Farallon Spring Songbird Surprise!
May 16, 2014
Farallon Spring Songbird Surprise! On April 30 and May 1, the island witnessed a wave of spring passerine migrants! While northwest winds are generally prevailing during spring, easterly winds brought this influx of birds from the mainland. Birds that are blown out to SEFI tend to concentrate in the island’s three trees, where they are
Life and times of Morfydd and her weaner
March 15, 2014
One of the many joys of living on the Farallon Islands during the winter season is following the day to day lives of our northern elephant seals during their time hauled out. When I arrived midway through the season, things were in full swing and cows and pups already littered the beaches. It took me
The Farallon Gallery
February 21, 2014
The Farallon Gallery Peruse the archive of this blog and you’ll quickly realize the importance of the research done by Point Blue, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and their partners here at Farallon National Wildlife Refuge. Like everyone lucky enough to visit the Farallones, I am continually awestruck by the abundance
Going Pro with Pinnipeds
January 23, 2014
To me, it seems unfair to only experience the elephant seal world while they are hauled out on land. They spend the majority of their life in a completely different medium: water. While on land, elephant seals seem awkward, clunky, bulky, strange, sluggish, and silly, but in the water they are beautiful and possess a
Winter Whales Linger On
January 11, 2014
While the winter season here at Southeast Farallon Island usually focuses on the soap-opera-esque, high stakes drama of elephant seal pupping and mating season, there are many other marine mammals that utilize the high productivity and unique location of the Farallon islands in their ocean travels. These islands are a regular stopover for other seals
Island Entomology
November 21, 2013
Mike Valainis and Bret Robinson, SJSU Entomology students My name is Bret Robinson and I am a graduate student at San Jose State University. I have been taking multiple boat trips out to the bone, guano, and insect covered South East Farallon Island for almost a year now. I, along with Mike Valainis – another
Farallonathon Wrap-up
October 22, 2013
Day 2 (Oct 5th) – The day after our big wave, we awoke to fairly gusty east winds. Although east winds do not typically bring large numbers of birds, they can bring interesting birds that don’t normally cross large bodies of water. So we were hoping for raptors, especially for a hawk or an eagle.
Farallonathon update for Day 1 – The Big Wave
October 10, 2013
The Farallonathon kicked off this year with a bang on Friday, October 4th. Although we were going to start our week-long bio-blitz fundraiser this day anyway, we did not anticipate that ten knot winds out of the west combined with 60 miles of visibility would produce one of the largest bird waves of the decade.
