}' ~USGS science for a.changing world

THE 2000 TERN PROJECT REPORT Jeffrey A. Spendelow USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC) 11510 American Holly Drive. Laurel, MD 20708-4017 USA · 3 February 2001 Pre-season Preparations and Spring Work Weekend · U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Manager Bill Kolodnicki. and NWR staff Kevin Allen. Jennifer Brown, Patrick Comins, and Deb Trantor visited Falkner Island on 2~ April (4-20) to assess the overwinter damage and survey the island for waterfowl nests. They also boated past where they saw both a Harbor Seal and a Gray Seal. Falkner Island Tern Project (FITP) Director Jeff Spendelow and PWRC Biological Technician Peter Osenton arrived in Guilford on 4-26, but didn't make it out until the next day to begin pre-season preparations, put a new line across the harbor, clear net lanes, and set up some nets. UMass/Amherst M.Sc. student Corey Grinnell joined us that night. The next morning we did some banding, set up the 2m-X-2m grid on the north end gravel spit, _remarked the baseline for the beach plots~ finished taking tires and nestboxes out of storage, and placed the boxes on the beach for the habitat enhancement project. Bill Kolodnicki, Kevin Allen and Pam Denmon brought five volunteers out on 4-29 to help move the tires to the spit, set them in place. and load them with gravel, and Jeff,,-Peter. and Corey flagged the top plots that evening. A calm dawn allowed some netting, but increasing winds on 4-30 forced our departure before finishing the nestboxes and beach plot system. Residency, staff, fieldwork, and noteworthy fieldseason events Jeff and Corey returned on 5-15 to begin residency for the summer. The 2000 FITP staff consisted of CAS Research Assistants Jan Amendola (5-15/7-28), Sandy Chan (5-15/8-11), Carrie Dean (5-15/8-13), and Michele Kuter (5-19/8-16). We remarked the beach plots. added gravel to the nestboxes, and put up most of the blinds on 5-16, and we got the remaining blinds up by 5-20. Erin Andros- (5-17/5-19) trapped and marked a few rabbits. Beth Wenzel (5-22/7-26) worked on her M.Sc. study of the nocturnal behavior of terns and night-herons, Bill Kolodnicki made a special trip out to tow in our boat when the engine died (6-07), Arno Reinhardt (6-16/7-01, a_ student from Germany) helped us get through the peal of hatching, Jim Zingo added a (much-appreciated!) light to the outhouse and helped Rick Schauffler (7-11/7-12) plot GIS reference points (in part for recreating the plot system after revetment construction began in September). Kate (7-14/7-16) and Diana Spendelow (7-22/7-23) helped with fieldwork and a Twilight Cruise, respectively, and Crystal Hutchins - (8-02/8-18) helped Corey with his work. We also had other fieldwork/mainte·nance ·assistance from McKinney NWR staff and volunteers Kevin Allen, Tom Caffrey, Patrick Comins. Pam Denmon, Wendy Morgan, and Bob Walsh. The FITP staff worked alternating shifts until residency ended on 8-18, and Michele then moved to PWRC to finish the task of summarizing the observations of colormarked terns and help Jeff get caught up on back-logged database entry and management chores. Other noteworthy fieldseason events included: several fierce storms - one on 6-06 wiped out a large number of Common Tern (COTE) nests, and winds on 6-11 blew over three blihds (including the Beach Blind~ a first!): the rescue by Corey and Carrie of two hapless boaters just before their boat sank on 7-05; and visits by Beth's thesis advisor Sylvia Halkin (6-21/6-22), photographer Cheryl Barnaba (8-02) to take pictures for an article in the Essex, CT Main Street Times, and Monomoy NWR Refuge Biologist Stephanie Koch (8-02/8-03) to check out FITP research procedures. 1.

