— 2007 Season —
|
| Ship Island. Credit: USFWS |
Ship is an 11 acre island within Blue Hill Bay, located 2.5 miles from Tremont. The island is connected by a bar to the three acre Trumpet Island. Historically, Ship Island supported over 300 common tern nests, while an additional 500 pairs nested on Trumpet Island. By the 1930s gulls had eliminated all nesting by terns. In 1993, a tern restoration project was begun through a cooperative agreement with The Nature Conservancy. The Service acquired Ship and Trumpet from TNC in 1994 and gull control continued throughout the following season.
In 1995, a single pair of terns ended more than 50 years of absence when they nested on Ship Island. The colony continued to grow and in 1999, 558 pairs of common terns nested. For unknown reasons, the terns did not nest on Ship Island in 2000. Several pairs did initiate egg laying, but all nests were abandoned early in the season.
In 2001, the refuge set up social attraction equipment in an effort to draw the terns back to the site. The attraction equipment worked, and during the GOMSWG census we counted 267 common tern nests. Shortly after the census a mink swam out to the island and caused wide-scale colony abandonment. Only four tern chicks fledged from Ship Island in 2001. The refuge set many traps around the island throughout the nesting season, but we were unable to trap the predator.
|
| Tern on Ship Island. Credit: USFWS |
In 1995, a single pair of terns ended more than 50 years of absence when they nested on Ship Island. The colony continued to grow and in 1999, 558 pairs of common terns nested. For unknown reasons, the terns did not nest on Ship Island in 2000. Several pairs did initiate egg laying, but all nests were abandoned early in the season.
In 2001, the refuge set up social attraction equipment in an effort to draw the terns back to the site. The attraction equipment worked, and during the GOMSWG census we counted 267 common tern nests. Shortly after the census a mink swam out to the island and caused wide-scale colony abandonment. Only four tern chicks fledged from Ship Island in 2001. The refuge set many traps around the island throughout the nesting season, but we were unable to trap the predator.
Prior to the 2002, 2003, and 2004 nesting seasons, the refuge set numerous mammal traps on Ship Island to try to make the island “predator free” before the terns arrived. Initial response by the terns looked promising, and approximately 120 terns were routinely visiting the island in 2002 and 2003. Unfortunately, a short eared owl was observed on the island in 2002 and the terns completely abandoned. In 2003, a mink visited the island in June and once again eliminated all tern nesting efforts.
Although several terns visited Ship Island in 2004, they did not attempt to nest. Much effort was spent trying to trap the mink on Ship and Trumpet Islands, but it appeared the animal(s) swam from nearby islands once the terns were nesting. The refuge decided not to place researchers on Ship Island in 2005; however, terns attempted to nest in small numbers. During the GOMSWG census we documented three nests, but on July 1 we counted 25 nests. Unfortunately, the colony abandoned them during the Fourth of July weekend. No terns were observed nesting in 2006 or 2007.
We will continue efforts to locate another site in this region of the coast for a tern restoration project. The island is managed by the Service.
Common Tern Recovery
On Ship Island: 1983-2007
