My first day on the job came quickly after a 1,591-mile drive from my week-long orientation in Des Moines, Iowa to Steuben, Maine. I settled into a cabin on the refuge – home for the next 13 weeks – and then met my team. I was given a tour of the refuge office and shop (where I will be the majority of my days). After the tour, the refuge biologist peeked her head around the corner and said “today would be a perfect day to go out to the islands and do ground counts.” And just like that I was packing my hip high rubber boots and my huge life jacket into the PackCat boat and getting the boat stocked. My supervisor was as excited as I was for my first trip to the Maine Coastal Islands (I learned later that past CDIP interns were not able to visit as many islands as I did in one day). 

We launched our boat in the waters of the Narraguagus River and off we went. On the way out, the biologists were pointing out the marine life, such as the Harbor seals sun bathing, the Cormorants perched on ledges, and the Guillemots flying by. We reached our first island, Egg Rock, after about 35 minutes being on the water. I was amazed by all the rocks and seabirds on the island. The rocks were perfectly round and it made sense why this island would be named Egg Rock.

I was given a pipe fitting without knowing what it was used for until the biologist said “if the egg you pick up goes through the pipe fitting, it is a Herring Gull egg. If the egg doesn’t go through, it is a Black-backed Gull egg.” This is important since both species have similar colored eggs and nests. I was amazed on how a simple pipe fitting could help differentiate the two species with a 5% error, smart! We lined up on the shore of the island and were told to yell species name and number of eggs. For example, “Black-backed 3.” We had to make sure the person recording the data acknowledged us. We started walking and finding all the Gull nests and eggs. 

Someone yelled “Black-backed 1 and 2 chicks” and right then and there my interest was piqued. I walked over to see what the chicks looked like and to my surprise they look exactly like their egg shells! Pale and spotted! They were so cute and fluffy. When one was given to me to hold, I knew I was about to love my internship no matter how much work I had to do. 

We finished Egg Rock and were soon on our way to Petit Manan Island. When we arrived, all I could hear were seabirds. There were Puffins, Guillemots, Gulls, Terns, and Common Eiders everywhere I looked. Petit Manan is such a beautiful island with its tall historic lighthouse, vintage cabin, and an old boat house. Next to Petit Manan, connected by a tidal bar, is Green Island, which was our next island to record data. 

On Green Island, we repeated the whole process of ground counts over again. But this time we found one of my favorite waterfowl breeds, Common Eider, nesting among the rose bushes on the island. I learned a lot about Eider hens, such as when the hens are flushed from their nests, they defecate on them to discourage predation of the eggs. They also put their own down on the nest to keep the eggs warm while the hen is gone for long periods of time. 

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Wednesday rolled around with very little sleep and a very sore body and I was told that we were going to be doing the same thing for the rest of the week but on different islands. We did surveys on the grounds of Trumpet Island and observed Cormorant and Gull activity on West Barge and East Barge. I also learned how to row a raft and how to operate the drop gate on the PackCat. 

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Thursday came quickly, with more ground surveys on 3 additional islands. We started at Black Rock observing from the boat for any seabird activity. Next, we made our way over to Flat Island. Flat Island was my first sheep-grazed island at Maine Coastal NWR and it was very different compared to all of the other islands I have trekked. Flat Island was, well, what can I say, flat! A flock of ewes were placed on this island to control all of the tall grasses and invasive species which helps promote Gull nesting. 

After we finished Flat we went to Little Nash Island. This is another sheep-grazed island but this time the majority of the ewes had lambs. I came upon a Black-backed Gull nest with 3 chicks hiding between the hummocks (raised ground from sheep paths). All of a sudden, I hear this horrifying screech from above and it sounded fast. The momma Black-backed Gull was dive-bombing my head to protect her chicks. Not only was she swooping, she was pooping! This was a first for me!

Following the terrifying encounter with a momma Gull, we took a boat ride to Jordan’s Delight Island. This island is well known for its natural arch, which has been made from the waves washing and wearing away the rocks on the cliff. Our objective was to check traps for mink and to see if there were any nests. Because our time was short, I was given the opportunity to explore the rocky shore next to the towering cliffs down to the beautiful arch. I found a lovely succulent called a Rosewood Stonecrop, it made me think of home.

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Friday. So close to the weekend but yet so far. We traveled to Jonesport to check more islands for nesting seabirds. The first 4 islands (Little Sheep, Nipple, Seguin, and Virgin) we circled around in the boat checking for loafing or nesting seabirds. At Ballast Island, our hopes were dashed of finding more Eiders on the island but we did find a cute seal pup on the rocky shore. We then came upon my favorite island, Green Island. We found more Common Eider nests than we did Gull nests. I love Eiders! It was tough walking through the tall rose bushes with my hip high boots, but well worth it because I was able to find more Eider nests to study. We happened upon a unique nest that had a whopping 11 eggs in it. We think it was either a Mallard or Black Duck nest as it had white eggs similar to chicken eggs and was covered with down just like an Eider, which was a very cool find! 

