Coastal Washington

Weekly Update for 7/27 - 8/2/2009

7/27/09 ›

Dungeness Spit Caspian tern colony was visited to see if terns that had previously failed in their earlier nesting attempts had renested at the site; 293 terns were observed in an upland area near the colony; no terns (adults or juveniles) or tern eggs were observed at the colony site; this was our final visit to the Dungeness Spit Caspian tern colony in 2009

Weekly Update for 7/20 - 7/26/2009

Nothing to report

Weekly Update for 7/13 - 7/19/2009

Nothing to report

Weekly Update for 7/6 - 7/12/2009

Nothing to report

Weekly Update for 6/29 - 7/5/2009

7/2/09 ›

Dungeness Spit Caspian tern colony completely or nearly completely failed; 10 Caspian terns counted near the old colony location, one of which was attending a nest with one egg; all other tern nesting attempts at this tern colony failed due to predation on tern eggs by both mammalian and avian predators

7/1 – 7/2/09 ›

Aerial and ground-based surveys of the Puget Sound Region verified a new breeding colony of about 100 pairs of Caspian terns, some with young, on a vacant lot on the Bellingham, WA waterfront where a building was recently demolished - among the ca. 150 adult terns present were 4 banded terns, 3 banded at East Sand Island and one banded at Crescent island; Caspian terns also found roosting on a rooftop on Harbor Island near Seattle and near the Everett Naval Base, but no evidence of nesting found at either site

Weekly Update for 6/22 - 6/28/2009

6/22 – 6/28/09 ›

Dungeness Spit tern colony was visited four times this week; colony size had declined appreciably since last week, presumably due to high predation rates on tern eggs by both avian and mammalian predators; by week’s end only 107 Caspian terns and three attended tern nests were counted on the Dungeness Spit tern colony

6/22/09 ›

Aerial photo census to estimate number of breeding pairs of Caspian terns on the Dungeness Spit tern colony was conducted after the peak in colony attendance

Weekly Update for 6/15 - 6/21/2009

6/16 – 6/19/09 ›

737 Caspian terns counted on Dungeness Spit colony; 11% of bill load fish identified as salmonids; 21 bald eagles observed on Caspian tern colony; no tern chicks observed on colony; number of active tern nests on colony in decline

Weekly Update for 6/8 - 6/14/2009

6/8 – 6/9/09 ›

806 Caspian terns counted on Dungeness Spit colony; 25% of bill load fish identified as salmonids, based on a small sample; further evidence of the presence of a coyote found near the Dungeness Spit Caspian tern colony 

Weekly Update for 6/1 - 6/7/2009

6/1 – 6/2/09 ›

653 Caspian terns counted on Dungeness Spit colony; 43% of bill load fish identified as salmonids, based on a small sample 

Weekly Update for 5/25 - 5/31/2009

Nothing to report

Weekly Update for 5/18 - 5/24/2009

5/21/09 ›

First Caspian tern egg observed on Dungeness Spit tern colony

5/20 – 5/21/09 ›

776 Caspian terns counted on Dungeness Spit colony, 200 more terns than observed on-colony this time last year; 55% of bill load fish identified as steelhead, based on a small sample 

Weekly Update for 5/11 - 5/17/2009

Nothing to report

Weekly Update for 5/4 – 5/10/2009

5/10/09 ›

451 Caspian terns counted on Dungeness Spit tern colony; this is first time this year that we observed terns attending colony site continuously during day; courtship behaviors observed and 108 terns sitting in nest scrapes; no eggs seen

Weekly Update for 4/27 – 5/3/2009

4/28/09 ›

First Caspian terns observed on Dungeness Spit tern colony; terns observed on-colony only during high tide, otherwise loafing on adjacent mudflats

4/28/09 ›

Coyote observed on mudflats used by loafing Caspian terns; presence of this predator on Dungeness Spit may explain why terns not attending colony site throughout day  

Weekly Update for 4/20 – 4/26/2009

Nothing to report

Weekly Update for 4/13 – 4/19/2009

4/16/09 ›

First visit to the Dungeness Spit Caspian tern colony; one Caspian tern flew over the old Dungeness Spit tern colony site