Metinic's first egg!
A pair of Arctic Terns between copulation attempts.
Finishing in a close second, we found our first egg this morning on Metinic! Petit Manan did a fantastic job discussing the Tern egg and its camouflage (see below), so we won’t bore you with repetition and instead highlight a few differences. This little gem belongs to an Arctic Tern, and here on Metinic they prefer to nest on the exposed granite ledges in the center of the colony.
On one of the many granite outcroppings, the egg has very little protection from the elements or predation.
Many times there is almost nothing to an Arctic Tern nest, and the eggs will just sit in a rocky depression. Here the camouflage does very little for the egg’s protection, but being located in the center of the nesting area provides enough protection in itself. Terns are aggressively territorial so most nest predation occurs on the colony fringes. These Arctic Terns rely on a buffer from their even more aggressive Common Tern neighbors to chase off predators before getting to their eggs.
Looking forward to an Easter egg hunt as June begins!
Metinic Crew (Charlie Walsh, Jennie Wiacek, and special guests Courtney Viall, and Adrienne Leppold)
Do I detect a smidgen of competitiveness here? Seriously, if I were walking I don’t think I would have seen that egg; I might have stepped right on it!! Do the terns just lay one egg? And do they breed only once during the season? If so, how do they manage to survive with so few young, especially when eggs and young are lost to predators!! Is this why thy need to be protected so carefully?
Common Terns average 2-3 eggs per clutch, Arctic Terns usually lay 1-2 eggs. The discrepancy is attributed to the Arctic Terns showing up with less energy reserves for egg production because of their massive migration from the Antarctic. A pair of terns may re-nest in a season if the first nest fails, but if too late in the season this can lead to egg or chick abandonment when the time to migrate south arrives. Low clutch sizes or chick survival are mitigated by long lifespans.
Terns can live into their mid 30′s, which allows them to have many opportunities for reproduction, even if they fail in an individual season. (Petit Manan currently holds the Tern longevity record at the age of 34!)
In recent decades human practices like open landfills, and industrial fishing wastes have allowed predator (mostly Gull) populations to grow disproportionately compared to other seabirds in the Gulf of Maine. They need protection so that these predation pressures can be mitigated until these imbalances can be rectified. It is a added benefit that they decide to continue nesting where we can monitor and research their populations.
-Charlie
Hey Charlie and Crew –
These posts are great (and I love the recipe idea – the squash looked delicious)! Congrats on finding your first egg already. Say hi to the terns for me!
Ill shout your greetings at them as I go to band read in just a few minutes! I’m glad you like the posts so far, living up to your beautiful summary of our season has been the inspiration for all my hard work on the blog so far! Do you mind if I use a few of your photos from last year throughout the season? Photo credit will be tagged, but your pictures are still unparalleled in quality! Please know your welcome to call at any time to check up on the colony, and I cant describe how happy I am to know your one of our readers!
-Charlie
Hey island folks!
Very excited that the eggs have finally arrived. I’ve been spending time at Ferry Beach listening to the terns there and I miss them. Hopefully the summer will be a good one! Has it been super foggy?
Love the idea of posting recipes, by the way. Charlie, you really ought to start an island cooking show. Food Network would love it—dirty biologists and food! I’d watch it.