is actually a struggle just to walk around and stay on your feet. One must learn to lean into the wind at an angle to avoid being blown over. During really high wind gusts, the air will actually hold you up if you lean at an extreme angle (or even lift some smaller folks off of their feet!).

We say that at 45 knots, you can lean over at 45 degrees and the wind will hold you up. In winds like that, a hat or an unsecured data sheet will be gone in a flash, blowing 100 ft away by the time you realize it’s missing. At night you can feel the house shake as it is slammed by one powerful gust after another. It feels a lot like a small earthquake, with the whole building vibrating and pictures dancing on the walls. We are thankful for the solid construction of the original lighthouse keepers, whose 140 year old houses we still live in.

But, while the winds may get so strong that there are waves in the toilet bowl and it eventually flushes itself, we of the Farallones marvel at the strength and power of the wind that drives this dynamic marine ecosystem.

Team Mirounga Goes Intertidal

This past week the winter crew took advantage of daytime low tides by visiting some of the many caves and tide pools around SEFI. We were able to explore Jewel Cave and Little Murre Cave, both difficult to access unless a very low tide coincides with calm seas and no timid Harbor Seals napping on nearby rocks. Waiting for all of these events to converge is enough to frustrate even the most patient tide pool lover, but it was certainly worth it: we saw some spectacular animals.

Ari, Monica, and April explore Little Murre Cave

Although it is easy to see how beautiful these invertebrates are, the behaviors and physical adaptations they have acquired to live in such a harsh environment are even more remarkable. Imagine what life on the rocks that ring the ocean's edge of SEFI means for these creatures: crushing surf and hours of dessication, scorching sun and frigid water, Black Oystercatchers and other shorebirds pecking at you from above, and a host of other invertebrates and fish looking for a meal from below. This severe environment produces animals that not only look like something out of science fiction film, but often act like it too.

Six-Rayed Star (orange and tan morph)

Tiny, bright pink Six-Rayed Star

The Twenty-Rayed or Sunflower Star

These stars of the sea are echinoderms, a family name meaning “Spiny skin”, shared by urchins and sand dollars. In addition to their diverse and brilliant colors, we found stars of vastly different sizes and numbers of arms, from the tiny Six-Rayed Star (L. hexactis) which measures just a few centimeters across, to the Twenty-Rayed or Sunflower Star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), which can grow up to 25 centimeters across. No matter the number, all sea stars can drop one of their arms if a predator has them in a death grip, only to regenerate it later. Both also rely on their tube feet, which like suction cups grasp onto the rocks. The Sunflower Star, a top predator, has as many as 15,000 tube feet which help them to move quickly across any surface to overtake and disassemble their prey, including anemones, crabs, mussels, and even other sea stars.

Proliferating Anemone underwater. Note the juvenile anemones attached to this parent's basal collumn.

Two Proliferating Anemones close up when they are left high and dry by the low tide.

One Aggregating Anemone becoming two!

Anemones are gelatinous creatures related to jellies. These Cnidarians have tentacles armed with stinging cells (nematocysts) arranged around their central mouth/gut. Although they may seem to a casual observer to be passive and immobile, anemones display some fascinating behavior. The Proliferating Anemone (Epiactis prolifera) hatches free-floating (planktonic) young out of its mouth, which then attach to the parent’s column at the base, where they live protected until they are about 3 months old. At this point the tiny anemones detach and wriggle through the water to a nearby rock or solid place to settle and grow.

We were lucky to get the above picture of one Aggregating Anemone (Anthopleura elegantissima) in the process of becoming two! These individuals can divide by fission, sometimes creating huge colonies of identical clones from a single individual. When colonies of two different individuals meet, these anemones wage war by stinging each other with specialized, clustered stinging cells, often killing whole individuals and resulting in a line of bare rock between colonies.

Three-Lined Nudibranch: an island record?

The Sea Lemon or Monterey Dorid

Nudibranchs are some of the most beautiful and rare animals one can find at low tide. Sometimes called sea slugs, their name means “naked gill” and refers to the tufts that extend from their back (cerata), which are actually gills. These Three-lined Aeolids (Flabellina trilineata) in the photo above have probably been seen here on the island for years, but we couldn’t find any record of them in our journals, so we have a first official record for the island! These soft, beautiful, translucent animals are just a few centimeters long, but don’t let their looks deceive you. They are voracious predators of the intertidal zone, and use their meals wisely. When a Three-lined Aeolid preys on a hydroid (tiny attached cnidarians that look like plants), they incorporate the un-fired stinging cells from the hydroids into their own tissues, and can then use them for defending themselves.

