Farallonathon

Farallonathon Wrap-up:

Our seven-day Farallonathon bioblitz concluded on Friday. The day dawned with overcast skies, light wind, and about 5 miles visibility around the island. It should have been perfect conditions for migrants to show up at the island. But, alas, there just weren’t many birds flying that night. We did manage to find a few new species: Barn Owl, Green-winged Teal, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and a South Polar Skua on evening seawatch. Other highlights of our last day included 3 shark sightings and our first Blue Whale. With those additional 7 points our Grand Total for the 2024 Farallonathon was 145 points. While this was one shark attack or rare bird short of our goal it still represents a solid showing and is 3 points higher than the average Farallonathon total for the past decade.

Thanks to everyone that supported our Farallonathon.

Here is our full list of species observed:

Breeding birds – 12 points

• Black Oystercatcher

• Cassin’s Auklet

• Pigeon Guillemot

• Common Murre

• Western Gull

• California Gull

• Brandt’s Cormorant

• Pelagic Cormorant

• Double-crested Cormorant

• Rhinoceros Auklet

• Ashy Storm-petrel

Migrant birds – 81 points (*Review species – 5 points)

• Eared Grebe

• Pink-footed Shearwater

• Buller’s Shearwater

• Sooty Shearwater

• Brown Booby*

• Brown Pelican

• Cackling Goose

• Peregrine Falcon

• Whimbrel

• Black Turnstone

• Burrowing Owl

• Anna’s Hummingbird

• Black Phoebe

• Say’s Phoebe

• Yellow-green Vireo*

• Rock Wren

• Hermit Thrush

• Brown Thrasher

• American Pipit

• Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s and Myrtle)

• Savannah Sparrow

• White-crowned Sparrow

• Pacific Loon

• Merlin

• Killdeer

• Spotted Sandpiper

• Ring-billed Gull

• Herring Gull

• Mourning Dove

• Tree Swallow

• Ruby-crowned Kinglet

• Swainson’s Thrush

• European Starling

• Black-throated Gray Warbler

• Townsend’s Warbler

• Chipping Sparrow

• Fox Sparrow (Sooty)

• Golden-crowned Sparrow

• Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco

• Red-winged Blackbird

• Western Meadowlark

• Brewer’s Blackbird

• Lesser Goldfinch

• Hawaiian Petrel*

• Manx Shearwater*

• Red Phalarope

• Pomarine Jaeger

• Parasitic Jaeger

• Palm Warbler (Western)

• American Kestrel

• Dusky Flycatcher

• Yellow Warbler

• Northern Pintail

• Iceland (Thayer’s) Gull

• Northern Gannet*

• Wandering Tattler

• White-throated Sparrow

• Green-winged Teal

• South Polar Skua

• Barn Owl

• Lincoln’s Sparrow

Pinnipeds - 5 points

• California Sea Lion

• Steller Sea Lion

• Northern Fur Seal

• Northern Elephant Seal

• Harbor Seal

Cetaceans – 3 points

• Humpback Whale

• Minke Whale

• Blue Whale

Shark Attacks – 30 points (6 predation events observed)

Shark Sightings – 7 points

Additional Wildlife – 7 points

• Black Saddlebags Dragonfly

• Wandering Glider Dragonfly

• Farallon Arboreal Salamander

• Black Prickleback

• Tidepool Sculpin

• Northern Clingfish

• Farallon Camel Cricket

Farallonathon Update #2:

After an eventful first 3 days of the 2024 Farallonathon, things have slowed considerably. Strong northwesterly winds and dense fog made it difficult for any birds to find the island. Days 4-6 produced only 7 new migratory bird species, the most notable of which were a Dusky Flycatcher and our first of season White-throated Sparrow. We also gained 5 points from the return of the resident Northern Gannet (a CBRC review species) which had been absent since the day before Farallonathon began. With a measly 7 points earned from bird sightings we needed to get our Farallonathon points elsewhere.

Thankfully, the sharks have been very cooperative. We had 4 shark attacks plus one additional shark sighting over the last 3 days, good for 21 points. We also earned points from 3 species of fish observed in tidepools during low tide (black prickleback, tidepool sculpin, and northern clingfish), a small pod of Minke whale (good for 1 point for a new whale species), and observation of our endemic Farallon Camel Cricket in Rabbit Cave (1 point).

That brings our 6-day total to 137 points. Our goal was at least 150 points and we will need a good last day to get there. Fingers crossed for a migrant wave, some rare birds, and more shark attacks!

Farallonathon Update:

The 2024 Farallonathon is underway! It has been a rather slow fall migration season on the Farallones with mostly unfavorable weather conditions up to this point. But as we approach the end of the window for Point Blue’s Rich Stallcup Bird-a-thon we decided we could no longer wait and hope for better migration conditions and decided to officially kick off the Farallonathon on October 5th. Over the next 7 days we will tally up as many points as possible to raise money for conservation.

Day 1 started off with a bang. Just as I arrived at the island on Saturday morning, we observed a shark attack off the east landing and collected a cool 5 Farallonathon points. We were off and running! Throughout the rest of the day the island staff searched the island and surrounding waters for resident birds, migrant birds, pinnipeds, and other vertebrates. There were some easy points gained from observations of 9 breeding seabirds and 4 breeding pinnipeds (13 points) and an additional shark observed swimming alongside the boat (1 point). We also gained 31 more points from migrant bird species observed throughout the day, the highlight of which was a beautiful yellow-green vireo (photo by Nick Schleissmann). This brought our total for day 1 to an even 50. Not a bad start!

Day 2 was clear and sunny with a warm wind coming from the mainland which brought out 21 new migrant birds including merlin, ruby crowned-kinglet, blackbirds, and lesser goldfinch among others. We also found 2 more breeding bird species (ashy storm-petrel and rhinoceros auklet), 1 more pinniped (harbor seal), and 1 cetacean (humpback whale) that were not seen the previous day (4 more points). Two species of migrant dragonflies (black saddlebags and wandering glider) produced an additional 2 points. Shark activity also continued with one attack observed in Fisherman’s Bay (5 points) and 2 additional sharks seen, including one breach for 7 more points. The end result for the day was 24 points, bringing our Farallonathon total to 84.

Day 3 dawned to clear skies moderate to strong northwest winds. Not ideal conditions for migrant bird arrivals. In fact, by 4pm, the only new migrant bird species seen was a palm warbler (good for 1 point). We did gain an additional point from a Farallon arboreal salamander discovered under some rocks by the lighthouse, but it was looking pretty grim. Until the evening seawatch that is. This survey from the Carp Shop, in which Farallon crew Adrian and Frank scanned the water to the southeast of the island was extremely productive. They found three new common migrant species (red phalarope, pomarine jaeger, parasitic jaeger) for an additional 3 points. But they really hit it out of the park by finding two review species, a Hawaiian petrel and a Manx shearwater! Each worth 5 points. This tripled our total for the day to that point resulting in 15 points for day 3 and a Farallonathon total of 99 points for the first 3 days.

The next couple of days look to bring more clear and windy conditions but we will still be out there looking and trying to find new species to add to our Farallonathon total. With more than 440 bird species observed on the Farallones since the program began, you never know what may show up.

Stay tuned for more updates and if you haven’t already, please consider donating to support Point Blue’s long-term research and conservation efforts.

Cheers,

Pete