Farallon Photo a Day: 2011

Day 87: Finale

2011-08-04T23:12:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time. Unfortunately, I am done for the season and leaving the island tomorrow. Farallon photo a day will be on permanent hiatus. I know I will be back at some point, but I will not be doing an entire seabird season next year. It's tough to leave knowing that but I know I'm incredibly lucky to have spent the last seven summers out here. I hope you have enjoyed the journey this year. Perhaps I will see you on some future adventure. Thanks for joining me!

Day 86: Rising Risso's

2011-08-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

These are Risso's dolphins, one of the most commonly spotted species around the island. They're the largest dolphin (besides the Orca) and they have tall relatively straight dorsal fins that are similar in shape to an Orca. They often look light gray due to extensive surface scaring. The pod we came across yesterday was about 20 individuals including one mom and very small calf. The calf was stuck to its mom's side like glue.

Day 85: Lag time

2011-08-02T23:07:00.000-07:00

Another picture from our boat trip yesterday. These are Pacific White-sided Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens, Lag for short). These dolphins are easy to see because they are very curious and love to bow ride. They come to the boat and use the waves it creates to play in. We actually had a small group of these dolphins following us for quite a ways yesterday.

Day 84: Whaling

2011-08-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

We had some spectacular weather today and we took advantage of it to get out in the boat and do a little pelagic survey. Just a few miles from the island, we ran into all kinds of amazing wildlife. We had Humpback whales, Risso's dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Sooty Shearwaters, Northern Fulmars and a single Black-footed Albatross. The waters around the island attract these critters from all over the world. The Shearwaters breed in New Zealand, the Humpbacks are from Mexico and Central America, Albatross breed in Hawaii, and Northern Fulmars come from Alaska and Canada. It's quite an international community.

Day 83: Changes

2011-08-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

Seabird season is winding down. Most of our studies are nearly complete, the chicks fledged, the data entered and proofed. So we reluctantly said goodbye to some of our crew yesterday. Three returned to the real world, Greg and Amy (left side) and Katie (green jacket). We had a great time with them this summer and wish them well in their future endeavors. We did add one new crew member, Adam, who will be taking over any seabird studies that are ongoing when the transition to the Fall crew occurs in a few weeks.

Day 82: Puppy Love

2011-07-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) pups are everywhere right now. This little guy was causing quite a ruckus in his pile o'Sea Lion. He was jumping on every other pup he could find and wrestling them into submission. Pretty cute to watch I have to say. We had a recent uptick in Zalophus numbers, their numbers tripled in the last week to just under 10,000. Most of these are adults coming in from colonies. Usually when we have high numbers like this it is because they aren't breeding/ failed breeding elsewhere.

Day 81: Guillemot gang

2011-07-29T22:50:00.000-07:00

Pigeon Guillemots are furiously feeding their chicks right now. Chicks are big, getting ready to fledge, and eating up a storm. PIGU's generally feed small fish that they find close to shore so they feed frequently. This makes them regular targets of gulls trying to steal their fish. You will often see PIGU's sitting on a rock with a fish in their bill, waiting for the gull by their crevice to get distracted so they can sneak in to feed their chick.

Day 80: Guadalupe Version

2011-07-28T23:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, we're on a roll with our storm-petrels. We netted again last night and caught yet another unusual visitor. This time it's a subspecies of the Leach's Storm-petrel. We catch Leach's here regularly and we know small numbers of them breed here. Leach's are distinguished from Ashy Storm-petrels by their white rump patch, longer wings, and larger head and bill. We were confused by this little one because it had the while rump of a Leach's but its wing was too short and its head, bill and overall size were smaller than an Ashy. After consulting our books we determined that this was in fact an individual from a subspecies of Leach's that breeds on Guadalupe Island in Mexico! This is the first time we have documented this subspecies on the island and the first time it's been seen this far north in California. Not a bad night!

Day 79: Cassin's in a box

2011-07-28T02:21:00.000-07:00

Cassin's auklets are one of the few species that are still in the midst of breeding right now. We had a very high rate of double brooding this year. After pairs raised one chick they decided it was so much fun they wanted to do it again so they started over. Many of these second broods are now hatching, and young chicks need to be fed. This photo was taken around 10:30pm and this Cassin's probably just came in to feed its chick in the nest box and is now hanging out near the entrance tube. Cassin's are very vocal at night and socialize quite a bit outside their burrow and boxes. Their calls have been described as sounding like crickets on steroids.

Day 78: Fish food

2011-07-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

We had our last night of Rhinoceros Auklet netting tonight. That means we also processed our last fish. Rhinos bring in these fish to feed their chicks and we collect a sample of them to identify, measure and weigh. The species they bring back change every year and, in addition to the Murre and Guillemot diet data, gives us a good idea of what fish are available in the ocean in a given year. This year, Rhino's started out eating a lot of juvenile rockfish, a favorite seabird food, but then switched to Pacific Saury like the one Jen is measuring here. We have also seen a fair amount of squid.

Day 77: Tern around

2011-07-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

I somehow missed yesterday's posting so you get two today. We were visited by some Elegant Terns yesterday. There was a small flock of them circling around just east of the island, making a ruckus. We are just now starting to see some more non-breeding species showing up so hopefully that trend continues. Our daily bird list has been woefully thin.

