PETIT MANAN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Milbridge, Maine

Satellite Stations: Cross Island National Wildlife Refuge Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge Franklin Island National Wildlife Refuge

ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Calendar Year 1988

U. S. Department of the Interior

Fish and Wildlife Service

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM

REVIEW AND APPROVALS

PETIT MANAN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Milbridge, Maine

and

Satellite Stations

Cross Island National Wildlife Refuge Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge Franklin Island National Wildlife Refuge

ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Calendar Year 1988

Refuge Manager Date

Proj ect ̂Leader Date

Q_CI^M ^ */-RefugeSupervisor Review Date

Regional Office ApprpVal Date

PETIT MANAN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Milbridge, Maine

%

ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Calendar Year 1988

INTRODUCTION

Page TABLE OF CONTENTS i

A. HIGHLIGHTS 1

B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 2

C. LAND ACQUISITION

1. Fee Title Nothing to Report 2 . Easements 2 3. Other 2

D. PLANNING

1. Master Plan Nothing to Report 2. Management Plan 3 3. Public Participation Nothing to Report 4. Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Res. Mandates...! 5. Research and Investigations 3 6. Other Nothing to Report

E. ADMINISTRATION

1. Personnel 12 2. Youth Programs Nothing to Report 3. Other Manpower Programs Nothing to Report 4. Volunteer Programs 13 5. Funding 13 6. Safety 14 7. Technical Assistance 14 8. Other Nothing to Report

F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT

1. General Nothing to Report 2. Wetlands 15 3. Forests 16 4. Croplands Nothing to Report 5. Grasslands 16 6. Other Habitats 16 7. Grazing 17 8. Haying Nothing to Report 9. Fire Management 17

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10. Pest Control Nothing to Report 11. Water Rights Nothing to Report 12. Wilderness and Special Areas 19 13. WPA Easement Monitoring Nothing to Report

G. WILDLIFE

1. Wildlife:, Diversity 19 2. Endangered and Threatened Species 19 3 . Waterfowl 19 4. Marsh and Waterbirds Nothing to Report 5. Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Allied Species 21 6. Raptors 22 7. Other Migratory Birds 22 8. Game Mammals 22 9. Marine Mammals 23 10. Other Resident Wildlife 23 11. Fisheries Resources Nothing to Report 12. Wildlife Propagation and Stocking Nothing to Report 13. Surplus Animal Disposal Nothing to Report 14. Scientific Collections 23 15. Animal Control 23 16. Marking and Banding 24 17. Disease Prevention and Control 25

H. PUBLIC USE

1. General 25 2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students Nothing to Report 3. Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers Nothing to Report 4. Interpretive Foot Trails 25 5. Interpretive Tour Routes Nothing to Report 6. Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations Nothing to Report 7. Other Interpretive Programs 25 8. Hunting Nothing to Report 9. Fishing Nothing to Report 10. Trapping Nothing to Report 11. Wildlife Observation Nothing to Report 12. Other Wildlife Oriented Recreation Nothing to Report 13. Camping Nothing to Report 14. Picnicking Nothing to Report 15. Off-Road Vehicling Nothing to Report 16. Other Non-Wildlife Oriented Recreation Nothing to Report 17. Law Enforcement 26 18. Cooperating Associations Nothing to Report

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I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES

1. New Construction 27

2. Rehabilitation 27 3. Major Maintenance 28 4. Equipment Utilization and Maintenance 29 5. Communication Systems Nothing to Report 6. Computer Systems 29 7. Energy Conservation Nothing to Report

J. OTHER ITEMS

1. Cooperative Programs Nothing to Report 2. Other Economic Uses Nothing to Report 3. Items of Interest ^ 30 4. Credits 30

K. FEEDBACK 30

L. INFORMATION PACKET Map Appended

SATELLITE REFUGES Appended

Cross Island National Wildlife Refuge Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge Franklin Island National Wildlife Refuge

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INTRODUCTION

Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge is a 3,335 acre refuge complex consisting of 2,166 acres on Petit Manan Point, acquired in 1975 and 1976 through the Nature Conservancy; 1,155 acres on Bois Hubert Island, most of which was donated in 1980 through the Nature Conservancy; nine acres on Petit Manan Island, transferred from the Coast Guard in 1974; and five acres on Nash Island, transferred from the Coast Guard in 1983. The refuge is located in the towns of Steuben, Milbridge, and Addison, in Washington County, Ma ine.

Petit Manan Point has a rugged, windswept character. Its habitats include red and white spruce forests with some mixed hardwoods, coastal raised heath peatlands, fresh and saltwater marshes, blueberry barrens, cedar swamps, jack pine stands, old hayfields, rocky shores, and cobble beaches. It is npted for its use by migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors.

At the turn of the century most of the peninsula was owned by the Maine Coast Club, a company that intended to develop the land for "rusticators". Tennis courts, a golf course, a saltwater swimming impoundment, a deer enclosure, a wharf, and even a casino were built, and portions of the Point were divided into lots. However, their expectations were never realized, and the Club went bankrupt. Most of the Point was eventually acquired by the Mague family who turned it back into a saltwater farm, using the cleared areas for sheep pasture and blueberry grounds. The old Club buildings gradually disappeared, and, aside from two old camps and a small chapel, few traces of it remain.

Bois Hubert Island is much like Petit Manan Point in character and wildlife. The island runs parallel to the Point, about one mile east. Approximately 90% of the island is owned by the Service; inholdings are being acquired as they become available. Like many of the larger islands in Maine, Bois Hubert once had a village with a school, but now only a few old camps remain on the inholdings.

Petit Manan Island, named by Samuel de Champlain after Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, in 1604, is a nine acre treeless island, two and a half miles south of the Point. Historically it has been one of the most important colonial seabird nesting islands in the Gulf of Maine. It is also the site of an historic lightstation.

Nash Island is a nine acre treeless island approximately seven miles east of Petit Manan Point. Only half of the island is under Service ownership; the other half is privately owned. It is a former tern nesting island, but now only hosts nesting eiders and gulls.

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A. HIGHLIGHTS

A meeting was held in November to draft a Station Management Plan (Section D-2).

Tern productivity on Petit Manan Island was the highest ever recorded; the island now has over half of the roseate terns nesting in Maine (Section D-5).

A Maintenance Mechanic position was established (Section E-l).

Bio. Tech. Ralph Widrig produced and paid for a 40 page booklet summarizing his plant and bird work on the refuge (Section E-4).

Volunteer Bill Vasquez made many important contributions to the refuge (Sections E-4, G-8, 1-2). ^

Plans were made to construct three impoundments on Petit Manan Point (Section F-2).

A deer census performed on Petit Manan Point revealed very high deer density (Section G-8).

The Maine Historic Preservation Office bestowed a grant of $16,000 to the refuge for rehabilitation work on the Petit Manan Lightstation (Section 1-2).

Petit Manan Island TAG

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B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

The climate of coastal Washington County is moderated by the Atlantic Ocean. Summer temperatures are significantly cooler and winter temperatures are significantly warmer than inland areas. No weather data is collected at this station; however,in the Machias area, the average annual temperature is 43 degrees F., the average annual precipitation is 49 inches, the average annual snowfall is 75 inches, and the average frost-free growing season is 13 2 days. This area receives an average of fourteen thunderstorms per year. The average tidal range is 10.9 feet. Fog is an important influence on coastal ecosystems, occurring 33% of the time during the summer months.

The winter of 87-88 was another snowy one, with over four feet in December, two feet in January, and three feet in February. Fortunately, there were several thaws and rains in between, so there was usually less than two feet of snowcover at any one time. Freeze-up of the refuge freshwater flowages was early (November 12), and so was break-up (March 26).

Weatherwise the rest of the year was not unusual, the only exceptions being two weeks of humid, 90° heat in August that oppressed much of the east coast and a freak snowstorm that gave us three inches of snow on October 8.

C. LAND ACQUISITION

2. Easements

Throughout the year the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, a non-profit organization specializing in land preservation through easements, has worked on acquiring easements on our inholdings. Although no easements were recorded this year, there are some landowners that are seriously considering this land protection alternative.

3. Other

In March the refuge was notified that a 14 acre inholding on the Point, the Skinner Tract, was going to go on the market in the summer, for an asking price of $497,000. Realty Appraiser Bob Bryant appraised the property in April for approximately $380,000. The Skinners, who had owned the property since the 1950's, wanted to see it become part of the refuge, but were not willing to negotiate the price. The Nature Conservancy was not willing to assume the risk due to the wide difference between the asking price and our appraisal, so they refused to become involved. The Skinners waited until September for us to make a

3

decision. In the meantime, their daughter expressed an interest in it, so they eventually sold it to her.

Several islands in the area went on the market this year that would make valuable additions to the refuge; however there were not enough funds available for their purchase.

Goettel and Schick attended the public meeting on the proposed acquisition of Bog Brook flowage in Deblois to the refuge system in May.

D. PLANNING

2. Management Plan ^

In November a workshop was held to set objectives and evolve strategies for the development of the Station Management Plan for the four refuges administered out of this office. Attending the meeting at the Eagle Hill Wildlife Research Center in Steuben were Curt Laffin, Bob Miller, Mark Sweeny and Lynn Bjorklund from the Regional Office, Zone Biologist Gerry Atwell, and Moosehorn NWR Project Leader Mullen. The plan was in draft form at year's end.

4. Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Resource Mandates

A Section 7 Evaluation for roseate terns on Petit Manan Island was prepared and submitted in December. The evaluation addressed the seabird management program and the historic lightstation rehabilitation. We concluded that these programs would have no adverse effect on the nesting terns.

5. Research and Investigations

Petit Manan NR87- "Monitoring Colonial Seabird Populations and Reproductive Success in Terns Nesting on Petit Manan NWR." 53533-1. The Island Institute.

Objectives:

• Monitor the populations and nesting success of gulls, terns, puffins, guillemots, and eiders nesting on Petit Manan and Green Islands.

• Monitor the effects of competition by gulls for nesting space and predation on terns.

• Investigate the relationship between tern nesting sites and vegetation substrate.

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• Monitor the effects of vegetation management on tern and laughing gull nesting success.

• Observe the interactions between peregrine falcons and terns.

• Reduce the disturbance by refuge visitors on the nesting seabirds.

Since the initial gull control and seabird management program began in 1984, we have annually issued a contract to maintain and monitor the colonies. This year the $5,500 contract was issued to the Island Institute. The contract pays two people $130 per person per week to live on the island from when the terns arrive in May ~until when they leave in August. The field crew, David Folger and Matt Drennan arrived on May 16 and stayed until August 10.

a. Terns

Common Tern WRV

The seabird management program was initiated in 1984 with the goal of restoring the colony of arctic, common, and roseate terns to Petit Manan, which was historically one of the largest and most successful colonies in the Gulf of Maine. This is an especially interesting colony because it has traditionally been composed of roughly equal numbers of common terns and arctic

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terns; all of the other colonies in the Gulf are largely composed of one species. Petit Manan is close enough to the bays and estuaries to attract common terns, yet is far enough to sea to be ecologically considered an outer island, and be attractive to arctic terns.

