Counting as a ground-truth for aerial photos

There are over 4,600 islands and ledges along the Maine coast, and 616 of these islands have historical or current nesting populations of seabirds, waterfowl, wading birds, and bald eagles. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated 377 of these islands as Nationally Significant Seabird Nesting Islands.  In recent years, we have observed significant shifts in breeding distribution and species composition on a number of islands in Maine. However, comprehensive seabird surveys had not been conducted in over 10 years, and we did not have data to support our observations. We did not have current population data for the seabird species and therefore, we could not fully evaluate the population shifts we have noted in the field. Using a technique developed in 1996 during the last coast-wide gull and cormorant census, we photographed and are now counting breeding populations of seabirds across the coast of Maine.

Aerial Photos: Aerial photos were taken using Cessna 172 @1000' with a belly mounted camera (Canon, 21 megapixel). All flights were completed during May 25^th - June 3^rd . Including tests flights to test efficacy of the digital camera, we recorded 47 hours of flight time to complete this effort. The Refuge hired the pilot, rented the plane and digital camera, and also hired an observer and photographer for this effort. A total of 225 islands were photographed, representing 1400 photos (38 gigabytes).  All photos must be georeferenced and then nesting seabirds on each island need to be counted.  The Refuge has contracted with three vendors to complete the georeferencing portion of the project.

Ground Counts of Seabird Nests and Mortality Surveillance: The Refuge contracted with several vendors to conduct mortality surveillance and on-the-ground surveys of nesting seabirds. In addition, staff from Maine Coastal Islands NWR, Gulf of Maine Program, USGS, and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife also conducted surveys.  Islands that have recent survey data, those supporting nesting double-crested cormorants, and those that could easily be counted from the air were excluded from this effort. Observers noted any dead birds found during their surveys.  On-the-ground surveys were completed on 62 islands, representing over 335 hours of search time.  We documented 957 double-crested cormorant nests, 4,211 herring gull nests, 1,500 great black-backed gull nests, and 4,877 common eider nests.  During this effort we observed 1 dead cormorant, 41 dead herring gulls, 6 dead black-backed gulls, 43 dead common eiders, and five dead black guillemots. 

This aerial and ground survey will provide invaluable data to the Service and our conservation partners.  The data will facilitate management of offshore islands and the nesting seabirds they support, enhance efforts to acquire significant seabird nesting islands, and provide a reference for future disease response actions.