Black-bellied Plover 9 Little Charity Island, AR
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4500
Great Blue Heron 20
Great Egret 30
Herring Gull 3000
Caspian Tern 185
Charity Islands are part of Great Lakes Islands National Wildlife Refuge and are managed by Shiawassee NWR. USFW staff and myself were out there to conduct a colonial waterbird survey on 5/28. The numbers are based on my observations along with the number of each species' nest count. It's a very humbling experience to participate and I can't help but feel like I'm on a National Geographic expedition every time I go out there. I'll be putting together an iMovie/YouTube of the island experience and post it in the Bird Videos tab in the next few days.
My personal highlight was fighting through the thick willow stand to get to the eastern spit. Caspian Terns began screaming at me before I even got onto the open spit. To my great surprise, a large group were nesting on the spit, which is the first time they've nested on Little Charity Island since 1997! I counted 107 nests, nothing more than a slightly scraped depressions in the pebbly surface, with two to three eggs in each nest.
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4500
Great Blue Heron 20
Great Egret 30
Herring Gull 3000
Caspian Tern 185
Charity Islands are part of Great Lakes Islands National Wildlife Refuge and are managed by Shiawassee NWR. USFW staff and myself were out there to conduct a colonial waterbird survey on 5/28. The numbers are based on my observations along with the number of each species' nest count. It's a very humbling experience to participate and I can't help but feel like I'm on a National Geographic expedition every time I go out there. I'll be putting together an iMovie/YouTube of the island experience and post it in the Bird Videos tab in the next few days.
My personal highlight was fighting through the thick willow stand to get to the eastern spit. Caspian Terns began screaming at me before I even got onto the open spit. To my great surprise, a large group were nesting on the spit, which is the first time they've nested on Little Charity Island since 1997! I counted 107 nests, nothing more than a slightly scraped depressions in the pebbly surface, with two to three eggs in each nest.
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