The nesting,, terns had been passively, and in some cases, actively, protected by lightkeepers over the years. Not only did most people simply prefer terns over the more aggressive gulls, but since the rainwater collected from the roofs provided the only freshwater for the three lightkeepers and their families, and since the gulls had the habit of loafing on the roofs,the gulls were not tolerated. This helps explain why the three main tern colonies surviving in Maine today are on lighthouse islands.

After Petit Manan Light was automated ^.n 1972, it was no surprise (in fact, it was predicted) that the gulls took over the tern colony. By 1978 tern numbers had started to decrease and by 1980 there were no nesters left. They did not nest again until we initiated the gull control program in 1984. Within two weeks after the third application of 1339 Gull Toxicant, the terns were back. Today their numbers surpass the historical numbers, and, most importantly, their production is consistently high.

A nest count was conducted this year on June 17? 1,467 nests were found (770 common tern, 655 arctic tern, and 42 roseate tern). A capture/recapture census technique is used? a line of counters moves through each subcolony inconspicuously marking each nest found with a toothpick. When all of the subcolonies are done, samples of each are recounted at right angles to get the error rate. The error rate is usually around 10%. Roseate numbers are treated differently since their nests are much more likely to be overlooked because they nest in very dense vegetation. Fortunately, the roseate adults stand out from the arctics and commons, so most nests can be located by careful observation. Therefore, the roseate numbers reflect an effort to locate each nest by observing adults, and not by the line census alone.

Production was very high this year: 1.19 chicks/nest for common terns and 1.74 chicks/nest for arctic terns in the sample plots. Tern production numbers for this colony are among the highest recorded, probably a reflection of good food (80% herring this year) , lack of disturbance, and a little bit of luck (good weather). Actually, we are happy with anything above 0.4-0.5 chick/nest.

This colony is also interesting because it includes over half of the roseate terns nesting in Maine. Roseates, which were placed on the Endangered Species List last year, increased to 42 pairs, a 10 % increase over last year. Although only roseates are officially endangered, we are concerned about all three species of terns because their populations have declined drastically

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since the 194O's largely due to competition from gulls. It will take more active management programs at other colony sites to reverse this long-term decline.

b. Laughing Gulls

Laughing Gull with Chick WRV

Petit Manan is also noted for having over half of the nesting laughing gulls in Maine. Fortunately, the laughing gulls do not compete significantly with the terns; very minor predation on tern eggs and chicks has been documented on Matinicus Rock, but never here. Kleptoparasitism has been documented here, but has had no significant effect. Their nesting habitat requirements are also very different from the terns, as they prefer dense, tall vegetation, instead of the more open, rockier areas. Like the terns, they were rousted from Petit Manan by the large gulls, and returned in 1984 when the gulls were removed.

Their preference for rank vegetation makes them almost impossible to census. From partial fledgling counts and from the numbers of adults that would fly when the peregrine came around, we have estimated that there must be at least 400 pairs nesting, up from 150 pairs in the 1970's.

c. Black Guillemots

Black guillemots are one of the rarest alcids, but are very

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common here in Maine. They nest in rock crevices and between small boulders and rocks, close to the water. In 1984, approximately 16 pairs of guillemots nested on Petit Manan; since then this number has grown to an estimated 80 pairs. Unfortunately, we do not have good population numbers prior to 1984? however, since the only thing that has changed is a decrease in the influence that the gulls have on the island, it is reasonable to assume that this dramatic increase is a result of the gull control also.

d. Common Eiders

Eider numbers on both Petit Manan and Green Island have skyrocketed since the gull control. (Although terns nested on Petit Manan, and not on neighboring state-owned Green Island, it was necessary to control the nesting gulls on Green, too, because they had been found to be significant predators on tern eggs and chicks in a study done by Dr. Jeremy Hatch of the University of Massachusetts in the 1970's.) On Petit Manan eider nests have increased from 12 in 1984 to 25 in 1987. On Green they have increased from 50 nests in 1984 to 500 in 1988, an increase of 1000%! Why they prefer Green over Petit Manan is unknown.

During the search for gull nests, virtually all of the incubating female eiders are momentarily flushed from their nests, enabling us to get a very accurate nest count.

e. Atlantic Puffin

Until 1984 puffins had not been documented visiting Petit Manan. That year, up to 13 individuals regularly visited the island, loafing near the lighttower, courting, and prospecting for nest sites. Puffins, like guillemots, nest in crevices and between rocks; puffins, however, prefer large desk-size boulders over the smaller, breadbox-size boulders that the guillemots prefer. Petit Manan does not have the boulder fields that the puffin colony islands do, so there is almost no nesting habitat, but what it does offer is a site that is free from gulls. So, since the gull control, puffins have been regular nest prospectors on Petit Manan Island. This year, a dozen were regularly seen throughout the season.

There are a few crevices in the higher ledges around the lighttower that provide marginal puffin nesting habitat. In 1986, the first puffin egg was laid, but it was knocked out of the nest and cracked before it hatched. The same crevice was chosen last year, an egg was laid, and a chick was successfully fledged. In 1988 another egg was laid in the same crevice, but, once again, fell out and cracked.

We have tried to make artificial puffin burrows out of rocks. Some have been successful in attracting guillemots, but most have

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been washed away in winter storms. Therefore, it is doubtful that the puffin colony here will ever grow, but it is nice to have the colorful birds hanging around. We have also been successful in reading band numbers off the loafing birds, and have been able to document movement between Petit Manan, Seal Island NWR, Matinicus Rock, Eastern Egg Rock, and Machias Seal Island.

TERN NESTING 1983 1988 PETIT MANAN ISLAND

800

700 -

600 -

500 -

400 -

300 -

200 -

100 -

I 1983

T

1984

7"

T

1985

i 1986 1987 1988

I//I ARCTIC

^ YEAR

|\\| COMMON V77X ROSEATE

Nesting tern numbers have leveled off since the initial gull control in 1984 and are at levels greater than those of the early IQTO's.

Petit Manan Island is an exceptionally interesting island because it has roughly egual numbers of nesting arctic and common terns. It is far enough to sea to be attractive to the arctics that tend to feed on the offshore ledges, yet close enough to the mainland (2 miles) to be attractive to the commons that tend to feed inshore. This island is unique in this regard.

Petit Manan now has over half of the roseate terns nesting in Maine. The roseates nest in the island's thick tangles of beach pea and feed over the upwellings created by bars such as the one that stretches from Petit Manan Point to Green Island.

TERN REPRODUCTIVE RATE, 1983 - 1988 PETIT MANAN ISLAND

YEAR • ARCTIC + COMMON

Tern reproductive rates vary greatly from year to year depending on weather, predation and food supply. Since the gull control, predation on Petit Manan Island has been insignificant. Each year we have been fortunate to have had good food supplies of herring and hake. The dip seen in 1986 was due to one severe storm on a night in June that killed the oldest chicks of the clutch because they were too big to be adequately protected by the parents, yet too small to survive by themselves.

The difference between common and arctic production is a reflection of larger average clutch sizes of the commons (3 vs. 2) . This year we saw some of the highest recorded tern reproductive rates.

OTHER SEABIRD NESTING, 1983 - 1988

600

500 -

400 -

300 -

200 -

100 -

0

PETIT MANAN ISLAND

XZ 1983

l/ZI GUILLEMOT

T

1984

Z" z

zfcv 1985

^ YEAR l\\l LAUGHING GULL

T

1986

1

1

1

1 2rv

i

i

i

1987 1988

IZZI EIDERS

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The dramatic increase seen in other nesting seabird numbers (and productivity) on Petit Manan Island was unexpected, yet understandable. It appears that the herring and great black-backed gulls have a greater impact on other nesting seabird populations than was previously thought. Gull control is by no means a panacea, but probably should be explored as an alternative in other areas.

This program has been site-specific; it has had no effect on nesting gull numbers in surrounding areas. If our monitoring program ended tomorrow, coastal gull numbers are so high that others would quickly move in as they did in the late igVO's, and the terns would once again be chased off.

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E. ADMINISTRATION

1. Personnel

(Left to Right) Widrig, Schick, Vasquez, Goettel BG

1. Thomas A. Goettel, Refuge Manager, GS-9, PFT, E.O.D. 1/5/85.

2. David Schick, Maintenance Mechanic, WG-9, TFT E.O.D. 4/18/88.

3. William Vasquez, Biological Technician, TFT, E.O.D. 10/22/88.

4. Ralph S. Widrig, Biological Technician, GS-5, TPT, E.O.D. 5/10/87.

David Schick, a former boat captain with Hurricane Island Outward Bound, was selected for the Maintenance Mechanic position. Dave brought with him many years of boat and carpentry experience, and has added much to our waterfront operations.

Ralph Widrig, a former volunteer, continued on a part-time basis to work on a biological inventory of the Point. He was paid for two days per week for 16 weeks, but volunteered much additional time. He was placed in non-pay status at the end of the fiscal year because there was no money allocated to continue his work.

Bill Vasquez was selected for a Biological Technician position for FY 89. Bill has a great deal of experience in the diverse fields of computer programming, law enforcement and farm management.

Number of Employees

PFT PPT Temo. Ttl. FY 85 1 0 1 1.2 FY 86 1 0 1 1.5 FY 87 1 0 2 1.3 FY 88 1 0 2 2.3

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4. Volunteer Programs

Ralph Widrig volunteered full-time (sometimes seven days/week) throughout the year. He has put together a plant list of 306 species, a bird list of 268 species, and has gathered many records of arrivals, departures and numbers. Ralph has put an incredible amount of time into the refuge and has been a great help. In March Ralph produced and printed, at his own expense, a 40 page bound booklet entitled "The Birds and Plants of Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge", a summation of his two years of fieldwork and record searching. He designed it to be easily updated, which he is doing already. Due to his hard work and dedication, we now have very accurate bird and plant lists.

Bill Vasquez also volunteered full-time from March until he was hired as a Bio. Tech. in October. Bill assuTned a wide variety of duties, from environmental education to posting to the eight-day­long deer census. Bill and his three children, Cathy, Matt and Dina put in many long hours both on this refuge and on Cross Island NWR doing whatever had to be done. Many, many big and small jobs got done this year thanks to the Vasquez family.

Volunteers Don and Karis Herriott visited the refuge in October to discuss the possibilities of producing an educational video for the refuge next summer. As summer residents of Maine and winter residents of Florida, they have produced videos for both Rachel Carson and Ding Darling NWRs.

5. Funding

This was the fourth year that Petit Manan has had its own budget.

* Includes $1,338 for Goettel's moving expenses. • Includes $24,992 for purchase of 24' boat.