Day 76: Nighttime visitor

2011-07-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

We had this unusual visitor show up in our net last night as we were netting for storm-petrels. Yes it's a storm-petrel but it's a species we've caught only a few times in 40 years, the last time was in 1992. As you bird folks may have guessed, it's a Fork-tailed Storm-petrel! We were super excited to get this guy. These birds typically breed much further north, from Washington to Alaska, but this bird did have bare brood patch. That is something breeding birds develop when they are incubating so perhaps this bird is breeding nearby? Non-breeders can have brood patches too so it's not definitive but it is intriguing.

7/29/11 Check out our latest Storm-petrel visitor here

Day 75: Gull pack

2011-07-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

Most of the gulls are done breeding now. Unfortunately, most of them failed. We have very few chicks on the island right now. Once they've failed, most gulls suddenly revert to the mild mannered birds they usually are. They stop defending their territories and begin to gather in large flocks on the terrace.

Day 74: Greenery

2011-07-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

The island is in bloom again. All the late rain we've had means the island is surprisingly green for this time of year. Of course most of the plants currently blooming are not native to the island but the Farallon weed is making another go of it as well.

Day 73: Chickeroo

2011-07-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

Because I just can't get enough of these guys, here's another Murre chick. This one is getting close to fledging but he's still got the spiky hairdo. In the evenings, the bigger chicks get very active, sitting up on rocks, flapping their wings, being generally very cute. And then one day, they or their father, decide it's time to go and they are off into the wide, wide ocean.

Day 72: Tail of a Whale

2011-07-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

We've had some gorgeous weather this week. No wind, excellent visibility and the seas were flat. And then there were the whales. We've had fairly low numbers of cetaceans this year but they showed up with a vengeance a couple days ago. We had over a dozen blue whales, 40+ humpback whales, our resident gray whale, and a pod of Risso's dolphin's and northern right whale dolphins. All of these were observed from shore so I don't have any pictures but I do have a picture of us doing what we call "porching." It involves taking advantage of the good weather to hang out on the porch and watch the whales go by. There are worse ways to spend an evening.

Day 71: Name that rock

2011-07-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

This is the view of the island from the West. Virtually every rock, ridge and mound on this island is named. Most were christened by the Coast Guard when they occupied the island but we've added a few of our own. The mound on the far left is Sugarloaf, the middle peak is Lighthouse Hill (the highest point on the island) then Maintop and Great Arch. And all the little peaks have names too. I spend most of my time on Corm Blind Hill, a smaller peak that from this angle blends in with Lighthouse Hill.

Day 70: Celebrity sighting

2011-07-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

If there is a celebrity on the island, it's this bird. The Tufted Puffin is perhaps the one bird that everyone knows and wants to see when they visit. Is it the bright orange bill? The white face? The blond plumes? Whatever the attraction, this bird is attention grabbing. The Farallones are the southern limit of the breeding range for this species, with 100 - 200 nesting birds each year. We've had a few extremely calm days out here so we took the boat out yesterday for some buoy maintenance and to have a look around the island. I got this shot while we were out.

Day 69: Close call

2011-07-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

Murre chicks are fledging right now. "Fledging" typically refers to when chicks leave the nest or become independent. In the case of murres, chicks leave the colony with their dads and spend up to several months at sea with their parent, being fed and learning how to find food. The unusual part is that they do this before they are fully developed. Chicks are less than half grown and can't yet fly when they are led to sea by their fathers. This makes them vulnerable when they are in the process of fledging. They have to make their way through thousands of murres to the water's edge where they often have to jump off a cliff to make it to the water. It's one of the most amazing events to watch. The male parent solicitously leading its offspring to the edge, jumping in the water and calling to it's chick until it finally works up the courage to jump. Gulls are constantly on the look out for these unprotected chicks so they have to make up their minds quickly. Even in the water they are not out of danger. Although the chicks know instinctively how to dive, gulls still occasionally grab them off the surface. The chick above dove several times before this gull finally nabbed it by a foot. The parent gave chase though and the gull eventually dropped the chick. The reunited pair made their way very quickly away from the island.

Day 68: Patrolling the Bay

2011-07-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Back on the island! Russ and I arrived back this morning courtesy of Laurie Chaikin on the Charleete II. Laurie and Charleete II (a lovely 45ft catamaran) are part of a group of skippers called the "Farallon Patrol." These skippers volunteer their time and their boats to bring supplies and people to and from the island, an essential service we are eternally grateful for. Laurie wanted to catch the ebb tide early this morning so we loaded our gear last night as stayed on board in Sausalito. It was a beautiful night in the bay and I couldn't resist getting my camera out. This is technically not a photo from the island but a patrol run is part of the Farallon experience so I thought I would include it.

Day 67: They grow up so fast

2011-07-02T00:53:00.000-07:00

This is cheating a bit since it's really 6 pictures but they are all showing the same chick. This is a chick from one of our nest boxes. I took a picture of it every time it got weighed (every 5 days) until it fledged just a couple days ago so we could see the progression of its development. First picture is probably 5-7 days old so this chick fledged between 30-35 days old. As you can see, it was looking good, nice fresh feathers and a fantastic cowlick. Most chicks from the first attempts by Cassin's have fledged and a substantial number of those adults are now incubating eggs again, going for a second chick. This double brooding is rare among seabirds and Cassin's can only do it in the southern parts of their range.

Photo a day (and me) will be taking a two week break starting tomorrow. But never fear, I will return!

