The Home Stretch

The season is winding down here on Petit Manan Island, but there is still much to do before the rest of the crew leaves! While we have begun deconstructing our observation blinds, most of our terns have left and begun their migration to the Southern Hemisphere! Common terns will migrate to South America, while Arctic terns will end their migration in Antarctica. It can be assumed that Common terns winter in Argentina and Brazil, as we had some birds with their bands nesting on PMI. However, we are excited to see the exact migration route and destination of our 5 satellite nano-tagged Common terns!

Despite the terns leaving, we still have our hands full with other birds. We’ve been quite successful in our puffin trapping efforts! We use box traps with a see-saw top and one peg in the side of the box. When the puffins walk onto the side without the peg, the top tips and you have yourself a puffin! Crew members sit in a blind and watch carefully to minimize the time and stress on the puffin inside the box. After measurements are taken and they are banded (if they aren’t already), we release them back to the sea.

Puffins showing some interest in one of our box traps. 

Measuring bill depth on an Atlantic Puffin.

Measuring bill length on an Atlantic Puffin.

We’ve also been monitoring Leach’s Storm Petrel productivity by determining the activity of sod burrows all over the island. Burrow scopes come in handy to look inside them because most burrows are too small to be grubbed by hand. We also play Leach’s Storm Petrel calls to hear callbacks from potentially active burrows. When possible, we take out adults and chicks to band them!

One of our Leach’s Storm Petrel chicks (Ziggy) has grown quite a bit over the past couple weeks!

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but poop has become very handy to us lately. We collect fecal samples from tern chicks, puffin chicks, and adult puffins. Afterwards, a lab will process them and based on DNA in the fecal matter, we will know what exactly the birds have been eating. In addition to our provisioning data, this is helpful in determining what species of fish are making up the birds diet.

One method of collecting fecal samples, wrapping foil around chicks and waiting patiently. This puffin chick looks like the world’s cutest burrito!

It’s our last week here, and we can’t believe the season is coming to an end already! I’m going to miss all of the amazing creatures that inhabit this island, but more than that, I’m going to miss the crew that gave me an awesome experience for my first field job. They’re truly wonderful people and make the work so much fun.

~Jennalie Lutes

 

 

Tern Down For What?

So much has happened since our last blog post!

All summer, I have been telling Ravin and the refuge staff that all I wanted to do was see one puffin while in Maine.  I was not disappointed to say the least.  Last week, Ravin and I were taken off Metinic for a day of puffin grubbing on Seal Island.  As we unloaded the boat, we were greeted by large congregations of puffins, razorbills and guillemots swimming in the water.  Puffins burrow similar to guillemots, but they prefer larger rocks to burrow under.  It was truly a unique experience handling and banding such an iconic Maine bird.

 

My first grubbed puffin!

One thing that is unique to Metinic Island is that we have neighbors!  A lobster fisherman and his wife own a house about 400 meters from our house, and they were so kind to check on us a few times during the season.  The day after puffin grubbing, we came back to the cabin from a feeding study stint to find that they had left us a large bucket of crab claws and 2 large lobsters.  We had a great dinner that night, and lunch the next day!

Our last day on Metinic

Both tern and guillemot productivity plots have done really well this season.  Very few chicks died, and most of the terns already fledged! As we reached our final days on the island, the terns have quickly been decreasing in numbers.  Many of them have begun their migration, and now it is our turn.  Ravin and I are spending our first full day on the mainland today, and we already miss these spunky little birds and the island that we called home for a short 11 weeks.

 

Aya

 

Shippin’ Off of Ship Island

We’re down to our final day on Ship Island. This week was filled with all of that picking-up and sorting-out craziness that comes with closing down an island. We’ve done a lot of work from taking down the blinds, provisioning plots, mink and owl traps, to cleaning up the cabin, to entering last minute data into our spreadsheets, and more.

Being on Ship was a completely new experience for me. This summer was my first time working with seabirds and I’ve learned SO much about them as well as many of the other breeding species we see almost on a daily basis (e.g. Common Eiders, Spotted Sandpipers, Double-crested Cormorants, Peregrine Falcons, sparrows, warblers, Harbor Seals, and more). Not only this, but I learned a ton of new field work techniques. Here I got to do lots of “firsts.” I got to help diminish an invasive plant species from the island, re-capture my first bird, re-sight my first bird, band my first chick, saw over 50 species that were new to me, and the list goes on and on.

