Week 10: August 3rd-August 9th

I'm not sure how we got here, but we blinked, and it's Week 10 of our survey! For some who have at least two weeks with no activity (burrow visits, PGs on the water with prey, or PGs congregating in the nearshore), this will be the last survey week of the season. More colonies than not, however, are still going fairly strong. Whether you have activity or not, this is a good time to check in with your survey coordinator so that they have an idea of where things stand with your colony. 

Week 9 definitely came with a twist! Those in the northern regions found themselves facing a tsunami advisory, but fortunately, nothing big came to pass, and all was well. Whew!

I took a peek this morning at survey entries across the network, and found at least two accounts of fledglings sited on the water, two at Burfoot Park (South Sound) and one at Fort Casey North (Whidbey)! Yay! It's always exciting to see the fruit of two diligent PG parents labor, making countless trips up to the burrow with prey--proof of success. I hope most of you will have the chance to see fledglings on the water in the upcoming weeks as well. Keep your eyes peeled!

At Shore Meadows, there was some sad news. Surveyors witnessed an adult PIGU push a dead chick and eggshell out of a burrow during the survey, and the chick was collected afterwards. Whidbey coordinator, Lee Badovinus, picked up the chick and called WDFW veterinarian, Katie Haman, as our protocol recommends. Katie advised that no testing was required and the chick could be put back out on the beach and returned to nature, which Lee did with care. Current guidance is that the state will not test birds unless they fit into the categories of endangered or greatest concern, or if multiple birds are found dead in the same local area. Please see our webpage on what to do if you find dead or sick birds on the beach, for more information. 

In my data dive, I also came across a few more accounts of intense flurries of activity (as reported last week), with PGs flying repeatedly to the bluff in groups, ledge sitting, and making multiple visits to burrows. One of those was reported by Cathi Bower at the Glendale colony (Whidbey). Cathi sent along these photos of PGs sitting in the mouth of their burrow:

Jane Jones recounted some interesting PG behavior at her Manzanita colony on Bainbridge Island, in which groups of PGs seem to hang around and congregate after chicks have hatched. Jane says, "it seems like we always get more birds hanging around after the chicks have hatched and deliveries are happening. They'll do a sort of cheering call when one of the parents brings a fish to the nest; maybe the birds that aren't breeding that year (despite the plumage) act as spectators?" I love her description of a cheering call and I can hear in my mind exactly what that sounds like--the PGs really do have an air of excitement when two take flight to deliver a prey (the fish deliverer and the wingman, of course). Have you all witnessed this as well? Here is a pic from that day. Jane calls this a PIGU pool party. ​ 

​At Walnut Road, in the South Sound, we observed a curious non-disturbing disturbance (nothing to record!). We arrived at our colony to see a row of geoduck harvesting boats dotting the water in front of our colony. The divers were positioned directly under the area where the guillemots congregate and the whole operation was very loud. Our guillemots did not appear to be phased. They continued to socialize, play water games, and float about like nothing was amiss. What struck us as different, however, were the prey deliveries. During this survey, PGs did not hold fish for any length of time in front of us. They also did not take off with wingmen and wind around in large circles. Instead, they flew in singly, with their prey, from somewhere beyond the boats, directly up into the burrow. You can imagine we really had to be on our guard--ready to spot prey and incoming birds at a moment's notice! Talk about a test of our prey ID'ing abilities!  

Frances Wood encountered an unusual disturbance at Langley Marina, when someone walked through the survey area with goats--and we all know that goats are not quiet! That's a new one!

Finally, a photography reminder: I've been asking you all to send me your amazing photos of PIGU happenings throughout the season to help me tell the story of our Salish Sea Guillemots, and as a way to connect all of us together in this shared effort. You have really delivered, and it's been a joy to see the PIGU personalities, behaviors, and fun moments so perfectly captured in your snaps. I've been remiss in setting guidelines, however, so better late than never! I hope it goes without saying that we always want to be respectful of the birds when we're taking photographs and not become a disturbance to their breeding behavior ourselves. It's likely that the reflections in our large pieces of glass could put them off and cause stress. So please be sure to be mindful and watch that you're not being aggressive in your zeal to capture exciting photos (as a photographer myself, I know this can be hard!). We should also limit camera use during surveys so that we don't cause changes in behavior, extra long prey holding times, and most importantly, so we don't miss any activity! If you bring your camera on a survey, keep it tucked away as much as possible and consider saving photography for outside of the survey hour. We understand that sometimes special events or interesting behaviors during a survey warrant a photo, so please just be thoughtful in how you go about it. 

Okay, that said, let's close out with a few fun photos from Lac Pope and Hillary Smith. :) 

The view on a choppy water day:

Sculpin up!

Another non-disturbing disturbance? A PIGU lands with prey right next to bald eagles on Protection Island (not part of our survey, but still!). Are PIGU braver on Protection Island, or are eagles not as big of a disturbance? Hillary suspects that maybe the eagles have so many other choices, that they're not a concern? No matter the reason, it's interesting stuff!

More Protection Island PIGU, bringing in their prey:

Take care, all, and happy surveying this week!