Day 66: I love biology

2011-06-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

No this is not a picture of Russ being swallowed whole by some unseen creature. He's checking what he calls the "I love biology" Rhino Auklet crevice in Rabbit Cave. The cave was carved out of the island eons ago when the sea level was higher. It is now well above the water line and Rhinoceros Auklets love to breed in it. So of course we have to monitor some of the accessible sites. Whether this site is accessible might be debatable. It gets it's name from the fact that you really have to love biology to squeeze your body headfirst down a sloping crevice and crane your neck as far as you can to the side in order to determine if the site is occupied. Today, Russ was able to see that it is in fact occupied by a downy Rhino Auklet chick.

Day 65: Neon sky

2011-06-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

After the storm yesterday, the sunset turned the clouds an unreal shade of pink. Seriously, there is no color editing on this photo. Amazing.

Day 64: Soggy

2011-06-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

More rain today to add to our record rainfall for June. Last time it rained though we didn't have any gull chicks. Today, there were many sad, soggy, gull chicks around the island. Most are too big to be incubated so they just had to suffer through it. And some didn't make it. We saw several chicks that looked like they had died from cold. Gulls are having a terrible year. Very few chicks are surviving and those that are still alive are probably in poor condition. Getting totally soaked was just too much for some.

Day 63: "Cruel of Beak and bottomless of maw"

2011-06-27T23:42:00.000-07:00

I found this at the back of the house this morning. The gull didn't even notice me open the door to take this picture because the wing of its victim is blocking its eye. As you can see, it's grisly on the island right now. Lots of death by gull, even more than usual. The naturalist William Leon Dawson described the Western gull, and the destruction they wreak, much better than I can:

"Much that is good and all that is evil has gathered itself up into the Western Gull. He is rather the handsomest of the blue-mantled Laridae, for the depth of color in the mantle, in sharp contrast with the snowy plumage of back and breast, gives him an appearance of sturdiness and quality which is not easily dispelled by subsequent knowledge of the black heart within. As a scavanger, the Western Gull is impeccable. Wielding the besom of hunger, he and his kind sweep the beaches clean and purge the water-front of all pollution. But a scavanger is not necessarily a good citizen. Call him a ghoul, rather, for the Western Gull is cruel of beak and bottomless of maw. Pity, with him, is a thing unknown; and when one of their own comrades dies, these feathered jackals fall upon him without compunction, a veritable Leichnamveranderungsgebrauchsgesellschaft. If he thus mistreats his own kind, be assured that this gull asks only two questions of any other living thing: First, 'Am I hungry?' (Ans., 'Yes,') Second, 'Can I get away with it?' (Ans., 'I'll try.')"

William Leon Dawson, Birds of California, 1923

P.S. Bonus points if you can identify the bird going down the gullet

Day 62: All day dietwatch #1

2011-06-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

First all day murre dietwatch today. Most of us spent a good chunk of the day staring out one of these windows in the murre blind identifying the fish the murres were bringing into the study plot to feed their chicks. We're seeing a lot of Northern anchovy, juvenile rockfish, smelt, and lingcod this year.

Day 61: Rhino in the net

2011-06-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

We completed our first session of Rhino netting tonight. A session consists of four nights of netting for Rhinoceros Auklets for about an hour each night. Rhinos come in just after dark to feed their chicks. They bring back a bill load of fish (they sometimes carry over ten fish at once!) and we set up a net to catch them and collect the fish so we can identify what they are eating/feeding their chicks. Katie is extracting a Rhino that has just hit the net (it didn't have any fish). It's pretty amazing to see what they are finding out there in the ocean and how that changes from year to year. We also band and measure the adults to look at adult survival and condition. They are don't move around much so we catch a lot of birds year after year at the same sites.

Day 60: Walking on water

2011-06-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

Here's another shot from our boat survey the other day. Alcids, the family of seabirds that includes Common Murres, Cassin's Auklets, and this Pigeon Guillemot, have relatively short wings for their body size. This makes their wings ideal for propelling them underwater while diving, but doesn't make them so great in the air. In order to take off from the water, they have run along the surface for quite a ways to get up enough speed to lift off. It always makes me laugh to see them skittering across the surface.

Day 59: Chicklets

2011-06-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

Pigeon Guillemot chicks are hatching. This is one of our followed sites that has two fresh chicks. PIGU chicks, like Rhinos and Casssin's Auklet chicks, get weighed every 5 days so we can track their development. Because the eggs typically hatch a few days apart, the fist chicks to hatch can often be much larger than its younger sibling. If the younger sibling can survive until the first chicks fledges, it will often gain weight rapidly to make up for lost time.

Day 58: Mini Murre

2011-06-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

Murre chicks are hatching! These little guys have the cutest hairdos of frosted spikey down. Most chicks are still very small and are being constantly brooded by their parents. Murres feed their chicks by bringing back whole fish, carried lengthwise in their bills. Because the fish are visible, we can actually identify what they are feeding the chicks. The chicks are very good at scarfing down their meals as soon as they arrive so we have to identify the fish as they are flown in. We'll do this in daily two-hour shifts we call "diet watch." Feeding rates vary throughout the day so we also periodically do all day diet watches, dawn to dusk, involving everyone on the island doing multiple shifts throughout the day. This diet watch data is some of the most interesting data we collect. The proportions of different species in Murre diet changes every year and tells us a lot about how the fish populations are responding to the environment.

Day 57: Counting

2011-06-22T00:09:00.000-07:00

Russ and I got out on the water today for a boat census. Not censusing boats, but doing a census from the boat. Last week, we did the land based census for cormorants (Brandt's and Pelagics). This is how we get our annual estimate of the breeding population and it's done by counting the number of birds sitting on well-built nests around the island. Unfortunately, there are some places we can't see from land so we have to go to the boat to count those areas. But counting birds from a boat is no easy task and requires good, calm conditions on the water. Today we had a break in the wind so we went for it. Conditions were a bit rougher than is ideal, but we managed to get the count in. And in between counts, I managed to get a picture of a Rhino on the water.

Day 56: Cute little Phoca

2011-06-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

I found this little Harbor Seal pup (genus is Phoca) in hanging out next to an Elephant Seal in one of the gulches this morning. The Elephant Seal gives some sense of scale so you can see how tiny this little guy is. Harbor Seals pups are quite independent when they are young. They are frequently seen swimming and hauled out alone, without their mother, quite soon after they are born. But somehow they still manage to find mom again for their essential nourishment.

Day 55: Zaloafers

2011-06-19T23:41:00.000-07:00

I saved the most numerous pinniped for last, the California Sea Lion (we call them by their genus name, Zalophus). This is a picture of the pile of sea lions that occurs daily at North Landing. It always amazes me that they are so tolerant of each other. They can sleep on, walk on, jump on, each other with very little distress. They do get barks of protest occasionally, but that never seems to faze them. We just saw our first Zalophus pups the other day. This time of year there can be several thousand adult Zalophus here, inevitably piled on top of each other around the island.

Day 54: Band it

2011-06-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

The little blue foot there is the foot of a mostly feathered Cassin's Auklet chick and it's about to get some jewelry. Once the chicks are nearly fully grown, they get an individually numbered leg band. This band will last their entire lifetime and it allows us to track this individual across years. If it returns to breed as an adult, the band number tells us how old the bird is. These known-age birds are especially valuable since they allow us to answer questions about how survival and reproduction change with age and how many young and old birds there are in the current population.

Day 53: Stellar Steller

2011-06-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

Another non-bird island resident, Steller's Sea Lion. The Farallones are one of the southern most breeding rookeries for this endangered pinniped, most of their significant colonies are in Alaska. Numbers here are low, between 100-200 individuals at the most, so we don't often get close looks at them. This male and immature were hanging out at North Landing, relatively close allowing me to get this picture.

Day 52: Air raid

2011-06-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

Does this picture need words?

Day 51: Moon wing

2011-06-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

Today was National Nature Photography day (according to the North American Nature Photographers Association). Everyone was supposed to take a camera somewhere the could walk or bike to and take a picture. Fortunately, I happen to have some wildlife outside my door. It is a full moon tonight so I went out to catch the moonrise. This gull obligingly opened it's wings in front of the rising moon while I was shooting.

Day 50: Crypto chick

2011-06-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

The first Black Oystercatcher chicks were spotted yesterday. Oystercatcher chicks are the most precocious of the Farallon seabirds, ready to run practically as soon as they are out of the egg. They are also born knowing what to do when their parents are alarmed: run and hide. Because of this they are very hard to photograph. I spent a good amount of time hiding behind a ridge, attempting to get a good photo of the chicks. This was the best I got. This pair has three chicks but I only saw one at a time. Their cryptic coloring helps protect them from the marauding gulls but doesn't make them stand out in a photograph

Day 49: The other Cormorant

2011-06-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

There are other cormorants on the island besides Brandt's Cormorant. I tend to forget that sometimes. This is one of the other common cormorant species, the Pelagic Cormorant. Distinguished from Brandt's by their white rump patches, skinnier neck, red face, and beautiful purple iridescence on their neck. These are cliff dwelling birds, building their nests on small ledges on the cliff faces and leaving the flat areas to the Brandt's. Pelagics out here tend to have a boom or bust breeding cycle: they either do really well, or fail completely, very little in between. They started laying late this year, like many species, and numbers are low but they seem to be sticking around.

Day 48: Today's forecast--Windy

2011-06-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

The weather box plays an important role in island life. This houses our official thermometer and off to the left, at the end of the boardwalk, is our rain gauge. PRBO staff have been collecting weather data multiple times a day for over 40 years and the US Coast guard was recording the weather many years before that. Today we record essential weather data three times a day, continuing to add to this incredible long-term data. Once a day we also record the 24 hour precipitation and sea surface temperature. These days, sea surface temperature increasingly collected via special satellites but the remote sensing time series in many cases do not extend back more than 20 years making the hand collected data prior to that very valuable. I for one am very grateful to all the people who have collected this data over the years, making it possible for me to use it in some of my current research.

Day 47: Tight sqeeze

2011-06-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing this Pigeon Guillemot popping in and out of this crevice for the past few weeks. It's just on the way up to the cormorant blind where I do most of my fieldwork. Today I took a peek in there and noticed a bird incubating but one of it's eggs has been kicked to the front of the crevice. This may or may not have been on purpose. Guillemots can lay up to two eggs per clutch but in poor years the second eggs is just insurance in case something happens to the first. If both chicks hatch in a poor year, the second one frequently dies or is kicked out. It's a bit too early to tell what this year will bring for guillemot chicks.

Day 46: Fluff muffin

2011-06-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

We're starting to get a few Rhinoceros Auklet chicks now. They have some of the most luxurious down of any chicks. It's so thick it can be nearly impossible to see their eyes. Bonus points if you can find them on this chick. Hatching Rhino chicks means the adults are now bringing fish back to the colony at night to feed them and we will soon be sampling these fish. More on that when it happens.