A Includes $ 5,120 for office rent. - Includes $10,000 transferred to Moosehorn NWR and $8,132 for EOY purchase of 20* boat, generator, compressor, loran, and radar (wish list).

• Includes $8,659 for EOY purchase of outboard motor, dingy, and new transmission for Chevy Blazer (wish list), and $2,000 from private donor.

0 Includes $1,700 EOY purchase of laser printer (wish list) and $2,700 added in July for emergency repairs to Volvo outdrive.

Allotment Salaries Fixed Costs $78,000 $25,987 $ 8.906* 84,632- 35,784 13,577A

67,162• 34,332 11,564A

66,109° 44,259 8,150

Travel and Operating Balance

FY 85 FY 86 FY 87 FY 88

$43,107i 17,139 10,607 9,300

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Within the operating balance, $6,500 was received this year for ARMM projects including: $2,000 for boat and trailer maintenance; $1,500 for a fire and burglar alarm system? $500 for parking lot and road rehab; $1,800 to replace the inflatable dingy? and $700 for vehicle maintenance. The $1,800 received for the dingy was redistributed to pay for materials to replace the roof of the historic fog signal building on Petit Manan Island.

6. Safety

A draft of a station Safety Plan was prepared and sent to the Moosehorn Refuge for review and typing in December.

There were no lost time accidents this year. %

7. Technical Assistance

On August 20 Goettel attended the Tern Working Group meeting at the National Audubon Society camp in Medomak, Maine, to discuss tern management progress and problems in the Gulf of Maine. Tern production in Maine is now centered on the five colonies managed by the Service, NAS and Canadian Wildlife Service. There was no production at any of the historic colony sites; all have been taken over by gulls, or suffer serious human or predator disturbance. Fortunately, there are active management programs on these five colonies, and production was good again this year. Also attending the meeting were Zone Biologist Gerry Atwell and Regional Office Biologist Ralph Andrews.

During the fall months Goettel assisted the Frenchman's Bay Conservancy, a new non-profit local land trust that is interested in acquiring land and conservation easements in Washington and Hancock Counties. He is a member of the Steering and Policy Committee and regularly attends the monthly Board meetings.

Goettel and Vasquez have also assisted in the policy development of the Island Institute's Maine Island Trail System. This organization was started along the lines of the Appalachian Mountain Club to provide guidelines for recreational use of islands and to foster stewardship among small boat owners using any of the 3500 Maine islands for recreational purposes. There has been an increase in public use on the coast, and the Institute has recognized that the users must be educated and must police themselves to minimize adverse impacts on the island wildlife and wildlife habitats. They are essentially recognizing that a problem or potential problem exists, and are trying to get a handle on it before it gets out of control. Most importantly, they recognize that there are not enough "rangers" or island owners to control the use, so the users must both control themselves and clean up for the few abusers that are always there. Fortunately for us, the downeast islands are among the

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least user-friendly and the least used? the tide range, frequent fog and lack of services discourage all but the most hardy of island campers. But they do get some recreational use, and we could use a hand or just a good pair of eyes from those that are out and about on the islands. And, conversely, the users will know that we are around, and are concerned about our islands.

F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT

2. Wetlands

There are over 300 acres of freshwater marsh and 200 acres of saltmarsh on Petit Manan Point and Bois Bubert Island. The largest and most productive marsh on the Point was created from a heath in the late 1800's by the construction of a stone dam that was to provide water level control for cranberry production. Two other smaller dams built years ago also impounded water and created good waterfowl habitat. The dams have since grown over with alders and been "improved" by beaver, and now provide some of the highest quality waterfowl habitat in Downeast Maine.

In the past we have always taken the beaver for granted; they always kept the three dams in reasonably good repair and kept the water levels within reason. However, this year, for some reason, they let us down, and did not maintain the dams in the spring, so all three impoundments were drained by damage to the dams during the spring freshet. We filled in the holes as best we could, and the beaver eventually repaired the large Cranberry Marsh dam. The beaver were there, and why they let the flowages drain is a mystery. The habitat is not good for beaver, so we theorized that they either moved on to a better food supply, or got frozen out by low water levels in the winter. The flowages are important to the large numbers of black ducks that pass through the area in the fall, so we began seriously thinking about rehabilitating the dams and installing good water control structures.

Hydrologist Dick Quinn (RO-Eng) visited the three sites in October and initiated the engineering and planning work. In November Roger Tornstrom brought two survey crews in to shoot elevations and dike cross-sections. Plans for two of the flowages (Meadow Brook and Mague) were drawn-up, and state Department of Environmental Protection wetland alteration permits were applied for. We are keeping our fingers crossed for funding.

Zone Biologist Gerry Atwell visited the refuge in September to run aquatic vegetation transects on Cranberry Marsh flowage. The most common species found in 30 transects were, in decreasing order: Potamaaeton foliosus (leafy pondweed), Chamaedaohne calvculata (leatherleaf), Nuphar variegatum (yellow water lily), Zizania aquatica (wild rice), Potamageton epihvdrus (ribbonleaf

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pondweed), Sparganium angustifolium (burreed), Utricularia sp. (bladderwort) , Potamageton oakesianus. Carex sp. (sedges) , Scirpus sp. (bulrush), and Andromeda glaucophvlla (bog rosemary).

3. Forests

Much of Petit Manan Point and Bois Bubert can be classified as commercial forest, chiefly second-growth red, black, and white spruce, white cedar, and larch, with mixed hardwoods such as red maple, paper and yellow birch, mountain ash and alders. There are also some jackpine stands on both. No wood harvesting is allowed at this time to allow the woods to mature to encourage bald eagle nesting and roosting.

5. Grasslands

Two of the former sheep pastures totalling approximately 10 acres are maintained for upland species by spot mowing when necessary. The edges of both were mowed this year. The fields are essentially timothy and some clover, so we are exploring rejuvenating them with a better mix for upland wildlife.

6. Other Habitats

There are approximately 38 acres of blueberry grounds on the Point. They are important to migrating songbirds, raptors and whimbrels ("blueberry curlews"), deer, and as singing grounds for woodcock. After a decade of natural succession and no management, we are slowly restoring them with a combination of mowing and burning.

The arctic-like tip of Petit Manan Point with its shrub-slope peatlands and raised peatlands contains fragile, unique ecosystems that will not be actively managed.

Bio. Tech. Widrig added 20 plant species to his list this year, bringing the total to 306. He added five species of ferns in June: lady, New York, evergreen rock, oak, and longbeach. This year he collected and positively identified a rare sedge, Carex salina, a plant that has not been collected in Maine since 1957. To date, 39 species of sedge have been collected. Other unusual plants on the refuge include: beachhead iris. Iris hookeri; sea lungwort, Mertensia maritima; and roseroot stonecrop, Sedum rosea.

Dr.Robert Stewart of Delta State College in Cleveland, Mississippi donated a collection of 134 pressed and mounted plants to the refuge that he had collected in 1987.

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Girardia neoscotica TAG

7. Grazing

One half of Nash Island is privately owned and is used for sheep pasture. The fence that separated the former lightstation property from the private property has long since been torn down, giving the sheep the run of the island. Replacing the fence would make the island a good test site for research on the effects of sheep on the coastal islands.

9. Fire Management

Three burn units on Petit Manan Point and two test plots on Petit Manan Island were burned this year. The Silver Mine Field (6.5 acres) was burned on the first, the Birch Clearing-North Field (4 acres) and the Camp Roads Fields (1.5 acres) were burned on the

18

21st. We were assisted by the Moosehorn Fire Crew and the Maine Forest Service on the second day. All three burns were successful in reducing softwood and hardwood regeneration, and resulted in good blueberry plant reproduction.

Birch Clearing One Year After Prescribed Fire TAG

There was a small wildfire on Bois Bubert Island on April 24th. It was reported to Refuge Manager Goettel by a private citizen at 1:00 PM; Goettel notified the Maine Forest Service and went to the scene. Because day was clear and the wind was blowing at a steady 25 knots, the Forest Service helitack and the Milbridge Fire Department were called to assist. The fire was quickly extinguished with only about five acres burned. It was started by an inholder burning his blueberry fields? he was summonsed by the Forest Ranger, and paid all costs associated with the response.

Two small (10m x 10m) test plots were burned on April 27 on Petit Manan Island to test the effects of fire on tern habitat. This was the second year that the plots had been burned, and the change in vegetation was visible to the naked eye, appearing lower and somewhat less dense. At the date of this writing, the seabird researchers' vegetation analysis had not been written up.

All of the firelines for 1989 were made by the Bio. Tech. Vasquez with the JD-350 bulldozer borrowed from the Moosehorn in November.

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12. Wilderness and Special Areas

Petit Manan Island and portions of the Point and Bois Bubert are on the state Critical Areas Register.

G. WILDLIFE

1. Wildlife Diversity

Bio. Tech. Widrig's refuge bird list now stands at 268 species. Unusual species sighted this year included a summer tanager and a loggerhead shrike in May: a chuck-wills-widow found dead on Petit Manan Island in June; a flock of over; 100 manx shearwaters and a king eider in July; a mourning warbler in August; three Hudsonian Godwits and a Baird's sandpiper in September; an eastern kingbird and a black-legged kittiwake in October; a solitary vireo and a blue-gray gnatcatcher in November.

2. Endangered and Threatened Species

Bald eagles use the refuge throughout the year for feeding and loafing. Several pairs nest in areas adjacent to the refuge.

Peregrine falcons frequent the refuge during the spring and fall migrations. A banded female originally hacked from Mt. Desert Island in 1986 hunted the tern colony in June and July, but only took about six terns, compared with 30 last year.

Over half of the roseate terns nesting in Maine, 42 pairs, nest on Petit Manan Island. The nesting population has doubled since the first year after the gull control in 1984.

3. Waterfowl

The refuge's importance to waterfowl lies in providing habitat during the spring and fall migration. The freshwater marshes on the Point attract large numbers of black ducks, teal and other puddle ducks to loaf at high tide and feast on the abundant crops of leafy pondweed fPotamageton fpliosus), burreed Soarganium angustifolium, bladderwort (Utricularia spp.) and wild rice (Zizania aquatica) in the Cranberry Bog Marsh provide good food sources. At low tide the black ducks and teal can be found on the refuge's mud flats and saltmarshes. This year was distinguished by an unusually short migration due to reasons unknown; black duck numbers started to rise in late August, peaked at 2,000 in September, and quickly declined in October.

Waterfowl brood counts performed in July recorded a total of fourteen black duck broods and one wood duck brood in the

20

Cranberry Bog Marsh. Several broody wood duck, green-winged teal and black duck hens were also seen. There were no broods seen in the Hague or Meadow Brook flowages probably due to low water levels. Overall refuge production is estimated at 20 black duck, five green-winged teal, five wood duck, and possibly one or two hooded merganser broods.

Hague Flowage TAG

Eleven wood duck boxes were put up on snags in the Hague, Meadow Brook and Cranberry Bog flowages in January.