2 Common Tern (COTE) nesting and reproductive success Jeff saw a COTE on 4-28, and COTEs began nesting a day earlier in 2000 (first eggs found 5-16) than in 1999. The first complete census of COTE nests was done from 6-08/6-09 and COTE·areas were checked on a 3- to 5-day rotation through 8-15. The first COTE chick was found on 6-10. by 6-15 we had marked 2824 nests. and by 6-30 and 7-16 we had marked 3364 and 3758 nests. about 650 and 500, respectively, less than by those same dates in 1999. There was a similar amount of late nesting in 2000 as in 1999: 85 new COTE nests were found between 7-16/7-31, but no new nests were found after that, and overall we marked 3843 COTE nests ( about 500 less than in 1999) and estimated about 3300-3500 pairs of COTEs nested on Falkner Island in 2000. This year, perhaps in part because th~ grasses grew unusually high by early ~une, there was no increase in the percentage of COTEs nesting on the top of the island (583 nests. 21% of those found) by 6-15, but there were continued small increases in nests as of 6-30 from 1999 and 2000 in Plots 58-66 (17% increase from 397 to 465 nests) and Plots 4-6 (16% increase from 75 to 87 nests). the two major areas where Phragmites control had been done after the 1998 breeding season. This year there did not appear to be a shortage of prey fish in Sound in June and July as has occurred several times in past years, and there seemed to be only one Black-crowned Night~Heron harassing the nesting terns. Even so. as a result of the combination of storms in early June apd the night-heron's activity, many (especially pipping) eggs and hatchling COTE chicks were destroyed, died, or were predated, and so we banded about 4400 COTE chicks. Also, while a Northern Harrier killed a fledgling, an unknown number of older chicks and near-fledglings were predated by the night-heron, and we found more than 1025 dead chicks, losses in 2000 in July and August seemed much less than in 1999. The maximum potential productivity for COTEs (3346 chicks from 3843 nests), therefore, was greater than in 1996, 1997~ 1998, and 1999 (2117, 2559, 2871, and 2027 chicks from 3935. 3719, 4043, and 4345 nests, respectively). , We trapped, netted and caught by hand 421 adult COTEs of which 109 were unbanded and 312 (74%) were previously-banded birds. As compared to 1999. fewer (only 14) -adult COTEs, but two fledgling COTEs from Great Gull Island. NY, were found dead in 2000, and 10 dead adults and 15 dead COTE chicks were salvaged. Roseate Tern (ROST) nesting, habitat enhancement projects and reproductive success As we have for the past several years, we half-buried 100 tires in the gravel on the north end of the island and added gravel to 176 nestboxes for our 2000 ROST nesting habitat enhancement project. The first ROST nest was found 5-20, but it had a 2-egg clutch, so laying probably began on 5-18, a day earlier than in 1999. The ROST nesting areas were checked virtually daily from 5-20 to 8-14. By 5-31 and 6-15 we had marked, respectively, 102 &119 ROST nests (compared to 91 &116, and 94 &109 nests by these dates in 1998 and 1999, respectively). The first two ROST chicks hatched on 6-11, by which time we estimated that we had 110 pairs of ROSTs breeding on Falkner Island. Only 9 more ROST nests were initiated by 6-30, four by 7-16, and none after that for a total of 132 ROST nests marked. These 132 ROST nests were believed to have been produced by 115 pairs, and 76 (58%) were judged successful in that at least one chick was presumed to have fledged and left the island (see below). The use of sites and productivity of nests in different areas and habitat categories for 2000 are shown in Table 1. Table 2 summarizes nesting, productivity, and adult trapping and resighting data collected since the FITP began in 1978. · ;

3 Table 1. Results of 2000 FITP habitat enhancement projects for Roseate Terns. Nest-site No. sites No. No. No. (%age) No. chi~ks Productivity Plots category available Useda Nests Successful Fl edged . (chicks/nest) 16-19 inside tires 100 40 42 25 (60%) 28 0.67 25-27 inside boxes 20 13 14 6 (43%) 6 0.43 45-46 inside boxes 24 15 16 9 (56%) 11 0.69 49-50 inside boxes 40 13 13 8 (62%) 10 0.77 52-53 inside boxes 20 3 6 1 (17%) 1 0.17 56-58 inside boxes 72 27 28 19 (68%) 22 0.79 ------45-58 inside boxes 156 58 63 37 (59%) 44 0.70 46-58 natural sites ? 12 12 7 (58%) 7 0.58 all modified sites 276 ( 111 119 68 (57%) 78 0.66 all natural sites ? 13 13 8 (62%) 8 0.62 a "No. Used" includes all nest sites with unincubated clutches. Some nest sites were used more than once whe~ earlier ~lutches failed.

