Week 7: July 14th - 20th
Hello SSGN and happy Week 7!
I hope everyone fared well last week in the intense heat, including our PIGU! According to the data submitted, the heat did not stop prey deliveries. It was another busy week of provisioning, with 81 observed deliveries documented so far. I expect we'll see a steady stream at many colonies through the next two weeks, although some may notice a slowdown. The literature has the age of PIGU chick fledging ranging between 36-41 days of age, so it's possible that this will start happening in the next week, if it hasn't already, at the earliest of colonies.
To follow up on some of the open items from our last meeting, I have placed the revised PIGU Counting Strategies and Guideline and PIGU Counting Graphic on our website in the Survey Toolbox. Give them a look and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out!
I have also come up with an idea for our End of Season Celebration that I think could be fun to try this year. I would like to make a video montage of photos and videos from as many different colonies as possible. My idea is to get a photo or selfie of each colony team with their colony bluff or structure in the background. I would love it if some teams decide to make a quick video selfie of their team and bluff or a quick video of something interesting on their beach/bluff. I can also intermix fun PIGU photos or other short video clips from the season. This will take the place of regional check-ins this year. For folks who would still really like to share a story, we can have a sort of open mic at the end of the evening with any extra time. Please send submissions to me at guillemotresearch@gmail.com.
In other news, the South Sound region was featured in the Thurston County online newspaper, The Jolt, this last week! I should note that I did not assist the author, George Walter, in writing the piece, but I did provide him with photos of South Sound PIGU. I was really appreciative that George wanted to feature our PIGU survey as an example of a citizen science success story and bring awareness to our community. You can read his article here: https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/our-marine-neighbors-pigeon-guillemots,16317?inf_contact_key=5c007be8d5a2ae6efd1a48b57c6cfca309c74070ac2bf3cfa7869e3cfd4ff832
I'll leave you today with some wonderful photos from the Rolling Bay Colony on Bainbridge Island, sent to me by photographer and surveyor, Sue Larkin. I love how these showcase a spectrum of PIGU aerial abilities, especially in the second photo! How did that little guy get completely upside down?? :D And how gorgeous is that first photo? Even with the presence of human constructs in the background, the beauty in nature is so evident. It calls to mind how important it is that we continue to monitor these special birds.
Wishing you all blissful mornings out on the beach with the PIGU!
— Shannon