Living on an island was definitely an interesting yet exciting adventure, and it was surprisingly much easier to get used to the “island life” than I thought. I can say that I’ll miss it at times. There’s something about the quiet nights, sunsets, and escape from all the busyness back on the mainland that makes it special. I’ve also learned to never take my warm showers, cozy bed, and tasty dinners back at home for granted, that’s for sure.

View of Ship Island from one of the blinds

As for our terns, we’re seeing more fledglings every day and still even some newly hatched chicks. We’ve continued our predator control efforts up until the very last minute. It’s especially important now that we have chicks because they’re an easy catch if they’re not hidden well in the vegetation. It seems that the peregrine is coming more frequently because of this. Sometimes we see it over 4 times in one day!

Common Terns hangin’ out

It’s been an eventful year on Ship, and it’s sad to see it come to an end. Soon our terns will be departing for their long southern migration and will return again next spring! Hopefully next year there will be less disturbance and more chicks! Thanks for letting me share our research and island experiences with you, and thanks for reading!

-Amanda

One of our last sunsets on Ship!

The beginning of the end

The milky way over PMI, photo by Jenna Lutes

This past week on PMI has transformed from a tern chick takeover to flight school for fledglings. Over the past few weeks during our feeding studies we could observe our tern chicks flapping their feather-less wings, or at least attempting to. As time passed and they gained more feathers this flapping became a very large jump… and typically a crash landing. However their practice has paid off, our skies are now filled with fledglings getting ready for their migration. As exciting as this is the crew is now racing the clock to band as many chicks as possible before everyone is flying away.

PMI crew each holding a tern fledgling during a banding sweep.

We also have a few brand new additions to our island family. Last week we found our first Leach’s Storm Petrel chick. LHSP chicks will be brooded by their parents for up to twelve days and after that the adults will only come back every other day and can be gone for up to 3 days based on weather. They will stay in their burrows till they fledge at about 8-9 weeks of age.

Leach’s Storm Petrel chick (Oceanodroma leucorhoa)

We also found our first Razorbill chick last week and were able to grub him from the burrow on Friday. As of right now we only know of the one chick, but we are hoping to find more. This little bundle of fuzz will head out to sea with its dad at around 18-20 days old!

Our Razorbill chick (Alca torda), we have decided to name it Jasper

As our tern chicks begin to fledge and the rest of our sea bird chicks put their work into growing so they can head out to sea; we have one more member of our island family preparing to leave. One of our fellow island techs Micaela Griffin (known for her love of puffins and stellar gopro skills) will be leaving us this Friday. We hope you have enjoyed her blog posts as much as we have, she will be missed as we finish the next two weeks here on PMI. Much like many of our birds this is her first island season, and we are so proud of how easily she adapted to island life and field work.

Micaela weighing a puffin chick on puffin point

That’s all for now!

-Kelby Leary on PMI

 

The Lingering Effects of a Nocturnal Predator

It has already been over two weeks since the Great Horned Owl roamed the surface of Ship Island looking for a late-night snack. You would think that over time, the terns would settle down and begin to behave “normally.” But that’s not the response we’re seeing. Even today most of the colony begins to sweep high above the island soon after sunset, then disappear quietly out over the ocean. It seems that small numbers do come back to warm their chicks and eggs, but the majority aren’t seen again until sunrise.

The owl caused full colony abandonment during the nights on the island. This occurred for over a week straight, which might have led to some long-term effects on chick physiology. Many of the eggs didn’t end up hatching since they weren’t incubated during the nights. But, some eggs were still able to make it. Typically, eggs hatch after 21-23 days of incubation. With the owl disturbance, incubation length increased, which is why our chicks arrived slightly behind schedule.

Although we have many healthy chicks all around the island, there are a select few that are showing what we assume to be the negative consequences of this over-exposure to the cold and wet nights on a Maine island. When terns incubate, they are constantly rotating the eggs around. This allows for even nutrient and heat distribution throughout the egg as well prevents the embryo from sticking to the shell, allowing it to float in the middle and develop successfully. Without this constant rotation, it’s possible that the chicks could have developed certain physical defects.