During any month of the year, rafts of from 3,000 to 10,000 common eiders can be seen off Petit Manan Point and Island. Rafts of up to 15,000 have been reported during the late summer/early fall molt. With the eiders can be rafts of white-winged and black scoters and flocks of goldeneye, oldsquaw, bufflehead, and red-breasted mergansers.

Bio. Tech. Widrig witnessed an unusual seaduck movement off the Point on April 15th. For five hours he watched approximately 6,000 seaducks/hour fly northeast over the Point. They were mostly black scoters, with 20% common eiders, 5% surf scoters, and a small number of white-winged scoters. Other birds in the flight included several hundred great cormorants, 64 brant and six red-throated loons.

Approximately 25 eiders nest on Nash and Petit Manan Islands.

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4. Shorebirds. Gulls. Terns, and Allied Species

For the fourth year in a row a black-headed gull attempted to nest on Petit Manan Island in the laughing gull colony and for the second year in a row a black tern was seen on the island showing interest in nesting. This yea^s attempts were unsuccessful for both species. Black-headed gulls are immigrants from Europe that have recently started nesting in Quebec. Black terns are normally freshwater marsh nesters, so the nest desertion was not unexpected

Willets were confirmed nesting on the Point this year for the second year in a row. Four pairs were counted at Over Cove, two at Chair Pond, and one in the Cranberry Marsh flowage.

Spotted Sandpiper WRV

Over Cove is a locally important feeding and roosting site for migrating shorebirds. Bio. Tech. Widrig made almost daily counts there During July, August and September.. From 10 to 14 species were seen each day, including Hudsonian Godwits, red knots, ruddy turnstones, Baird's, western and white-rumped sandpipers and dunlins. Semi-palmated plovers peaked at 600, which is very high for Maine.

Iceland and Bonaparte's gulls and usually seen in the fall winter.

22

Sooty shearwaters, common and thick-billed murres, parasitic jaegers, dovekies, black-legged kittiwakes, red and northern phalaropes, Wilson's storm-petrels, northern gannets, and common and red-throated loons are occasionally seen offshore.

Great cormorants are commonly seen in the winter, replacing the common double-crested cormorants that winter in the Caribbean. They are now nesting in Maine, and so are now often seen during the summer months also.

The annual woodcock census route was run on April 28. No significant changes in numbers have been noted over the last several years. The first singing male woodcock was heard on March 18 th.

6. Raptors

Each year tens of thousands of raptors pass over Maine's coastal islands and peninsulas during the fall migration. There were several spectacular flights of kestrels, broadwings, redtails, and sharp-shins this year in September. Merlins are also commonly seen.

Snowy owls are sighted each year during the fall and winter months.-

Ospreys are common in the area, usually arriving in April and leaving in October. A pair may be nesting near Chair Pond.

7. Other Migratory Birds

Nesting species of interest on the refuge include the boreal chickadee, Lincoln's sparrow, and 14 species of warblers, including the palm. Interesting species seen this year include blue-winged, prairie, and Kentucky warblers, a grasshopper sparrow, an orchard oriole, and a yellow-throated vireo, all of which were north of their normal range, and yellow-bellied flycatchers and black-backed woodpeckers, which were south of their normal range.

8. Game Mammals

We have never had a good estimate of the deer population on Petit Manan Point, although it has very obviously increased since refuge staff presence and law enforcement efforts have increased over the last several years. With the help of the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Deer Project Biologist Gerry Lavigne, we laid out a total of 20 random transect lines on the point in April and with Volunteer Bill Vasquez's hard work for eight days, counted all fresh pellet groups in 4'x25' plots every two chains along each transect. This is the same type of census used

23

annually by the state biologists in all of their deer census work. The estimated density was 50 deer/square mile (±11%), twice the optimum density for the coastal management units, and 10 times the present average population. Surprised to say the least, Lavigne and State Cervid Project Leader Rich Dressier visited the Point in June to get a general feel for the health of the herd, but went away puzzled because of the lack of any obvious habitat damage and because of their overall general impression that the deer were in good health. They are now very interested in coastal deer ecology, and are considering fecal nitrogen studies to get a better indication of their diet. (One theory that would help explain the overall good health and no browse lines is that the deer are obtaining a good portion of their feed from the rockweed and various seaweeds that grow below the high tide line or are w"ashed up on the shore.)

We will be redoing the census in 1989, and will be expanding the census to include Bois Hubert and Cross Islands every other year. We are also beginning preparations for a hunting program.

No moose or black bear were seen this year. Otter, coyote and bobcat sign are frequently found.

9. Marine Mammals

Harbor seals and harbor porpoises are both frequently seen around the refuge units. Minke and finback whales, and gray seals are less commonly seen. A beluga whale was sighted off Milbridge in August, a very rare record for this area.

10. Other Resident Wildlife

Spruce and ruffed grouse both nest on the refuge.

14. Scientific Collections

Twelve double-crested cormorant eggs and 24 chicks were collected in May and June, respectively, for contaminant studies at the request of the Environmental Contaminants Coordinator in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

15. Animal Control

This was the first year in four years that there was no active gull control using 1339 Gull Toxicant on Petit Manan or adjacent Green Islands. A nest census on Green Island in June found 62 gull nests, half of what was found last year, and a quarter of what was found in 1984, the first year of gull control. Fifteen herring and great black-backed gulls were shot while raiding the tern colony on Petit Manan.

24

After four years of gull control, no gulls nest on Petit Manan, but they do continue to nest on Green, probably due largely to immigration and recruitment of first year nesters. This demonstrates the necessity of having a human presence constantly monitoring the tern colony during the nesting season. Without people on the island, gull predation will again increase and gulls will again takeover the islands. Complete removal of all nesting gulls by avicide alone is probably impossible. Even though the tern colony is well-established, some sort of gull discouragement, such as nest destruction or harassment will probably always be necessary on both islands.

16. Marking and Banding

A total^ of 13 0 common, 171 arctic, and 2 3 roseate terns were banded this year as part of a study to determine intercolony movement and nesting site fidelity. They were also color-banded with red plastic bands to help us and observers at other tern colonies identify birds raised at Petit Manan more easily. All were hatch-year birds. One banded two-year-old bird attempted to nest; seven others and two one-year-old birds were seen loafing on the island during the nesting season.

Longcore and McCauley Setting Rocket Net TAG

Preseason waterfowl banding began in August with the selection and clearing of a new rocket net site on the Cranberry Bog Marsh. Three firings one week apart in September produced a total of 113 black ducks, 55 green-winged teal, seven mallards and one pintail. Biologists Jerry Longcore and Dan McCauley from

25

Patuxent's Orono field station assisted.

Maintenance Mechanic Schick, with the volunteer assistance of a local lobster pot builder, made a black duck version of the Montezuma- style duck trap using vinyl-coated lobster pot wire. It was set out at the rocket net site late in September, but the black ducks :were reluctant to accept it. Although the rocket net was very successful, we hoped to both disturb the marsh less and increase our catch with the walk-in trap. We might try it at another site next year, and might also try a swim-in style trap.

17. Disease Prevention and Control

No incidents of avian cholera in eiders were reported this year.

H. PUBLIC USE

1. General

With such a small staff and an off-refuge office, it is virtually impossible to get an accurate picture of public use on the refuge.- Generally, it is "nature-oriented", with hiking, birding, and cross-country skiing the most common uses. Clam digging is permitted, but hunting, camping, and trapping are not at this time.The past two years have brought a noticeable increase in the number of visitors to the refuge, probably due to the increased interest in real estate speculation.

A refuge bird list was composed, printed and received this year. We have Bio. Tech. Widrig's perseverance, dedication, and thousands of hours of volunteer observation time to thank for its accuracy.

4. Interpretive Foot Trails

There are two trails on the Point, the three mile long Birch Point trail and the one mile long shore trail. Both are popular with visitors and require a minimum of annual maintenance.

7. Other Interpretive Programs

Refuge Manager Goettel gave a presentation on the refuge system to the Jonesport Literary Guild.

Goettel served as a special awards judge at the Central Maine Regional Science Fair in April.

In May, June and July Goettel led a total of four Maine Audubon

26

Society, University of Maine ornithology class, and Institute for Field Ornithology field trips to Petit Manan Island.

Bart WRV

Volunteer Bill Vasquez took over the eagle environmental education project this year, and gave a total of 45 presentations at 30 schools in the area. The program features a crippled eagle "Bart", who does a great job holding everyone's attention. Bart looked exceptionally striking this year in full adult plumage.

Goettel and Vasquez participated in the State Planning Office's "Coastweek" this year by taking Bart, a film and the Duck Stamp Exhibit to the Quoddy Research Center's open house in Lubec in October.

Eagle presentations were also given by Goettel and Vasquez at an Elderhostel group in Bar Harbor in October and at the Pleasant River Fish and Game Club in December.

17. Law Enforcement

Refuge Manager Goettel attended the LE refresher course at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR in April and requalified in September at the Moosehorn NWR.

A new Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun was purchased for the station by the RO and received in January.

27

Goettel investigated a complaint about illegal use of a refuge building on Bois Hubert Island on the opening day of deer season. Someone had been staying in the old farmhouse, even brought a wood stove. Several random checks brought no results.

Goettel and _,Vasquez happened to be the first on the scene of a double shooting on their way to the refuge in June. Both victims were in their dooryard when they were hit by birdshot fired from a 12 gauge shotgun. The assailant drove away, then returned to the scene, but drove away again and killed himself. Goettel and Vasquez secured the scene until the ambulance arrived, then closed off the road until other officers arrived 45 minutes later. Both victims recovered from their wounds.

I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES

1. New Construction

Maintenance Mechanic Schick and Bio. Tech. Vasquez built a new footbridge over a small stream on the Shore Trail in July.

They also installed two new pipe gates fabricated at the Moosehorn NWR last winter.

2. Rehabilitation

The refuge received a $16,000 grant from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission this year to do rehabilitation work on the historic Petit Manan Lightstation buildings. The work will consist of residing the keeper's house, reroofing the generator building, repointing some of the masonry, replacing the chimney in the keeper's house, and several other small projects. The work will be started in 1989.

The two blinds on Petit Manan Island were painted and reroofed in May.

A local contractor graded the entrance road and hauled in 12 loads of gravel and gravel mix to fix several wet spots in May. He returned in November to haul in another 10 loads for the Bear Cove Road.

Bio. Tech. Vasquez mowed the roadsides and field edges with the Motrim brushcutter on the John Deere tractor borrowed from the Moosehorn NWR in November. He also began brushing and posting boundary lines in December.

Using ARMM funds and volunteer labor a new cedar shake roof and pine clapboard siding were put on the historic Fog Signal

28

Building on Petit Manan Island in August. Volunteers Bill and Matt Vasquez donated two weeks of their summer to helping preserve this important building. The total materials bill came to $2,500.

