Machias Seal Island
Long-Term Seabird Research and Monitoring
University of New Brunswick
Summary of 2009 Field Season
After a one-day weather delay, the 2009 field crew (Emily Tompkins (BA Macalester College) and Kirsten Bowser (ACWERN MSc candidate)) departed for the island with six extremely willing and helpful field volunteers aboard Captain Andy Patterson’s boat, Barbara Frost, on 12 May. The 2009 season would not have been possible without the help of the set-up, back-up, and take-down crews. Thanks to everyone!
Set-up Crew
(picture caption from top, left-right)
Tony Diamond (Principal Investigator, UNB)
Travis Bowser (Engineer in Training, Amec)
Becky Holberton (University of Maine)
Emily Tompkins (BA Macalester College)
Kirsten Bowser (ACWERN MSc candidate)
Liam Paull (UNB Engineering PhD candidate)
Kevin Fraser (UNB PhD candidate)
Marie-Paule Godin (UNB Forestry Technician)
Back-up Crew
Robin Hunnewell (PhD candidate, UNB) and
Travis Clarke (UNB Biology Technician)
Take-down Crew
Sarah Trefry (PhD candidate, UNB) and
James Hudson (MSc Geography, UBC)
Travis Clarke (UNB Biology Technician)
The seabird season…
It was another optimistic year for the terns. Although the birds prolonged their breeding failure streak into its fifth year, there was good tern presence on the island throughout the summer. There were 67 nests found within monitored areas, with an average clutch size of 1.23; most, if not all, were Arctic terns. Most eggs found within monitored plots were depredated the following day. Eggs that persisted in the nest were rarely incubated. In the first half of the season, terns (from 30 to 300 individuals) were often present on the island between 22h and 15h. However, on 22 July there was a drastic change as ~3000 birds were present on the island for the entire day. From 22 July until researchers departed on 14 August, terns were continuously present on the island (though in increasingly fewer numbers). Many birds were seen carrying fish and performing courtship displays. Researchers speculate that an abundant supply of herring was responsible for the return of the terns to MSI during the day.
It was a wonderful year for growing alcid chicks as adults were observed with billfuls of large herring. The mean length of prey items brought to chicks was well above average (8.4 cm), and the percent herring in the diet was the highest on record for puffins (88.5% by number) and second highest on record for razorbills (91.9%)! Puffin chicks grew at an amazing 10.7 grams/day – 2g/d higher than the previously recorded highest mass growth rate. All razorbill growth rates and puffin growth rate for wing chord and culmen fell within the average range. Similar to 2008, the mean laying and mean hatching for both puffins and razorbills was generally ‘early’.
Remarkably, only 86 puffin fledglings were caught at the lighthouse this season. This is a surprisingly low number (the 1995 to 2008 average is 275 birds). We may have missed a small number of fledglings as a result of coinciding work on the auk condition project, however, this does not account for the ‘missing’ 100-200 fledglings. One hypothesis surrounding the low numbers of fledglings found at the lighthouse is that the peak fledgling (4 August) was very close to the full moon (6 August), which made the ocean appear brighter than the lighthouse, thus attracting more birds straight to sea. In other years with low fledgling numbers (2001 and 2005) peak fledging (4 August and 14 August) was also in proximity to the new moon phase (4 August and 19 August).
Another pleasant occurrence this season was the numerous feeding flocks that formed around the island – a spectacle that has been largely absent in the last five years. Although researchers were not specifically scanning for them, the most seen on one day was 15 on 21 July.
Weather-wise, it was the wettest July on (our) records with a total of 161 mm of rain. Surprisingly, there were no flooded puffin burrows.
In addition to the alcids normally seen on MSI, a Dovekie (Alle alle) in moult was observed in the MSI bay from 30 July to 2 August. 
This season, Tony and Becky Holberton collaborated on an auk condition project (see photo on right). Tony and Becky visited the island in May, July, and August to collect blood samples from breeding puffins and razorbills.
A few notes on 2009 island life…
There were many logistical and material changes on MSI this season. The cistern that holds water (collected from the roof) was finally replaced. After years of water woes we were happy to have a constant supply of water at our fingertips. Additionally, flooring throughout the house was replaced and there was a new fridge and deep freezer installed. The old fridge was kept in the basement and used for sample storage.
Over the winter the turbine fell over and was destroyed. In early spring large machines were brought to the island to make new stabilizing platforms for a new turbine’s guy wires. Tracks from the machines were visible all along the north end. A small proportion of burrows were destroyed as a result. The new turbine was installed and functioning in the fall of 2009.Previously, researchers have used a bag cell phone to get into contact with the mainland. This year, the telephone companies converted from analogue to digital. As a result, there was no reliable phone service on the island. This caused problems for the researchers as well as the lighthouse keepers.
A gull-scaring device was lent by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to help reduce gull presence on the island. The device consisted of a car battery, a solar panel, an audio player and a set of speakers. The device played gull distress calls (from a variety of species) randomly every 10 minutes. The device was used only briefly on the island as it was delivered after the period it was intended to be used (before the birds arrived on the island), and we found it disturbed the auks at least as much as the gulls.
We deployed four motion-detecting cameras (designed for photographing birds at feeders) in 2009. The can be programmed to take photos or video. We attempted to document puffin chick feedings on these cameras but unfortunately the birds were too fast for the camera to capture.
2009 field crew Kirsten Bowser and Emily Tompkins
A film crew from Moncton came for a full day of shooting in August. Tony was around and was interviewed.
The French documentary is expected to be released in 2010.
We were disappointed to discover that the Maine Medical Center Research Institute had found that 2 ticks (out of 28) collected on MSI in 2007 tested positive for the genus Borrelia (to which the Lyme Disease organism belongs). This caused some concern for the 2009 field crew, but there is still no sign of Lyme disease on the island.
Kirsten Bowser completed her second field season for her MSc project on the seabird-related food web.
