Week 5: June 30th - July 6th
Happy Monday, all!
Week 4 was such an eventful one, I don't know where to begin!
The highlight of the week had to be the wonderful Guillemot Appreciation Day Celebration put on by the Whidbey Survey Coordinators. Huge kudos to them for planning and hosting this awesome get together for all of us. I lost count, but the Ott and Hunter Wine Tasting Room was packed full of folks connected by their dedication to monitoring our lovable PIGU! In addition to Whidbey, surveyors came from East Jefferson, Kitsap-Bainbridge, and South Sound (myself!). We were treated to fabulous food, fun PIGU crafts (red PIGU feet!), a PIGU sing along, and a heartwarming video. Smiles and laughter abounded. I have so many photos to share that I've created a special section in the "Current Happenings" on our website just for this event. I'll also be posting the lyrics to the Pigeon Guillemot song written by Whidbey's Frances Vandal, along with a vid of us singing it in our loveliest voices. :D
Singing the Pigeon Guillemot Song. Photo by Govinda Holtby
I am excited to share with you this incredible poster that Cathi Bower made for the GAD Celebration. What I love about this is that it encourages us to think about other creative ways to express those things we observe and experience during our surveys and turn them into fun art and stories. This would also be a fabulous way to get out any musings or other observations you may have during the survey hour that don't fit in the notes section. We can get started by using tools such as Poetry of Place, Questioning Questions, Comparisons, Making a Diagram, and Soundscape Maps. If any of you already do this, I would love to see what you've made--if you're up for sharing! :) Thank you so much, Cathi, this is a treasure!!
Photo by Cathi Bower
I also have some fun news to share from the Fort Worden Pier in East Jefferson County. Lindsay reported that she and Amber took kayaks out to see what the PIGU were doing under the pier and found that two have shown interest in one of the old WDFW nest boxes, with one even caught sitting inside the box! We are hopeful that the PIGU will make good use of the boxes and produce some chicks this season! I can imagine how exciting it was for Lindsay and Amber to make that discovery last week. :D
Photo by Lindsay Kotzebue
And, in the South Sound, we had not one, but two PIGU in non-breeding plumage at Amsterdam Bay last week. One appears to be in transition, so perhaps this colony just has a tendency for late bloomers!
Photo by Shannon Boldt
One last thing before I go, I was speaking with some folks about an Oregon State Univ. PIGU nest box live stream and promised to share the link. Unfortunately, I don't know that it is supported any longer, but I did find this live cam in a Black Guillemot's burrow in Maine. Enjoy!
https://explore.org/livecams/national-audubon-society/guillemot-cam
Have a wonderful week out there, Guillemoteers!!
— Shannon