Of all 132 nests, 42 (32%) were inside the rims of tires in Plots 16-19, 15 (11%) were in the northeastern area in Plots 25-27, and 75 (57%) were on the southern end. Of the latter, 63 (84%) were inside boxes and 12 (16%) were in unmodified sites, so overall 119 (90%, down from 97% in 1999) of all ROST nests were in modified sites in 2000. Blood samples were collected from 138 of 144 hatchlings for sex determination. Most small chicks and near-fledglings received different plumage colors for various studies. Eight large chicks (an usually high number) that escaped receiving "flight colors" were later confirmed as fledglings by observation of their "field-readable" band numbers. ROST productivity and evaluation of effects of Black-crowned Night-Heron predation Because of intensive searches for missing chicks and observations of adults whose chicks we couldn't find, we took a conservative approach in 2000 in estimating productivity. Of 144 ROST chicks banded at hatching, only 86 could be confirmed as surviving past fledging~ 32 either were known or highly suspected of having died at an early age, 12 died after reaching 5 days of age (4 were found,,drowned, 3 of these on different days in the same "chick-killing crevice" under a rock in Plot 19), and 14 older chicks of unknown status were most likely predated. Of the 56 nesting attempts judged unsuccessful, 21 were abandoned, 5 were lost to storms or chick deaths, 14 had infertile/rotten eggs, 2 most likely were lost to research activities, and 14 (fewer than in 1999) were known or highly suspected lost to predation by a Black-crowned Night-Heron. However, overall the heron was presumed to have been in part responsible for the loss of at least 43 ROST chicks and eggs. Of the 86 ROST chicks presumed to have fledged, 78 (91%) came from modifi.ed sites and 8 from natural sites, so nests in natural sites were about as productive as those in modified sites (Table 1). The average productivity of 0.75 chicks/pair (0.65 chicks/nesting attempt) was similar to the average productivities of 0.74 and 0.70 for 1998 and 1999 (Table 2). Sixteen chicks and 14 eggs were salvaged as potential museum specimens. 4 Table 2. Falkner Island Tern Project Roseate Tern summary information. NUMBER NUMBER ADULTS NUMBER SUCCESSFUL NUMBER NUMBER CHICKS TOTAL AT "P-B" "K-A" YEAR NESTS 1 NESTS 2 CHICKS 3 PAIRS4 PER PAIR5 ADUL TS 6 NESTS 7 ADUL TS 8 ADUL TS 9 1978 281 136 (48%) 202 210 0.96 92 92 22 (24%) 18 (20%) 1979 238 126 (53%) 184 180 1. 02 143 143 47 (33%) 30 (21%) 1980 140 68 (49%) 101 100 1. 01 100 100 35 (35%) 14 (14%) 1981 215 154 (72%) 241 185 1.30 213 213 102 ( 48%) 32 (15%) 1982 185 105 (57%) 152 135 1.13 137 137 92 (67%) 23 (17%) 1983 154 122 (79%) 205 140 1.46 81 81 62 (77%) 15 (19%) 1984 241 170 (71%) 259 205 1. 26 143 143 88 (62%) 43 (30%) 1985 273 200 (73%) 292 235 1.24 177 177 113 (64%) 58 (33%) 1986 185 147 (79%) 209 175 1.19 61 61 34 (56%) 22 (36%) 1987 191 124 (65%) 161 165 0.98 218 218 156 (72%) 84 (39%) 1988 201 147 (73%) 206 190 1'.08 ,162 162 119 (73%) 55 (34%) 1989 175 111 (63%) 136 165 0.82 211 191 160 (84%) 92 (48%) 1990 174 118 (68%) 142 170 0.84 286 243 216 (89%) 123 (51%) 1991 189 139 (74%) 158 180 0.88 323 281 253 (90%) 143 (51%) 1992 135 88 (65%) 103 130 0.79 256 214 196 (92%) 116 (54%) 1993 164 120 (73%) 189 160 1.18 310 277 235 (85%) 145 (52%) 1994 152 123 (81%) 186 140 1.33 308 264 252 (95%) 153 (58%) 1995 141 100 (71%) 122 130 0.94 303 244 236 (97%) 149 (61%) 1996 157 72 (46%) 75 150 0.50 371 263 250 (95%) 178 (68%) 1997 166 85 (51%) 97 150 0.65 359 262 253 (97%) 177 (68%) 1998 125 70 (56%) 89 120 0.74 300 231 225 (97%) 105 (71%) 1999 116 70 (60%) 77 110 0.70 306 202 199 (99%) 142 (70%) 2000 132 76 (58%) 86 115 0.75 362 216 200 (93%) 148 (69%)

1Total number of Roseate Tern and "mixed pair" nests marked each year. 2The number of nests where at least 1 chick was believed to have survived to fledging. 3The number of chicks that were banded, survived to at least 5 days of age, were not found dead later, and so presumably survived to fledging. 4The estimated breeding population size in pairs (including trios, etc.). 5The estimated productivity per pair of the colony. 6The total number of adults identified (including birds not associated with a nest). 7The number of adults positively identified at nests. 8The number of "previously-banded" (P-B) adults positively identified at nests. 9The number of "known-age" (K-A) adults positively identified at nests. j

