[Maine-birds] MACHIAS SEAL ISLAND REPORT

  I was a bit late getting back to MSI this rotation, what with the holiday and fog delays. Nonetheless, I arrived on the island Friday and it's been decent weather straight through, including being bypassed by the wee tempest that hit parts of Maine and Grand Manan last night (Sunday).

  As expected, the birds are mostly limited to the breeding species although there have been 5 or 6 COWBIRDS hanging around and a handful of LAUGHING GULLS appear for a fly-by once or twice a day.
SHORT-BILLED DOWICHERS are daily with a few staying to feed. The largest flock that I've seen was about a dozen yesterday.
  Also yesterday, there was a single SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER checking out our "Seement Pond".

 

  The NORTHERN GANNETS have increased from the original singleton to three regulars spending considerable time perching on the rocks, among the Alcids. A rudimentary nest was observed amid the boulders, lending some support for the idea that these might be young birds, prospecting for future sites.

  Also seen briefly today was a very disorientated looking ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW that sought the safety of our roof. Perhaps it was a bit overwhelmed by the aggressive Terns.

  The SHARP-SHINNED HAWK that blundered onto the island a few hours behind the Swallow was definately the object of the Tern's attention. It too found our roof preferable to being mobbed in the air, even when I was only 6 feet away from its perch. After a few minutes the hawk launched into the waiting defenders and beat a hasty exit across the water.
Fortunately for the Terns, raptors have been staying away in recent weeks.

 

  On the breeding front, COMMON EIDERS are evident with a wide age-range of youngsters. The earliest are now 5-6 weeks old while the youngest are still in the shell.

 

  I haven't bothered to look for chicks but there are several SPOTTED SANDPIPERS acting decidedly parental. I expect the little teeter-tottering fluffballs to show up feeding around the lawn most any time now.

 

  LEACH'S STORM PETRELS are incubating eggs. Their whole cycle is very long but hatching should start within the next couple weeks and fledging in September.

 

  The ALCIDS are pretty much on schedule and in-coming food is increasingly evident. The 1st PUFFINS are about half way to fledging.

 

  The ARCTIC TERNS are doing quite well, albeit with some weather and predation losses. There's still lots of worrysome things with the still-small breeding number but (fingers crossed) we seem on track for a better fledging than last year.
Some of the earliest chicks are showing quite extensive feathering.

 

  BIRD OF THE DAY: a BLACK TERN trying to socialize with the Arctics. It's the first of that species that I've seen since about '05 when a couple were regular, unsuccessful nesters.

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