Middle Rock 2023 Success!

The Middle Rock pair succeeded in fledging a chick on their first nesting attempt in 2023... a first for this nest area since I began monitoring here in 2005. This pair claimed this Rock in 2018 and has nested in the same general area every year since. In 2017 one bird hung out on Middle Rock but did not have a partner.  From 2010 to 2016 a pair produced eggs and/or chicks but never managed to fledge any that I could tell. Here is the history: https://bloymonitor.blogspot.com/2020/03/nest-summaries-updated-annually.html

Even when the pairs have managed to get eggs to hatching, their first nest always failed at some stage and they had to try again. So it was very exciting to have one of the three eggs laid survive to produce a chick that lived long enough to fledge. Unfortunately, they moved their chick, soon after hatching, to the back side of Middle Rock where we could only guess what was happening from the parents' behavior. Finally, at about 6 weeks from hatching, I saw a fledgling with parents on a foraging rock near the nest rock. However it flew as soon as I spotted it and kept me in suspense until I relocated it on the big rock just north of Middle Rock. That is likely where it fledged to when it first flew from the back of Middle Rock.

Here's the story in photos:  beginning on May 22...

Middle Rock horizontal crevice that has the nest

BLOY incubating center of photo (base of red bill showing)

2 adults and 1 egg

 

My co-monitor, Casey, saw 2 eggs on May 25.

On June 9, I saw 1 chick, and watched one of the adults fend off a gull attack
 

June 9, 1 chick

 

On June 14, co-monitor Casey saw 1 chick

Then the parents moved their chick to the back side of Middle Rock, apparently. Parents foraged on nearby rocks, periodically disappearing behind Middle Rock with lots of talking sounds back there. 

On July 13, 5 kayakers invaded the area.

The parents kept quiet and still on the west most foraging rock, south of the nest Middle Rock

Middle Rock, where the chick was apparently on the back side of, is the bulge at the right of the photo. Only a small portion of it is visible. The flat foraging rock in the center top of the photo is where the 2 adults were.

 

Here is the foraging rock that the adults were on when 3 of the 5 kayaks were very close to that rock.

On July 17, I saw 3 BLOY on a foraging rock north of the nest rock. Lots of talking. It took me a long time to find where the talking was coming from and when I did, one bird flew to the rock behind the nest rock. A few minutes later, I saw it foraging on that rock and it appears in the photo to be a fledgling. The two remaining on the northern rock were adults. The distances are so great that without a scope or my long lens camera, I would never be able to tell adults from fledgling.

Here are the two adults on the north rock.

 

And here is the fledgling on what I call Back Rock, just north of the nest rock.

 Many thanks to my co-monitor Casey who made many more trips than I did up that long steep trail to our Observation Post at the top of God's Thumb. Alas, Casey had only binoculars so could only report what he was able to see through those. He did get a better view of the chick than I did (on June 14) before it disappeared to the back side of the nest rock.