I've just completed the 1st week of this rotation on MSI and there's been no rousing surprises.
The RAZORBILLS & COMMON MURRES are long gone.
PUFFINS are still present but dwindling daily. I guesstimate that upwards of 200 active nests remain.
I've been seeing 1 or 2 Pufflings around the lighthouse each night and certainly there are other fledgings leaving the island with each dark.
LEACH'S STORM PETRELS are just beginning to show sheathed feathers through their down.
The RAZORBILLS & COMMON MURRES are long gone.
PUFFINS are still present but dwindling daily. I guesstimate that upwards of 200 active nests remain.
I've been seeing 1 or 2 Pufflings around the lighthouse each night and certainly there are other fledgings leaving the island with each dark.
LEACH'S STORM PETRELS are just beginning to show sheathed feathers through their down.
Adults are around nightly but there hasn't been a real "petrel night" since I arrived.
UPDATE: I left a large catch-tray outside overnight to fill with rain water and soak off some dirt. It was full and ready to be rinsed and dumped this morning when a petrel emerged from under the boardwalk, exactly where, and seconds before, I tipped the tray of soapy water.
It was an already wet WILSON'S STORM PETREL that didn't need detergent further compromising its waterproofing.
It's now drying and resting in the basement, awaiting release shortly.
HERRING & GREAT BLACK BACKED GULLS are over abundant with several thousand attending the island and surrounds at any given moment. They are a nuisance around the lawns and boardwalks with 200-500 congregating if left undisturbed. Sometimes it is just for a sheltered, secure roosting place but they find copious amounts of earth worms at night and on wet days so that only serves to encourage them.
DC CORMORANTS are occasionally plentiful close into the island and occasionally ashore for a round of wing drying. They, as well as some GANNETS and a sprinkling of GREAT SHEARWATERS seem to be drawn to a bit of food in the nearby tidal currents.
A couple of FLICKERS paused overnight on the weekend but none since. They should soon arrive in numbers.
Shorebirds are thin on the ground, too. Small groups of SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, likely totaling no more than 50 birds, can be found, while the odd RUDDY TURNSTONE, WILLET or PEEP shows briefly. Still a couple of SPOTTED SANDPIPERS around.
Raptors haven't been very notable: 2 PEREGRINES one day and a third one the following day; 1 HARRIER, 2 MERLINS & 1 KESTREL, each on their own day.
The EAGLES which haunted for weeks this summer seem to have curtailed their visits now that the easy pickings with Alcids and Eiders has ended.
COMMON EIDERS are evident in small number. Whether residual MSI residents or new-comers is impossible to know but I suspect that they are the remainder of our summer breeders and will be replaced by a winter crew later this fall.
Songbird variety and number are sparse, dominated by the resident SAVANNAH SPARROWS and two RAVENS, the presumed pair that are pretty much winter residents each year.
There's been a handful of COWBIRDS; youngsters and females. Likewise with RED WINGED BLACKBIRDS represented by perhaps 4 individuals.
Those "blackbirds" appear to have mostly vacated in wake of the passing weather.
A single BLACK & WHITE WARBLER on Thursday last was only the second warbler that I had seen. The first was a freshly minted male YELLOW WARBLER that appeared Wednesday.
This morning (Friday) after about 24 hours of rain, drizzle and dense fog, the island was dripping with that fresh, after-the-storm stillness.
I spotted a bright male HOODED WARBLER before I poured my first coffee. It was perched under our solar panel array, spying for insects with ideal feeding conditions: early morning sunshine, virtually windless and warm temperature.
Playing on a hunch, I made my way along the front of the solar array and caught the Hoodie feeding. I photographed it with a big, fat Bluebottle-type fly.
That's the fourth time in 5 years that I've photographed a male Hooded Warbler on exactly the same rock with the same prey in its beak.
I spent a late morning hour checking the most inviting habitat and discovered a couple YELLOW WARBLERS; 1 probable female BLACK THROATED GREEN WARBLER; several OVENBIRDS; a handful of unidentified warblers and one unidentified Thrush.
Late today 4 different EASTERN WOOD PEWEES have appeared, taking advantage of the late afternoon and evening conditions to snare some of the abundant flies around the buildings and boardwalks.
GREY SEALS are abundant around the island although nearly all use adjacent Gull Rock as a haul-out instead of MSI. The exceptions tend to be younger seals, such as the 2 half grown pups that I ran across while wandering the southern shoreline today.