Day 45: Blending in

2011-06-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

Ever feel like you stick out in a crowd? Desperately trying to blend in and go unnoticed? I bet that's what this Pelican feels like. I found this immature Brown Pelican hanging out on the water catchment pad (also known as the gull bachelor pad) with a crowd of gulls. It didn't seem to notice that it was about twice the size of it's neighbors. We've only recently started seeing pelicans cruising around again. They've all been down south breeding so showing up here means they must be finishing up.

Day 44: A King's bath

2011-06-08T23:08:00.000-07:00

I love this spot and so do the sea lions. They are constantly frolicking and chasing each other in and out of the pool. When the swell is big from the north, it periodically pours water over the back creating temporary waterfalls that the sea lions splash around in. It must be quite deep because while I was sitting taking pictures of it, a large elephant seal surfaced in the middle of it, apparently having been in there the whole time.

Day 43: Bird on a pole

2011-06-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

Our landbird wave was short lived. Just a couple Western Wood Pewee like this one, a couple Wilson's Warblers, and a Yellow Warbler stayed today. We did have six new Eurasian Collared Doves. We now have a small flock flying around, tempting the Peregrine.

Day 42: Yellow things

2011-06-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

Landbird wave today! We haven't had many little birds here this spring so any influx seems like a wave. We ended up with 25 species on our bird list today, including 10 of these little Wilson's Warblers. It's fun to see little yellow birds buzzing around the trees. We're Ashy netting tonight so this is a short post.

Day 41: Gull, gull, goose

2011-06-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

Yes this picture was taken on the Farallones, and yes, those are Canada Goose goslings. That's right, for first time ever, there are a pair of breeding Canada Geese here that appear to be holding their own against the gulls. Last year we had the first ever recorded breeding attempt by Canada Geese but the nest failed. This year we had two pairs attempt to nest and one has managed to hang on to two goslings. They are quite large now, too big to be at risk from the gulls, and they appear to be doing well. I've been trying to get a decent picture of them for weeks but they are quite wary and keep a good distance from us. This is the best I've managed to get so far. Perhaps if I get a better one I'll post again but this will have to do for now.

Day 40: Rain?

2011-06-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

We've been experiencing some crazy weather here. Last night and this morning we had record breaking rainfall, just over an inch in total. In one 24 hour period, we more than doubled the previous record for the entire month of June (according to PRBO records since 1969). Most of the birds seemed to have weathered the unusual storm fairly well, with perhaps a few Murre eggs lost due to the rain. The wind was also strong from the east, leading to some big waves and spray on the east side of the island, very unusual for this time of year. Neither of our boat landings are sheltered from that direction so we had to cancel the boat that was scheduled for today. Luckily it was only put off for a day so we should have our fresh food tomorrow.

Day 39: It's so fluffy

2011-06-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

Just when we thought the island was loud, the gull chicks started to hatch. And the volume kicked up another notch. Even the gulls still on eggs take the cue and scream with increased urgency. The gull chicks are polka dot, very similar coloring to the eggs they just came out of, and they blend in surprisingly well. They are so cute at this stage that you can't help but melt a little whenever you see them. Still, it's a gull eat gull world out there (literally) and the earliest chicks often disappear quickly despite their camouflage.

Day 38: PIGU party

2011-06-03T00:11:00.000-07:00

The Pigeon Guillemot are finally laying eggs. After a very slow start, the last two checks have turned up many new eggs. Pigeon Guillemots (PIGU is their four letter id code so we call them "Pee-goos") breed in rock crevices and some seem to like the nest boxes we put out for them. They lay 1 or 2 speckled eggs and spend a lot of time socializing and chasing each other outside their crevices. They seem to particularly enjoy showing off their bright red gapes to each other.

Day 37: I wish they all could be California Gulls

2011-06-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Notice anything different? That's right, it's a gull but not a Western Gull. The green feet, red and black spots on the bill and smaller size make this a California Gull. These gulls just started breeding here a few years ago. But their less aggressive nature has made it difficult for them to succeed. Their chicks tend to disappear as soon as they hatch. We have yet to see a California Gull chick make it to independence. This pair laid their eggs in the middle of a bunch of Cassin's nest boxes, probably the same pair that attempted in the same spot last year. They failed to raise any chicks last year but maybe this year will be better.

Day 36: I want to nest, I don't want to nest, I want to nest...

2011-05-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

Last post about Brandt's cormorants I mentioned they were building their nests in earnest and I was hopeful for them to be laying eggs soon. While I was off the island they did indeed start to lay eggs. But then they left again. All nesting attempts in our main study colonies were abandoned. And then they came back. They started nest building again, even some of the same birds that just abandoned their eggs, were back rebuilding in the same spot. Today, we had several nests that once again have eggs. This on again, off again, behavior is very hard to interpret and that makes it hard to predict what will happen with the latest wave of nest building. Hopefully, like the bird above, they will continue to gather nest material, build their nests, and lay eggs.

Day 35: Oysters anyone?

2011-05-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

The Black Oystercatcher is the only shorebird that breeds on the Farallones. They are also misnamed. Oystercatchers don't eat oysters. They eat a variety of intertidal organisms including, mussels, limpets and chitons. The Oystercatchers are another example of a species that has benefited from the protection of the refuge. They were extirpated from the island at one time but since have since recolonized. We currently have around 20 breeding pairs on the island. They breed primarily in areas we cannot access during the summer so the lucky person that gets to monitor them spends many hours at the lighthouse squinting through a spotting scope trying to determine where their nests are. Oystercatchers are the only surface nesting bird on the island that frequently leaves it's nest unprotected, relying on the cryptic coloring of the eggs to keep them safe from the gulls. This cryptic coloring works on humans as well so finding their nests is always a challenge.