Halifax was our last island of the day, it is one of the few islands that people can actually camp on. On this huge island, we were searching for otter/mink latrines, dead birds, and empty or active nests. I learned something I thought was unusual — wild blueberry and cranberry bushes are only about 8 inches tall! Back in Texas, our blueberry bush is taller than I am! They are called lowbush blueberries and apparently they are sweeter (even though they are smaller than the big blueberries I have been eating all my life). I am very excited to pick these sweet little blueberries in late July and early August! I’ll post pictures with a bucket full of wild blueberries.

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My first week, I had many amazing experiences. In all I was able to explore 18 islands within the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. It was a butt-kicking and SPECTACULAR first week of my internship!

Quote of the week: “It’s all for the birds.” ~ Jim Fortier

Monday hit hard after a very short but relaxing weekend… But week two turned out to be very different and I had some interesting experiences. A big problem on the refuge (all refuges…) are exotic and invasive species. A species Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge is interested in is the Garlic Mustard plant. To control Garlic Mustard you have to pull the weed, spray the plant’s rosettes and then treat the area with vinegar… sounds like a salad to me. 

We spent a day on Ship Island managing Garlic Mustard. We had to suit up in latex gloves, long sleeves, hip-high boots, and glasses to keep from getting vinegar sprayed in our eyes, getting phototoxins from the Cow Parsnip (which leaves a nasty red itchy rash when the sap gets on your skin and reacts with sunlight) on our hands and clothing, and getting stung by Stinging Nettle (like Bull Nettle back home but not as bad). We were given huge trash bags and sprayers full of vinegar and off we went into the waist high Cow Parsnip to find the little Garlic Mustard plants.

Garlic Mustard plants prefer shaded areas therefore we started at the brush line. Everyone had done this before and knew where and what to look for. All I could see was waist high Cow Parsnip (after Cow Parsnip…) with Stinging Nettle in the mix without a white flowering, single-stemmed, ridged heart shaped plant in sight. I was already feeling the itch even though I had not stepped foot in the thick brush.

            I found my first Garlic Mustard under a massive Cow Parsnip. As I crouched down to pull the weed, a Stinging Nettle touched me on the wrist, not fun. In a crouched position, I could see hundreds of Garlic Mustard underneath the huge leaves of the parsnip and could see it was going to be a long, itchy, and painful day. As it turns out, invasive species control is my least favorite thing to do so far if it involves Cow Parsnip and Stinging Nettle. 

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This week I also got a taste of how challenging it can be to manage ponds and beavers.  We drove down to the private point of Petit Manan to check the ponds for beaver activity. The first pond we came up to, we knew there was activity because the water was high and an old beaver lodge looked inhabited. We made our way down to the drainage system which has a fence slide on it and there were sticks and mud pushed through the fence from the beavers. We tore out as many sticks and mud as we could so we could take the slide out to let the water flow into the drainage system but that didn’t help. Underneath the fence slide are boards that adjust the amount of water allowed out of the pond, so we dug a little more and picked out huge sticks to get the board out. With one wet leg and sore arms, we got the board out and the fence slide back. We came back the day after and it looked like we didn’t even clean it. We didn’t even try and clean it again because we would just be cleaning it every single time we went back, which is some hard work.

Trail maintenance is pretty important on a refuge and must be maintained as much as possible for the satisfaction and safety of our visitors. After a not so “authentic Mexican lunch” on Tuesday, we went to Hollingsworth to install some signage and perform maintenance along the trail, we also cut some ‘leaners,’ trees that might fall over and hurt someone. And learned that once a tree is cut down and stacked, that you go back through and wipe mud on the clean-cut bases to make it seem like the tree was cut a long time ago. The trails we work on at the refuge are through the dense coniferous forest, which means a lot of maintenance is needed.

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At Birch Point Trail, I was able to ride on a four-wheeler which triggered my mind to think of home while we were putting up signs and doing a maintenance run. We even had to bring out the chainsaw to cut down some ‘leaners’.

As we were making our way through Gouldsboro Trail for a quick maintenance run, I kept noticing that every time I took a step, the ground beneath my feet would give a little or a lot. This is because majority of the soil here is called Peat, which is very rich with nutrients and plant material. Beautiful moss and lichen were everywhere, it was almost magical.

On Corea Trail, we did a little maintenance but instead of putting up signage, we were putting up a rope barrier to keep visitors from going into the bog. Corea Trail leads out to an observing deck that overlooks the bog which is a very deceiving and dangerous place to be out in. Bogs are areas that look like they can be walked across but they can’t because there is a lot soft spots in the ground from the water beneath that cannot be seen at all times. We pulled the rope from the deck and tied off onto one of the trees that was slightly into the bog and I got a quick feel of what a bog feels like once you walk into it. As we were walking down the trail, I was told that majority of the white flowers flowering on the sides of the path are strawberry plants. I was surprised and once again had to investigate as I LOVE strawberries. This little 4-inch plant was indeed a strawberry! What is up with all these little crop plants in Maine? I guess it’s true when they say everything is bigger in Texas.

In all, it was a good week, I got to pull a boat trailer, ride a four-wheeler, haul off a lot of logs to stack neatly, had a not so “authentic Mexican lunch,” and got to drive my clean jeep right into the weekend.