 

Chick with one defective leg

Chick with two defective legs

Not only are we seeing odd chick appearances, but we are also seeing a huge change in colony behavior. The terns have been extremely sensitive to any presence that might seem or sound threatening. This even includes species that are not considered predators. In order to protect themselves, terns often mob, dive-bomb, or attack the predator. They also might flee, just as they did with the owl. Their actions depend on the level they feel threatened themselves versus how threatened their young are. We’ve observed terns going after Common Eiders, Dowitchers, and Harbor Seals. They were even frightened by the sound of a nearby fishing boat. Although we can see that these species are here to do no harm, it’s still good to see the terns working hard and being extra protective.

These actions displayed by the tern colony isn’t uncommon among populations who are or were at risk of nocturnal predation. In fact, it has been witnessed in several other Common Tern studies where owls were present. Looking at a well-known colony observed by Monomoy NWR in particular, you can read how they experienced very similar results years ago (Nisbet and Welton, 1984).

It’s amazing how a single bird can influence an entire colony in only a few days. This owl left an impression on the terns to last the entire season. The fate of this years fledgling was greatly altered and we can only hope that next year the colony works to make up for this years loss.

On a better note, we’re still waking up to a few more chicks every day, and we’ve already seen a few fledge! Based off of our provisioning efforts and weight measurements, our current chicks are growing at a steady rate and being fed a healthy diet, which mostly consists of Atlantic Herring. Some chicks are being fed so much that they actually have to lose weight in order to lift themselves off the ground and fly! We’re glad to finally start seeing our chicks transform into successful adults!

One of my healthy provisioning chicks. Not quite ready to fledge yet!

Chicks that were recently born. Only a couple days old!

Only one more week until the island closes. This season really flew by! I’ll keep you updated on any more unusual or exciting events happening on Ship!

-Amanda

Approaching Flight

Measuring wing chord on a black guillemot chick

It’s hard to believe that we only have one week left on Metinic Island. It seems like yesterday that we arrived in the chilly May weather.  As we count down the days, we have been busy collecting our last stretch of data before the birds too leave the island.  The terns that just hatched weeks ago are taking flight from our productivity plots. The forage fish held out during July and we are expecting a high rate of overall survival. The black guillemot chicks in our study burrows are also doing well. We have been monitoring their weight and wing growth since hatching. Black guillemots tend to gain lots of weight before they shift to wing growth. The chick pictured here is 278 grams and has a wing chord of 84 millimeters.

Black guillemot chicks attempting to hide in their shallow burrow.

The last few days have been plagued with fog which means limited work out with the birds. But we have been keeping busy from the cabin entering all the data we have collected into excel spreadsheets and Microsoft databases. We have also had to keep an extra eye on the window as the number of nuisance sheep has increased to seven! Herding them away from the tern colony has become a daily routine.  Tomorrow we are greatly looking forward to a day trip out to Seal Island to see some puffins!

Cheers to a wonderful season!

Ravin

Arctic tern chick approaching fledging!

Chicks are Ready for Takeoff at Metinic!

Hello again from Metinic!

We have just two weeks left here on the island, and it has been amazing how much things have changed since we got here.  Most of our little fluffy chicks have grown in actual feathers and some of them have even begun to fledge!  It has been a truly unique experience being able to watch them develop from an egg to a bird that will make a journey all the way down to Antarctica.

A box of common tern chicks waits patiently as we weigh and record other prod plot chicks.

We have also been busy monitoring our black guillemot burrows and marking their location on our GPS.  They have also grown a lot, some weigh over 200 grams!  Sometimes when we approach a burrow, the adult is in the burrow with the chicks and we band the adult as well.  They require a bit more force to handle than the chicks, we need to use both hands when handling them!

Ravin with an adult black guillemot

In other news, as our large crop of wild strawberries begins to dwindle down, we anxiously await the ripening of the wild blueberries, raspberries and blackberries that litter the island.  We ordered a few mason jars from the mainland in hopes of making wild berry jam!

Till next time,

 

Aya