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The Hidden Life of the Farallon Facilities

There are many challenges to living and working on a remote field station. Not the least of which is a constant battle to maintain infrastructure in a rough marine environment. It takes tireless effort and dedication of staff biologists, USFWS personnel, and numerous contractors and collaborators. Read on to learn a bit more about the work done behind the scenes to the keep these remote island facilities running.

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Record breaking Pine Siskins!

The meager flock of a few siskins grew, and grew, and grew until there were at least 587 siskins zipping around the lighthouse in large murmurations.

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Farallonathon 2020

Farallonathon 2020 From September 27 to October 3, the fall crew took part in the 29th annual Farallonathon, the Southeast Farallon Islands’ spin on Point Blue’s annual Bird-a-thon fundraiser. The Farallonathon was established in 1992 to highlight diversity on the island while showcasing many of the fall wildlife monitoring programs. The rules are simple (well,

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Introducing the Farallon Yellowstart

Fall migration is in full swing on the Southeast Farallon Islands, and the resident researchers recently had a great taste of just how birdy the islands can be when the weather conditions are ideal.

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A Peculiar Puffin

The Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge is well known for the many species of seabirds which roost and breed here. Maybe the most charismatic of these species (and the one most sought by visitors on the sightseeing boats) is the Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata). However, on the morning of June 30th, the crew was treated to a sighting of a Puffin of a different persuasion. While sitting on Lighthouse Hill during a Pigeon Guillemot diet watch, one of our biologists spotted a HORNED PUFFIN (Fratercula corniculata). This close relative of our Tufted Puffins is a rare sighting this far south and has been a thrilling addition to our usual collection of seabirds on the Farallones.

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A Migration North

The month of July often brings reflection on the events that have unfolded throughout the seabird season. Here on the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, we’ve documented the earliest eggs on record, witnessed extremely high occupancy and chick success, an now wait with anticipation as some fully-feathered chicks begin to exercise their new flight feathers

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The Least Expected

People often ask when they learn about our work on the Farallones, “So, how are the bird counts going?”. While counting established long-term index plots is one method we use for tracking population change of ground nesting species like Western Gulls, Brandt’s Cormorants, or Common Murres, determining the number of birds that nest underground is

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Auklet Class of 2020

There are approximately 500 wooden boxes (shown with a rock on top in the photo) scattered around on Southeast Farallon Island that are used as nesting habitat by Cassin’s auklets, the small seabird I’m holding in the photo. These boxes have been checked every year since 1982, where pairs of auklets using each box can

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