After their first incursion Sunday night, the ALCIDS (RAZORBILLS & COMMON MURRES) vacated the island and surrounds until Tuesday afternoon. This coming and going at the outset of the breeding season, particularly related to weather, is expected.
They returned in swollen numbers yesterday (Tuesday) and proceeded to come ashore by midafternoon, somewhat earlier in the day than is usual.
Yesterday, too, some Razorbills landed at the North East section of the island. There were only perhaps a couple dozen and they were harassed by waiting gulls. Some others seemed discouraged by the gulls and only touched down briefly or orbited around and left.
Alcid arrivals and movements continued well into the evening, with some still flying when I could only see dark flitters.
My best guesstimate for the combined Razorbill/Murre numbers, both on land and water would be about 7,000 birds.
That, in my estimation, represents about half of the total that will be around once the season is in full swing. Of course, only a portion of that total will actually breed.
Perhaps to best thing about having the Razorbills (and Murres) segregated from the PUFFINS with these earlier arrivals is that it's possible to get a much better idea of each species' number. Until the Puffins arrive, it's relatively easy to separate the Razorbills and Murres, to see which locations each species prefer and make reasonable estimates of their populations. It's also quite easy to spot "prospectors" and "pioneers" as they explore beyond their established communities for potential nest sites.
It's a slow-motion real estate war.
The newbie Murres colonize Razorbill suburbs and their growing population pushes against the Razorbills, squeezing the Razorbills into what has been exclusively Puffin territory.
This, in turn, is pushing the Puffins further inland where the habitat is far less welcoming.
And just to aggravate the situation, predatory gulls tend to occupy the "penthouses"; the peaks of rocks and other elevations that are favored, even necessary, for the Alcids to land and take off. Without those elevated sites, potential nest areas can be "geographically undesirable".
While I've see lots of exceptions, when Puffins on MSI nest in wild habitat, they seem to prefer to be within a meter or two from a good, accessible, take-off spot.
Dawn revealed bare rocks, other than the scattered gulls standing picket, but that changed about 07:00 when the Alcids decided to make a mass entrance with the rising sun.
By 08:00, a lot were filtering away, but a lot had also been "underground" exploring nest sites and some were taking their ease, lounging on the rocks and interacting with their kin.
Virtually all were off the island by noon. Many are gone from sight but there are numerous flocks of a few dozen to a few hundred socializing close around the island.
Until a hour ago (14:00) I could still spot occasional birds emerging from their home inspections, standing around to discuss the neighborhood or winging off for lunch and meetings with their realtors.
Not much change with other birds, other than the arrival of a couple FOX SPARROWS and a few more (6?) RED WINGED BLACKBIRDS.
I'm still waiting for the first LARK SPARROW but they usually show up closer to May, along with our resident SAVANNAH SPARROWS.
-- They returned in swollen numbers yesterday (Tuesday) and proceeded to come ashore by midafternoon, somewhat earlier in the day than is usual.
Yesterday, too, some Razorbills landed at the North East section of the island. There were only perhaps a couple dozen and they were harassed by waiting gulls. Some others seemed discouraged by the gulls and only touched down briefly or orbited around and left.
Alcid arrivals and movements continued well into the evening, with some still flying when I could only see dark flitters.
My best guesstimate for the combined Razorbill/Murre numbers, both on land and water would be about 7,000 birds.
That, in my estimation, represents about half of the total that will be around once the season is in full swing. Of course, only a portion of that total will actually breed.
Perhaps to best thing about having the Razorbills (and Murres) segregated from the PUFFINS with these earlier arrivals is that it's possible to get a much better idea of each species' number. Until the Puffins arrive, it's relatively easy to separate the Razorbills and Murres, to see which locations each species prefer and make reasonable estimates of their populations. It's also quite easy to spot "prospectors" and "pioneers" as they explore beyond their established communities for potential nest sites.
It's a slow-motion real estate war.
The newbie Murres colonize Razorbill suburbs and their growing population pushes against the Razorbills, squeezing the Razorbills into what has been exclusively Puffin territory.
This, in turn, is pushing the Puffins further inland where the habitat is far less welcoming.
And just to aggravate the situation, predatory gulls tend to occupy the "penthouses"; the peaks of rocks and other elevations that are favored, even necessary, for the Alcids to land and take off. Without those elevated sites, potential nest areas can be "geographically undesirable".
While I've see lots of exceptions, when Puffins on MSI nest in wild habitat, they seem to prefer to be within a meter or two from a good, accessible, take-off spot.
Dawn revealed bare rocks, other than the scattered gulls standing picket, but that changed about 07:00 when the Alcids decided to make a mass entrance with the rising sun.
By 08:00, a lot were filtering away, but a lot had also been "underground" exploring nest sites and some were taking their ease, lounging on the rocks and interacting with their kin.
Virtually all were off the island by noon. Many are gone from sight but there are numerous flocks of a few dozen to a few hundred socializing close around the island.
Until a hour ago (14:00) I could still spot occasional birds emerging from their home inspections, standing around to discuss the neighborhood or winging off for lunch and meetings with their realtors.
Not much change with other birds, other than the arrival of a couple FOX SPARROWS and a few more (6?) RED WINGED BLACKBIRDS.
I'm still waiting for the first LARK SPARROW but they usually show up closer to May, along with our resident SAVANNAH SPARROWS.
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