As the season progresses, there are more and more beautiful days at Yaquina Head. Being that it’s summer time, even early mornings when I go monitor the murres and cormorants don’t seem so early because the sun is already out! I have to confess, after waking up early so many Read more…
The Seabird Oceanography Lab is continuing to monitor our one murre chick this season. On the days that I monitored, I did not spot the chick, but luckily one of my lab mates did on Friday! Hooray! There have been no new eggs or chicks added, but we are going Read more…
I cannot believe it is already July! This summer is flying by and I’m enjoying every minute of it. To start, I had a really nice fourth of July made up of delicious food, great friends and amazing fireworks. Also, my work week was pretty relaxing. I conducted my usual Read more…
Much to my dismay this was not a good week for common murre surveys. We started out pretty well, with one of the nesting rocks (Lower Colony Rock) continuing to fill with nesting pairs. Later on in the week, all the birds were gone. We hadn’t really noted any major Read more…
It has been a while since the last time I had first aid training, but luckily I was able to renew it! The timing couldn’t be more perfect, specifically because it is officially summer time and the park is only getting busier. One of the fellow park rangers at Yaquina Read more…
There are two different cormorant species at Yaquina Head. The Brandt’s (most common) and the Pelagic. Unlike common murres, cormorants build actual nests on rocky islands and cliff sides. Pelagics prefer cliff sides and usually have much less nesting material making up their nests. Currently, we are monitoring 85 Brandt’s Read more…
This week, I began helping with common murre surveys. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the best, so I often went home pretty wet and cold. Luckily, we use Rite in the Rain materials so we are very prepared to take note of disturbances and any eggs we see, even in the Read more…
This past week, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in Western Gull captures. This was my first time handling wild animals and let me tell you, it was quite the adventure! We had a small crew of four consisting of my supervisor Stephanie, my boss Dr. Suryan, volunteer Roberta Read more…