| |
| A
strong set of winter storms, tides, huge surf, and high
winds combined to play havoc on our front yard fencing.
Before the terns arrived, we dug out the wind fencing
three times with heavy equipment, used Earth Day volunteers
to patch holes, and repair chick fencing. A strong wind
storm on 5/23 caused us to dig out the fencing one more
time. |
| |
| Killdeers
nested inside the main Natural Preserve (NP) from
early April. A “broken wing” display
was noted on 5/8. |
| Crows
were not much of a problem for the colony this
year. Many were observed inside the NP early,
but not during the middle or end of season. The
terns drove them off, and they were harassed by
monitors and staff. |
| European
starlings appeared in greater numbers and larger
groupings this year plus they were nesting in
the parking lot light poles. |
| One
observation of a CLT with a plastic streamer wrapped
on a leg. A number of observations of entanglement
by plastic and human hair follows in the CLT listserve. |
| In
general, gull, starlings and killdeers are harassed
within the colony. |
| A
total of 11 3-egg nests are counted. Does this
suggest high food availability? |
|
| May
17 |
peregrine
fly by. |
| May
17 |
egg taken
by crow. |
| Mid
May |
Elegant
Terns massing at Talbert Marsh. |
| May,
June and July have wet, drippy, cool mornings. |
| Mid
May tar ball invasion is a concern for loafing and foraging
terns. |
| “A
section of wooden fence looks like someone hit it with
a heavy object-5 slat broken.” Unfortunately,
that would be our heavy equipment operator. |
| May
26 |
No chicks
yet. |
| May
26 |
CLT nest
outside area on Santa Ana River side. New nest fenced-in
6/1. |
| May
27 |
AMKE seen
kiting above colony. Colony is nervous. |
| May
28 |
Cooper’s
Hawk observed above colony. |
| May
29 |
Cooper’s
Hawk and AMKE observed. |
| May
30 |
GBH inside
NP. Planes pulling banners flushed colony six times. |
| May
31 |
2 killdeer
chicks seen. |
| |
| June
01 |
Wally traps
for 6 hours and watches two chicks get taken. |
| June
04 |
Irene sees
a Common Tern. |
| June
05 |
2 chicks
lost to kestrel. |
| June
07 |
Lori Donohue
and Dave Pryor see a bat flying in the colony. 0830
in AM. |
| June
13 |
Debbie Hays
sees a Green Heron cross the NP. |
| June
16 |
injured
grebe rescued. |
| June
18 |
Holly counts
56 chicks. |
| June
19 |
2 kestrels
each take a chick. |
| June
21 |
Peter Doyle
sees 2 kestrels - one feeds the other. |
| Misty
rain continues to early July |
| |
| July
12 |
two
peregrines seen. |
| July
13 |
three WSP
seen. |
| July
13 |
Cyndie Kam
reports 435 nests with 96 fledglings for the day. |
| July
13 |
dog tracks
inside front yard. |
| July
16 |
Colony slowing
down, yet one nest with one egg incubated, one chick. |
| July
23 |
Tern monitors
collect 76 abandoned eggs. Few adults or fledglings
seen in AM, in PM, the Fuhrers see no terns. |
| |
| CA
Least Terns at Huntington State Beach |
| May
02 |
First egg
in nest |
| May
13 |
158 nests |
| May
14 219
nests |
| Jun
25 |
425 nests |
| Jul
09 |
433 nests
(Total nests in 2009 - 434) |
| 81%
of 686 eggs hatched |
| 271
fledglings estimated |
| Jul
23 |
Last Tern |
| |
| Wetern
Snowy Plover at Huntington State Beach |
| May
1, 2, 5, 7, 8 —
1 to 3 seen |
| June
14, 30 — 1 seen |
| July
13, 14, 16, 19, 20 —
1 to 3 seen |
| |
| Predators
at Huntington State Beach |
| Observed
predation of an egg by crow — 1 |
| Observed
predation
of chicks by AMKE — 30 |
| Observed
predation of
fledgling by Western Gull — 1 |
| Wally
Ross conducts 103 trap-hours over 14 days. No AMKE captures,
1 Cooper's Hawk. |
| |
| Huntington
Beach Volunteers |
| 37
contributed over 500 observation hours at the Natural
Preserve. |
| 12
first year docents were trained and they were very enthusiastic. |
| |
| CA
Least Terns at Other Sites |
| Venice
Beach |
0
fledged birds |
food
problems |
| Terminal
Island |
4
fledged birds |
raven
& food problems |
| Seal
Beach |
270
nests, most fledged |
GH
Owl took chicks & fledglings |
| Bolsa
Chica |
446
nests |
314
at nest site 1 - coyote took 300 eggs/chicks |
| |
|
31
at nest site 2 |
| |
|
19
at nest site 3 |
| |
|
80
at North Tern Island |
|
| |
| Western
Snowy Plover at Bolsa Chica |
| 64
nests with adults now on beach — Bolsa Chica State
Beach & Seapoint, and juvenile inside the preserve. |
| |
| Western
Snowy Plover at Balboa Beach |
| May
29
— 3 chicks from 2 nests |
| June
09 — 2 chicks, one adult with
Newport Beach biologist & volunteers |
| 40
adults with 1 Bolsa Chica rehabbed bird seen Aug. 23,
2010 - P. Knapp |
| |
