Cassin's Auklet shown in artificial burrow.

In late January 2012, a helicopter flies 29 barrels of water to a remote restoration site on Santa Barbara Island.  Rain is scarce this year requiring biologists to hand water seabird habitat restoration plots that were planted last fall.  Biologists also prepare for this season’s seabird monitoring work by placing video cameras at known nest sites, powering up vocalization equipment to broadcast seabird sounds, and weeding invasive plants from restoration sites.

The Landing Cove site on Santa Barbara Island, active with Cassin’s Auklets and Xantus’s Murrelets last year, was teeming with burrowing activity by early February of this year. Cassin’s Auklets are found nesting under native plants such as Catalina Tarweed and Wild Cucumber in this area. These seabirds burrow under mature shrubs to create their nests. Biologists help encourage nesting by providing artificial burrows known as “condos” at this site.

A nestcam captures a pair of Xantus's Murrelets nesting.

Close by, Xantus’s Murrelets are nesting and a freshly laid egg is caught on camera in early March.  Cameras capture the bird’s rarely observed nesting behaviors, movement of adults, and the departure of chicks from the nest. Biologists have witnessed mating behaviors, fights among pairs, and even watched an egg being kicked out of a nest by competing adults.  The cameras allow biologists to document these rarely seen behaviors, especially for the murrelet chicks which leave their nest 1-2 days after hatching.

Farther down the slope, two adult Cassin’s Auklets are seen incubating in natural burrows.  Biologists are still waiting to confirm nesting of Cassin’s Auklets in the upper Landing Cove this year. A camera set up outside of the lower Landing Cove condos show Cassin’s Auklets spending a lot of time peering out of their condo entrances.

The increased seabird activity at this restoration site is welcome news this season and bodes well for the restoration of the seabird populations to Santa Barbara Island.

Background on Santa Barbara Island Seabirds

Natural Cassin's Auklet burrow under a native tarweed plant.

The Channel Islands are very important nesting grounds for both Cassin’s Auklets and Xantus’s Murrelets. Xantus’s Murrelets are rare seabirds with only 5,000 to 12,000 individuals estimated worldwide. California supports 40% of the world’s population for murrelets and the largest colony exists on Santa Barbara Island. Cassin’s Auklets are not as rare as murrelets but they were wiped out by feral cats in the early 1900’s on Santa Barbara Island. Biologists started seeing the first sign of them returning in 2009 following restoration.

Learn more about MSRP’s seabird restoration projects

Watch a film about Santa Barbara Island restoration

Biologists band A-49 in 2006.

Historically, Bald Eagles nested and lived among all of the Channel Islands. However, by the early 1960s, Bald Eagles disappeared from the Channel Islands due to human impacts, including the accumulation of DDTs and other contaminants into the environment.  From 2002 to 2006, MSRP partnered with the Institute for Wildlife Studies to release 61 Bald Eagle juveniles on Santa Cruz Island.

In 2006, everyone watched as the first chick to hatch in 50 years on the northern Channel Islands appeared on the eagle webcam at Pelican Harbor via the internet.  Known as “Princess Cruz” by webcam fans and A-49 by project biologists, she fledged and returned this year to Santa Cruz Island as a mature adult building a nest of her own!  It is common for first-year nesters to fail at nesting which is the case for A-49 this season, but biologists are hopeful that she will return next year to try again.  If chicks do hatch in A-49’s nest next year, this would mark the first time natural- hatched birds on the northern Channel Islands parent a second generation of Bald Eagles.

A64 shown in nest waiting for A49 to return.

Each year since the release of Bald Eagles, the nesting activity and number of chicks has increased steadily on the northern Channel Islands. This year, Santa Cruz Island has seven confirmed nests, almost double the number of nests in 2011. Nesting on the other Northern Channel Islands has increased over the years as well.  There are two confirmed nests on Santa Rosa Island again this year and one on Anacapa Island.  The number of nests on Catalina Island is holding steady at six nests with 11 chicks recently hatching.

The Channel Island Bald Eagles have also enjoyed some stardom in the film realm recently after a short film, “Return Flight: Restoring the Bald Eagle to the Channel Islands,” about the restoration effort was created by Kevin White of Filmmakers Collaborative SF. This film was also selected to screen at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in northern California in 2012. A 30-minute documentary about this restoration program is in production for release in summer or fall of 2012 and will air on PBS’s Natural Heroes in 2013.

Learn more about MSRP’s Bald Eagle Restoration Program

Interactive Webcams

Eagle Webcam Discussion Forum and Updates

Bald Eagle film

Brandts Cormorants colony on San Nicolas Island.