Quote of the week: “Life is good” ~Roger Chandler

This week was just one of those maintenance weeks that have to be done to make sure our refuge is up to date with boundaries and cleanliness. I had the best Monday of my life– Mondays aren’t always the worst… I was able to be a part of the trapping and banding of Common and Artic Terns on Petit Manan island. The process of trapping a Tern is to first find an occupied nest with dedicated mates (usually a 2-3 clutch nest), remove the eggs and write the sample number on the eggs. This process assures the eggs are returned to the correct nest. We then replace the real eggs with fake eggs and place a treadle trap on top of the nest. It wasn’t long before we found an occupied nest and the process started. My partner and I then played the waiting game watching and waiting for the pacing Common Tern to walk into the tiny trap door. After approximately 25 minutes the Tern found the tiny door, entered and promptly sat on the nest as the door shut behind it. We quickly made our way towards the trap with the small bag and little eggs. The frantic tern began flapping around in the trap so we secured it in the small bag to avoid it from harming itself. We removed the trap from the nest and replaced the fake eggs with the real eggs and headed back to the picnic table to collect data. For ‘nest 5’ we weighed the tern, measured the wing chord, and measured the head/bill. The wing chord is the “elbow” of the Tern to the tip of the feathers on the wing. We used a ruler to measure the head/bill measurement from the tip of the beak to the small bump on the back of the head. We inspected the legs of the Tern for a band. The ‘nest 5’ Tern did not have a band, so we put one on its leg and let it get back to its nest. We repeated this process for the rest of the day with the treadle traps and bow nets. By the end of the day, we captured nine Common Terns and seven Artic Terns. One Common Tern in particular put up a fight and was constantly pecking and biting me while I was trying to take measurements and band it. Once we were done, I had the opportunity to release it since it was my capture. As I opened my hands it flew off a little bit, turned back towards me, and bit me on the finger! Vicious birds!

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The lighthouse on Petit Manan Island was built in 1817. It is the second tallest lighthouse in the state of Maine by just a couple of feet. The lighthouse is not open to the public, but one of the benefits of working as an intern for the USFWS is that I am able to go up the lighthouse. It is so unique with vintage-style, spiraling stairs. At the top, and out of breath, I was given the most beautiful view of Petit Manan Island. I could see all the seabirds on the island such as the Terns, Eiders, Laughing Gulls, Guillemots, Puffins, and Razorbills. We got to go into the Light Room. I was surprised to learn that it was not one massive bulb but many smaller bulbs.

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On Wednesday, we were tasked with picking up trash off the shore of Bear Cove on Petit Manan Point. We made our way to the cove and down to the rocky shore and picked up a LOT of trash, most of which is from the booming lobster industry here in Maine. There are lobster traps, buoys, rope, and bottles along the shore. Lobster traps (or lobster pots) have an interesting design but are extremely difficult to pick up due to the bricks and rope attached to them. My supervisor explained to me exactly how they work and then showed me the results of a ‘lobster war.’ Here in Maine, lobster is a big deal and lobstermen will cut each other’s traps if they feel they have been encroached upon or if they have any unsolved problems. The result is huge bundles of lobster traps that get washed up onto the shore, trash that we have to pick up. The bad thing about the washed-up lobster traps is that even though some of them are in good condition and can be reused, the lobstermen won’t accept them. It is such a waste of resources whenever they get sent to the dump and it is hard work to crush the traps so that they fit in the dumpsters. Picking up all this trash got me to thinking on solutions that would help with the wastefulness of lobster traps… but I couldn’t come up with one that was logical enough. In all, we picked up 7 piles of trash at the pick-up points.

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I worked on boundary control and maintenance at the Wehr property for the rest of the week. Boundary control is basically an invisible fence that the refuge clears out and places NWR signs to let people know the refuge boundary. We had to clear a stretch along the property line about 8 feet wide to make it distinguishable and so the next sign is visible when standing in the cleared-out area. We used chainsaws to cut out some trees along the stretch and used a brush saw to cut all the smaller vegetation along the stretch. My job was to pick up the cut vegetation and move it out of the 8-foot line. I also put the signs on the posts that were driven into the ground. Boundary control is not easy work, especially on a new property line that has not been cleared before in the woods with tons of muhskeeters (mosquitoes) and black flies constantly swarming you — and finding the one spot that you missed with the bug spray. Once we were done with clearing, I went back through to mark the trees that were shaved with the chainsaw with yellow marker paint to make it visible that it is a boundary.

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Quote of the week: “isn’t this crappy?” ~ Linda Welch, referring to the Terns

It’s census week! My favorite time because I get to interact with all the seabirds and chicks! Started Monday off with a boat census Down East (what they called the coastline of Maine) with my supervisor. We launched in Jonesport and went to the furthest point for the census, Machias Bay. In Machias we recorded observations of any seabirds found in the Bay. Machias Bay was where I got to drive the boat and also where I got to see my first Harbor Porpoise.

