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CHRISTY LATTIN/LVN photo Pelicans, California gulls and Caspian terns tend to young chicks at Anaho Island on Pyramid Lake Thursday. Caspian terns, with red beaks and black heads, have increased in population in the past four years to 24 nests.
PYRAMID LAKE - The blazing bright sun beat down on Pyramid Lake Thursday, creating a thousand sparkles with every ripple of the water. As the boat slowly chugged away from the boat launch, Donna Withers and Kevin Desroberts, both with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service office in Fallon, stood with steady legs, eyes on the destination of Anaho Island.
Anaho Island is home to one of the largest American white pelican colonies in the United States. Withers and Desroberts go the island two to four times a month in the spring and early summer to count the pelicans and monitor their activities.
The purpose of last week's trip was to check on the age of the chicks for banding purposes and to see if any diseases have affected the colony, which would leave dead birds visible on the beach. Both Withers and Desroberts were pleased to see no deceased pelicans.
"This is the time of year we usually see mortality," Withers said.
Withers said the pelicans at Pyramid migrate to Mexico during the winter, where they fish in the ocean and fresh water lakes. The birds will return to the Lahontan Valley in early spring to feed on fish in the reservoirs and the lake for about a month before heading to Pyramid when the cui ui and trout are spawning.
Anaho Island is home to one of the largest American white pelican colonies in the United States. Withers and Desroberts go the island two to four times a month in the spring and early summer to count the pelicans and monitor their activities.
The purpose of last week's trip was to check on the age of the chicks for banding purposes and to see if any diseases have affected the colony, which would leave dead birds visible on the beach. Both Withers and Desroberts were pleased to see no deceased pelicans.
"This is the time of year we usually see mortality," Withers said.
Withers said the pelicans at Pyramid migrate to Mexico during the winter, where they fish in the ocean and fresh water lakes. The birds will return to the Lahontan Valley in early spring to feed on fish in the reservoirs and the lake for about a month before heading to Pyramid when the cui ui and trout are spawning.
She said some birds are pair bonded when they return from Mexico or will find a mate at Anaho Island for the season. The 12-pound birds choose Anaho Island as their colony because there are no predators there to threaten them. There are small rodents and rattlesnakes present on the island.
Female pelicans will lay two eggs in a shallow gravel nest. Typically, the eggs will hatch two to three days apart, but the parents will only care for one chick, leaving the other to become part of the food web on the island.
Pelicans live for 12 to 15 years, with the first two months of their lives and first months of fledgling, or independence, being the most delicate. The birds are born without feathers and are called pinkies. The parents have to shade the chicks from the burning sun until a coating of down grows, usually after one week. When the chicks are 2 weeks old, they're fuzzy creatures with small, useless wings. They waddle from the beach up to the "cresh" located higher up the island and behind the brush. A cresh is a group of young pelicans who huddle together - there's safety in numbers.
Ideally, one parent will sit on the nest at all times, however, young and inexperienced parents will often wander from the nest only to return and find their eggs destroyed by California gulls. After one parent has finished a shift, it will catch a thermal and swirl high above the island, gaining altitude for a long flight to find fish, often flying 100 miles or so during one day.
The pelicans will fish in the Lahontan Valley, Washoe Lake and even as far as Walker Lake and the Humboldt Sink if fish are present. Withers said the wildlife biologists don't know how the birds communicate the availability of fish in Walker and Humboldt, but somehow the word gets out to the rest of the colony.
Pelicans, who don't dive for food, eat fish that are in large groups located within 3 feet of the water's surface. For that reason, pelicans often fly to the Lahontan Valley to fish in the shallow marshes.
Female pelicans will lay two eggs in a shallow gravel nest. Typically, the eggs will hatch two to three days apart, but the parents will only care for one chick, leaving the other to become part of the food web on the island.
Pelicans live for 12 to 15 years, with the first two months of their lives and first months of fledgling, or independence, being the most delicate. The birds are born without feathers and are called pinkies. The parents have to shade the chicks from the burning sun until a coating of down grows, usually after one week. When the chicks are 2 weeks old, they're fuzzy creatures with small, useless wings. They waddle from the beach up to the "cresh" located higher up the island and behind the brush. A cresh is a group of young pelicans who huddle together - there's safety in numbers.