On February 15, project partners and media took a short flight to San Nicolas Island, the most remote of the eight islands in the Channel Islands archipelago. The ceremony and island visit was to commemorate the completion of the MSRP-funded seabird restoration project to remove feral cats from the island. San Nicolas Island is owned and managed by the U.S. Navy and boasts numerous wildlife populations, including the endemic San Nicolas island fox, the island night lizard, nesting seabirds, and breeding seals and sea lions.

Once on the island, everyone was greeted by the U.S. Navy officials before loading onto a bus to begin a scenic tour of the rugged terrain and breathtaking landscape of San Nicolas Island. This visit was an especially unique experience for the media, as permission to embark on the island is typically restricted to Navy personnel and contractors.  As the bus climbed steep terrain and fog rolled in and out, the complexity and challenges of this important project became apparent.

Photo of the southern part of San Nicolas Island showing the rugged terrain.

The San Nicolas Island Restoration Project was the fifth largest feral cat removal project worldwide and the largest successfully completed without the use of poison. Island Conservation and the Institute for Wildlife Studies worked tirelessly to ensure project success. Fifty-nine cats were removed from the island and transported to the Wildlife Care Center in Ramona, CA, with funding and support from The Humane Society of the United States. Any foxes that were injured during the project were cared for at a mobile veterinary hospital on the island managed by the Institute for Wildlife Studies. All logistics with trapping and detecting cats on the island were handled by Island Conservation, an organization that specializes in non-native species removal to restore island ecosystems.  Project partners were also awarded a Natural Resource Conservation and Communication Partnerships Award by the National Military Fish & Wildlife Association this year.

Biologist checks San Nicolas Island fox for injuries.

After a short project ceremony with Captain James McHugh, Commanding Officer for the Naval Base Ventura County, the last stop on the tour was to visit elephant seals and sea lion breeding colonies. As the tour came to an end, everyone was left with a sense of how delicate this island ecosystem is and how the successful completion of the project will benefit seabirds, island foxes, and island night lizards for many years to come.

Learn more about MSRP’s seabird restoration projects

During this project, MSRP removed 66 adult cats and 10 kittens from San Nicolas Island. Of these, 59 adult cats and the kittens were transferred to The Humane Society of the United States who built an enclosure for them at the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona, California. Intensive monitoring with cameras has occurred on the island since December 2009. Over 27,000 camera sensing nights were logged since June of 2010 without cat detection.  An event on San Nicolas Island was held on Feb. 15, 2012 marking the completion of this project and declaring the island cat-free.

San Nicolas Island Partner Fact Sheet

Facts about San Nicolas Island Seabird Restoration Project

The Humane Society of the United States

Photos

Slideshow of San Nicolas Island

Photos of San Nicolas Island Restoration Project

Press Release

Event Marks Successful Completion of Seabird Restoration Project on San Nicolas Island

Organizations from the U.S. and Mexico, including the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Grupo de Ecologia y Conservacion de Islas, and the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, are partnering to implement this restoration program. The restoration partners will conduct habitat restoration, reduce human disturbance and artificial light, and support environmental education in surrounding communities. To increase nesting seabird populations on the islands, scientists will use decoys, mirrors, and broadcast calls and songs to attract seabirds and construct artificial nests to improve nesting opportunities.

The partnership will begin work in January 2012 on Coronado, Todos Santos, San Martin, San Jeronimo, Natividad, Asuncion, and San Roque Islands which are located in the northwestern portion of Mexico, off of the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula. These islands support a diverse group of breeding seabirds and are known for high levels of biological diversity.

Read more about MSRP Seabird Restoration Projects

Santa Cruz Island coastline

We want to hear from you! MSRP released a draft Phase 2 Restoration Plan for public comment. The draft plan summarizes restoration work that has been completed from the Phase 1 Restoration Plan and proposes projects for the next phase.

The plan focuses on restoring natural resources that were affected by DDT and PCB contamination, including Channel Island Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, and seabirds, as well as fish habitat. In most cases, we will continue or expand on projects from Phase 1.

Two successful projects we will continue to fund are monitoring of the Channel Island Bald Eagles and restoration of seabird habitat on several Channel Islands. These projects had major milestones this year, including the expansion of nesting Bald Eagles to the fourth Channel Island and the discovery of nesting seabirds in recently restored habitat.

Fish habitat projects will focus on restoring vital subtidal fish habitat including kelp forest and rocky reef habitat along the Palos Verdes Shelf close to the contamination site. View the draft restoration plan now and send your comments to msrp@noaa.gov, or join us at one of our public meetings.  Comments are due by December 19, 2011.

Check out our fact sheetfor a summary of the Phase 1 and 2 projects or view a presentation from the last public meeting.