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In all we did counts on ten islands, including Old Man Island, my favorite. Old Man apparently has had a Raven on the island that predates on the seabirds, particularly the Razorbills. When we got closer to the island, we started seeing Razorbills and began to investigate if the Raven nest was still there. Luckily it wasn’t.  We stopped for a lunch break on Cross Island. It has an old Coast Guard Life-Saving Station that is abandoned and now open to visitors. It has a massive boat house and a mansion-like home right behind it. My supervisor showed me around the boat house and then we went into the old house. Once we were in the house I was amazed with all the vintage pictures on the walls, the furniture, and the household items. There was a guest book that went back all the way to 1991 sitting on the table and my supervisor said that I should sign it, so I did. 

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Next, we went to a new island on the list to survey called Hog Island. Although there were no seabirds in sight to document, I did see my first Loon. They are beautiful massive birds! We continued our survey of the nine islands in Eastern Bay and fifteen islands in Western Bay and heading back to the boat dock. I was so glad to drive the boat about half of the time we were on the water surveying.

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Terns… I can tell you a story about them. Tuesday and Wednesday were the days we did the ground survey for nesting Terns on Petit Manan Island and were also tasked with Laughing Gull surveys. Petit Manan Island is broken up with a large portion of the island managed for nesting Terns and then a small portion on the south end for the nesting Laughing Gulls. To do the survey, we were lined up with me at the end point as flagger. We made our way across the island counting the eggs in the nests of Terns, Eiders, and Laughing Gulls. Going through the island was like a war zone. Terns are really good at shooting their poop at you and dive-bombing your head. All of us had to hold something over our heads (a stick or flag) so that the Terns wouldn’t hit us but would instead hit the stick or flags as they tend to go for the highest point. 

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We walked very slow since the tern nests are so small and very camouflaged. When we got to one of the blinds, I looked under and saw a hidden Eider hen sitting on her nest. I told the crew so that they could catch her and either read her band or re-band her. One of the crew members caught her and began the process of banding since her band was illegible. My dream came true when I was able to hold her, she was so calm and so soft… I didn’t want to put her down. 

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We crossed into a new grid (30×30 meters) of the Tern area and knew we would find some Laughing Gull nests that should not be there. Laughing Gull nests are slightly smaller than Herring and Black-back Gull. The eggs of the Laughing Gulls are a lot smaller than the other gulls but bigger than Tern eggs. Whenever we came across a gull nest, we would just yell “gull,” pick up the eggs and destroy the nest. Why, you ask? Laughing Gull populations have increased 20 percent in the last couple of years. The Laughing Gulls compete with the Terns for nesting areas and will also eat/destroy the Tern eggs/chicks in the nest. Kleptoparasitism happens between the Laughing Gulls and the Terns — the Terns catch a fish and the Laughing Gulls team up to take the fish away from the Terns. The refuge’s goal is to help the Terns since their numbers are declining. One way to help is to manage the population of Laughing Gulls on the island, basically minimize the number of gull nests and eggs – especially when they encroach on the Tern’s nesting area.

Whenever we came upon a Laughing Gull eggs within the gulls’ designated nesting boundary, we would spray vegetable oil on the eggs and roll them around in our hands or nest until fully coated. Why? Because we want the Laughing Gulls to know this is a nesting area for them but we don’t want them to successfully nest. They will sit on the nest but the eggs will not hatch because the vegetable oil suffocates the egg.

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Once we were done for the day, I had the opportunity to stay overnight on the island since we would be doing more ground surveys the next day. While the team left, the interns and I sat around talking when we noticed that the Tern colony was being disturbed. We investigated and saw a Bald Eagle perched on a rock in Puffin Point. One of the interns went in the house to grab the laser to use on the Eagle. When the laser was pointed at the Eagle, it immediately left the island for the night. Wednesday, rolled around and we were doing the same thing with more Terns pooping and hitting us. I did get to see two amazingly cute Eider ducklings and a Puffin in a burrow.          

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The rest of the week was maintenance. I was tasked to put out flyers for the Friends of Maine Coastal Islands NWR, for an event that includes a boat tour out to Petit Manan Island to look at the seabirds. We went back to the Wehr property to shave more trees and mark with the yellow marker paint. Also cleaned up two new boundary lines and put up more National Wildlife Refuge signs along the boundary down to the salt marsh.

Quote of the week: “Wahoooooooo” ~ Jim Fortier every time we jumped a wave while doing the boat census

We started this week in Blue Hill Bay to finish our last boat survey for the seabird census. We traveled to over 20 islands in the area looking for seabirds. We were especially interested in the Lost Colony of Terns from Ship Island. The Lost Colony is a colony of about 800+ Terns that were once nesting on Ship Island but have abandoned the island in the past years due to poor monitoring. While we made our way, I was recording every seabird on the islands, even if it wasn’t a seabird we were looking for. We reached Three Bush Island believing that we would find part of the Lost Colony. They have been here in the past, but we didn’t see a single Tern – though I did spot some really small and cute jellyfish in the water next to the boat. 

