"Respectable" pelagic seabirds
(Shear/Pets, Alcids, Skua, Tropicbirds)
11
Puddle Ducks
8
Passerines (Tweety Birds) (6 species)
6
"Marginal" Pelagic seabirds
(Loon, Herring Gull)
4
Doves
2
Accidental shorebirds
2
Owls (1)
1
The general situation found in this Grid, chiefly the overall paucity
of birds, is apparently the transitory state that occurs: 1) After the
typical migrant species, Leach's Storm Petrel, Terns, Phalaropes(?),
Shear/Pets., etc. have passed through and are now generally to the south of
the Grid area, and 2) Before the typical winter residents, Gulls, Alcids,
Fulmars, Kittiwakes, etc., have arrived from the north. The duration of
this lull is probably fairly short, as vanguard Fulmars and Gulls are
presently appearing. The next two surveys I suspect will show an overall
increase.
Sections, R, S, T. U. V, W, X, Y, Z refer respectively to 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 9; and NW, N-Center, NE, Center-West, Center-Center, Center-
East, SW, S-Center, SE.
Nine division shorthand notations used here are similar to thos dis-
cussed in the report for E.G.S. #10.
SPECIES ACCOUNTS - GRID
Black-footed Albatross
Diomedea nigripes
# Obs.
43
Avg. # Day
4.8
Median (of 9 days)
6
High max. day count
8
Low max. day count
1
RUMP COLOR (Sample Size = 37)
Sharp White Mottled Dark
# 10 4 23
% 27 11 62
After having decreased through four surveys, from July to mid-
September, an increase seems to be underway at present. The mean # of
birds/day per survey reached a low of 3.1 in mid-September then rose to
5.4 in early October and dropped slightly to 4.8 during the present survey.
The overall tendency suggests an increase but future cruises will make this
more clear. I hypothesized in the EGS #13 report that a decrease in the
proportion of white-rumped birds would occur along with the, also hypothe-
sized, overall increase. It is not clear as yet whether or not this is
occurring.
(As in the previous two reports all albatross data are handled in the
Species Account only and are, for the purposes of the tables, not considered
to be birds).
Fulmar
Fulmarus glacialis
# Obs.
7
Seven dark-phase birds were recorded on the last day in the Grid; sections
"T" and "W". Six were moving west. These are the first of the season and no
doubt will increase.