One for the Record Books

Much has changed on the island since I left for shore leave two weeks ago. The vegetation has matured and is beginning to brown, and more seabirds are occupying their respective nesting habitats. Brandt’s Cormorants are constructing feeble nest bowls with Farallon Weed, stealing their neighbors nest material at every chance. Males are now laying claim to their sites and have begun to advertise to prospecting females. Wings pitched outwards and shaking, neck cocked back, they display their rich blue gular pouches in hopes of enticing a mate.

Pigeon Guillemots are also increasing in numbers. Their high-pitched whistling calls audible over the chorus of screaming Western Gulls, growling Common Murres, and groaning pinnipeds. Pigeon Guillemots are crevice nesters, and can be found almost anywhere there’s a crevice on the island now. Their red mouths and white wing patches add another layer of contrast to the busy landscape.

Western Gulls are ramping up the volume of their alert calls, as a growing number of their nests now contain clutches of one to two brown speckled eggs (a few have maxed out with three). Soon we’ll have to dawn hard hats whenever leaving the protection of the PRBO House, to shield our skulls from the sharp pecks and heavy blows of gull beaks and breast bones.

Many of the shorebirds have flown the coop for their breeding season. Whimbrels, Black Turnstones, and Wandering Tattlers have decreased significantly in numbers. The most dramatic drop has been that of the Eared Grebe, from hundreds when I left to the teens now. Surf Scoters have become few and far between, and the Pacific Loons are finishing up their northern movements through the area.

Cassin’s Auklets are doing extremely well this year, almost all of the 402 nest boxes are occupied with mated pairs incubating eggs. They began breeding a few weeks earlier than average this season, with the first fluffy black puff-ball chicks found several days ago. Soon we’ll be up to the top of our “Extra Toughs” in Cassin’s chicks. As for the other Alcids, Rhinoceros Auklets and Tufted Puffins are settling in for the breeding season. A small number of the rhino boxes contain birds with eggs; we won’t see their chicks for another month or so. Common Murres are also popping out eggs, but much of the 500,000 plus birds still have a few weeks to go.

Normal breeding birds aside, we had one spectacular rarity visit the island that trumps all other rare bird sightings. Woke up the other morning, ate a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats garnished with strawberries, drained a voluminous amount of fluid from my nasal cavities, and headed out the front door for the morning sea watch. For sea watch, I set up a tripod and scope just outside the PRBO house, and stare at the ocean for five minutes noting any non-breeding birds that happen to fly by. This typically consists of Sooty Shearwaters, the occasional Black-footed Albatross, or Pacific Loons. This day, however, was exceptionally unique; during sea watch a Northern Gannet, a bird which only lives in the North Atlantic, flew through my field of view! The bright white bird with thick black primaries and cream colored head, similar to the Australasian Gannets I had seen in Australia, immediately caught my eye. Simply amazing. The team had sighted this bird last week during my shore leave, and I was hoping there was a chance it would still be around when I got back. Apparently a Northern Gannet was sighted last summer in the Bering Sea, possibly using the Northwest Passage as a route through the arctic when the polar ice cap melted. Who knows, given shifting climatic conditions Northern Gannets may be an increasingly common sight in the North Pacific in decades to come. Either way it’s a first for the Farallones and a first for me, so I’m stoked.