After about nine islands, we got to Gander Ledge and began to see Terns feeding and hanging out on the ledges. We saw the Terns with the Ring Gulls, so we knew we were getting close to the Lost Colony. We moved on to the Mt. Desert Narrows and went through Blue Hill Bay but it wasn’t until we made our way to Darling Island outside of Blue Hill that we started hearing the Lost Colony. Of all places, we found part of the Lost Colony at Conary Nub, a tiny rock of an island where we counted about 180 birds flying around. We anchored and rafted to the small island to do a ground count of the Tern nests. Two hundred and thirty-six nests and four adorable chicks later, we informed the biologists that we have found part of the Lost Colony. As we headed back to Ship Island, we stopped at our last place to look — the Squid Ledge. Here we found two pairs of Terns with one of the pair nesting on one of the ledges.

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Our other main objective this week was to move people (biologists and interns) to and from islands, as well as bring heavy supplies for maintenance projects. Researchers and interns stay out on the islands to monitor the birds and it was time for them to shift their work to some of the other islands. Each time we went to Petit Manan Island. We would bring bundles of shingles (which are not my friend) to store in the boat house. Next year the Refuge is going to replace the roof on both the boat house and the main house on the island. We traveled to Petit Manan on Tuesday and Thursday.

We had been to Viking Lumber on Tuesday morning and picked up the 25 bundles of shingles (first touch) where I had to pick them up, move them to the truck, wrap them with plastic so that they stay together while on the boat, and then stack them in the back of the truck. Reminder that these cedar shingles are not light and are not smooth on the edges. Next (second touch), I had to move them from the truck and into the boat to be stacked. Once we reached the island (third touch) I had to pass them off the boat and onto the boat ramp to be taken up the slippery steep ramp to the boat house (forth touch). Then, we had to take supplies off the island, which I also had to put into the boat. Did I mention we had a film crew on the island that we had to pick up and take back with their gear? Their gear is not light either…

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Thursday was the next day we were going out to the island. This time we had 30 bundles of shingles and I had to repeat the whole process over. Thursday the seas were really rough. I have never been in rough seas before and my highest “roller” was about six and a half foot tall during this trip. Both of my bosses kept laughing and informing me that these “rollers” are nothing compared to the over fifty foot “rollers” they have been in. It was so much fun riding in the rough seas and was way different than the typical island trips I have been on. While on the rough seas I saw a lot more Storm Petrels and Harbor Porpoise than normal.

Once we got to the island, the challenge really started. We had to get the 30 shingles off the boat as fast as possible. With the strong “rollers” coming in, we had to be extra careful to keep the boat from hurting someone and getting caught on the boat ramp. The shingles got soaked making them extra heavy from all the water in them. Let me just tell you, it was a rough time on the boat ramp getting these shingles to the top and in the boat house. I was worn out, my body was sore, and my arms and legs were all cut up and bruised. But, hey, I got my workout in for the week!           

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Since I had a such an exhausting week, I decided to end it by cooking my own 1.6-pound live lobster and two and half pounds of rope-grown mussels from Chipman’s Wharf. Trust me, I ate it all in one sitting and it was well worth it -especially dipped in butter. Yum! So much for a workout.

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Quote of the week: “Slicker than snot on a door knob” ~ Lobster Boat Captain of Mama’s Boy

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! It was short week for us here at Maine Coastal Islands NWR. We had a busy day when we went out in the skiff to Ship Island. We had to check on the returning Lost Colony of Terns and to conduct a ground count of the nests. Seems the numbers of Terns are gradually increasing even though they are nesting later than normal. At the beginning of the nesting season, Ship Island only had about 10 nests on the ground, which had the majority abandoned.

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During the survey, I was positioned towards the beach, while the others were more towards the vegetation counting the new nests. While I was looking for nests in the beach area, I was also picking up sand dollars and beautiful sea glass. It wasn’t until we got into grid 4 that we began to find more new nests. Every new nest found, a red colored popsicle stick was placed in the ground next to it with the date and egg count written on it. Within grid 4 we also found an old nest that had a chick in it. Since the chick was fluffy and moving and about 2 or 3 days old, we were able to band it. Interesting fact: the birds legs will get longer but not fatter, which is why we you can put bands on them when they are chicks. 

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We moved on into the other grids and discovered another invasive species of plant on Ship Island called the Wild Radish. It has a bright yellow flower. Luckily, I didn’t have to rummage around in Stinging Nettle and Cow Parsnip this time around, but they do have some spikes on them towards the base of the plant. After finishing the ground count of the Terns, we came up with about 180 nests on Ship! Lost Colony is definitely coming back…

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After lunch at the cabin I was asked to assist with a vegetation survey. I learned how to conduct these surveys in the labs at Texas A&M. I am a major plant nerd in Texas, so I was very excited to see and learn about plants on an island in the Atlantic Ocean! The biologist had generated random plots on a map of Ship Island and we had to locate them to place a meter-by-meter grid and conduct the survey. We found the first point and placed the grid on the ground and began to identify the plants. There was Garden Valerian, Chickweed, Clover, and Cow Parsnip to name a few. We calculated the cover percentage of the plants within the grid and moved on to the next one and repeated the process. The third point was for an enclosure for sheep. The biologists want to place sheep on Ship to control the vegetation. The enclosure point was different than the other points because we had to mark out a 4-meter-by-4-meter square and then conduct the vegetation survey within the square.

