Karnolab

Tag: Daryl

  • Murrelet Caves on Anacapa

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    Xantus’s murrelets do not make nests of their own. Instead, they seek out the darkest, most protected areas they can find to lay their eggs. On Anacapa Island, this usually means they nest among the cracks and crags in one of the many caves around the perimeter of the island. In May, Kristen and I…

  • The Elusive Hypoleucus

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    Two subspecies of Xantus’s Murrelets are currently recognized; scrippsi and hypoleucus. These birds look different, make different calls, breed in different places, and recently a genetic test was done to prove they are genetically diverse. Whoever decided they were the same species was a little confused. The vast majority of the murrelets we saw were…

  • Operation Balloon Recovery

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    What happens to all those balloons that escape into the sky? Many of them end up in the ocean. Unfortunately they are a hazard to ocean dwellers. Sea turtles eat them because when they are frayed husks of themselves in the water, they resemble jellyfish, a favorite food of turtles. Balloons can block their stomachs.…

  • Bird Banding Bonanza

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    After two more successful nights of spotlight captures in May, Daryl came up with a target: 100 banded Xantus’s murrelets in 2009. We banded birds in April, too, so those counted, as did the few captures Daryl, Harry, and others did on land. Nonetheless, on the last night, we had to band 22 new XAMU…

  • Bridge Over Troubled Water

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    Because it was such great weather, we did all of our birds observations from the flying bridge! In April, we were confined to the regular bridge for a couple especially-rough transects. This upper deck had plenty of seats and was great for spotting birds, whales, mola molas and sharks! And scenery of course. It also…

  • Put Up Your Sticks

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    Once again, we had a great team on the flying bridge. From Left to right: Kristen (Pomona), Darryl Whitworth (California Institute of Environmental Studies), Augie (Pomona), Jen Boyce (NOAA, MSRP), Annie Little (Fish and Wildlife Service), Christie (Channel Islands Natl Park), Harry Carter (Carter Assoc.) Photo By: Nina Karnovsky (Pomona College). The dowels the boundaries…

  • Murrelets in the Spotlight

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              After dark all the murrelets come back to the island to socialize and rest from a long day of feeding. Not only do they have to watch out for hungry sea lions, but also our fearless crew of bird-netters! We are collaborating with a research team that is working on a population study of…