Restoration of Common Murre Colonies in Central California: Annual Report 2009

• Main Authors: Lisa E. Eigner, Gerald J. McChesney, Sandra J. Rhoades, Mary W. Davis, Jonathan A. Shore, Crystal A. Bechaver, Peter J. Kappes, Richard T. Golightly
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Humboldt State University / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2010
• Subjects: Central California; Phalacrocorax penicillatus; Uria aalge; Breeding success; Breeding colonies; Brandt's cormorant; Common murre; Oil spill restoration; Disturbance; Bird Island; Double Point; Golden Gate; Land's End; Lobos; Common Murre; uria
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2148/826

This report summarizes the 14th year of restoration and associated monitoring of central California seabird colonies conducted by the Common Murre Restoration Project (CMRP) in 2009. These efforts began in 1996 to restore breeding colonies of seabirds, especially Common Murres (Uria aalge), harmed by the 1986 Apex Houston and 1998 Command oil spills, gill net fishing, human disturbance, and other factors. From 1995 to 2005, our primary goal was to restore the previously extirpated Devil's Slide Rock colony using social attraction techniques and to assess restoration needs at other central California colonies. Since 2005, efforts have been redirected to surveillance of human disturbance to murre colonies, assessing the impacts of that disturbance, and assessing other factors affecting growth of colonies; additionally, we still monitor progress of the initial restoration efforts. This information is then used to guide outreach and education efforts conducted by the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and to assess the success of those efforts. The goal of this program is to restore affected breeding colonies mainly through reduction of human disturbance. Surveillance and monitoring were conducted almost daily from mid-April to late July at the following Common Murre colonies in central California: Point Reyes; Devil's Slide Rock Mainland; and the Castle-Hurricane Colony Complex. Another four colonies were surveyed weekly including three in the Drakes Bay area (Point Resistance, Millers Point Rocks, and Double Point Rocks) and at San Pedro Rock (near Devil's Slide). In addition to human disturbance, we measured seasonal attendance patterns, and reproductive performance of Common Murres and up to five other species as well as breeding population sizes for certain species. Periodic surveys were also conducted by volunteers at three colonies near the Golden Gate (Bird Island, Lobos Rock Land's End, and Seal Rocks) to follow recent murre colonization attempts. For aircraft, activity rates were measured as ...