Busy times with camp in full swing!

As of May 31, we have counted and weighed 106 chicks in the four cabin funnels. This is compared to 96 chicks as of this date last year. There were two peak nights this year (May 17 and 22) both with 14 chicks. The chicks are still coming down the funnels and the season is not over yet!

In April, director Jan Oord and trapper Len Morgan came to Limestone to monitor for raccoons. They did not find any sign of raccoons on Limestone, although they did see many on adjacent Vertical Point. To continue monitoring for raccoons throughout the ANMU season we set up two infrared cameras on Limestone, baited with sardines and cat food. These cameras, along with those from RGIS, continue to capture photos of deer, ravens, and deer mice, but thankfully no raccoons.

After the major blow-down events in 2010/11, we were unable to set up our funnels in the colony in North Cove. Last year we spent two nights in North Cove conducting point counts and listening for Ancient Murrelets, but none were heard. This year, volunteer and LBCS director Keith Moore spent two nights again listening for ANMU, but this time he heard both chicks and adults. We were excited by the possibility of ANMU burrow success here despite the blow-down and set up 2 partial funnels in North Cove with the infrared cameras at the mouths. Surprisingly, we caught six chicks on camera between the nights of May 20th and May 27th.

Thanks to the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk for funding our raccoon monitoring program and enabling us to purchase these cameras.

The 23rd Field Season Begins!

On May 4th, the LBCS crew was transported to Limestone Island on LBCS Director Danny Roberston’s new boat M.V. Highlander. It was a beautiful, calm day and the transport went smoothly. The BAMBI team, who have been working on deer projects in the area for a few years, were there to greet us, and kindly helped pack totes and gear across the jagged rocks in front of camp. Last winter was another eventful one for Limestone, with more blow-down and at least one tide high enough to wash underneath the new cabin and onto the trails! Luckily the cabins were fine, nothing was washed away, and the only casualty from falling trees was an old tent platform. The first few days in camp involved some clearing up of trees including one that had landed literally inches from the old cabin. Thanks to Mike Hennigan for volunteering to help with this!

Thanks also to everyone else who helped us get out of town and back onto the island

The great projects our Limestone Island field staff will be joining this fall.

This fall, our Camp Supervisor Jake Pattison will be working in the field with Project BAMBI, based out of the camp on Reef Island.

Project BAMBI is a 4 year study on the relationships between introduced Sitka Black-tailed Deer and the ecosystems they inhabit on Haida Gwaii. It is the continuation of a 15-year partnership between LBCS’ sister organization, Research Group on Introduced Species, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The CNRS component is headed by Jean-Louis Martin, who has been studying deer, plant and animal interactions on Haida Gwaii since the late 1980s. CNRS provides the scientific framework for the project; RGIS brings local expertise as well as community involvement, ensuring that the results of these studies are accessible to the public and are considered in local decision-making.

Wrapping up our 22nd field season

We were back in Gwaii Haanas June 25-29 to complete a second round of oystercatcher surveys. We revisited all known territories and also identified 10 new breeding territories. On this visit, many of the eggs that we had located previously had now hatched chicks were found hiding amongst the rocks at many of the territories. Oystercatchers feed their chicks a variety of hard-shelled invertebrates, mainly limpets, chitons and mussels. When present, we collected prey remains at the territories and counted the samples back at camp to quantify what hard-shelled prey the chicks were being fed. At one territory in the Bischofs we had the unique opportunity of observing chicks being fed by their parents.

The oystercatcher surveys that we conduct are helping gather baseline data for the Gwaii Haanas Night Birds Returning project. This project aims to restore seabird nesting habitat on several islands in Gwaii Haanas through the eradication of introduced Norway and Black Rats. Eradication will take place on the Bischof Islands and Arichika Isand this summer. One of our staff, Ainsley Brown, will be assisting with the Night Birds Returning project once the Limestone field season wraps up.