[obol] FWD: OSU's Common Murre studies at Yaquina Head--6/24 Update

From: Range Bayer <range.bayer@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Lincoln Co. Birding & Nature Observing" <LCBNO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:32:57 -0700
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Suryan, Rob <rob.suryan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 5:16 PM
Subject: Common murre studies at Yaquina Head
To:  [many]

Hi All,

The crew is back out at Yaquina Head again this year and looking
forward to adding another year to the time series.  Lucila (Lu)
Fernandez is an Environment for the Americas intern working with OSU,
USFWS, and BLM and will be providing updates as the season progresses.
  Her first update is pasted below.  Thanks for your interest in the
project,

Rob



Hi all!

OSU's 2014 seabird studies at Yaquina Head resumed the last week of
May. We're on site about five days a week and started tracking over
200 breeding pairs of murres within twelve plots, split evenly between
Colony Rock and Flat Top Rock. As in the past, our main studies focus
on the bottom-up (prey) and top-down (predator) impacts on the
breeding success of Common Murres.

So far Colony and Flat Top Rocks both suffer from frequent
disturbances from Bald Eagles. Disturbances by eagles are occurring
daily. The north end of Colony Rock and much of Flat Top Rock are most
affected.  In the first week of observations, we witnessed one gull
take approximately 15 eggs within 10 minutes! This trend is similar to
those of past years, where the north end of Colony Rock is so
disturbed that no eggs are to be found. Fortunately, so far the murres
nesting on the south end of Colony Rock have been disturbed very
little.  Unfortunately not so for Flat Top Rock, which used to be the
"safe haven" compared to Colony Rock.  Of the 100 pairs being
monitored on Flat Top, only 12 still have eggs to protect. These
remaining eggs are all in a single plot, near the top of the rock. The
rest of Flat Top was repeatedly flushed and subsequently cleared of
eggs by turkey vultures and gulls, causing widespread nest failure.
Nests on Colony Rock seems to be more successful at avoiding
infiltration by predators.  Of 103 murre eggs being tracked in plots
on Colony Rock, 65 pairs look to be still incubating eggs.  No chicks
have been sighted yet, but many of these eggs should be near hatching
and it shouldn't be too much longer!  Let's hope that the remaining
murres continue to hang tight on those eggs and chicks so that we can
get some prey data!

Reports from Mexico and California indicate that the Brown pelicans
have abandoned breeding attempts, started moving northward earlier
than usual, and may be arriving on the Oregon coast sooner than
expected. Evidence of this trend has been observed by YHONA park staff
and our crew. Flocks of Brown pelicans have been observed flying over
Colony Rock, while others were perched nearby.  Additionally we are
seeing a lot of Heermann's Gulls along the coast and offshore for so
early in the season.

The season is still very much in progress. If you haven't already, we
hope that you can visit Yaquina Head to watch the drama unfold.

Cheers,

Lucila Fernandez
Ian Throckmorton
Jessica Porquez
Alessandra Jimenez-Yap
Amanda Gladics
Rob Suryan
________________________________


OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol
Manage your account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/obol
Contact moderators: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[obol] FWD: OSU's Common Murre studies at Yaquina Head--6/24 Update

Other related posts:
