All Hands Ecology staff and volunteers conducted the second of four annual waterbird counts on Tomales Bay in mid-January. The team of 17, including 11 volunteers, launched from the Marshall Boat Works in three boats and made a complete sweep of the bay over the course of the chilly but clear morning.
Approximately 19,400 waterbirds were counted, which is low relative to past seasons when as many as 35,000 birds could be seen. Highlights included the sighting of three Caspian Terns, a common sight on Tomales Bay in summer, but rarely seen in winter, and at least one Black Scoter, a lovely bird that is thought to be in decline. Bufflehead and Greater Scaup were most numerous (counted about 6,300 Bufflehead and 6,400 Scaup), and although gulls are counted during the Christmas Bird Count, they are not included in the regular All Hands Ecology waterbird surveys.
La diversidad ecológica de la bahía de Tomales propició una animada conversación entre los barcos: justo al norte de Cypress Grove, el radar reveló una pared de arenques del Pacífico desovando y lo que parecían cerca de un centenar de focas comunes en la superficie mezcladas con cormoranes de doble cresta y de Brandt en un frenesí de alimentación; a la hora del almuerzo, un águila pescadora sobrevoló la zona llevando una perca; A primera hora de la tarde vimos un halcón peregrino en Duck Island, dos águilas calvas en Hog Island, nuestro simpático guardabosques vigilando a los cazadores furtivos, y quizás las aves más grandes del día, cinco aviones de transporte de las Fuerzas Aéreas haciendo un vuelo de prueba a muy baja altitud por la costa. Tanto por encima como por debajo de la superficie.
All Hands Ecology waterbird counts are coordinated by Emiko Condeso, All Hands Ecology Ecologist / GIS specialist, and could not be done without the help of many dedicated volunteers, some of whom — like Tom Baty — have been working alongside the team since the inception of the counts in the early 1990s.
For detailed analysis of winter waterbird activity on Tomales Bay and the effects of spawning Pacific herring on their numbers, see the 2016 Ardeid, All Hands Ecology’s Journal of Conservation Science and Stewardship. Supporter-level members receive a complimentary print edition of The Ardeid. Become a member today to receive your copy!
El veterano voluntario y capitán del barco, Tom Baty, el Director de Ciencias de la Conservación John Kelly y voluntarios, recuento invernal de aves acuáticas, enero de 2017.
El ecologista aviario Scott Jennings y la voluntaria Kandice Strako, recuento invernal de aves acuáticas, enero de 2017.
Bufflehead
Cinco transportadores de la Fuerza Aérea volando bajo fueron una vista sorprendente sobre Toms Point, enero de 2017, por Jackie Sones.