SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — For the last decade the end of my field seasons on Cooper Island could be summarized by what is considered Shakespeare’s most famous stage direction, “Exit, pursued by a bear”. It all started in 2002, when the North Slope Borough Search and Rescue helicopter had to pluck us off the island early one morning...
Category: 2011 Field Season
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In the beginning
COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — While it seems like I have been at the Cooper Island black guillemot colony forever, there was actually a time when I did not spend the summer in Arctic Alaska wearing long underwear and worrying about polar bears for three months. George E. Watson, who was then a curator of birds at...
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Black Guillemots show their individuality with reactions to new nest boxes
COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — I had no idea when I decided to provide 150 Nanuk plastic cases to protect the Cooper Island black guillemots how much the new nest sites would change the 2011 field season for both the birds and me. It was clear that I would need to arrive at the colony earlier than...
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A visit to Cooper Island
Post and photos by guest blogger, Greg O’Corry-Crowe COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — Mid July and I finally get the opportunity to visit Cooper Island and its birds and to work with George Divoky. Over the years George and I had discussed ways to collaborate. If we could only put his unique four-decade long study of black guillemots...
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Solitary scientist at the top of the world
COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — The subtitle of Darcy Frey’s 2002 NY Times Magazine article on the early impacts of climate change seen on Cooper Island, referred to me as a “lonely scientist at the end of the earth”. This wording was likely the work of an editor, who wanted to portray the “forlorn” qualities inherent in the word...
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Holiday greetings
COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — Celebrating a solitary Independence Day on Cooper Island with a few hundred black guillemots. While many guillemots are still laying eggs, yesterday I saw the first successful fledge of the year — a barely flying snow bunting that was still being fed by a parent. Snow bunting nests can produce up to seven chicks and feeding...
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George and the guillemots get used to their new homes
COOPER ISLAND, ALASKA — While the start of every field season is always an exciting (and frequently stressful) time, this year the start of the Cooper Island field season had more excitement than most. Preparations began earlier than normal as March and April involved acquiring, modifying and transporting 150 Nanuk plastic cases to replace the...
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Sponsor a bear-proof nest site
Posted by Lori Two Black Guillemots with its distinctive red mouth lining and feet. Here’s your chance to get involved in the work being done on Cooper Island: Friends of Cooper Island is initiating a “Nest-Site Sponsorship” program to help pay for nest replacement and our ongoing research on Arctic seabirds. A minimum $100 tax-deductible...
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Video: Forty years of work in five minutes
George is back from Cooper Island (for now) after having delivered 150 plastic cases to the island for use as new guillemot nest sites. (More information about these cases and how you can sponsor a nest site coming soon.) George will be returning to Cooper Island in May and will stay for 3 months to...
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Getting ready for the season
Posted by Lori George has left for Cooper Island on a short trip to get ready for the season that will begin in May. He’s a little swamped right now, so I’ll be posting updates to kick things off. George left his home in Seattle for Barrow, Alaska, the first stop on the way to...