The Diet of Emerging Chicks
June 22, 2014
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
June 18, 2014
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!
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
