Hey all, Sorry for what is a bit of a long post, hope you find it worth it.
I got back from Eagle Island last night and decided to sum up my findings out there. Our goal was to put together a group of photographs of birds in their nests to create some educational material for the welcome center to explain a little more of the importance of why the island has a large number of trails that are closed and the importance of maintaining that important aspect of the island.
It was a rainy and very foggy day for most of it so visibility was limited and the species were hunkered down a bit. I stuck to the trails, most of which are closed through mid July. We limited proximity to, and duration near, any nests to limit disturbance of any moms and moms-to-be. Access to the south east side of the island was further limited due to the trails and the weather.
First off here are my counts.
Common Eider 227 (19 babies on the water 2 in a nest on land) Many nests still in process.
Double Crested Cormorants 23
Osprey 6 (3 nests all visible)
Black Guillemot 2 (I was hoping for more feathered friends from out in the waves, however the fog was too thick for most of the day)
Herring Gull 46* (2 babies) Many nests still in process
Great Black Backed Gull 25*
Common Tern 14 (this included 8 seen on or near Upper Flag Island on the way back in).
American Crow 2
Common Yellow Throat 4
Yellow Warbler 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Tree Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 2
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 3
American Black Duck 2
Song Sparrow 7
Great Blue Heron 8 (many visible as part of the nests described below)
Common Grackle 23
Brown Headed Cowbird 1
House Sparrow 2
American Goldfinch 5
Bank Swallow 3 (this one surprised me as I originally thought they were immature tree swallows but on closer examination they had a very well defined "collar" and were thinner than the trees that were over the opposite side of the point.)
* Underestimated for sure due to the sheer number of them constantly flying around. Hard to tell which ones I had seen so I purposefully kept the count down.
Some pictures have been posted HERE
Other observations:
There are many species that are nesting heavily out there now. Of them, the most prolific appears to be the Common Eiders. Almost everywhere you look in the interior of the island there are signs of nesting that is taking or has taken place. Egg shells litter the ground. We were literally walking on eggshells at times. Sadly, though, the rafts of eiders on the water spent their days defending the chicks in the group against marauding great black backed gulls, and it appears the gulls were winning.
Herring and Great Black Backed gulls follow closely behind. Along the edges of the coast line there are many nests visible. We only saw 2 Herring Gull chicks however we could hear more at a few other locations.
One pleasant surprise was the fact that there are apparently 8 heron nests on the island of which I could see 3 active from the trail and heard one more.All 4 of those were Great Blue nests. The others were reported by someone who had flown over the island doing a survey for the state. Apparently at least one of those may have been a Black Capped Night Heron however I did not see any of them there so I cannot confirm that rumor. I am not sure if the others are active or not but there was definitely quite a presence out there for such a small island.
The circle of life was apparent out there as well. In speaking with the rangers there has been a lot of predation of eiders by the gulls. I will say it was disconcerting to see so many eider egg shells and so few remaining chicks. We did find a few "pellets" that I believe were from a gull which contained the wings, feet, and head of some of the eiders. Some of the gulls have been preying on other gulls as well though, so I guess no one is safe out there
There were at least 4 dead mature herring gulls and one dead eider that were washed up around the shoreline. There was one herring gull nest that had been disturbed by something which had killed a chick and left a broken egg containing a nearly developed chick as well. There was also one herring gull that had a broken wing. And with regards to wings, there were several around the island that we noted (at least 6) which appeared to be from the same type of bird. It seemed odd to me that it only appeared to be from only one type of bird. I am researching them further and can let anyone who is interested know what I find.
Other signs of life(and death) on the island came in the form of a mink that has been seen (although not in the last week or so) that may be the cause of some of the mischief.
Also, 3-4 harbor seals were seen playing off the coast, and I do mean playing. One played with a lobster buoy for about 5 minutes. It kept charging at the pot and then splashing it, or it woudl grab the ropes and pull it around. Just before it was done it pulled the buoy under water completely and then let it shoot back up out of the water like a missile, with the seal soon following. Sadly there was also one dead seal pup on one of the beaches as well.
It was a great day to be out on the water (although today may have been better!) and enjoying the sights the Maine coast has to offer.
Cheers,
Rob O'Connell
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