The Fog Signal Building TAG

3. Major Maintenance

The Privateer boat was out of the water more than it was in again this year, with the Volvo outdrive being the major problem. The voltage regulator failed this year, with less than 100 hours on it; parts were finally located in Florida. Then while investigating a shifting problem, we discovered that the seals in the lower unit had failed again. All of the gears had to be replaced at a cost greater than that of a new unit, but, finally, after a lot of coaxing from a dealer in Bar Harbor, Volvo agreed to replace the Duoprop unit with a single prop outdrive. Apparently they have been having problems with that model outdrive (it was the second one for us- the first failed while still under warrantee). There is a noticeable lack of speed and loss of fuel economy with the single prop unit, but it hopefully will be more dependable.

Using aluminum pipe obtained from the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, we had a local metal fabricator make two tow bars for the 20' Sea Ox and Privateer boats. These were installed in December.

Maintenance Mechanic Schick reconfigured the electronics of the

29

Sea Ox console, added several gauges, and repiped the VRO oil tank in November. He also repaired and repainted the fiberglass dory in November. Having a skilled, fulltime employee to tackle jobs such as these has truly meant a lot to the refuge.

Putting Winter Cover on Privateer TAG

4. Equipment Utilization and Maintenance

Maintenance Mechanic Schick stripped, sandblasted and painted the small box trailer received on excess from the Eastern Shore NWR last year.

The 75 HP Evinrude outboard was transferred to Great Meadows NWR in November.

6. Computer Systems

The IBM PC-XT that was donated from the Travelers Insurance Company was traded for an AT in November with the RO.

A Hewlett-Packard Laserjet Series II laser printer was purchased using EOY wish list funds, and received in November.

Bio. Tech./ Volunteer Vasquez put his considerable computer expertise to good use on the refuge this year designing several RBase forms, a Lotus 1-2-3 accounting form, and setting up the new AT computer and modem.

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J. OTHER ITEMS

3 . Items of'"Interest

A field station inspection and evaluation was performed by Refuge Supervisor Moses, Assistant Supervisor Sweeny, and Zone Biologist Atwell in June.

Refuge Manager Goettel attended the Regional Project Leaders Meeting at Holyoke College in Massachusetts in August.

Goettel and Schick attended a meeting wibh Coast Guard Group Southwest Harbor Commander Captain John Williams at his office to discuss cooperative efforts on Petit Manan Island.

Goettel attended the Gulf of Maine Tern Working Group annual meeting on Hog Island, Medomak, Maine in August.

ARD Don Young and Refuge Supervisor George Gavutis visited the refuge in September.

Ron Varey (CGS) conducted a purchasing and contracting review in November.

ADC State Supervisor A1 Godin visited the office in December to give Refuge Manager Goettel training credit for his pesticide applicator's license recertification.

Revenue Sharing checks were distributed as follows: Steuben, $5,462; Milbridge, $2,720; Addison, $252. This is approximately 6.7% less than what was received last year.

4. Credits

Goettel: All sections Vasquez: Graphs

K. FEEDBACK

We have made a lot of progress in the past year. The full-time maintenance mechanic position has truly meant a lot to the refuge; our equipment is better set up and better maintained and the long list of projects that have built up since 1976 is getting smaller. We don't have a clerk, but we do have a good computer and a laser printer. Two very dedicated volunteers have given us a huge boost. Its reassuring to know that there are

31

people like Ralph and Bill that are willing to share their own time (literally thousands of hours) and money to benefit the refuge system.

But we still have a long way to go; although a refuge for 12 years, we still do not have signs saying so. We have one truck for three people to cover four refuges spread over 100 miles of coastline. We do not have a heated shop; it's pretty hard to expect a lot out of your maintenance staff when they are working in a 0° shop environment in the winter. We are dependent on beaver for water control on three flowages that are used by tens of thousands of black ducks during the fall migration. We have a defined "minimum level" for financial management; maybe we should have a "minimum level" for overall refuge management also, particularly in view of the plans for new refuges that are being created. ^

P E T I T M A I N A I M N A T I O N A L W I L D L I F E R E F U G E UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR W A S H I N G T O N C O U N T Y , M A I N E UNITED STATES fish and wildlife service

67"55,00" 6 7 " 5 2 , 3 0 "

44027,30"

67o52,30" COMPILED IN THE DIVISION OF REALTY FROM SURVEYS BY U.S.G.S. AND U.S. F. A W.S. SCALE o

BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS

2000 4000 6000 SOOO FEET 1 KILOMETER

MEAN DECLINATION

1948

CROSS ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Cutler, Maine

ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Calendar Year 1988

INTRODUCTION

Cross Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 1,703 acre island complex donated to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980 by Thomas and Virginia Cabot through The Nature Conservancy. Located in the town of Cutler in Washington County, Maine, the complex is composed of six islands; Cross Island, 1,654 acres; Scotch Island, 10 acres; Outer Double Head Shot, 14 acres; Inner Double Head Shot Island, eight acres; Mink Island, 11 acres; and Old Man Island, six acres.

Twenty acres on Cross were retained by the Cabot family for their noncommercial use, with the Service retaining first rights of refusal should they decide to sell. Nineteen acres are owned by Hurricane Island Outward Bound, Inc., an environmental education/ survival/ confidence building organization. It owns and maintains the former Coast Guard station, now known as the Cabot Biological Station.

Like many of the islands on the Maine coast. Cross has a long history of human habitation. Known by the Indians as Sebohegonet, it was used as a fishing base by both Indians and early mariners through the 19th century. In the latter half of the 19th century it had several saltwater farms and even a small village with a school and store. There were copper mines near Seal Cove and on Outer Double Head Shot, although virtually no evidence of this remains today.

The U.S. Lifesaving Service built a station on Cross in 1874, which became a Coast Guard station in 1928. The Coast Guard soon abandoned the old lifesaving station, and built a new station at Northeast Harbor in the 1930,s. The island was owned by a paper company that clearcut it between 1939 and 1941. It was then purchased by a businessman who hoped to turn in into a hunting preserve. After World War II began, expecting little business, he sold it to the Cabots, and it became known as the Avelinda Forest Preserve.

Cross, Mink and Scotch Islands are forested with dense stands of red and white spruce, balsam fir, yellow and paper birch, and red maple. The shoreline is generally rocky, with some cliffs over 100 feet high on the southern shore of Cross. The maximum elevation is 160 feet.

The Double Head Shots and Old Man are valuable colonial seabird nesting islands, vegetated largely by grasses and forbs with some white spruce. Old Man Island is one of only four nesting sites for razorbills in the Gulf of Maine. At the turn of the century, Old Man was the site of the sole surviving common eider colony in Maine, the rest having fallen victim to egg, feather, and meat market hunting.

1

B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

The climate of coastal Washington County is moderated by the Atlantic Ocean. Summer temperatures are significantly cooler and winter temperatures are significantly milder than inland areas. In the Machias area the average annual temperature is 43 degrees F. , average annual precipitation is 45 inches, average annual snowfall is 75 inches, and average growing season is 132 days. The cold Labrador current has an important influence on Cross Island, helping make one out of every three days foggy during the summer months. The average tidal range is 13 feet; spring tides reach 15 feet. The area receives an average of 14 thunderstorms per year.

C. LAND ACQUISITION

2. Other

The lead on the proposed acquisition of nearby Inner Libby Island that was reported in last year's narrative has been taken by the Nature Conservancy, with the intent of passing title to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Libby is a unique large, treeless island, with over 1,500 common eider nests at last report.

On June 27 refuge staff visited Halifax Island, also in the Cross Island vicinity. The owner of this island has expressed an interest in selling to the Service, although it is not on the market. Halifax is a 75-acre treeless island off Jonesport with a true bog in the center. An unusual "keyhole" harbor on the western side provides a good black duck staging area in the fall and winter. Approximately 25 pairs of eiders and 25 pairs of black guillemots nest there.

In June refuge staff visited Yellowhead Island and the Point of Main in Machiasport to evaluate possible transfer of fee title and easements of portions of both from the Nature Conservancy. Both properties were recommended for acquisition. On August 30 Goettel met with the owner of Yellow Head Island to discuss the transfer of the entire island to the Service, and to discuss other acquisition potential in the Machias Bay area. There is an active interest in preserving more islands in this area in the face of the increased development pressure that we have seen in recent years.

2

E. ADMINISTRATION

1. Personnel

The refuge is administered and funded out of the Petit Manan office in Milbridge.

2. Volunteer Programs

Volunteer Bill Vasquez and his three children, Cathy, Matt, and Dina accompanied Goettel and Schick to Cross Island in June for two days of locating and brushing out boundary lines. Their help and good cheer made the job a lot more pleasant.

F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT

1. General

At the present staffing level there is no active habitat management on the Cross Island complex. Our emphasis is on habitat preservation and protection for bald eagles and colonial seabirds.-

JS -•*

From Inner Double Head Shot to Cross TAG

3

2. Wetlands

Over 200 acres on Cross is wetland, most of which is boggy, created by poorly drained soils in low-lying depressions or seeps. Dense thickets of alders have grown up along streams and drainages.

There are two saltmarshes of importance, one at Northeast Harbor, and the other between Northwest Head and Cross. When covered by the tide, they provide good black duck feeding habitat; when exposed, they provide good shorebird habitat.

3. Forests

Most of Cross is boreal forest, dominated by second growth red and white spruce, with some balsam fir and^. mixed hardwoods such as yellow and paper birch and red maple. Cross was last commercially logged between 1939 and 1941; old logging roads can still be seen throughout the island.

The biggest threat to the forests on Cross today is acid precipitation and fog. The average pH of fog on the Maine coast is 3.8; of rain, 4.3. Once the acidic water is in the soil, the granitic bedrock of this area provides little natural buffering.

Both Mink and Scotch Islands are forested like Cross.

4. Grasslands

Grassy Point is an unusual sand and gravel barrier beach called a Tombolo Bar. It is vegetated with a variety of seaside grasses and forbs such as oysterleaf and beachhead iris.

On the edges of Cross1 southern cliffs are interesting meadow communities of grasses, blueberries, black crowberry, cranberry, and stunted spruce, over a thick peat layer. Establishment and maintenance of these seaside meadows is not well understood.

5. Other Habitats

Other interesting habitats include the cobble beaches, dominated by salt-adapted species such as beachpea, sea rocket, and oysterleaf, and the cliff faces, which are dominated by roseroot stonecrop, black crowberry, and a variety of lichens.

A sea cave, accessible only at low tide, can be found on the southern shore.

The Double Head Shots are noted for their raspberry thickets that provide good eider nesting habitat.

Old Man Island is treeless, although old stumps and snags remain

4

from years past. It is thickly vegetated with a variety of grasses and forbs such as cow parsnip.

