Ramon and Sophie here again!
One of our many surveys here at the Sea Ranch include feeding surveys at Breaker Reach, where we watch 7 gorgeous Pelagic Cormorant pairs switch off “nest duty” so that while one is taking care of chicks or incubating eggs, the other is out in the water, “bringing home the bacon.”
One of the cliffs at Breaker Reach. Can you spot all 7 nests?
Pelagic cormorants (or PECOs, as we bird types abbreviate them) nest on steep cliffs, building a shallow bowl out of grass and debris, and cementing this with none other than their own guano! When the chicks hatch, the parents trade off feeding their young by regurgitating partially digested food until the chicks are old enough to fly and find their own food.
Don’t panic! The parent is not eating its young, but is instead feeding it tasty contents from its stomach.
When we do our surveys, we use our trusty scopes and binoculars to monitor when adults arrive, when they perform nest exchanges, and how often they successfully feed their young. We also keep track of the nest condition as well as the number of eggs and/or chicks.
Sophie using her “scoping skills” to spot Western Gulls at Black Point.
Ramon using his binoculars, whilst ensuring that he gives the camera his best angles.
Of course, PECOs aren’t the only interesting wildlife that we encounter in our journeys around the Sea Ranch. This week, we have observed the circle of life; in one afternoon, we have both witnessed Pigeon Guillemots copulating and happened upon a deer carcass (see pictures below). Till then, “sea” you later!
Pigeon Guillemots increase their population count.
Sophie is saddened by the effects of predation (or falling off the cliff).