“You’ll smell it before you see it” I was told on board the Freda B while we sailed towards the South Farallon Islands. As we approached our soon to be home, the smell of the island drifted amongst us but all I could see was the thick wall of fog in front of me. Suddenly,
Farallones Categories: Uncategorized
WELCOME TO THE WINTER SEASON 2014-15
We arrived to the island in Farallon Style this year with the wonderful contribution of Freda B, her lovely crew and skipper Paul Dines. Freda B came equipped with an onboard cook who spoiled us the entire way. Luckily the seas cooperated and no one was sea sick on the way out to the island.
Happy Halloween from the Farallones
Perhaps you were wondering whether four biologists isolated from civilization on the Farallon Islands would take the time to celebrate Halloween. Well never fear, with a little face paint, we attempted to emulate our favorite warblers. Can you figure out which warbler species we were? * Hint: two of the warblers breed on the West
23rd Annual Farallonathon
From September 19 to September 25, the fall crew conducted our annual fundraiser called the Farallonathon. Initiated in 1992 by then biologist Peter Pyle, the Farallonathon was created to recognize the truly unique elements of the Farallon Islands, while at the same time participating in Point Blue’s Annual Bird-A-Thon. This event is similar to a Bird-a-thon, except
Early Fall Migration Summary and Highlights – Lots of Highlights!
The Fall Crew arrived on Southeast Farallon Island on 16 August to find two adult Blue-footed Boobies, an adult Brown Booby, and the continuing adult Northern Gannet, all on Sugarloaf and right above where we conducted the switchover with the Seabird Crew. Three species of birds from the family Sulidae at one location in California
An island milestone
Recently on the island we celebrated Farallon Biologist Pete Warzybok’s 1800th night on South East Farallon Island. That’s nearly 5 years of Pete’s life spent living, sleeping and working on the island! 5 years on the island – long enough for Pete to have seen pretty much everything… To celebrate this momentous occasion, we managed
The Diet of Emerging Chicks
Newly hatched western gull chick. Two week old Cassin’s auklet chick. It’s happening. All over the island chicks are busting free from their shells after weeks of incubation. In order to provision these new balls of down during the brooding phase, parent birds have begun the task of collecting prey from the ocean, or in
Letters From Home
Thanks to modern technology those of us living out here on this isolated rock are surprisingly well connected to the mainland. Internet beamed 26 miles across the Gulf of the Farallones from San Francisco provide us with access to phone, email, news, weather, entertainment, and even a handy web cam perched atop Lighthouse Hill. So
Farallon Spring Songbird Surprise!
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
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