12. Wilderness and Special Areas

Old Man Island is on the state Critical Areas Register.

i

Old Man Island WRV

G. WILDLIFE

2. Endangered and Threatened Species

There is one bald eagle nest on Cross Island. For many years the eggs laid have not hatched; this was one of the last pairs left in the state with hatching problems. Last year was the first year in over a decade that the eggs hatched and a chick fledged. However, this year the nest was again deserted after the eggs failed to hatch.

The Machias Bay area is an important area throughout the year for bald eagles. Both Mink Island and Northwest Head are noted as popular eagle loafing and hunting areas.

3. Waterfowl

The saltmarshes of Cross are locally important black duck staging

5

areas. Still mostly free of ice this year on the second of December, we counted approximately 200 black ducks there on that date. Also seen in the surrounding saltwater on that date were hundreds of oldsquaws, goldeneyes and buffleheads.

Approximately 200 common eiders nest on the Double Head Shots and Old Man.

5. Shorebirds. Gulls. Terns, and Allied Species

Nesting seabirds on the complex include 200 pairs of black guillemots, 270 pairs of double-crested cormorants, several hundred pairs of herring and great black-backed gulls, and 30 pairs of razorbills.

Razorbill WRV

Old Man Island is one of only four nesting sites for razorbills in the Gulf of Maine. The entire nesting population in the Gulf is less than 2 00 pairs, making it the rarest nesting seabird in the continental United States. The colony was visited once this year by refuge staff on June 28; however dense fog made an accurate count impossible. Usually over 100 adults can be seen loafing on the rocks and in the water around the island.

Unknown numbers of Leach's storm-petrels nest on Old Man and the Double Head Shots.

6. Raptors

There are three known osprey nests on Cross.

7. Game Animals

Cross IslandT.supports a healthy herd of white-tail deer. Numbers have never been accurately estimated.

Although black bear are reported to be on the island, no sign has been seen in several years. Moose are occasionally seen.

11. Fisheries Resources

The construction of pens for a commercial salmon farming operation was delayed this year pending a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Although we are not opposed to this type of operation, we have asked the Corps to move the site one-quarter mile offshore because this area has historically been important to loafing and roosting bald eagles.

H. PUBLIC USE

1. General

In 1968 Thomas Cabot gave 19 acres of Cross Island, including the former Coast Guard Station, to Hurricane Island Outward Bound, an environmental education/ survival/ confidence building organization. Since 1983 the former Coast Guard headquarters has been known as the Cabot Biological Station, run by the Island Institute, an offshoot of Outward Bound. It has been their Downeast base of operations since that time.

They currently use Cross for environmental education programs and overnight solo camping. A long term agreement between HIOBS and the Service is being pursued.

Other use of the refuge is by occasional picnickers, fishermen, and hunters.

The three seabird nesting islands are closed to all public use during the nesting season, April 1 through July 31.

8. Hunting

Cross Island has been closed to all hunting by state law for many years at the request of the previous owners. However, the law has never been enforced, and deer and waterfowl hunting is common. The lack of staff in the area makes meaningful law enforcement difficult.

7

J. OTHER ITEMS

3. Items of Interest

A revenue sharing check for $2,867 was presented to the town of Cutler this year.

4. Credits

Goettel: All sections

Homestead Site at Northeast Harbor TAG

CROSS AND NATIONAL WILDLIFE RE. E

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR W A S H I N G T O N C O U N T Y . M A I N E UNITED STATES

F ISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

44 36 OO

6 7 1 8 O O

Old Man Is land

SCALM-WfrQ'

C O M P I L E D I N T H E D I V I S I O N O F R E A L

FROM SURVEYS OF THE U S 0 8 . AND THE U.S.F .AW^S.

NEWTON . MASS . FEBRUAF

R E V I S E D J A N U A R Y 1 9 8 6

lOOO 2000 3000 4000 FEET

1 KILOMETERS

DECLINATION 1977

5R ME 971

SEAL ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Matinicus Isle Plantation, Maine

%

ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Calendar Year 1988

INTRODUCTION

Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 65 acre treeless island approximately 21 miles south of Rockland, Knox County, Maine, in the plantation of Matinicus Isle. A bombing and shelling target from World War II until 1952, it was transferred to the Service from the Navy in 1972. This remote, inaccessible, grass and granite island was once the site of the largest Atlantic puffin colony in the Gulf of Maine. It still has some of the best colonial seabird nesting habitat in the Gulf, with boulder fields for puffins, razorbills, and black guillemots, grass/ledge areas for terns, raspberry and grass thickets for eiders, and peat/glacial till substrate for Leach's storm-petrels. Seal Island has a maximum elevation of 65 feet.

For over two hundred years Seal Island was used by fishermen as a summer campsite base while fishing for herring, groundfish, and lobsters. It was probably used by native American Indians long before that. An old dug well, mooring chains, tarred rocks where the fishermen waterproofed their nets, and an occasional bottle or piece of iron are all the evidence that remains.

The fishermen also harvested the nesting seabirds for meat, eggs, and feathers, which eventually lead to the demise of the colonies by the late 1800's. Although recolonized by herring and great black-backed gulls, common eiders, double-crested cormorants, and arctic terns during the first half of this century. Seal was never recolonized by puffins. The more adaptable and mobile terns nested on the island as recently as the 1950's, but were crowded off by gulls, a typical scenario repeated on many islands in New England.

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B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

The climate of the Rockland area is moderated by the surrounding ocean. Summer temperatures are significantly cooler and winter temperatures are significantly warmer than inland areas. The average annuhl temperature is 46 degrees F. , the average annual snowfall is 60 inches, the average annual precipitation is 47 inches, and the average annual growing season is 143 days. The average tidal range is nine feet.

Fog is an important influence on coastal ecosystems, occurring an average of 21% of the time during the summer months in this area. Although no formal records are kept on Seal, the National Audubon Society researchers recorded an unusually dry conditions until mid-July, followed by a wet and foggy Augusts

D. PLANNING

5. Research and Investigations

53534-01. Re-establishment of Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) and Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisea) on Seal Island. Penobscot Bay. Maine. National Audubon Society, Canadian Wildlife Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service.

Objectives:

a. To re-establish Atlantic Puffins and arctic terns to historical nesting habitat on Seal Island.

b. To examine features of growth, post-fledging survival, and movements of puffin chicks transplanted from Newfoundland to Maine.

c. To further refine and test management techniques for re-establishing nesting populations of Atlantic puffins and arctic terns.

This was the fifth year of the project. On July 11, Dr. Stephen Kress and crew brought 199 10 to 28 day-old puffin chicks to Seal Island from Great Island, Witless Bay, Newfoundland. Although all chicks survived the trip, eight died in their burrows the first night, something that has never happened before. The reason for this is unclear because there were no logistical problems like last year; however, the mean wing chord for the transplanted chicks was lower than usual this year, so smaller size may have been a factor.

2

The chicks were raised in artificial sod burrows and fed approximately 90 grams of silversides daily. They received 100 mg. of Vitamin Bl, 100 i.u. of Vitamin E, and a multiple vitamin each week as a supplement. The chicks are checked, weighed and measured periodically to monitor their health and growth rates.

Of the 199 "that were transplanted, 188 fledged. In addition to the eight that died the first night, one died the second night, another died after being severely pecked by another chick that moved into its burrow, and the last was found dead well outside its burrow, possibly having been grabbed by a gull. Of the 749 chicks that have been brought to Seal over the last five years, 722 have fledged, for an overall success rate of 96.4%. The chicks fledged from August 1 to August 21, with the peak between "the eighth and sixteenth.

The unusually wet weather in late July put standing water in the burrows for the first time since the burrows were dug; the burrows were quickly drained before there was any mortality.

Atlantic Puffins TAG

Puffins are reluctant colonizers of new islands; social stimulation appears to be an important factor in determining whether a prospecting puffin will explore an island. Therefore, puffin and razorbill decoys are placed in suitable nesting habitat on the island. Threaded 3/8" rod is cemented into cracks in the ledges so that the handpainted wooden decoys can be easily put out and then taken in at the end of the season.

3

There was a total of 48 puffin sightings from the blinds this year for a rate of .3 sightings/hour. Of these, only two landed, compared with 14 last year. No banded puffins were seen this year. There were also three razorbill and one common murre landings.

Although these sightings and landings are encouraging, we are still a long way from re-establishing the colony. The fact that any puffins return at all is a miracle, for they fledge as downy chicks, receive no parental care once they fledge, and then, before they return, must spend at least three years at sea, avoiding predators such as large fish and gulls, as well as human-created hazards such as oil spills and fishing nets. In the similar ̂project on Eastern Egg Rock in Muscongus Bay, Kress has recorded return age-class rates of from 6%-Jto 56%, demonstrating that the odds for survival vary greatly from year to year.

Tern Decoys TAG

Another serious obstacle might be the nearby puffin colony on Matinicus Rock. Although the decoys offer some social stimulation, it is not unreasonable to assume that the young returning puffins are going to prefer the "real thing". But, the fact that they have pioneered new colonies at Petit Manan and Eastern Egg Rock is encouraging. One or two years of high chick survival rates will probably make the difference.

The tern decoys and sound system were moved to a location further

4

from the camp this year, and the sound system was upgraded. There was an increase in the number of sightings of terns this year, with arctic terns courting both decoys and other individuals in nearly all of the observation periods. The mean high count was eight birds. One was a banded bird from Matinicus Rock. It is important to re-establish the tern colony because the terns provide a small degree of defense from marauding gulls. Once again, competition from established colonies at nearby Matinicus Rock and Wooden Ball Island makes Seal less attractive to prospecting terns. But there is good nesting habitat on Seal, and a good food supply, herring, is usually in the area, so colony establishment is possible.

On Matinicus Rock a NAS tern diet study revealed prey species this year to be largely hake, herring, and euphasids.

E. ADMINISTRATION

The refuge is administered and funded out of the Petit Manan office in Milbridge.

F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT

1. General

Seal Island is vegetated with a variety of grasses and forbs interspersed with granitic ledge and rocks. Representative plant species include New York aster, beach pea, yarrow, raspberry, gooseberry, chickweed, shepherd's purse, creeping juniper, ragweed, and red fescue. The only trees on the island are balsam poplars which reach a maximum height of only three to four feet before they die back from the salt spray. Seal is probably one of the most important stations in the state for the rare plant Sedum rosea, roseroot stonecrop.

Although not used as a target since 1952, the effects of the bombing and shelling can still be seen. Small craters and scarred granite are abundant, but the rank growth of grasses and raspberry has concealed most of the damage. Even the effects of the 1978 peat fire are fading beneath a quickly growing peat layer.

No active habitat management is planned.

12. Wilderness and Special Areas

Seal Island is listed on the Maine Critical Areas Register.

5

G. WILDLIFE

1. Wildlife Diversity

We have supported the seabird colony restoration project for several reasons. Our concern for terns is based on the well-documented regionwide population decline which began in the 1940's, much of which is due to competition with herring and great black-backed gulls for nest sites, and predation by gulls on tern eggs and chicks. Any restoration work is realistically limited to field station sites because gull control is a never-ending task. Therefore, the Audubon Society and the Service had to make a long-term commitment and establish a field station if there was to be any hope of success.