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The next two days of my short week consisted of boundary control in Corea. Corea is one huge bog and the ground is constantly soft and the brush grows fast. We arrived at Corea, sprayed down with bug spray, and made our way in. This boundary was absolutely terrible. It was so thick and brushy, I don’t think my feet touched dry ground the entire time. The Deer and Horse Flies don’t care if you have coated yourself in bug spray, they will stop at nothing to take a chunk out of you. On this boundary, I began to see little red berries on the ground. I realized they were miniature strawberries! I LOVE strawberries! A quick snack and then I was back to reality. Armed with the chainsaw and gas can I headed for the boggy incline. At the bottom of the incline, the water was really high and was trickling over the top of my boots. As I pushed along deeper into the bog I started to see a cool plant called a Pitcher Plant. This plant is carnivorous like a Venus Fly Trap. Somehow I need to figure a way to use this plant to my advantage to eat the swarming flies!  It was exciting to see but we moved on with the work by cutting and stacking massive limbs of a White Pine that had fallen along the boundary line. I ended the short week with welts from flies, wrinkled feet, and a sore body with my mind set on a nap back at the cabin.

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Quote of the Week: “yut… yut yut yut yut” ~Downeast Mainer’s way of agreeing

I’m halfway through my internship here at Maine Coastal Islands NWR.  I have mixed feelings, missing my family and friends at times but I’m also enjoying all the new experiences and many first’s. 

Started the week off with boundary control at Corea. Did I mention this area is REALLY THICK?  As operator, I was given the brush saw, safety equipment and started in a thick corner. As I was sweeping the brush back and forth cutting the vegetation I heard this loud crack and felt pain in my neck, bicep, side. After finishing the area I investigated the pain. Apparently, I had hit a piece of rebar and pieces of metal had ricocheted hitting me. Thank goodness for the safety mask as it could have easily been my eye.  After a good look and the best cleaning I could do I returned to the task at hand. 

Next day, we launched from Lamoine with a packed boat. Our chore was to open, clean and refresh the “secret cabin” tucked in the middle of The Twinnies for our staff retreat. The Twinnies are two islands similar in size and shape. After cleaning the cabin we made our way to Egg Rock Island. There are a lot of islands named Egg Rock, but this one is the most visited in the Bar Harbor (Bah-Habah) area because of the daily whale and puffin tours. It is the first island the visitors see when they go out of the harbor. We stopped on the island to check on the lighthouse and noted a corner of the house was blown off because of a winter storm.  From the top of the lighthouse it was a beautiful sight seeing the town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park from the Atlantic.

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Next stop was to pick up firefighters and transport them to Baker Island to retrieve their prescribed burning equipment and a four-wheeler from the island. Baker Island is a historic island and long ago had a light keeper family living on the island who provided for themselves by sea farming and crop farming. There are three structures on the island that are open to the public. On our way back to the boat ramp I witnessed the most beautiful view of Acadia National Park from the water! 

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Another cool thing I got to do this week was to travel to one of the furthest islands off the coast of Maine. Matinicus Rock is another island we own with interns from the National Audubon Society living, researching and managing the seabirds. The Rock, as it’s fondly called, is roughly 26 miles off shore and took an hour or so to reach. The cliffs on this island are 50 plus feet tall. I was told in the winter, waves get so large they wash over the cliffs and over the lighthouse. I wouldn’t want to be stranded on this island in the winter time! We, along with the contractors walked into lighthouse. They wanted to view the lighthouse to bid on it for future restoration. Back on the mainland my supervisor gave me a tour of the visitor center at our main office in Rockland as I will be working there as part of my internship in the near future.

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The next day had us back out on Ship Island carrying out another ground count on the returning Tern colony. We found about 40 more nests on our run through the island, banded a chick, and then decided that it would be a good time to set up productivity plots along the shore of the island. We put up productivity plots so that we can have a concentrated area that we can take data on every day to depict if the colony will do well or not. To set up a productivity plot we first find a reasonably small but concentrated area of Tern nests. At that point, a fence is constructed around the plot to keep the chicks inside to band and track their progress and growth. Two plots were set up that day and at one of those plots I got pecked twice under my ponytail by a mad Tern!!