Like many other nudibranchs, the Sea Lemon or Monterey Dorid (Achidoris montereyensis), gets its hue at least in part from what it eats. Sea Lemons feed on yellow Crumb-of-bread Sponge (Halichondria panacea) and other sponges. Depending upon their diet, their backs can be bright yellow to deeper orange.

Surf crashes into Jewel Cave

When winter storms hit SEFI and conditions seem difficult for the biologists working here, we only need to look to the intertidal zone to gain some perspective. The more we learn about these amazing species, the more respect we have for their tenacity and adaptability in an extremely harsh, dynamic environment. The intertidal zone is just one of a long list of critical and special habitats that the Farallon Islands provide for life in one of the richest marine environments on the planet.

Winter rain, spring flowers

In addition to providing PRBO biologists with drinking water for the year, winter rains cause SEFI's plant life to burst into bloom. Wildflowers dot the typically brown landscape with a range of colors, from subtle purple to bright yellow, all against a backdrop of green, making late winter and early spring undoubtedly the most botanically beautiful time of year here.

Maritime goldfields blanket the island with bright green and yellow.

The most common plant on SEFI is maritime goldfields (Lasthenia maritime), also known as "Farallon weed." This native spreading annual blankets the entire island, from the edge of the marine terrace to the lighthouse, with vivid green leaves and bright yellow flowers. It even grows on West End Island. Cassin's auklets dig their burrows underneath its canopy.

A close-up view of maritime goldfields.

Human visitors aren't the only animals on SEFI to appreciate the maritime goldfields. Sometimes on hot days the elephant seals will fling bits of the plant on their backs in an attempt to stay cool. In these photos, elephant seals lounge in the goldfields on the marine terrace.















































Other common native plants include fiddleneck (Amsinckia spectabilis), with small, yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers that grow along a stalk like its namesake; miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), with tiny pale pink flowers in the center of a circular, glossy leaf; red maids (Calandrinia ciliata), whose flowers are a gorgeous deep purply red; and common chickweed (Stellaria media), a spreading, low-growing plant with a cluster of little white flowers. Another favorite is sticky sand spurry (Spergularia macrotheca), a succulent with fleshy thin linear leaves and purple or white flowers.

Miner's lettuce.

Sticky sand spurry.

Common chickweed.

Non-native wildflowers grow on SEFI as well, including scarlet pimpernel (Anagalils arvensis), dwarf nettle (Urtica urens), goosefoot (Chenopodium murale), storksbill (Erodium moschatum and E. cicutarium), New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia expansa), and plantain (Plantago coronopus). One of the most common non-native plants is umbrella mallow (Malva neglecta), which sports a beautiful purple flower and big leaves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been working to control both Malva and New Zealand spinach for 20 years, but the tenacious plants seem to have a strong foothold here.

Scarlet pimpernel.

Storksbill.

Action on the Beach

With only a handful of female elephant seals remaining on Sand Flat and Mirounga Beach, the bulls are vying for any last-minute mating opportunities. Bedlam Boy deserted the marine terrace harem with its one lingering cow, headed to Mirounga Beach which still had 8 cows, and kicked out former harem-master Mauricio. Not to be deterred, Mauricio moved onto Sand Flat and attempted to mate with a departing cow there. Rusty, the alpha male on Sand Flat and reigning elephant seal king of SEFI, bellowed his protest, forcing Mauricio to retreat.

Bull elephant seals are nearly 3 times as massive as cows,
as shown in the above photo of an attempted copulation by Mauricio on Sand Flat.

Bellowing with the large nose, a secondary sexual characteristic, is used as a display of dominance
towards other males. Dominant alpha bull Rusty, above, only needs to bellow and all other males retreat.

Finally, for those of you who can just never get enough of cute weaners (ourselves included), the photos below are offered for your viewing pleasure.