% Although far from endangered, Atlantic puffins have been declining in the western Atlantic since the 192O's. The Great Island, Witless Bay, Newfoundland colony has declined by 20-30% since 1975 because of gull predation, food scarcity, environmental contamination, mortality from fishing nets, and illegal hunting. We believe that we need to take a strong stand for protection now while we still have viable puffin and tern populations to work with.

The environmental education impact of this project should not be underestimated. Puffins are very popular birds and attract quite a bit of attention from the general public, not just dedicated birders. By getting their attention with puffins, we have been able to show people the problems associated with the burgeoning gull population, with ocean fisheries overharvesting, and marine contamination.

3. Waterfowl

During the gull control, virtually all of the female eiders are flushed off their nests, enabling us to get a good nest count. We estimate that there are approximately 350 eider nests on the island.

Flushing the females is not detrimental because most return in only a few minutes. No predation by gulls has been recorded as a result of this disturbance.

The Audubon Society reports that since the gull control began, more eider chicks are surviving to flight size. The first year it was rare to see a chick more than a couple days old, as most were gobbled up by the gulls. In 1988, many creches remained near Seal and many older chicks were seen throughout the season.

Occasionally, other species such as blue-winged teal and black ducks use the small freshwater pools on the island.

6

5. Shorebirds. Gulls. Terns, and Allied Species

The Audubon Society made an effort to get a good estimate of the number of nesting guillemots on the island this year. They located a total of 454 burrows, with an total estimate of 500 pairs nesting. Therefore, the high count of 1,609 individuals in the water around the island is not surprising. This makes Seal Island one of the largest guillemot colonies in Maine.

There are 1000+ pairs of Leach's storm-petrels and 45 pairs of double-crested cormorants nesting here. The storm-petrel estimate is very conservative; this nocturnal species nests in burrows in the sod^ and so is very hard to census.

6. Raptors %

The Maine coastal islands are very important to raptors during the spring and fall migrations. Peregrine falcons and merlins in particular use the outer islands.

An immature peregrine stayed on the island for over a week in July, and killed at least two terns.

9. Marine Mammals

If Seal Island did not have seals, we'd have to change the name! Both harbor and gray seals are common throughout the year.

Gray Seal (Center) WRV

7

Fin, minke and humpback whales are sometimes seen in the surrounding waters. Minkes, like terns and puffins, feed primarily on small herring, and often come into the coves on the western side of the island.

15. Animal Control

The success of the puffin and tern colony restoration is contingent upon many variables, but the first step is to clear the island of nesting herring and great black-backed gulls to eliminate nest site competition and reduce egg and chick predation.

This year was the third year of the use of 13 39 Gull Toxicant here. Our goal is to bait each active nest on the entire island, not just in the tern and puffin nesting habitat. I believe that we find over 95% of the gull nests. Each nest is baited with three to five small cubes of bread that has been treated with a margarine and toxicant mixture.

In 1986 a total of 2,592 nests were baited in three visits; 1,476 great black-backed gulls and 964 herring gulls were picked up (.94 gulls/nest). A random sample found that 70% were females. In 1987 a total of 783 nests was baited in two visits, down 70% from the previous year. A total of 214 great black-backed and 167 herring gulls were picked up (.49 gulls/nest). Seventy-one percent were females. This year a total of 377 nests were baited in one application, and 79 great black-backeds and 68 herring gulls picked up for a rate of .39 gulls killed/nest; 84% were females.

This is the same pattern that we saw on Petit Manan: the first year, not surprisingly, shows the biggest population decrease, and in following years, the success rate decreases. The gulls must be somehow learning to avoid the bait, although regurgitation is not a problem.

The higher proportion of females could indicate that they are usually the first back to the nest, or that they spend more time incubating, and are therefore more likely to be on the nest when the bait is applied. It is also interesting to note that some of the surviving males must be recruiting new mates in succeeding years.

Several years of applications of the bait are necessary because of recruitment to the colony; nesting by adults that have skipped a year or more of nesting (this averages 20% per year); nesting by first year breeders; and because the baiting is not 100% successful.

An additional 116 gulls were shot by NAS personnel over the season, compared with 128 last year.

8

Gull production on the island was near zero. Gull counts were consistently lower over the entire island than before the control. The northern end of the island, which is the focus of the puffin and tern effort, has been essentially gull-free for two years now.

A spin-off benefit that we saw on Petit Manan and that we expect here is increased eider production, because the large gulls are significant predators of eider chicks. The Audubon researchers also report that there are very few occurrences of gulls attacking guillemots now compared to before the gull control began.

In 1986 we applied 13 39 to gull nests on Matinicus Rock, an island nine miles southwest of Seal. Matinicus Rock has been a field station of NAS since 1939 and, with their help, has retained healthy tern, puffin, razorbill, and laughing gull colonies. In 1971 Wildlife Assistance applied 1339 at their request; four applications by tolling from a boat removed 96 gulls. Between 1971 and 1986 the nesting gull population built back up to approximately 70 pairs, with a resultant 50% reduction in tern reproduction. Our efforts in 1986 resulted in 70 nests baited in one application? 75 herring gulls were picked up. This year, only two pairs of great black-backeds and four pairs of herring gulls nested. The nests were broken up, and two of the individuals were shot. We have not needed to apply 1339 since.

As a result, there were no observed cases of predation by large gulls on arctic terns or laughing gulls and the number of tern dreads in response to gulls was very low. Their reproductive success was the same as last year, .83 chicks/nest, compared to .68 in 1986 and .34 before the control. The terns have also expanded their colony into the north end of the island where the gulls formerly nested. Common and arctic tern numbers increased to 1,091 pairs this year, up from 111 in 1985. Laughing gull numbers reached a record 225 nesting pairs.

The bottom line is that gull control can have dramatic results. However, 1339 alone is not the answer. Shooting non-nesting individuals raiding the colony and immigrating gulls is necessary. The colonies require almost daily attention to be adequately protected.

H. PUBLIC USE

1. General

Due to the presence of unexploded ordnance on the island, it is closed to all public use. The National Audubon Society team is

issued a Special Use Permit for their work and are individually required to sign releases absolving the Service of any liability should someone be injured by the ordnance.

National Audubon Society Camp TAG

11. Wildlife Observation

Maine Whalewatch regularly runs birding trips to Seal Island and Matinicus Rock on weekends in May and June. They do not land, but they do stop long enough to allow the Audubon folks to get on board and give a short talk on the seabird restoration project. From 10 to 15 people normally come on the daylong trips.

J. OTHER ITEMS

3. Items of Interest

A revenue sharing check for $286 was presented to Knox County this year.

4. Credits

Goettel: All sections

SEAL ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR K N O X C O U N T Y , M A I N E UNITED STATES

F ISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

EASTERN LEOQE

11-

1*

S MI Island N.W.R.

Seals In milss

COMPILED IN THE DIV IS ION OF REALTT

FROM SURVEYS iY U.S.O.S . AND U.S.F .AW.S.

ROSTON, MASSACHUSETTS AUGUST 1972

08*44OO"

flMi 1O00 FEET % MEAN

DECLINATION

1993

5R MA 848 402

FRANKLIN ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Friendship, Maine

%

ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Calendar Year 1988

INTRODUCTION

Franklin Island is located in Muscongus Bay, Maine, about six miles from the town of Friendship, in Knox County. This 12 acre island is all upland, vegetated with red spruce, raspberry, rugosa rose, and various grasses and forbs. It has a very acidic, organic duff' soil layer on top of glaciated granite and schists, with a maximum elevation of 35 feet. It was acquired in 1973 from the Coast Guard, which still maintains an automated lighthouse tower.

The Two Bush Island unit of the refuge is located approximately 16 miles east of Franklin Island, and seven miles south of the town of-Owls Head. Two Bush is a small, eight acre island owned by the Coast Guard and leased at no charge to the Fish and Wildlife Service for five year periods. It, too, has an automated lighthouse tower.

Two Bush Island TAG

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B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

The climate of the Muscongus Bay area is moderated by the surrounding ocean. Summer temperatures are significantly cooler and winter "^temperatures are significantly warmer than inland areas. In the Rockland area the average annual temperature is 46 degrees F. , the average annual precipitation is 47 inches, and the average growing season is 143 days long. Fog is an important influence on coastal ecosystems, occurring an average of 21% of the time during the summer. The average tidal range is nine feet.

E. ADMINISTRATION

1. Personnel

The refuge is administered and funded out of the Petit Manan office in Milbridge.

F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT

1. General

There is no active habitat management on the refuge at this time. Management is directed towards resource protection due to budget and personnel constraints.

2. Forests

Franklin Island was undoubtedly forested at one time with red spruce. About half of it was cleared when the lightstation was built in 1806. The remainder of the island is sparsely treed with red spruce, with a dense raspberry understory. Some say that the dead trees on islands like this were killed by the acidic droppings of cormorants, but this has never been proven.

Two Bush Island may have been forested at one time, but it is now treeless, vegetated with a variety of grasses and forbs.

12. Wilderness and Special Areas

Franklin Island is on the state Critical Areas Register.

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G. WILDLIFE

3. Waterfowl

The dense raspberry understory on Franklin provides excellent nesting habitat for common eiders. It is one of the most productive eider nesting islands in Maine, with over 1400 nests. The eider nesting density here is certainly the highest; the 1400 nests are packed into less than six acres.

Approximately 75 eiders nest on Two Bush Island.

4. Marsh and Water Birds

Franklin Island has a growing colony of approximately 30 pairs of black-crowned night herons. The island's sparse spruce stand with many snags provides good heron nesting habitat.

5. Shorebirds. Gulls. Terns, and Allied Species

Franklin Island has approximately 20 nesting pairs of black guillemots and 20 pairs each of herring and great black-backed gulls.

Two Bush has approximately 50 nesting pairs of herring gulls, 20 pairs of great black-backed gulls, and 15 pairs of guillemots.

Leach's storm-petrels also nest on both islands; they were encouraged to nest on Franklin by the National Audubon Society in the early 1980's through the use of vocalization recordings and burrow construction.

6. Raptors

Two pairs of ospreys nest on Franklin.

H. PUBLIC USE

1. General

Both units of the refuge are closed to all public use during the seabird nesting season, April 1 through July 31.

Pleasure boat traffic is more common in this area of Maine than in the Milbridge area, and the picturesque lighthouses do attract some visitors. Fortunately, landing on both islands is difficult, which discourages most.

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3. Outdoor Classrooms-Teachers

Students from the nearby Audubon Ecology Camp in Medomak regularly visit Franklin Island during the summer on their field trips around Muscongus Bay.

J. OTHER ITEMS

3. Items of Interest

A revenue sharing check for $177 was presented to the town of Friendship this year.

