We all met at the Rec Hall on Thursday. Thomas led everyone through some stretching, before a short run around town. Warmed up, we talked about seabird behavior, and then played seabird bingo! Everyone is so quick with species identification.
Marc came in and gave a great presentation about the Refuge’s seabird monitoring program, and how they collect data on productivity (how many chicks successfully fledge from each nest), and adult survival (using colored leg bands to identify individual birds).
It was cold and windy, but we braved the cliffs and split into three groups: one group did a kittiwake colony counting exercise; one group concentrated on seabird identification (we even spotted a crested auklet feeding in the water), and the other group filled in seabird behavior bingo cards (flying, preening, sleeping, mating, pooping, etc.). Everyone enjoyed time outside and watching the birds.
Maurice, Thomas, Karin, and Ann then talked about Rachael’s red-legged kittiwake tracking project, and looked at some of her maps showing where these birds go in the winter.
We were all amazed about how far they traveled, but also how similar many of the tracks were. We headed down to the cliffs to try to find some the banded birds from this study. Some of these birds are also still carrying geolocators. It’s important to know if these study birds survived the winter, and whether they will successfully breed this year.
We saw about five different birds with bands on, and will put more hours in next week. It was great being on the beach watching the birds. We saw a few pairs mating, and a good-sized feeding frenzy just off-shore with lots of kittiwakes and several puffins.