Powered by the Sun

The Southeast Farallon Island research station is powered primarily by the sun's energy. Eleven years ago, a solar array was installed on the roof of the powerhouse and a battery bank inside supplies the houses and workshops with electricity. Those solar panels and batteries served us very well for the past decade. This solar power system replaced diesel generators that ran nonstop during several decades of Navy and Coast Guard presence on SEFI, and won the refuge an environmental leadership award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But the life of the solar batteries had come to an end.

A Pave Hawk flown by the California Air National Guard's 129th Air Rescue Wing lands on Southeast Farallon Island

This past week, Mike McGoey of the company NexGen returned to SEFI to replace the batteries. The 48 extremely heavy batteries (300 lbs. each) were carried to the island by two Pave Hawk helicopters from the California Air National Guard's 129th Air Rescue Wing. They also removed the 12 old batteries (1500 lbs. each). It took 7 trips, but all the new batteries were delivered safely, and we are so grateful for their assistance.

Mike McGoey of NexGen installs the new batteries: he also installed the original batteries in 1997.

Charles Whitefield and Mike McGoey hard at work making sure we have solar power to support the research station.

Mendel Stewart, the manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's entire San Francisco Bay Wildlife Refuge complex - of which the Farallon Island Wildlife Refuge is just one part - visited SEFI to oversee the delivery of the batteries. Derek Lee, PRBO's winter Farallones biologist, showed Mendel the main northern elephant seal breeding beaches and Steller sea lion haulouts. After all, the wildlife is what we are out here to monitor and protect. Thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NexGen, and the California Air National Guard, PRBO scientists are able to continue conducting research into one of the world's most productive and important marine environments, powered by the sun!

Mendel Stewart of the USFWS and Derek Lee of PRBO Conservation Science survey the elephant seals on Sand Flat.

Weaner City 2009

This is every elephant seal lover's favorite time of year. Plump, big-eyed weaned pups are now the most numerous age class of elephant seals on SEFI. The beaches and marine terrace are strewn with weaners who were left behind when their hungry mothers headed back out to sea after nursing their pups for 25 to 30 days non-stop - without eating anything the entire time.

A newly weaned pup still has its black fur.

This older weaner is still very fat but has molted its black pup fur. It is now a silver-gray color.

Weaners will now remain on the island for the next month, sleeping and playing with each other, and molting their black pup fur until their new pelt is a smooth silver-gray. They will live off their (considerable) blubber for the month, before leaving land and inshore waters for the first time and swimming out into the deep sea to forage for fish and squid. It likely will be the most difficult year of their lives, dodging sharks and searching for food using nothing but their instincts. Ocean climate conditions such as El Niño Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation play a large part in whether they survive. We wish them luck and hope to see them back on SEFI next year.

This is an older weaner that has metabolized much of its blubber. It will soon be ready to head out to sea.

West End Excursion

Today, SEFI biologists made a special, all-day excursion over Jordan Channel to West End Island to check two elephant seal breeding beaches. This trip is a rarity and a privilege because West End receives an extra level of protection from human disturbance. Literally thousands of seabirds and California sea lions reside here, as well as Steller sea lions and a small but growing population of northern fur seals. No human structures exist on West End. In fact, the United States Congress designated 141 acres of the Farallon Islands – including West End but excluding SEFI – as part of Farallon Wilderness in 1974. This is the smallest designated wilderness in California.

View of West End Island in the distance, from the lighthouse on SEFI.

West End Island is completely off-limits during the spring and summer seabird breeding season. During the fall season, biologists visit West End a handful of times to monitor the breeding fur seals. Over the winter, we typically check the elephant seals with just a couple of trips, each time crawling slowly and carefully along the foothill of Maintop and over Raven’s Cliff so as not to scare California and Steller sea lions into the water. On our way to the far western end of the island where the elephant seals breed, we look for sea lions with shark bites or plastic straps around their necks, and record numbers that were branded on sea lions by researchers on breeding grounds elsewhere. The brand number information is shared with the researchers who marked the animals so they can estimate survival and how far the sea lions dispersed from where they were born.

Interns April Ridlon and Ari Waldstein make their way across the guano-covered rocks on West End.

April and Ari with Pastel Cave and the edge of Great Arch in the background.

