As anticipated, the RAZORBILLS & MURRES left the island before the last storm subsided and there's been none on the island for three days past. If they follow the script, they could stay away for a while longer and return when the PUFFINS arrive.
The Puffin arrival date fluctuates. I've seen them here as early as April 5th to as late as April 28th. The first wave usually arrives in the space of little more than one day or even within a few hours. So far, I haven't seen a single Puffin.
There's been a few dozen Alcids loosely grouped some distance offshore from mid-afternoon today (Sunday) but it looked more like foraging activity, rather than pre-landing rafting, because they stayed pretty much in tide streaks where they often feed. It's nearly pitch dark and none are coming ashore.
Having said that; I wouldn't be surprised if the script changes because of all the environmental changes, such as generally poor food supplies, population changes and relatively poor reproduction for some species. Case in point: just like the Razorbills began charting their own breeding season, independent of the puffins, once they reached a certain population, so too, the Murres may be starting to diverge. I've noted that the Murres tend to stay on the island many of the days when the Razorbills completely leave.
Side Note: By count, 1283 Common Murres were seen on the island at one time last week. I think that could be less than 50% of the total number of Murres that are coming to the island nesting locations. I have no idea how many of those birds are actually breeding.
Saturday, and more especially Sunday, April 10th, the spring migration is more apparent.
Occasional CANADA GEESE have been passing but we greeted our first 5 on the island yesterday. They foraged and over-nighted.
Mid-morning today a singleton dropped down to rest and another 5 arrived shortly after. Oddly enough, while all of the geese foraged at least some, none were enticed by our lawns or paths, which are very green.
EDIT (20:00 hrs.): 5 Canada geese began foraging on our front lawn just before dusk. I'm assuming they are yesterday's arrivals only just finding the salad bar. These birds seem habituated to humans. Truly wild geese will flush if they even suspect there are "predators" around. I had to get within 50 feet before these would depart. In the brief time they were here they dropped over 200 "gifts". That's around 15 per hour, per bird.
Through the morning there was a fairly steady movement of SCOTERS, EIDERS, LOONS & GREAT BLUE HERONS.
One group of 5 Herons stopped to rest, first here on MSI and then moving to adjacent GULL ROCK.
That's typical for Herons in groups because we don't offer much in the way of food. It's usually a rest, a snooze, a preen, a stretch and away.
One of those today seemed to be doing extra feather maintenance and it gave an extended open-wing display, similar to the way that Cormorants dry their wings. Quite impressive with such a huge bird. Almost totem-like, sitting silhouetted at the very top of Gull Rock.
As evening arrived there were several hundred Eiders, in loose groups, all around the island, looking as if they might stay for the night.
HARLIQUIN DUCKS are still notable with probably 4 to 5 dozen hanging around. I'm expecting an exodus most any time but I'm seeing surprisingly little mating behavior, especially little male-on-male aggression, which is usually quite prevalent prior to their exodus.
An unfamiliar (and supposed migrant) young EAGLE cruised the area and settled on Gull Rock for a couple hours, much to the displeasure of the local gulls.
Early afternoon (Sunday) brought our first migrating PEREGRINE FALCON, an exceptionally large individual who's size and flight pattern brought momentary thoughts of GYRFALCON. Any doubts about the ID were dispelled when the she decided to make life exciting for a flock of some 50 PURPLE SANDPIPERS on the north side of Gull Rock. She was last seen headed towards Grand Manan, feeding on the wing. MSI Take Away food. (P. Sandpipers are a frequent target for wintering coastal Peregrines and a good size to eat without landing.)
By late afternoon at least 4 HARRIERS and 4 more Peregrines had appeared.
The first 2 Harriers were males and their initial run the length of the island, in tight formation, low and fast, was very falcon-like. Harriers seldom show any co-operative hunting and having two males together like that, however briefly, was exceptional. I suppose what looked like 15 seconds of co-operation was actually completion but it was still fun to see and it certainly terrorized the songbirds.
I saw one of the later Peregrines pulling some high-G turns over the shoreline but I couldn't spot its intended target. That falcon soon drew harassment from local gulls so it shifted to other targets in the form of "Little Brown Birds" being pursued by a Harrier near our patio.
The falcon came in hot and almost touching the grass.
The Harrier hovered over the patio and made twisting vertical drops.
Some prey froze, safe from the falcon but vulnerable to the Harrier. Some flushed from cover to cover. A lone, panicked MOURNING DOVE collided with the side of our house but flopped and scrambled under the boardwalk, barely escaping capture. (Seen later in apparent good health.)
The Harrier continued trying to flush the panicky songbirds for several minutes.
A few birds broke cover but escaped because the Peregrine kept trying to capitalize on the Harrier's work and kept butting in whenever a Harrier kill was eminent.
This was all playing out over several minutes, right outside my window, with the Peregrine sitting down briefly a couple times at less than 25 feet away and the Harrier hovering and dancing, sometimes within 4 feet of my window, as it tried to flush a Junco that was sitting tight just arm's length from me.
Eventually both predators slipped back into more typical hunting modes, with both eventually earning their dinner.
ROBINS are plentiful and they are getting lots of Night Crawlers as the lawns green up.
JUNCOS are nearly outnumbering SONG SPARROWS and there is a nice mix of other sparrows, including WHITE THROATED, SWAMP, TREE, SAVANNAH, CHIPPING, LINCOLN'S & our first (slightly early) LARK SPARROW.
A couple MOURNING DOVES have been around for nearly a week.
Black birds have increased somewhat to perhaps 2 dozen. We never see the big flocks which Mainland birders love feed so very much, but GRACKLES, RED WINGED BLACKBIRDS and occasional STARLINGS are being seen around the houses. So far, no RUSTY BLACKBIRDS but that's not surprising since they are rarely seen here before the warblers arrive.
Our biggest black birds, 2 RAVENS, have been around pretty much continuously, as is their habit, looking to benefit from the Alcid influx. (They scavenge and, frequently, engage in predatory behavior.)
So far there haven't been any CROWS observed. Unlike the Ravens, Crows move through quickly, with only rare individuals stopping more that a few minutes, maybe a couple hours.
GREY SEALS continue to build in number. There are more pups although no apparent locally born have been identified.
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