4. Credits

Goettel: All Sections

Harbor Seal WRV

FRANKLIN ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE UNHID STATU

OlfARTMINT OF THI IN T1110 4 U N I T I O S T A T U

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V I C I N I T Y M A P 11 22

S C A l l I N M I L K S

U.S. COAST QU Automated L lQHtHo a

F R A N K L I N I S L A N D

A T L A N T I C O C E A N

C O M M U D I N T H I D I V I S I O N O F E N O I N I I I I N O

F R O M S U t V l Y S I Y O . S . A N D f t . S . F . A W .

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O O O M a l a r •

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M I A N D E C L I N A T I O N

I f S J

5R ME. 864

-

Birds Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge

Maine

s S F W

Bald Eagle t u u u u

Northern Harrier t c c c Sharp-shinned Hawk t u o a o Cooper's Hawk o o Northern Goshawk t u u u u Broad-winged Hawk o o Red-tailed Hawk o o Rough-legged Hawk o o o American Kestrel c c Merlin o c Peregrine Falcon u o c Gyrfalcon r

GROUSE - QUAIL - TURKEY Spruce Grouse t o o o o Ruffed Grouse t c c c c

RAILS - CRANES Sora r American Coot r

PLOVERS - SANDPIPERS Black-bellied Plover c c c Lesser Golden-Plover o Semipalmated Plover c c c Piping Plover r r Killdeer o o o Greater Vellowlegs c c c Lesser Vellowlegs o u u Solitary Sandpiper o o Willet f u u Spotted Sandpiper t u u u Whimbrel u u Hudsonian Godwit o o Ruddy Turnstone c c c Red Knot u u u Sanderling o u u Semipalmated Sandpiper u c c Western Sandpiper o Least Sandpiper u u u White-rumped Sandpiper o u u Baird's Sandpiper o Pectoral Sandpiper o Purple Sandpiper u u u Dunlin o u u Short-billed Dowitcher u c c Long-billed Dowitcher o Common Snipe o o American Woodcock t u u u Red-necked Phalarope u u u

JAEGERS • GULLS • TERNS - AUKS Pomarine Jaeger .. • ; o Parasitic Jaeger o o Laughing Gull t c c c Little Gull r Common Black-headed Gull t o r

•

Bonaparte's Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull t Iceland Gull Great Black-backed Gull t • • Black-legged Kittiwake Roseate Tern t Common Tern t Arctic Tern t Black Tern Dovekie Common Murre Thick-billed Murre Razorbill Black Guillemot t Atlantic Puffin t

DOVES - PARROTS - CUCKOOS -OWLS - SWIFTS - HUMMINGBIRDS

Rock Dove Mourning Dove t Black-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Cuckoo Great Horned Owl t Snowy Owl Northern Hawk-Owl Barred Owl t Short-eared Owl Northern Saw-whet Owl . . Common Nighthawk Whip-poor-will t Chimney Swift t Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher

WOODPECKERS - FLYCATCHERS Red-headed Woodpecker . Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. . Downy Woodpecker t • • •

^ Hairy Woodpecker t Black-backed Woodpecker Northern Flicker t Pileated Woodpepker .... Olive-sided Flycatcher ... Eastern Wood-Pewee t • • • Yellow-bellied Flycatcher t Alder Flycatcher t Least Flycatcher f Eastern Phoebe t Great-crested Flycatcher t Eastern Kingbird

LARK - SWALLOWS - JAYS - CROWS Horned Lark Purple Martin Tree Swallow t

_ Northern Rough-winged Swallow

s S F W s S F W

o u u o Bank Swallow t c c u u c u Cliff Swallow t c u a a a a Barn Swallow t c c u u u Gray Jay o o o c c c c Blue Jay t u u u

o American Crow t c c c c u u u Common Raven t c c c c c c c TITMICE - NUTHATCHES - WRENS c c c Black-capped Chickadee t c c c c o o Boreal Chickadee o o o

r Red-breasted Nuthatch t u u u u o o White-breasted Nuthatch r r

r Brown Creeper t u u u u u Winter Wren t u u u c c c u Marsh Wren r u u u KINGLETS - THRUSHES - THRASHERS

Golden-crowned Kinglet t c c c u Ruby-crowned Kinglet t c c c

o Blue-gray Gnatcatcher r u u u Eastern Bluebird r r r r r r Veery t u u u

r Gray-cheeked Thrush r u u Swainson's Thrush t c c c r r o Hermit Thrush t c c c

r Wood Thrush o o u u American Robin t c c a u r r Gray Catbird t c c c r r Northern Mockingbird f r r r o o Brown Thrasher t r r r u u u WAXWINGS - SHRIKES - STARLING u o Water Pipit.. u u u u Cedar Waxwing t o c c o u u u Northern Shrike o o o

Loggerhead Shrike r r European Starling f c c c c u VIREOS - WOOD WARBLERS

c c c c Solitary Vireo t u u u u u u u Yellow-throated Vireo r r r Warbling Vireo u u c c c Philadelphia Vireo u u u o o Red-eyed Vireo t c c c o o o ' B l u e - w i n g e d W a r b l e r r u u u Tennessee Warbler u u u u u u Orange-crowned Warbler o o c c c Nashville Warbler t c c c u u u Northern Parula t c c c u u u Yellow Warbler t c c c u u u Chestnut-sided Warbler t c u c u u u Magnolia Warbler t c c c

Cape May Warbler r c c u Black-throated Blue Warbler o o

o Yellow-rumped Warbler t c c c e c u B l a c k - t h r o a t e d G r e e n W a r b l e r f c c c o Blackburnian Warbler t c c u

PETIT MANAN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE is a 3,335-acre refuge complex on the eastern Maine coast, consisting of portions of Petit Manan Point and Island in Steuben; Bois Bubert Island in Milbridge; and Nash Island in Addison.

Petit Manan Refuge has a variety of habitats, including spruce and hardwood forests, jackpine stands, cedar swamps, raised peatlands, blueberry barrens, fresh and saltwater marshes, and treeless islands. This variety has made the Point a noted birding area for many species of seabirds, shorebirds, song­birds, waterfowl, and raptors, including the endangered bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and roseate tern.

The Point is accessible by car off U.S. Rte 1 in Steuben, at the end of the Pigeon Hill Road. There are two unimproved trails that start at the parking lot near the information exhibits.

Because the seabird colonies are very sensitive to distur­bance, access is restricted on Petit Manan Island and Nash Island during the nesting season, April 1st through July 31st. Please contact the refuge manager before attempting to visit these island units.

This folder lists over 250 birds that have been identified on the refuge, and is in accordance with the Sixth American Ornithologists' Union Checklist. Most birds are migratory, therefore their seasonal occurrence is coded as follows:

Season:

s - Spring S - Summer F - Fall W - Winter

March 21 - June 20 June 21 - September 20 September 21 - December 20 December 21 - March 20

t - Nesting has occurred on the refuge within the past 5 years. * - A species which occurs and/or nests in only one or two

locations in the refuge.

Relative Abundance:

a • abundant

c - common

u - uncommon

o - occasional

r - rare

a species which is very numerous. certain to be seen or heard in suitable habitat, present, but not certain to be seen. seen only a few times during a season. seen at intervals of 2 to 5 years.

LOONS - GREBES Red-throated Loon Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe

SHEARWATERS - STORM PETRELS Sooty Shearwater Manx Shearwater Wilson's Storm-Petrel Leach's Storm-Petrel t

GANNET - PELICANS - CORMORANTS Northern Gannet Great Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant t • • • •

BITTERNS - HERONS - IBISES American Bittern t Great Blue Heron Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Green-backed Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron

SWANS - GEESE - DUCKS Snow Goose Brant Canada Goose Wood Duck f Green-winged Teal t American Black Duck t Mallard Northern Pintail Blue-winged Teal t American Wigeon Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Common Eider t King Eider Harlequin Duck Oldsquaw Black Scoter Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Common Goldeneye Bufflehead Hooded Merganser t Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck

VULTURES - HAWKS - FALCONS Turkey Vulture Osprey t

s S F W

Prairie Warbler r Palm Warbler f c u c Bay-breasted Warbler f u c c Blackpoll Warbler u u Black-and-white Warbler t c c c American Redstart t c c c Ovenbird t u u u Northern Waterthrush o o Common Yellowthroat t c c c Wilson's Warbler f u u u Canada Warbler t u o o Yellow-breasted Chat r r

TANAGERS - SPARROWS Summer Tanager r Scarlet Tanager u u u Northern Cardinal o o Rose-breasted Grosbeak f u u u Indigo Bunting o Dickcissel r Rufous-sided Towhee f u u u American Tree Sparrow u u u Chipping Sparrow t u u u Field Sparrow o o Vesper Sparrow r Lark Sparrow r r Savannah Sparrow t c c c Grasshopper Sparrow r Sharp-tailed Sparrow o o Fox Sparrow u u Song Sparrow t c c c Lincoln's Sparrow f u u u Swamp Sparrow t c c c White-throated Sparrow f c c c White-crowned Sparrow o o Dark-eyed Junco t c u c Lapland Longspur o Snow Bunting c o

BLACKBIRDS • FINCHES Bobolink t u u u Red-winged Blackbird t c c c Eastern Meadowlark r r Yellow-headed Blackbird ^ r Rusty Blackbird u Common Grackle t c c c Brown-headed Cowbird f u u u Orchard Oriole r Northern Oriole u u u Pine Grosbeak u u u Purple Finch t u u u House Finch r r Red Crossbill r r r r White-winged Crossbill u u u u Common Redpoll u u c Hoary Redpoll r

s S F W

Pine Siskin t u u u u American Goldfinch t u u u u Evening Grosbeak u u

These additional 12 species are considered accidentals;

American Oystercatcher Bar-tailed Godwit Cudew Sandpiper Sooty Tern Black Skimmer Common Barn Owl Chuck-will's Widow Couch's Kingbird Black-billed Magpie Townsend's Solitaire Kentucky Warbler Western Meadowlark

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Petit Manan is one of more than 430 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is a network of lands and waters managed specifically for the pro­tection of wildlife and wildlife habitat and represents the most comprehensive wildlife resource management program in the world. Units of the system stretch across the United States from northern Alaska to the Florida Keys, and include small islands in the Caribbean and South Pacific. The character of the refuges is as diverse as the nation itself.

The Service also manages National Fish Hatcheries, and pro­vides Federal leadership in habitat protection, fish and wildlife research, technical assistance and the conservation and pro­tection of migratory birds, certain marine mammals and threatened and endangered species.

For further information or to report unusual sightings, please contact;

Refuge Manager Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge P.O. Box 279 Milbridge, Maine 04658 Telephone: (207) 546-2124

This bird list was compiled largely through the efforts of a volunteer, Ralph Widrig. It summarizes literally hundreds of hours of daily, year-round observation and record-checking.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

RL-53533-2 August 1988