HARBOUR SEALS seem down in number this summer. I expect to see an occasional newborn pup or even a birthing but I didn't catch either this year.
Adult sightings are sparse, as well.
I glimpsed a single bat a few nights ago and the other lightkeeper reported that one landed on a window around mid-morning today. I suspect that they are migrants and the species are unknown but now any bat sighting is notable.
UPDATE: I left a large catch-tray outside overnight to fill with rain water and soak off some dirt. It was full and ready to be rinsed and dumped this morning when a petrel emerged from under the boardwalk, exactly where, and seconds before, I tipped the tray of soapy water.
It was an already wet WILSON'S STORM PETREL that didn't need detergent further compromising its waterproofing.
It's now drying and resting in the basement, awaiting release shortly.
HERRING & GREAT BLACK BACKED GULLS are over abundant with several thousand attending the island and surrounds at any given moment. They are a nuisance around the lawns and boardwalks with 200-500 congregating if left undisturbed. Sometimes it is just for a sheltered, secure roosting place but they find copious amounts of earth worms at night and on wet days so that only serves to encourage them.
DC CORMORANTS are occasionally plentiful close into the island and occasionally ashore for a round of wing drying. They, as well as some GANNETS and a sprinkling of GREAT SHEARWATERS seem to be drawn to a bit of food in the nearby tidal currents.
A couple of FLICKERS paused overnight on the weekend but none since. They should soon arrive in numbers.
Shorebirds are thin on the ground, too. Small groups of SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, likely totaling no more than 50 birds, can be found, while the odd RUDDY TURNSTONE, WILLET or PEEP shows briefly. Still a couple of SPOTTED SANDPIPERS around.
Raptors haven't been very notable: 2 PEREGRINES one day and a third one the following day; 1 HARRIER, 2 MERLINS & 1 KESTREL, each on their own day.
The EAGLES which haunted for weeks this summer seem to have curtailed their visits now that the easy pickings with Alcids and Eiders has ended.
COMMON EIDERS are evident in small number. Whether residual MSI residents or new-comers is impossible to know but I suspect that they are the remainder of our summer breeders and will be replaced by a winter crew later this fall.
Songbird variety and number are sparse, dominated by the resident SAVANNAH SPARROWS and two RAVENS, the presumed pair that are pretty much winter residents each year.
There's been a handful of COWBIRDS; youngsters and females. Likewise with RED WINGED BLACKBIRDS represented by perhaps 4 individuals.
Those "blackbirds" appear to have mostly vacated in wake of the passing weather.
A single BLACK & WHITE WARBLER on Thursday last was only the second warbler that I had seen. The first was a freshly minted male YELLOW WARBLER that appeared Wednesday.
This morning (Friday) after about 24 hours of rain, drizzle and dense fog, the island was dripping with that fresh, after-the-storm stillness.
I spotted a bright male HOODED WARBLER before I poured my first coffee. It was perched under our solar panel array, spying for insects with ideal feeding conditions: early morning sunshine, virtually windless and warm temperature.
Playing on a hunch, I made my way along the front of the solar array and caught the Hoodie feeding. I photographed it with a big, fat Bluebottle-type fly.
That's the fourth time in 5 years that I've photographed a male Hooded Warbler on exactly the same rock with the same prey in its beak.
I spent a late morning hour checking the most inviting habitat and discovered a couple YELLOW WARBLERS; 1 probable female BLACK THROATED GREEN WARBLER; several OVENBIRDS; a handful of unidentified warblers and one unidentified Thrush.
Late today 4 different EASTERN WOOD PEWEES have appeared, taking advantage of the late afternoon and evening conditions to snare some of the abundant flies around the buildings and boardwalks.
GREY SEALS are abundant around the island although nearly all use adjacent Gull Rock as a haul-out instead of MSI. The exceptions tend to be younger seals, such as the 2 half grown pups that I ran across while wandering the southern shoreline today.
HARBOUR SEALS seem down in number this summer. I expect to see an occasional newborn pup or even a birthing but I didn't catch either this year.
Adult sightings are sparse, as well.
I glimpsed a single bat a few nights ago and the other lightkeeper reported that one landed on a window around mid-morning today. I suspect that they are migrants and the species are unknown but now any bat sighting is notable.
Maine birds mailing list
maine-birds@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/bf8ae2e5-07a4-47f7-a5b0-338f7d17e666%40googlegroups.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment