Still having a blast out here. Exploring new spots and taking more pictures. The other day we were out in the boat looking for shearwaters and we had a Great White Shark swim right below us. It was out of this world. If I had to guess, it was probably around 16ft long, not huge but big enough to bite a person in half. We saw a few Sooty Shearwaters out there and had a few Black-legged Kittiwakes as well. Today I spotted a shark attack. It was a pretty good one. That means the shark was at the surface for 10 minutes or so. Depending on what the prey is, it floats or sinks. If it sinks, you usually don't get to see the shark for very long. This one floated so the shark came back several times to bite off more. I got to see the head come up out of the water.
The island from the boat
We caught a couple of Burrowing Owls the other night. That make a total of 14 caught this fall. They are studying the owls because some spend the winter here and then in early spring, when mice populations are low, they eat Ashy Storm-Petrels. About 80% of the total world population of Ashy Storm-Petrels breeds on the island, so they need to keep an eye on the effect the owls are having. The amount of barring on the wing can help us tell the age of the bird, hence the following photo.
The beard's filling in nicely
2 comments:
Mark,
When you come back to MI we have to go chasing some lifers for me. There are a few birds in Canada that we can go after. Mondane birds for you, Barrow's Goldeneye, BL Kittiwake, Brant!
See ya
Mark, how's the fishing? Can you legally or practically fish on the Island? The leeward side looks the calmest from google.maps. You really are on a rock.
BTW upper teens in the North Country tonight. It's getting cold...
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