Day 34: Saddle up

2011-05-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

The view facing south from the house features "the domes" (old water storage tanks) and Saddle Rock. The waves today were making it 3/4 of the way up the saddle. In the winter, waves will crash over the saddle which is over 30ft high. There are small pockets of Murres that breed high up on the rock out of the reach of crashing waves.

Day 33: Gull frontal

2011-05-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am aware that my blog about the Farallones is in danger of becoming a blog about Western gulls. But that fact is the gulls influence just about every activity we do outside this time of year. They make their presence felt. So naturally I tend to take a lot of photos of them. Today was a gull check day. Right now we are still checking our plots for new eggs although the majority of birds have laid by now. We may even have chicks soon. As I may have mentioned before, they don't like to be messed with. Gull checks now require a rain coat for protection from the guano rain, and a hard hat to protect from a gull bill to the head. Amy here is checking a nest in her plot and is about to get hammered by the attending gull.

Day 32: Starry, starry night

2011-05-28T00:24:00.000-07:00

I took advantage of the clear skies tonight to take this shot of the house. We religiously cover the windows at night to protect the nocturnal seabirds, but the long exposure captured the little light that does escape our curtains. And although we often feel as though we are alone in the middle of the Pacific, the glow of the city lights reminds us San Francisco is less than 30 miles away.

Day 31: Time out

2011-05-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we get so busy out here it's hard to take time to enjoy the little things. Like a beautiful view. But even the gulls know when to pause for a good sunset.

Day 30: Not a bird

2011-05-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that this time of year our focus is on seabirds, there are some mammals present. There are five species of pinnipeds here including these elephant seals. Elephant seals breed here during the winter and this time of year, immature seals and females are here molting. Yes molting. They actually grow a new skin underneath their old skin and eventually the old skin peels off. Later in the summer, the big males and their impressive noses (the inspiration for the species name) will show up to do the same. In between molting and breeding, these seals spend all thier time at sea where they dive to incredible depths (up to 2000 feet). Elephants seals were nearly hunted to extinction in the 1800s so we are lucky to have them here today.

Day 29: What's that you say?

2011-05-25T02:48:00.000-07:00

Now that the gulls are on eggs, it's loud. Every few feet there is an extremely angry individual telling you what he thinks of you and your kind (you'll have to imagine the sound that is coming from this bird, it's not pretty). Makes it hard to hear yourself think, let alone someone speaking to you. Some individuals are so tenacious that when we check their nests we have to actually push the bird off to see it's eggs. You have to respect that kind of fearless determination.

Day 28: Steamy

2011-05-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

It's windy again today, as is typical for this time of year. In fact the wind is critical. It's responsible for bringing essential nutrients to these coastal waters without which there would be no krill, no fish, and no seabirds. However, my popsicle fingers and toes don't appreciate the wind at all. On days like today, hot drinks become critical. If possible, I would have a steaming mug in may hands at all times. Just for fun, I took a few shots of my mug lit by the morning light but it wasn't until I reviewed the photos that I realized I had caught a very rare steam bird taking flight from my tea. Do you see it?

Day 27: Green egg, blue egg

2011-05-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

I'm back on the island! While I was away, the Common Murres started laying. They lay the largest eggs of any seabird on the island in a variety of colors. Some have mint chip eggs like this one, others have a white or pale blue background, but virtually all of them have dark speckles and streaks. Since murres lay their eggs directly on rock ledges without building nests, their eggs have evolved a unique shape, very wide on one end and tapering to a narrow point. This adaptation prevents the eggs from rolling away, instead the egg will roll in a circle if dislodged. Now that the murres are laying in earnest, many hours will be spent staring at the backs of murres in study plots, hoping to get a glimpse of their eggs. They don't move all that often while incubating and you would be surprised how well they can hide those large eggs.

Day 26: The eye of the corm

2011-05-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

Here's my vote for the prettiest eyes on the island. The bright blue eyes of the Brandt's Cormorant are irresistible. Last time I posted a picture of Brandt's, I mentioned they were attending the colony in good numbers and I was hopeful for an early start to the breeding season. I'm still waiting. I had a very nervous few days last week when the cormorants mysteriously disappeared. The colonies were virtually empty, the one nest in our study colony that had eggs was abandoned, nest building ceased. Then, just a few days ago, they returned in even bigger numbers than before. Still no significant egg laying (we have one nest with eggs in the study colony) but I am once again hopeful.

On another note, I'm leaving the island tomorrow for two weeks so Farallon Photo a day will be on hiatus until I return.

Day 25: Dawn patrol

2011-05-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

We were up early this today for some Pigeon Guillemot netting. I didn't get any good pictures of that activity (hopefully next time) but I did catch these Common Murres in the sunrise. This time of year, before egg laying, the murres are arriving en masse at the colony at dawn. About 250,000 of these birds breed on the Farallones so there can literally be thousands of early morning commuters swirling around.

Day 24: It's getting eggy

2011-05-04T23:41:00.000-07:00

The gulls starting dropping eggs a few days ago and now they are showing up all over the island. The first eggs are easy to find, just follow the gull that is screaming twice as loud as its neighbors. There is a distinct increase in the volume when the gulls start laying. Right now it's still just a few on eggs but soon the entire island will be screaming. Something to look forward to. Western Gulls typically lay three eggs so these two will likely have a sibling in the next few days.

