Week 11: August 16th - August 22nd
The late season is upon us, and every visit to our colonies brings a little more uncertainty about what we’ll find on arrival.
My team and I arrived last week to find all of our PIGU present and STILL dutifully bringing in fish. Following the survey we spied a chick sitting quietly in a burrow, and shortly thereafter, witnessed a parent fly up and up to deliver one more gunnel. I don’t know if you can make it out, but the adult has a small hole in the webbing of its right foot. Perhaps it got caught on a blackberry thorn? This seems to be a burrow that comes with a built in hazard! I hope the hole does not affect the guillemot’s ability to maneuver in the water or become any larger.
Diana O., who surveys at Mill Bight (South Sound), told me that her colony was very quiet this week. They had no visits to the bluff, but they could clearly see one bird “butt” in the mouth of their last active burrow. Even with the quiet, it was evident that someone was still home.
Erin, reporting on the Broken Tree colony (B.C.), arrived to a group of guillemots floating a little further from the bluff than usual, but still in front of the colony. They did not show interest in the bluff and Erin suspects they may be through with feeding. She also noticed that the birds are definitely heading into transition with their plumage.
Some of our guillemots are breeding in areas with significant shipping traffic. Erin took the second photo to document the recent uptick in large ships mooring and running their engines near the Valdes PIGU colonies. It always amazes me to see these little guys living and breeding amongst so much human pressure. They are adaptable birds and we hope they are able to find success in breeding despite all of the noise pollution and human disturbance. We know they already have enough against them between the eagles and peregrines! Human disturbance is one of the reasons we do what we do. Being present and documenting their breeding activities helps us fill in the puzzle pieces and support research that can hopefully answer some of these important questions.
Whidbey photog and surveyor, Lac Pope, reported a complete plummet in activity at his Hastie Lake colony last week. They’ll be closing down for the season. Lac is always on the search for guillemots though, and hopped on a boat to search for them. He spotted about a dozen fledglings/juveniles swimming by themselves a few hundred yards from shore, between the Keystone Harbor and Ebey’s Landing. He described them as diving and taking off on long “belly flights” close to the surface of the water. Fledglings are unable to fly well for the first 2-3 weeks after leaving their burrows, but they will try! A few of these newbies look like they’re are already starting to lose their dark caps. Deciphering who is who, between juveniles and adults, is about to get really tricky!
To illustrate how different activity from colony to colony can be, the Bainbridge Island, Rolling Bay crew, had an exciting survey last week. In addition to otters and osprey on the scene, the team was delighted to observe 7 prey deliveries over the hour (six gunnel and one sculpin)! Surveyor Sue Larkin also came across these two fledglings at Rolling Bay early the next morning:
Fledglings at Rolling Bay, Photo by Sue Larkin
I wonder, what did you see at your colonies last week? What will you arrive to this week? It’s definitely a bittersweet moment when we reach our colonies to find our guillemots have taken their leave. I’m always a little sad to see them go, but I’m happy to think of all the new guillemots paddling around in the world. It also makes me smile to know that they will be back, and before long, we’ll find ourselves preparing for the next season.
These are the updates I have for now! If you are still heading out to survey this week, please reach out and let me know what you are experiencing! I will continue writing survey updates as long as we still have a good chunk of folks out on the beach (or boat), recording PIGU breeding activity.
Before I go, if you haven’t already done so, please remember to take colony team selfies in front of your bluff, and send them to me (shannon@pigeonguillemot.org). I hope to represent as many colonies and smiling guillemoteer faces as possible in our end of season slideshow.
Thanks for your continued care and dedication to our beloved Pigeon Guillemots! We’re almost to the finish line!
With appreciation,
Shannon