We have started setting up for the 2012 field season. We arrived on island on the 13th and started setting up the house and getting the new staff settled. There is some winter damage from water coming in around the chimney and the gable vent on the East wall. Someone tampered with our solar system and the batteries are dead. We are exploring fixes right now. I am hoping we can get them charging and get through the season without having to replace them. We will know in a few days. Luckily we have another small system we use for the water pump and it was fully charged when we arrived on island. This is the first time since the project started that our equipment has been tampered with after closing up for the winter.
There are lots of terns around. No Roseates as of wednesday, but well over 2000 Common Terns on and around Seavey. The gull numbers are a little bit higher and it seems like they are farther along than usual. I heard second hand that there were gull chicks a couple of weeks ago. I’ll find out more over the next week. More to come soon…

We have received information back that the Roseate Tern with the British Trust for Ornithology band was banded in Ireland. The bird was banded as a chick on July 1, 2009 on Rockabill Island, the largest Roseate Tern colony i​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​n Europe. Here is a link to the Rockabill Seabird Project. The BTO has posted information on their blog. It is extremely rare to find Roseate Terns from Europe in the United Stat​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​e​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​s​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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This is a photo of Rockabill Island taken from Wikipedia-jaqian from Dublin, Ireland.

The majority of the terns have fledged and we are starting to see birds from other islands coming in to forage and spend the night. We are seeing Roseate Tern fledglings from the northern islands and from as far south as Faulkner Island in Connecticut and Great Gull Island in New York.  A Roseate Tern band was read the other day that was issued from Britain.  I am waiting to hear back regarding the details of that bird being banded.

The weather is beautiful and the fish seem plentiful.  The mackeral have moved in.  A great treat for the terns.  They seem to favor them when they are available.  We are still seeing a good amount of courtship and a new Roseate Tern nest was found 2 days ago.  It is getting late to have faith in the egg hatching, but crazier things have happened.  The shorebirds are slowly moving South.  Small groups of “Peeps” zip past the island a few times a day.  The Ruddy Turnstones are back and cleaning up the eggs that have not hatched and we are seeing large chicks that have been abandoned by their parents.  It seems to happen when large groups of chicks fledge from an area.  The adults move on with the group and the chicks stay, unable to fend for themselves.  We are hoping that the worst is over.  All-in-all things are great.  We hade the larget number of Common Tern Nests, the Roseates are about the same and productivity was good for both species.  It is hard to believe that the season will be winding down over the next few weeks.

It has been an incredibly warm few weeks. Yesterday reached 95+ at the lighthouse and today was 86. Yesterday was one of the hottest days I have spent out here since I started on the project. The vegetation is drying up due to the lack of rain but luckily, the majority of the tern chicks are now flying. The rocks are peppered with fledglings. A quick estimate has us at around 9000 Common Terns, including the newly fledged chicks. We have a few more nests to finish up and the A-Wave will be complete. We can then finalize our productivity numbers.

There were a number of shorebirds today, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones and Whimbrels. The RUTU’s were gone for a number of weeks but there were at least 12 today. We are still seeing Black Guillemots landing up on the rocks of White and Seavey Islands. More so this year than I would wager in all years past, combined, since I started in 1998.

We have been busy with visitors over the past 3 days. On Thursday Melissa and I went over to SML where Melissa led a presentation on our restoration effort for 2 high school classes, Marine Environmental Science and Whales, Seals and Sharks. MES came over on Thursday directly following the lecture. We were able to get everyone who was interested into the blind and the lighthouse. We captured an adult and 3 chicks and banded them to demonstrate to the class the banding procedure. The WSS class was almost a carbon copy of the MES class, except that everyone had visited the blind prior to the pick-up boat arriving. A little more time was scheduled for the WSS class and it was a good choice. Today Chris’ parents came out for a visit. They came this morning on the 7:30 Uncle Oscar to Star Island. Chris, Emily and I went over to pick them up while Melissa and Jojo were in the blinds. Chris had a nice visit with his parents and they treated us to ice cream at the snack bar on Star Island, just before they had to leave on the 3:30 boat. After a nice swim we made dinner and enjoyed the sunset as the temperatures started to drop.

We are preparing for the 15th season of the Tern Restoration Project.  Melissa and I have hired help for the summer and are looking forward to getting out to the islands and see how the house and lighthouse weathered the winter.  Currently we are looking for a new boat to use to shuttle around the islands.  We had to retire the big Avon, last year.  The bottom was separating from the pontoons and the seams were starting to wear through.  It didn’t help when we put a hole in the floor as we were trying to get it out of the water when an unexpected storm surge came in the middle of August.  We are hoping to make a trip out at the end of the month or early in May.  Updates to follow.

The first tern chicks have officially become fledglings. We have been suspecting that one or two may have taken to the air over the passed few days but Melissa saw one flying around today. The birds are progressing quickly and we will likely see the majority of chicks fledging well before the end of the month. The weather has been great. Maybe a little too great. We are in desperate need of rain, as the rest of the area seems to be. The grasses are dying and the leafy vegetation is not growing. The tern chicks seem to be able to hide under a blade of grass and they blend in with the dead vegetation so they should be able to avoid detection form most of the avian predators.