5 Roseate Tern adult trapping, colorbanding, and identification Of at least 415(!) recognizably different adults, 368 were positively identified and 216 were associated with nests; 200 (93%) of the 216 were.previously-banded, 212 (98%) were at least tentatively categorized (by behavior, head measurements, or DNA analysis: blood samples· were collected from 54 of 110 ROST adults trapped) as to sex, and 148 (69%) were known-age birds. At one nest, a new pair apparently took over incubating the egg, and then fledged a chick whose biological parents were not seen again after being trapped on adjacent days in mid June. We identified 10 nonbreeding 2-year-olds and 10 presumed nonbreeding 3-year-olds by mid July, and after 7-21 we identified 50 more 2-year-olds, two 1-year-olds, and 50 fledglings among the absolute minimum of 250 "new" ROSTs that came visiting from Long Island, New York and Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, with two fledglings coming from the Gulf of Maine (from Stratton Island and Eastern Egg Rock). As in 1999, in late July and August 2000, we again noted a few instances where a female of a presumably successful pair remained around the island for as much as several weeks after her mate and presumed fledgling were no longer observed. Related studies by FITP Collaborators: hiding places used by ROST chicks More data on various aspects of hiding places used by chicks and the behavior of chicks and adults in selecting such hiding places were collected by Corey Grinnell in 2000. As he did in 1998 and 1999, for (a) rock crevices used as hiding places by ROST chicks, and (b) a randomly-selected set of crevices found on the beach, he measured the same 5 variables: 1) maximum height of entrance, 2) maximum width of entrance, 3) slope of the interior, 4) aspect or directional orientation of the opening, and 5) maximum depth of the crevice. More detailed results of Corey's work will be given in a separate report by Spendelow and Grinnell. Related studies by FITP Collaborators: sexing & the genetic mating system of ROSTs By 1-31-2001, Dave Shealer and Cathi Cleary (a husband and wife team doing similar analytical work on Black Terns) had sexed almost all blood samples collected from adult ROSTs in 2000 at Falkner Island; they will sex the blood samples from chicks in the spring of 1991. Patty Szczys is still working on developing microsatellite loci as DNA fingerprinting tools to study the mating system of this species. Related studies by FITP Collaborators: tern and night-heron nocturnal behavior Beth Wenzel conducted observations on 32 nights to determine patterns of Black­ crowned Night-Heron visits. Her results also will be given in a separate report. Other breeding birds on Falkner Island In addition to the terns, other species of birds that attempted nesting on Falkner Island in 2000 included Canada Goose (2 pairs, but a maximum of 12 adults were seen), Mallard (3? pairs), American Black Duck (3? pairs), American Oystercatcher Ca chick from a replacement 2-egg clutch hatched 6-17, was banded on 7-01 and fledged on 8-01), Great Black-backed Gull Ca nest in Plot 18 was destroyed 4-27), Barn Swallow (10 nests, 2 adults and 29 young banded), Red-winged Blackbird (at least 3 females nested: 25 adults and 4 young were caught/banded), and Song Sparrow (at least 3 singing males were heard, and 10 adults and 5 young were caught/banded). Spotted Sandpipers, European Starlings, and Common Grackles were not found nesting on Falkner Island this year. An adult male Barn Swallow banded in 1994 at this site was recaptured on 8-01 this year, and another male banded in 1998 was found dead in the Boathouse on 4-30. 6 Netting and banding of migrants on Falkner Island Not counting migrant individuals of species that also nested. frbm 4-28/4-30 and. on 8 days from 5-16/6-02 we banded 236 migrants of 41 species,·having our best April banding ever by setting new one-year records for Hermit Thrushes (13) and Yellow-rumped (34) and Palm Warblers (20) [by comparison, in the decade from 1990- 1999. we banded only 9. 