Ideally, one parent will sit on the nest at all times, however, young and inexperienced parents will often wander from the nest only to return and find their eggs destroyed by California gulls. After one parent has finished a shift, it will catch a thermal and swirl high above the island, gaining altitude for a long flight to find fish, often flying 100 miles or so during one day.
The pelicans will fish in the Lahontan Valley, Washoe Lake and even as far as Walker Lake and the Humboldt Sink if fish are present. Withers said the wildlife biologists don't know how the birds communicate the availability of fish in Walker and Humboldt, but somehow the word gets out to the rest of the colony.
Pelicans, who don't dive for food, eat fish that are in large groups located within 3 feet of the water's surface. For that reason, pelicans often fly to the Lahontan Valley to fish in the shallow marshes.
When the birds are almost full grown, but before they're flying, Withers and her crew will take another trip to the island to band the birds. A small metal band with an identification number is placed on a bird's leg. If the bird is captured again during a banding event, or found dead, the information will be included in a database for analysis.
Withers said sometimes the birds from Pyramid will make it as far east as the Rockies and as far west as the Bay Area. She said NAS Fallon funded a study that included outfitting 10 birds with satellite transmitters to study the air currents the pelicans fly on. Pelicans will spiral up to gain altitude until they find a thermal they want. They can fly up to a mile high, or about 5,200 feet, which could interfere with aircraft. She said the Navy base shared some information and she would like to continue a similar study, but "it's real expensive."
Withers said by September, the population will scatter and head to the Salton Sea in Southern California and then Mexico.
Most of last week's trip involved patrolling the perimeter of the island by boat and observing the population of pelicans, gulls, cormorants and Caspian terns. With the boat idle, Withers and Desroberts looked through their binoculars while gulls flying overhead kept dropping feces, coming closer and closer to the boat. Finally, Withers told Desroberts to move the boat as the gulls were obviously targeting it.
At one point, Withers spotted a parent and young pelican swimming along together. The adult bird stretched its long wings and flew off, leaving the young bird alone. Watching like a mother bird herself, Withers encouraged the young one as it attempted to fly.
Withers said sometimes the birds from Pyramid will make it as far east as the Rockies and as far west as the Bay Area. She said NAS Fallon funded a study that included outfitting 10 birds with satellite transmitters to study the air currents the pelicans fly on. Pelicans will spiral up to gain altitude until they find a thermal they want. They can fly up to a mile high, or about 5,200 feet, which could interfere with aircraft. She said the Navy base shared some information and she would like to continue a similar study, but "it's real expensive."
Withers said by September, the population will scatter and head to the Salton Sea in Southern California and then Mexico.
Most of last week's trip involved patrolling the perimeter of the island by boat and observing the population of pelicans, gulls, cormorants and Caspian terns. With the boat idle, Withers and Desroberts looked through their binoculars while gulls flying overhead kept dropping feces, coming closer and closer to the boat. Finally, Withers told Desroberts to move the boat as the gulls were obviously targeting it.
At one point, Withers spotted a parent and young pelican swimming along together. The adult bird stretched its long wings and flew off, leaving the young bird alone. Watching like a mother bird herself, Withers encouraged the young one as it attempted to fly.
"Go baby, go baby, go!" she said, observing the young bird as it flapped its wings and ran across the water, not quite taking flight.
The boat ringed the island and pulled into a small cove and pulled ashore. Withers and Desroberts hiked up a small distance to check on three video cameras set up to monitor the colony. Over the course of a week, the cameras will capture images from 20 hours of the day. They will study the video later in the winter to better understand pelican behavior.
As Desroberts pulled the boat back into the boat launch, both he and Withers were visibly disturbed by an excessively noisy speed boat heading out onto the lake.
"I hope they're not headed to the island," Desroberts said, protectively.
Christy Lattin can be contacted at clattin@lahontanvalleynews.com
The boat ringed the island and pulled into a small cove and pulled ashore. Withers and Desroberts hiked up a small distance to check on three video cameras set up to monitor the colony. Over the course of a week, the cameras will capture images from 20 hours of the day. They will study the video later in the winter to better understand pelican behavior.
As Desroberts pulled the boat back into the boat launch, both he and Withers were visibly disturbed by an excessively noisy speed boat heading out onto the lake.
"I hope they're not headed to the island," Desroberts said, protectively.
Christy Lattin can be contacted at clattin@lahontanvalleynews.com
