Point Blue

The Waves Keep Rolling In

Migration usually happens in waves and is not just one steady phenomenon. These waves tend to follow the weather patterns as high and low pressure systems slide past from west to east. Interestingly, on the East Coast fall migration tends to pick up after a low pressure system passes because lows spin counter-clockwise, which create

Seabirds to Shorebirds and Landbirds: A Farallon Transition

As the end of August approaches, so does the conclusion of the Farallon seabird season. After about 6 months of being inhabited by several hundred thousand birds, the island environment is dramatically changing. While the seabirds may be leaving, large numbers of elephant seals and several species of migrating land-birds are arriving; marking the beginning

Wild Nights at Club Farallon

The last month or so on the Farallones has been our busiest time of year. For us that means 16 to 20 hour days and lots of night work. Many of the species that breed on the island spend their days foraging at sea and only return to the colony at night. This both maximizes

Northern Gannet at SEFI – Evidence of Climate Change?

The Farallon Islands are known for attracting rare and unusual vagrants. These have included songbirds more common to the east coast that have migrated up the wrong coast and birds from Asia that ended up on the wrong side of the Pacific. But this week we had an exceptionally rare visitor to the island. Northern

Musings from the Murre Blind

The view from the Murre Blind over Fisherman’s Bay We sit at observation post in the Murre Blind, with an open window view of Point Reyes, 17 miles beyond Fisherman’s Bay. We listen to some tunes while searching for a few uniquely color banded individual birds among the tens of thousands of murres chattering away

A Weaner's World

A young Northern elephant seal’s life is difficult from the start. At the very moment a pup emerges from the comfort of the mother’s womb, it is greeted by a harsh and violent world. Other mothers may threaten the newborn, often with their teeth, if it wanders or wobbles too close. A neighboring cow might

Clash of the Titans

The last of the elephant seal cows departed a week ago, leaving Sand Flat entirely to the weaned pups and some straggler males that are resting up before heading out to sea. The elephant seal breeding season is technically over. Before we get into telling you all about the lives of the weaners, we thought

Mandermonium with the Farallon Arboreal Salamander

Salamanders are known to be exceptional indicators of ecosystem health because they breathe through their skin making them susceptible to changes in water or air quality. A long-term project was started on SEFI in 2006 to monitor abundance and population trends of the endemic arboreal salamanders. Over 100 cover boards were placed at survey sites

There She Blows!

We have just had the height of the grey whale migration pass by our little rocky island where they are travelling 5,000- 6,800 miles from the cold Bering and Chukchi seas in the North to warm breeding grounds in Baja California. This is the longest migration recorded of any mammal. For the first few weeks

Ahoy There!

Boat landing days are great and we are extremely thankful to all of those involved. Outer Limits as the fog descends Firstly we would like to thank the skippers for volunteering to bring their boats laden with our supplies whatever the weather. Thanks to the boat ‘Sari Ann’ and her skippers Warren Sankey and Alan

Farallones Categories: Uncategorized