Day 23: The farallon rhinoceros

2011-05-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

Bet you didn't know we had rhinos out here did you? So maybe it's not actually a rhinoceros, but the Rhinoceros Auklet does share one distinctive characteristic with its namesake: a prominent horn. The auklet has a much cooler hairdo though. Rhinoceros Auklets, which are actually closely related to puffins, have begun laying their eggs and it's always a treat to pull one of these out of a nest box. They are quite strong so handling them has to be done with care. That bill can deliver a powerful bite. The farallon rhinos are a conservation sucess story. After being extirpated from the island, they returned to breed in the 1980's and population's have been growing ever since.

Day 22: Night lights

2011-05-02T23:07:00.000-07:00

We had a brief break in the wind yesterday and the new moon is here which usually means one thing: Ashy Storm-petrel netting! This is one of my favorite activities. We set up a net once it's full dark, play the Storm-petrel call, and get ready to catch some of the coolest birds around. These little seabird are about the size of a swallow, spend most of their lives on the open ocean and can live to be 40+ years old! I was introduced to seabirds through Storm-petrels so I have a huge soft spot for them. Last night I set up my camera to try and capture this nighttime activity. The streaks of light you see are from our headlamps as we extract birds from the net and the glow from San Francisco city lights is on the horizon. To read more about Ashy netting and see what they look like, check out the Farallones blog post here.

Day 21: It's Hairy

2011-05-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Happy May Day! Another feature from small world today. This lovely little flower is called marsh sand spurry (Spergularia marina). It's fairly common on the island, a low growing shrub that creates a low green carpet in some areas. Its leaves and stem are covered in fine hairs that glow when backlit by setting sun.

Day 20: Fine art

2011-04-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

The gulls have turned this door into a work of art. This is the entrance to one of our study blinds. It's called the Sea Lion Cove blind and it was build just a few years ago to allow us monitor another Brandt's Cormorant colony and create easily accessible Murre habitat. There are ledges built on the sides of the bind that were designed for Common Murres to breed on. Every year, a few more birds begin breeding on these ledges. Eventually we hope to be able to capture birds from this blind for more in depth, hands on studies. But for right now, the blind provides to most intimate, close-up viewing opportunities of any blind on the island. And the gulls have decorated it's copper siding beautifully.

Day 19: The View

2011-04-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

The wind kicked up some nice swell today. I could see my computer screen in the house shaking with the gusts. But there are very few things the wind will stop us from doing. Most of our work goes on as scheduled. Which makes us all the more grateful to have a house and a warm meal to come back to at the end of the day.

Day 18: Too cute

2011-04-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

I know I just had a Cassin's chick photo but I couldn't resist this one. We had a big Cassin's auklet breed check today. We were checking empty nest boxes for new breeding attempts as well as checking occupied boxes for hatching and weighing chicks that were on their own. We had quite a few new breeding attempts today and lots of hatching chicks. Good signs. This chick in a nest box is still being brooded its parent and is just poking its head out from under the right wing. Definitely one of my favorite things to see, it's almost too cute to handle.

Day 17: Got water?

2011-04-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

Fresh water is a precious commodity on the island. We collect all our drinking water from rainfall leaving us at the mercy of the weather gods. As a result we employ strict water conservation measures. Showers are limited (once every 4 days at most), our gray water is recycled and used to flush the toilets, and leaky faucets are outlawed. This one is not actually leaking, just dripping from the rain.

Day 16: Farallon feast

2011-04-26T23:26:00.000-07:00

Food features prominently in our daily life on the island. The research assistants here are all volunteers, their only compensation is food and a roof over their heads, so we try to have good food. And since there are limited entertainment opportunities, much of our downtime is spent either cooking or planning things to cook. That's especially true now since it is still early in the season and fieldwork is relatively light. We typically rotate dinner cooking duties and eat dinner all together. But the baking bug bit the house today so we had a community effort for dinner tonight: delicious homemade spaghetti and a green salad by Russ, freshly baked bread by Greg, and strawberry rhubarb pie by me. Not bad for a field camp.

Day 15: Cruising

2011-04-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time for another gull picture. The gulls are incredibly graceful in the air. When the wind picks up they cruise along effortlessly, hardly needing to flap, controlling their motion only using subtle adjustments of their wings. They seem completely at home and at ease. I was trying to capture that feeling of rapid gliding with this shot.

Day 14: A kinglet and his crown

2011-04-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

We've had this little Ruby-crowned kinglet hanging around the island for the past few days. These little birds are one of my favorite spring time visitors. We usually get a few waves of migrating landbirds showing up in the spring and fall. Some individuals actually appear to make this island a regular stopover. We have a Golden-crowned sparrow the has spent every winter since 2007 here! This spring the landbirds have been scarce so we were quite happy to see this kinglet.

Day 13: Cute chicks

2011-04-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

First Cassin's auklet chick weighed today! Once chicks are left alone by their parents, usually after about 10 days, some of them are weighed every five days so we can document how quickly they are developing. This tells us about their health and also about how much food is available for their parents to bring back to the colony. In years when food is scarce, chicks are underweight and slow growing. Jen was pretty happy to be able to hold her first Cassin's chick here. This guy weighed in at a healthy 58 grams.