PRBO Biologist Derek Lee and intern Monica Bond in front of beautiful granite rock formations.

On this trip we found 10 elephant seal cows and 10 pups at Pastel Cave Highlands, and 11 cows and 11 pups and 3 weaned pups on Shell Beach. Shell Beach once supported a harem of more than 200 cows, but the population fell dramatically after large winter storms hit the islands in the 1983 El Niño, and it hasn’t rebounded.

A bull elephant seal weighs about 5,000 pounds - much more than this "little" 150-pound pup! The blood on the bull's neck is from a fight with another bull for dominance of the harem.

To our delight, we also spotted a group of 24 northern fur seals on Indian Head Beach. Some had been tagged at the Channel Islands in southern California. We read the tags and enjoyed watching and photographing their antics. These sweet-looking but rather aggressive seals were extirpated from the Farallon Islands by Russian and Yankee fur traders a century ago, and are only recently making a comeback here. Fur seals first returned to West End Island in 1995, when 4 individuals were counted. Last year the population had grown to nearly 200 including pups.

Monica and April check out the northern fur seals on the flat below.

This northern fur seal looks sweet but can be rather aggressive.

Elephant Seal Update

The northern elephant seal breeding season is in full swing, with 12 cows and 5 pups on Sand Flat (including Drip, Kyra, Aphrodite, and Gypsy with pups, and Siu and Arwen still pregnant), 3 cows and 1 pup in Mirounga Beach, and 1 newly arrived cow on the Marine Terrace of Sand Flat. The photo on the left shows Drip's pup, already 17 days old, nursing from one of two nipples located on either side of her mother's belly button. Through our tagging efforts, we know the entire history of Drip and her mother. By tagging these seals as pups we know when and where they were born, and can track them throughout their lives. PRBO scientists are reaping the rewards of 30 years of tagging effort because we are able to determine lifetime reproductive success of multiple generations of females, and correlate these long-term demographic data to individual and environmental variables such as age, oceanic conditions, and climate change.

After kicking off smaller Mauricio, Rusty (above) has settled in as alpha bull on the Sand Flat, historically the largest harem on SEFI. A large chunk is missing from his nose, and Don Quixote (left) has been spotted in the gulches with some gaping wounds on his own nose and back. We suspect there may have been a fight between these two massive, 5,000-pound males. Today we counted 8 subadult males lurking on the outskirts of the Sand Flat harem, so Rusty will have his work cut out to keep them away from "his" cows.

Gimli has been guarding an empty Marine Terrace Sand Flat for the past 10 days. Today he was rewarded for his patience. A pregnant cow just arrived, the first 2009 breeding female for this relatively new harem. Gimli is sporting some impressive scars on his nose and cheek from last year’s big fight with Bedlam Boy. Note in the picture on the right that part of his nose is missing!

Due to the California and Steller sea lions that have moved into Mirounga Beach we have only been able to look into this area from afar. We know there is a big bull – we can hear and see him – but we haven’t been able to read his tags through our scope yet. In mid-December Salvatore, last breeding season's Sand Flat alpha bull, was hanging out on Last Resort but oddly he departed just after Christmas and we haven’t seen him since. Maybe he went to West End, or maybe he is in Mirounga Beach.

Finally, Bubba is moving between Garbage Gulch and North Landing, where cows have been arriving but then leaving after just a couple of days. Garbage Gulch typically supports a handful of breeding cows, but thus far no cows have remained there. Bubba, too, has some fresh wounds. Time will tell where this big bull will end up.

The gulches and breeding beaches are still full of immature elephant seals, but they are leaving by the day. Based on the color of their flipper tags, we have seen young seals born on San Nicolas Island, San Miguel Island, Point Reyes, and – best of all – we spotted an immature from Año Nuevo with a satellite tracking device glued to its head. This device allows researchers to track where this young seal is foraging at sea.

The Battles Have Begun

With the arrival of the first (and so far, the only) pregnant elephant seal cow on Sand Flat – Drip, a 16-year-old cow born on SEFI in 1992 (see photo below of Drip with some amorous young subadults pining after her) – the battles between the males have started. Mauricio was the first bull to arrive. He lost a brief fight to Salvatore (see photo above; Mauricio is on the left) and is hanging out on the marine terrace. Rusty started off in Mirounga Beach, then pushed Salvatore onto Last Resort, and now is defending Drip on Sand Flat. However, we are waiting for the big battle between these two alpha bulls. Last year, Salvatore was alpha on Sand Flat and Rusty dominated Mirounga Beach. Who will take Sand Flat – the ultimate prize – this year? In other news, Don Quixote currently is holding Mirounga Beach, and Bogs is nursing his wounds on Mussel Flat.