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On Friday, I was sent to Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery for the day to view their operations. After arrival, I geared up in hip high boots, rain shorts, and a rain jacket and into the wild sea-run Atlantic Salmon pen I went. The crew were loading the salmon onto a truck to be transported and released in the Penobscot River. As I studied a caught salmon I soon learned that these Atlantic salmon were silver with about a dozen spots running down their backs. Unlike the Pacific salmon’s pink and green coloring with a different shaped mouth. I also learned the Atlantic Salmon don’t die after spawning like the Pacific Salmon do. After a tour of the facility I was taken to the isolation tanks. These tanks contain sea-run salmon that have not been tested for ISA (Infectious Salmon Anemia), they test the fish by collecting a vial of blood from the fish and sending it off to be tested, if the fish passes it gets moved into the pens and if it fails it is culled by collecting all the blood. In every tank, they place salt blocks where the salt acts like “Gatorade” to the salmon and helps them heal and keeps them healthy. The salmon kept in the “Mods” have been there their entire lives, from egg to adulthood of about 3 years old for brooding stock. This is to increase the numbers of Atlantic Salmon growing and after 3 years of being in the “Mods” they will be released back into the rivers. All the eggs collected by the Mod Salmon are placed in egg trays until they hatch into Sac-Fry. Then at that time they are placed in little pools until they lose their sacs and become Parr. About half of the Parr are kept at the facility while the other half are put back into the rivers. Since the Atlantic Salmon are considered an endangered species, Craig Brook Hatchery’s mission is to keep good gene pools running through the facility. As I was helping clean one of the Mod tanks there was an observation window. A crowd of little kids with their faces pressed against the glass wanting us to catch a salmon for them. We slipped around and attempted to catch a salmon freehanded but once the fish get crowded into a corner they begin to dart out and will knock your feet out from underneath. We ended up grabbing a net and caught a monster 3-year-old. The difference between sea-run and the domestic Mod salmon is that the sea-run are longer and lean while the domestics are super fat because get fed throughout the day. We held up the monster salmon and the kids went crazy saying “That’s so cool!” and “I want to grow up and be like them!.” It was very rewarding seeing the sparkle in the kid’s eyes watching us as we worked in the tank.  

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I was also able to visit Green Lake Hatchery. Their mission is production. At this facility the tanks were larger and held more fish than Craig Brook. At Green Lake, they do not keep brood stock.  They receive their eggs from Craig Brook and raise them until they are old enough to be released into the rivers. When the fish are released into the rivers, they get two holes punched in one of their fins so that a fisherman knows that this salmon is federally protected and must not be taken out of the area it has been caught in.

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Quote of the week: “nice day for it, huh” ~random guy on the boat dock

Sunday I had the opportunity to attend a fundraising event for the Friends of Maine Coastal Islands. We went on a scenic cruise boat out of Bar Harbor to look at the seabirds on Petit Manan Island. The weather did not cooperate but I’m pretty sure everyone still had a great time. 

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The majority of this week was spent restoring part of a roof on top of the lighthouse on Two Bush Island near Rockland. Did you know I am a Facilities-Maintenance Intern? I accepted this position knowing I was going to be physically and mentally tested. Let’s just say I have a new found respect for roofers. That is hard, HOT work! 

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Now to the fun part. Little did I know my teammates had taken notice of my small arms and had a job just for me, so off to Metinic Island we went. Once we reached the island we offloaded a mower and then on to my “task.” As we walked to where the burrow was located the island interns began to discuss exactly what I would be doing. They had previous tagged three Leach’s Storm Petrels on the island and were hoping to find the tagged one back in its burrow and hopefully sitting on its egg. As they were talking I was thinking to myself, “Y’all want me to stick my arm in where? There? That tiny hole?”. I started seeing flashes of slithering, biting animals. I was told I might get bit but it won’t be bad. Hold up. Okay, back in Texas it is against my self-law to reach into a hole. Plain and simple. Chickens sit on Chicken Snakes, this I know. 

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Apparently, Leach’s Storm Petrels are a nocturnal tube-nose seabird that are rarely seen by the public because they only live and breed on islands. These Storm Petrels mates will take turns incubating since they each will leave their burrow for 3-5 days to feed. We have tagged these Leach’s Storm Petrels because we haven’t recorded their feeding activity data until this year, this is also why we tagged Terns and Shearwaters. Mainers call it “Petrel grubbing” and that to me means to eat a lot, so I renamed the process “Petrel noodlin’” and or “Petrel wranglin’.” Thank goodness one of the interns reached their hand in first to grab the egg and see if there was actually a Petrel nesting. She felt around in the burrow, and the bird sat on top of her hand.  She didn’t feel an egg but she did feel something fuzzy. It’s a little early for a Petrel chick but sure enough there was one in the burrow. She pulled it out and they began to collect data on it. My turn was up and I was still reluctant to say the least. Okay puny arms work your magic. I looked into the dark hole and could barely see the Petrel’s white spot on its rear end in the very back of the burrow. No one could get the bird out because there was a rock positioned oddly inside the burrow. I reached my hand in the hole and quickly brought the Petrel out. Everybody was so happy that I retrieved it so fast, come to find out it was the tagged Petrel and was able to get the uncomfortable backpack tag off it’s back! 

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The rest of the week we took it easy and island hopped around to Petit Manan and Jordan’s Delight to do some minor projects. We took an Audubon biologist to Petit Manan and I was tasked to go with the other interns and check the Tern productivity plots. As we were walking through the grass, Tern chicks were darting across the trail and we began to catch them and check them for bands. No band meant we would check their weight and wing chords and band them before we set them free. Once we got into the first productivity plots, we had some Tern fledgers fly out. The ones found in the plot were weighed, wing chord measured, and bands were read. We repeated this process 3 more times at other plots. After we finished one of the interns noticed that I had a nice Tern poop on my back and she asked me “Can I collect this poop on your back for a sample?.” I thought why not so she grabbed a little vial and began to take the poop off my back. It’s the weird things we do for the birds.