Day 12: Cart Blanche

2011-04-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

This cart is part of Farallon history. Although the current incarnation has not been around that long, it's constantly being rebuilt, repaired and given a fresh coat of whitewash by the gulls, a Farallon cart has been an essential part of Farallon life since the 1800's. It's a simple design, a push cart with small railroad wheels that run on rails along a path. That path is our life line. It runs from the landing, where we crane gear on and off the island, to the powerhouse that houses our solar power system, and ends at the houses where we live. Tomorrow is a boat day, which means we are getting a much needed resupply of food. We will be putting the cart to use moving all that food to the house.

Day 11: On the attack

2011-04-21T23:22:00.000-07:00

Getting buzzed by a Peregrine Falcon is like getting buzzed by a small fighter jet. Well, perhaps not as loud, but you get the distinct impression of danger. Two years ago we had a pair of Peregrine falcons breed on the island for the first time since the 1930's and they appear to be breeding again this year. We can't see into the nest so we probably won't know for sure until there are chicks later in the season. Even when we don't see the falcons we find daily evidence of their presence from the carcasses of seabirds they leave behind. They seem to really enjoy the Common Murres. Probably because they are the most numerous seabird and their short little wings don't give them much maneuverability in the air.

Day 10: Rising tide

2011-04-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

I noticed this harbor seal during my evening stint in the blind. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) frequently haul out in the intertidal and are determined nappers. This one seemed oblivious to the tide rising around it. There can be over a hundred of these little seals on the island this time of year. One very pregnant female was spotted yesterday so we may have the first pup of the season soon.

Day 9: Strawberry fields

2011-04-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

We made our annual spring trip to Jewel cave today. We have to have a nice low tide to get in there but it's so worth it. There is large tide pool in Jewel cave that holds many small wonders. So many I had a hard time deciding what to post. This is a Stawberry anemone (Corynactis californica) surrounded by orange sponge. The anemone is actually not an anemone at all but more closely related to coral and it's about a centimeter across. Still, it looks good enough to eat.

Day 8: Rainy days and Mondays

2011-04-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

It was damp today. A sort of dreary, foggy, drizzle persisted all day. Yet even the poor weather has its upside, draping everything in gorgeous droplets. I was particularly fascinated by the drops in the bushy tops of the grass. Most of the grass here is invasive and becoming a serious problem as it moves into new areas and alters habitat. The auklets are especially affected as they seem to avoid digging their burrows in the grassy areas. Nevertheless, it does make for pretty pictures.

Day 7: Gullduggery

2011-04-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Gull resighting is one of our primary activities this time of year. This involves going into the colony, looking for banded gulls, and reading their band number with our binoculars. Easier said than done. Gulls have a particular habit of always keeping the same side of their band towards you. As you circle around them to read the other digits, they turn with you so that you always see the same numbers you've already read. My favorite method of getting the necessary digits is to look away, pretend that I'm looking at another bird, then suddenly turn back taking the original bird by surprise. Before it has a chance to hide it's band number I've got it. I swear it works. We keep track of banded birds in the plots by painting white stakes with their recruit numbers. The stakes here are for two banded birds, 0305 and 9907, that are a happily bonded pair. This is me trying to trick 9907 into showing me it's band.

Day 6: Think inside the box

2011-04-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

Cassin's auklet check today. This involves checking some of the 400+ nest boxes like this one (there is a box in there under all that Farallon weed). Cassin's started breeding extremely early this year, one of the earliest starts on record, but they seem to be struggling lately. Occupancy is good but many of the boxes that should be hatching chicks at this time appear to be abandoned. It's early yet so there is still lots of time for birds to relay but it is a bit worrying.

Day 5: The Fog

2011-04-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

The fog rolled in this afternoon. It claimed the lighthouse for its own and blanketed everything in mist. It always amazes me that this makes absolutely no difference to the birds. Their internal navigation is so good they can find the island and their nest sites even when we can't see past our noses.

Day 4: Fly on the wall

2011-04-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

I made the hike to the lighthouse today for the first time since I've been back on the island. I discovered this beautiful little fly hanging out on the lighthouse lichen. The lighthouse was built in 1853 and, like many of the buildings out here, is covered in all kinds of amazing lichen in many shapes and colors. The walls are truly alive. If you look closely you can see my reflection on the fly.

4/19/2011
This photo featured on National Geographic's daily dozen today. Check it out and vote for it to make it in the magazine! http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/daily-dozen

Day 3: Bloomin' Weeds

2011-04-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

This time of year the island is green. I mean really green. The main culprit is this plant, fondly known as Farallon Weed (Lasthenia maritime). It's one of the few plants that thrives in the high nitrogen environment of the seabird colony. The birds, especially the cormorants, love it for their nests and they spend much of their time busily weeding and arranging into piles as they prepare for the breeding season.

Day 2: Spring Love

2011-04-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

It's nest building time for Brandt's cormorants. An activity I am very happy to see them engaged in. After 3 years of very poor breeding success for Brandt's, they have begun returning in earnest over the past few days and birds can be seen courting, choosing mates, and building nests. Numbers are good for this time of year making me very hopeful for a successful season to come. The pair here can be seen showing off their bright blue gular (throat) pouches to each other as part of their courtship display.

Day 1: Windy day gull

2011-04-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

After a few days of nice weather, the wind returned today. The gulls are just beginning to hold down their breeding territories so they simply face into the wind and hunker down to ride it out. We always joke that you can tell wind speed by how closely the gulls hug the ground. Today's wind speed: moderate.