We also have resighted 2 of last year’s weaners that survived their first difficult year at sea. This immature below was born on the marine terrace of Sand Flat last year, and has returned for the fall haulout.

Sea Lions on Mirounga Beach

It started when cormorants began nesting on the marine terrace of Sand Flat and Mirounga Beach (the primary northern elephant seal areas on SEFI) in spring and summer 2007. To prevent disturbance to these seabirds, PRBO biologists stopped checking on the northern elephant seals to read tags in this area during seabird breeding season and into the fall. This lack of human presence coincided with the highest counts of California sea lions in the history of the refuge. More than 1,000 California sea lions and 20 threatened Steller sea lions took up residence on Low Arch Terrace, Mirounga Beach, Last Resort, and the Marine Terrace.

It is one of the many success stories of the Farallon Islands: the return of animals to an area once human pressures are removed. Common Murres were once reduced to fewer than 5,000 on these islands, starting with the Farallon Egg Company stealing tens of thousands of murre eggs to feed gold miners in the Sierra Nevada in the mid-1800s followed by decades of disturbance by the lighthouse keepers and their families. Today, 35 years after the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge was established and most human pressures were removed, 180,000 Common Murres breed on SEFI. Northern fur seals are giving birth to their pups once again on West End nearly 100 years after they were extirpated by Yankee and Russian sealers. Today, the California sea lion population is thriving.

The first priority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Farallon Wildlife Refuge is the protection of wildlife. Therefore, the presence of sea lions, especially federally threatened Steller sea lions, on SEFI’s main elephant seal breeding beaches means that PRBO biologists had to modify traditional research protocols. Sea lions here are sensitive to people and easily scared into the water. Thus, instead of walking amongst the elephant seals and stamping them with bleach numbers, we are watching from afar through scopes, reading tags and trying to identify as many individuals as possible by their unique scars. We also census all the age classes twice a day. Although we won’t be able to identify most individual cows, we can still monitor overall reproduction and population size.

It will be a different year for the elephant seal research program. But we can all celebrate in the thriving wildlife populations of the Farallon Islands, one of the most biologically rich marine environments in the world.

4-November-2008

Todays weather was windy and cool, and yesterdays rain had ceased. We were able to do some sharkwatching and observed two attacks. One was a Maintop Bay attack on an Elephant Seal. The attack attracted large numbers of gulls and produced a large slick of blood and oil in the water. The shark itself was seen thrashing at the sight for several minutes. This shark season thus far has been dominated by attacks on the smaller California Sea-Lions which are usually less dramatic.

In bird news we had a few new migrant arrivals, including a flock of 9 American Pipits and a Lapland Longspur. The windy weather was favorable for pelagic species and the seawatches were productive. A trio of geese (2 Cackling and 1 Greater White-fronted) have been hanging around on the marine terrace for several days now. They are a welcome addition to an otherwise slim list of migrants.

Location: Southeast Farallon Island
Observation date: 11/4/08
Number of species: 34

Greater White-fronted Goose 1
Cackling Goose 2
Pacific Loon 4
Eared Grebe 57
Pink-footed Shearwater 23
Buller's Shearwater 2
Sooty Shearwater 1
Black-vented Shearwater 1
Brown Pelican 73
Brandt's Cormorant X
Pelagic Cormorant X
Peregrine Falcon 4
Black Oystercatcher 29
Wandering Tattler 1
Willet 1
Whimbrel 3
Black Turnstone 56
Black-legged Kittiwake 2
Western Gull X
California Gull 104
Herring Gull 5
Thayer's Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 2
Pomarine Jaeger 2
Common Murre X
Burrowing Owl 2
Black Phoebe 10
Say's Phoebe 3
Rock Wren 2
European Starling 24
American Pipit 9
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2
White-throated Sparrow 1
Lapland Longspur 1