[obol] Recent Beached Birds in Lincoln Co.: A Preliminary Compilation

[Range Bayer]

Hi,

   An update and expansion of my March 10 beached Horned Puffin
compilation for Lincoln County is at
http://www.orednet.org/~rbayer/lincoln/2007-beached.htm.  My update is
too long for an email, so below are some highlights.

   The updated compilation differs by including all species of beached
birds in Lincoln County, not just Horned Puffins because there are also
concerns about other species.

   I do not have time to compile records for the entire Oregon Coast, and
I have done so for Lincoln County only for this event.

   Below is the summary and the table of contents of the report.

     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

PRELIMINARY SUMMARY: BEACHED BIRDS IN LINCOLN COUNTY (OREGON) DURING
JANUARY-MARCH 2007

   In March 2007 as reported through March 26, the four most abundant
beached birds found by CoastWatch volunteers in Lincoln County were
Rhinoceros Auklets (12), Horned Puffins (9), Northern Fulmars (5), and
Common Murre (3)(Table 3).  I have not compiled their January-February
results.

   During 1 January-24 March 2007, the four most numerous species on the
beach of Bob Loeffel's team were Rhinoceros Auklet (49), Fork-tailed
Storm-Petrel (14), Horned Puffin (13), and Northern Fulmar (8)(Table
4).  They recorded 20 species of birds (Table 4).

     The mortality thus far in 2007 is exceptional in comparison with
beached bird surveys by Loeffel's team that began in 1978 and have
continued.  The total in 2007 through March 24 is the second highest
and was among the top three years for seven species: Fork-tailed
Storm-Petrel, Black-legged Kittiwake, Marbled Murrelet, Parakeet
Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Horned Puffin, and Tufted Puffin (Table
1).

     The 2007 results have the most parallels with 1980, which had the
third highest total.  These were also the top two years for Horned
and Tufted Puffins (Table 1), and, the number of Rhinoceros Auklets
in 1980 (12) was also above average.  However, 1980 differs from 2007
in that the third greatest number of Common Murres was found in 1980
(Table 1), but a below average number were found in 2007 (2)(Table
4).

     1990 is also similar to 2007 because it was the third highest year
for Rhinoceros Auklets and Horned Puffins (Table 1).

     The two greatest years of beached Rhinoceros Auklets in January-March
have been 2006 and 2007 (Table 1).

    It would be inappropriate to extrapolate Lincoln County results to the
entire Oregon Coast.  For example, many more beached Rhinoceros
Auklets, Horned Puffins, and Tufted Puffins have been found north of
Lincoln County in Clatsop County during David Bailey's survey of 20
March 2007 (Table 5) than by all of Loeffel's team surveys in 2007
through March 24 (Table 4).
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TABLE 1.  Birds on beach of Bob Loeffel's team during the January-March
period of 1978-2007 (30 years).  This summary is for total birds and
species of particular interest; all results are in Table 4.
     2007 results are through March 24--more may be found in the rest of
the month.
     Years with ties are separated by a forward slash(/).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    January-March Period_____________________________
                    Years with
                    at Least     Maximum 3 Years (Number of Birds)___
                    1 Bird        1           2            3
---------------------------------------------------------------------
total birds          30 (100%)   1993 (501)  2007 (130*)  1980 (115)

Western Grebe        29 (97%)    1979 (17)   1986 (13)    1981/2006 (12)
Northern Fulmar      25 (83%)    1998 (51)   1991/2004 (39)
Fork-t. Storm-Petrel 12 (40%)    2006 (15)   2007 (14*)   1985 (12)
Black-leg. Kittiwake 20 (67%)    1998 (16)   1985 (8)     2007 (7*)
Common Murre         30 (100%)   1993 (52)   1983 (37)    1980 (26)
Marbled Murrelet      5 (17%)    1991/2007(2*)            1978/1987/2000(1)
Cassin's Auklet      23 (77%)    1993 (417)  2006 (36)    1996 (22)
Parakeet Auklet       3 (10%)    1999/2006(2)             2007(1*)
Rhinoceros Auklet    21 (70%)    2006 (100)  2007 (49*)   1990 (22)
Horned Puffin         9 (30%)    2007 (13*)  1980 (9)     1990 (5)
Tufted Puffin         4 (13%)    1980 (11)   2007 (2*)    1988/2006(1)

* 2007 results are through March 24; more may be found in the rest of March.
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   Other contents of http://www.orednet.org/~rbayer/lincoln/2007-beached.htm:

Lincoln County Beached Bird Surveyors During January-March 2007
Comments about Some of Species Beached in 2007
    Marbled Murrelet
    Parakeet Auklet
    Rhinoceros Auklet
    Horned Puffin
    Tufted Puffin
Possible Causes of High Numbers of Beached Birds in 2007
Pre-1978 Beached Bird Records
Tables 2-5

     I am grateful to Bob Loeffel's beached bird team (Bob and Shirley
Loeffel, Laimons and Vicki Osis) and CoastWatch volunteers (see
http://oregoncoastwatch.org/ and
http://www.oregonshores.org/ourprograms/coastalwatch) for making this
compilation possible.

     I also thank Greg Gillson for his Bird Guide Perpetua Bank pelagic
trips (http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/archive_perpetua.htm) and his
posting to OBOL this evening that are helpful in understanding Horned
and Tufted Puffin distribution in March.

     I will not continue to compile records for Lincoln County beached
birds beyond March 31.

     Yours,

Range Bayer, P.O. Box 1467, Newport, OR 97365, rbayer at orednet.org