Monday, July 23, 2018

July21, 2018. Staritskogo penninsula

July21, 2018. Staritskogo penninsula

Early Saturday morning we set off with the low tide from the Nagaevo Bay. With the distant fog we were anticipating a rough navigation, but on the bright side was the fact, that the sea was calm.

First we visited the nest, which was reported to us last year (which we, essentially, missed). Indeed it was a new nest with one chick and female present. The chick was very small.





The nesting site is surprising, given the number of recreational and fishing boat traffic underneath.  Perhaps this pair shifted the nest location from the nearby Tikhaya bay on the other part of the peninsula.

The next nest was on the northern corner of the Naagaevo bay, and it returned 2 chicks.  Wow.  More than in the last year already.
The chicks were significantly different by age.
Another nest with 1 chick was at the Nedorazumenia island. Nothing was at the nest at the Chirikova cape, no surprize as there was a huge traffic of fishing and recreational boats there.



Another nest with one chick was at the Orliniy (Eagle) cape. One adult was drying up at the cliff above the nest.




Next nest was at the northern part of the Gertnera Bay. It has 2 large chicks and an adult at the nest.
All nest were surveyed with the drone to ensure accuracy of the observations. All clips are in the video below.



During today's surveys we were, visiting 6 breeding territories (8 occupied territories) which produced 8 chicks (2 pairs with 2 chicks). Not a bad day. Besides we spotted a group of the Steller's Sea Lions at the Nedorazumenia Island. We have never seen it earlier.



In total we covered 108 km on the sea.



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