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One of the biologist was having a hard time candling a Petrel egg. Candling is a method used in embryology to study the growth and development of an embryo inside an egg. The method uses a bright light source behind the egg to show details through the shell, and is so called because the original sources of light used were candles. I have some knowledge in candling because of my Animal Science lab at Texas A&M in the poultry barn. I told the biologist that in my lab we used a green/yellow light because it makes it easier to see the inside of the egg. She came upon a Petrel egg that she couldn’t see anything inside of which is odd because whenever you candle an egg, you will always see the air cell unless it’s a dead egg or it has been ruptured when the chick is beginning to pip. And I think the egg she candled was beginning to pip because she did mention that she heard a chick but didn’t know where it was coming from. Pretty cool stuff!

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Throwback of the Week: Green Acres Theme Song (don’t ask why I started singing this in the truck on the way back to the garage)

I spent four days in Rockland this week doing various activities. One of my favorites was navigating the Packcat to Two Bush Island exercising my maneuvering skills by dodging buoys and figuring out the right speed for certain sea conditions. Arriving safe and sound to the island we were soon on top of the roof, shingling away. I was taught how to properly shingle a roof so that it will weather a really long time on the lighthouse. Shingling is like a puzzle, you have to have the perfect shingle in a certain spot. For example, when trying to find the right shingle you have to look at the two previous rows for the joints. You want your chosen shingle’s width to be an inch away from each joint so that when the water runs off, it won’t go into the joints and will protect the second row’s shingle. When placing the perfect shingle, you have to leave a small gap because the shingles swell when wet. Learning how to find the right shingle, I learned how to properly nail it in place with a nail-gun. With the nail-gun you have to put two nails into the shingle about an inch away from the edge and about 6 inches up the shingle so that the nails are not exposed. Since I was working on the water’s side of the roof I had to get exact measurements on the last shingle so that it could be cut and nailed. If the shingle is not cut properly then it has the chance of blowing off the roof when it gets older and more brittle. We gradually made our way up the roof with the shingling and finished one side, which leaves us with 3 sides to do. One of which we still need to strip the old shingles off and place ice and water shield on and start shingling. We left the roof unfinished and will be working on it another week as we are pretty busy with closing down the islands. As we were on the ground and ready to clean up and head out, I was able to spot a Harbor Porpoise and her calf swimming around near the island. Usually the porpoises are alone and once you see them, you don’t see them again. This mother and calf, were constantly on the surface swimming around in circles. It was probably the cutest and most mesmerizing sight I’ve seen so far.

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I also had the opportunity to work with the Friends of MCINWR group and observe how the visitor center is run on a daily basis. Working in the visitor center is just as important as working out on the islands. These volunteers are very knowledgeable and enjoy educating the public on the daily functions of the refuge employees in the field. Maine Coastal Islands NWR is very grateful to partner with such a wonderful group. I helped set up and organize one of their events, The Juried Art Show happening on Saturday. I swept the sidewalks and entrance, organized the artificial seabird eggs, labeled the species, and labeled the clutch size. I got to put my some of my knowledge to work. It was like Easter egg hunting in July! There also is a very cool interactive artificial island for the kids to play with at the visitor center. Activities such as identifying seabirds, counting eggs in a nest, checking Gull eggs with an egg ring pipe fitting to see if it’s a Herring or a Black-backed, and writing down data into codes and tallies. 

I was given the task of organizing and labeling the seabird costumes that the Friends group use at events or with young children. It was an interesting process because if you don’t know the little details about the seabirds, then you could not piece the costumes together. There were Puffin, Eider, Guillemot, Roseate Tern, Leach’s Storm Petrel, and Laughing Gull costumes. Each costume had 3 parts to them, the head, the body, and the feet. Next, I helped the juror of the art show with categorizing the artworks and then placing them on the walls in the art gallery. There were so many cool and unique types of art work entered. I am not an artsy kind of gal, but I did learn a lot about what to look for in a piece of art. It requires you to use your imagination and try to find out what the artist is trying to show. There was one piece of artwork submitted and to me it looked like just a bunch of random green and blue blobs. The juror said she saw a tidal pool, which I wouldn’t have seen. My favorite out of the wildlife category was a pair of stained glass Eiders as an inset on a table. To me this was Best in Show! 

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I spent one day tagging along with the Rockland crew closing down Metinic Island. It was great to finally have some time getting to know the Rockland crew while also letting them get to know me. We got to the island and began packing the intern’s belongings into the boat. Their seabird research was finished for the season. The Guillemots, Eiders, and Terns are old enough to take off and survive on their own. After making sure all was locked and closed in the house I was told I could take a special feather out of the feather jar from one of the upland birds on the island. I love a Ring-Necked Pheasant. Now why would there be Pheasants living on an island? Well, apparently the pheasants were introduced off the island but eventually moved to the island on their own. Happily, I chose a nice long tail feather from the jar!

Quote of the week: “Falling an inch is like falling a mile, up here” ~Jim Fortier talking about what it’s like up on a roof… he’s not wrong, a tiny fall gives you a heart attack