33. and 7 individuals. respectively, of these species], but we had a poor migration in May due mostly to fewer Common Yellowthroats than usual. Also worthy of mention were our first two spring Purple Finches (4-30). a White-breasted Nuthatch (4-28, second ever), a one-day high of 4 Black-throated Blue Warblers (5-17), our first spring Western Palm Warbler (5-17), a Mourning· Warbler (5-22), a Hooded Warbler (5-22, sixth ever), and an Orchard Oriole (5-27, third ever). Again not counting migrant individuals of species that nested, we also netted on 9 days from 7-13/8-11, but caught only 23 migrants of 9 species, with only 3 species caught in the fall that had not been caught in the spring for a (relatively low) total of 44 migrant species for the year: Our best fall day on 8-11 produced 11 birds of 7 species including 4 Northern Waterthrushes and a Prairie Warbler. Warblers (174 individuals of 18 species) accounted for 67% of all migrants banded "in 2.GGG. Magnolia Warbler (36 in spring [s]), _Yell.ow-rumped Warbler (34s), Common Yellowthroat (30s, 2 in fall [f]), Palm Warbler (20s) and Yellow Warbler (5s, 9f) were the migrant species most commonly banded. Besides the relatively low number of Common Yellowthroats (down from 113 in 1998 and 86 in 1999) and Yellow Warblers (down from 50 in 1998 and 27 irr 1999), in 2000 we banded only 4 Swamp Sparrows, no Lincoln's Sparrows. and no vireos. Other observations of birds. mammals. and other animals We sa~ 95 species of birds on or in the vicinity of Falkner and Goose Islands from April to August. Notable from April to mid June were: 15 Black-bellied Plovers, 30 Ruddy Turnstones, 20 Dunlin and a White-breasted Nuthatch (4-20); an American Kestrel and a Fish Crow (4-27); a Brown-headed Cowbird (4-28); at least one Merlin each day (4-28/4-30); 26 White-winged Scoters, 15 Glossy Ibises, 11 Greater Yellowlegs, and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow (4-29); a Red~tailed Hawk (5-12. reported by Patrick Comins); 64 Brant (5-21); 6 Purple Sandpipers at Goose Island (5-23); 2 Black Skimmers (5-28); 4 adult American Oystercatchers (5-31); 3 Snowy Egrets at Goose Island (6-10); and a Ring-billed Gull (6-12). Seen from late June to August were: 20 Ruddy Turnstones (6-28); 2 Carolina Wrens (6-30); a Great Egret and 2 Short-billed Dowitchers (7-02); at least 12 Willets (7-18 &7-29); a Forster's Tern and a Black Tern (7-24); a Red Knot (8-01); a Merlin (8-05); a Peregrine (8-10); a Northern Harrier (8-11/8-12); about 120 Laughing Gulls, a Ring-billed Gull, 2 Forster's Terns, and a Black Tern (8-12); and 3 Great Blue Herons (8-14). However, the most unusual avian sighting made this year was on 7-28 when Jeff saw what he later identified (from several field guides) tci be a Little Stint, another Falkner Island "first ever". A Gray Seal was seen off Goose Island (4-20) and 5 Harbor Seals were seeD off Falkner Island (4-27), with 2 lingering as late as 5-24. On several nights mice (Peromyscus sp.) were rescued from having fallen into our recycling bins, and 3 mice amused us with their "playful antics" in the Generator Building on 7-26. but no bats were seen in 2000. I t

7 Breeding colonial waterbirds on other nearby islands Four trips were made to Goose Island in 2000. On 5-23 we found 9 Great Black­ backed Gull (GBBG) nests and 131 Double-crested'Cormorant (DCC0) nests with eggs and/or chicks. Many of these apparently were washed out by the 6-06 storm, but on 6-10 we banded 18 DCCO chicks and 1 GBBG chick. On 6-26 we banded 80 more DCCO chicks, and on 7-04 we banded another GBBG chick and 30 more DCCO chicks to finish with a total of 128 banded DCCO and· 2 banded GBBG chicks that presumably fledged in 2000. Only 1 recovery of a DCCO banded at Goose Island was reported in 2000: a chick from 1999 was found dead in January 2000 near Tampa, Florida. As part of a survey of waterbird colonies throughout , on 6-29 FITP staff visited and neighboring Gull Rock off Madison. At Gull Rock we found no sign of any GBBG nests and banded 47 COTE chicks. At Tuxis Island we banded 1 COTE chick (up to 5 pairs may have nested) and 9 GBBG and 5 HERG chicks. We did not enter the center of the.heron colony, but based on what we saw from the perimeter, we concluded that the following species were nesting: Black-crowned Night-Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron and Glossy Ibis. Presentations, analyses, manuscripts, and publications Public outreach presentations by Jeff Spendelow in ,2000 included Twilight Cruises around Falkner Island for the Connecticut Audubon Society (7-22) and the New Haven Bird Club (7-25), and a USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Open House (10-14) in Laurel, MD. Jeff's scientific presentations included "Modeling postfledging survival and age-specific breeding probabilities in species with delayed maturity: a case study of Roseate Terns at Falkner Island, Connecticut" at a EURING meeting in Marshall, CA (10-02/10-06), and "Development and application of new multisite recruitment models for species with delayed maturity: a case study of Roseate Terns" at the Waterbird Society meeting (11-01/11-04) in Plymouth, MA where he also was a co-author on a presentation by Dave Shealer entitled "Crime does pay: kleptoparasitic Roseate Terns are high-quality parents". Reports and analyses done in 2000 included a report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entitled "Roseate Tern breeding habitat use, nestsites, productivity, and behavior at the Falkner Island unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Connecticut in 1999" by Grinnell and Spendelow. A manuscript by Jeff, Jim Nichols, Jim Hines, Jean-Dominique .Lebreton, and Roger Pradel with the same title as the EURING talk was submitted to the Journal of Applied Statistics. The major results of this analysis were described in the 1999 FITP report and so are not repeated here, but one new result was that we determined that usually about 75% of the ROST fledglings that survive to 3 years of age begin breeding at that age. Another manuscript ("The simultaneous estimation by capture-recapture of accession to reproduction and dispersal-fidelity in a multisite system") by Lebreton, Hines, Pradel, Nichols, and Spendelow that describes the (long-awaited!) development of multistratum models for estimating overall postfledging survival and recruitment on a multisite regional scale has been submitted to Oecologia. This analysis showed that usually about 30% of all ROST fledglings survive to become breeders (this 30%· value for postfledging-to-first breeding survival is about 50% greater than the 20% value Jeff "guesstimated" back in 1990) and that about 40% of the fledglings from Falkner Island that survived to breeding were recruiting to other colony sites. More details on the application of these new types of models to our data will go into another manuscript that Jeff hopes to write in 2001. J; .

8 The FITP Product List (in 3 parts: "Publications". "Reports, Theses, & Unpublished Manuscripts", and "Presentations") has been updated. Anyone wishing to receive any of these lists, other FITP reports, or copies of publications may obtain them from Jeff Spendelow at the address shown on the first page of this report. Ac know 7edgements The FITP fieldwork and research analyses in 2000 were supported by the Connecticut Audubon Society (CAS), Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Little Harbor Laboratory (LHL). the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Additional support came from the Menunkatuck Audubon Society Bird-a-thon and Raffle. and a few anonymous donors. The Division of Refuges (FWS) gave us permission to use the facilities on the Falkner Island unit of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR. provided replacement boats for our use when ours needed fixing, and the FWS also provided the services of employees Kevin Allen, Jennifer Brown, Tom Caffrey, Patrick Comins. Pam Denmon. Stephanie Koch, Bill Kolodnicki, Rick Schauffler, and Jim Zingo, and volunteers Wendy Morgan and Bob Walsh. The USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center provided a 17-foot Whaler (TERN), other research equipment, and the staff time of Jeff Hatfield, Jim Hines, Jim Nichols, Peter Osenton, and Jeff Spendelow. Mainland docking, parking, and use of showers and other facilities were generously .donated by the Guilford Yacht Club. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection purchased a spotting scope for use by Corey Grinnell for his M.Sc. thesis work; it also was used for reading colorband combinations and band numbers by Jeff Spendelow at times when Corey didn't need it. Throughout the season many hours of hard work were contributed by the CAS Research Assistants Jan Amendola. Sandy Chan, Carrie Dean, and Michele Kuter. and by Corey Grinnell and Beth Wenzel as they worked on their own projects and simultaneously assisted on the FITP. Beth's work was funded by the FWS and Corey's work was funded by the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Connecticut Chapter TNC staff and volunteers who helped with the Spring Work Weekend included Chris Joyell, Nicole Martinez, Sharon Powers, and Stephen and Susan Seil or. Others that assisted with the fieldwork or supported the FITP in a variety of ways in 2000 included Ralph Barker (TNC), Miley Bull (CAS), Cathi Cleary, Marilyn Duda (CAS), Dave Gumbart (TNC), Joel Helander, Crystal Hutchins, Endie Jaynes, Arno Reinhardt, Fred &Sally Richards (LHL), Dave Shealer, and Diana, Kate & Ruth Spendelow. I thank everyone. /

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Above: Placement ofrocks as a result of the Shoreline Protection Project.

Right: Falkner Island prior to Shoreline Protection Project with overlay of plots used in the USGS Roseate Tern Project.