Of Fog Larks and Sea Quail:
Sea Birds at Risk in a Changing World

October 1-4, 2009
Seabird Experts
Conservation Partner and Trip Sponsor: Cloud Ridge Naturalists

Itinerary:
We will spend four days in the San Juan Islands, famous for their migrating and wintering shorebirds, dabbling ducks, diving ducks, snow geese, and trumpeter swans. Dr. Alan Berger and a team of seabird biologists will join us aboard the M/V Sea Wolf for a series of lectures on seabird biology and behavior as well as the environmental issues at the forefront of seabird survival. Cruising through these bird-rich wintering grounds, we should have excellent looks at rhinoceros auklets (“sea quail”), both marbled and ancient murrelets, common murres, pigeon guillemots, harlequin ducks, scoters, cormorants, and many other species—our observations continually enriched by our onboard experts. Night will find us in a cozy anchorage amongst the islands, continuing our discussions while we savor a fine dinner and a glass of wine.

Our 2006 Sea Bird Workshop was a wonderful success with over 50 species of birds sighted. Our weather was not the best for kayaking but we had numerous wonderful hikes with up close views of shore and terrestrial birds. The Sea Wolf is very comfortable in all seas for birding and not only did we see auklets and marbled murrelets but ancient murrelets as well.

Conservation Concern
Seabirds live at the mercy of wind and wave—as the sea goes, storm-ridden or serene, so must they. Their survival is inextricably linked to the sea’s many moods, its ecological health, and biological productivity. The unique biology of seabirds—a group of species that includes the gulls, fulmars, auklets, puffins, murrelets, guillemots, murres, petrels, shearwaters, albatrosses, loons, sea ducks ,and many others—makes them especially vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, marine pollution, oil spills, declining fish populations, commercial fishing bycatch, habitat loss or degradation and changes in the rich plankton soup that supports the entire marine food chain.

  

 

 

"Paddling as quietly as I could, I slipped through the fog and stopped abruptly as a brown, robin-sized seabird—a marbled Murrelets—popped up just of off my bow. The murrelets dove almost immediately, reappearing again with a tiny fish in its bill. Loggers working along the Northwest coast in the early years gave this enigmatic little seabird the name “fog lark.” More often heard than seen, marbled murrelets go ashore only during the breeding season, flying as much as thirty miles inland to lay their single egg on the mossy branch of an old-growth conifer—a most surprising and secretive nest site for a seabird! To feed the nestling, both parents must become long distance commuters, taking turns flying fast and low through the dense coastal forest to foraging areas at sea. Until 1974, when the first marbled murrelets nest was finally located in a grove of California redwoods, almost nothing was known of the life history of this fascinating seabird. More than thirty years later, biologists know a great deal more—enough to be alarmed at the sharp rate of population decline (as much as 70% over the last 20 years in some parts of their range) and to have a much better understanding of the multiple threats faced by all seabirds.
by Audrey Benedict,
Founder Cloud Ridge Naturalists