The Brothers as seen from Lower West Pubnico. (Old 2005 photo by me from my paraglider)

This report will mostly cover work being done on North Brother.

Work on these islands is done in cooperation with Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (NSDNRR). - Ted D'Eon

THE BROTHERS, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia

OBSERVATIONS:

April 23, 2025 - North Brother

This morning five of us left Abbott's Harbour wharf (Middle West Pubnico) and headed out to North Brother in the thick fog.Once we got on the island the fog eventually cleared.

The crew consisted of Shawn Craik, Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau, Geneviève Gauthier and me.

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Dr. Shawn Craik is a biology professor at Université Sainte-Anne, Church Point, Nova Scotia.

Alexis Saulnier is a former student of Professor Shawn Craik, now working on her Masters at Acadia University, Wolfville, NS. Her Masters involves tern foraging by species and the food they bring back to the colony, and much more!

Luc Bilodeau is the technician of this "tern colony" team. He runs the boat, does the photography for leg bands, etc.,and the heavy lifting. He is also Alexis' partner in life.

Geneviève Gauthier is a graduate student at Université Sainte-Anne, studing waterfowl.

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The plywood blind is still in good shape and the 58 Roseate Tern nesting shelters inside survived the winter well! We brought with us another 14 nesting structures to add to what was already there, giving us a total now of 72.

The island hasn't changed much since last September other than there is now a little less soil at the southern end, but huge mats of dead weeds over the nesting areas. The gang worked hard to remove much of the weeds; these were placed along the shore below the high tide line; hopefully they'll wash away. Already lots of emerging wild radish.

And then the numbered nesting boxes were strategically placed so all the numbers could all be seen and read from the blind.

It was a lot of work, but with a great team, all went well. Thank you, crew!

Great crew and a job well done! Thank you all.

My old boat, our transportation to North Brother - Abbott's Harbour - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Geneviève, Shawn, Luc, and Alexis - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Geneviève, Luc, Ted (me), and Alexis - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Shawn Craik

Moving the Roseate Tern nesting shelters - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Some of last year's mat of weeds - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Shawn clearing out the dead weeds - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Shawn clearing out the dead weeds - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

New weeds already sprouting! - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Cleaning up - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

The whole gang at work - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Setting up the Roseate Tern nesting shelters - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Roseate Tern nesting shelters - North Brother - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

The south end of North Brother (looking north) - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

The south end of North Brother (looking north) - April 23 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

North Brother (West is at the top) - May 5 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

North Brother (West is at the top) - May 5 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Close up of Roseate Tern nesting shelter placement - North Brother - photo by Luc Bilodeau

May 2, 2025 - Fishermen Franklin and Douglas Surette had about 100 terns at North Brother on Friday, May 2.

Bertin d'Eon also saw them from Pond Rd on May 2.

As usual early in the season, numbers are larger early in the morning and the terns have left/are away from the colony later in the day. (email from Alix d'Entremont)

May 6, 2025 - Email from Alexis Saulnier:

I just wanted to send out a quick message to say that we saw at least three Common Terns while on North Brother yesterday(May 5, 2025)!

The GPS station has been up since April 28th but no tagged birds have passed through yet.

May 12, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

I made my first visit of the year to NBI with Alexis and Luc for the last spray of hypersaline solution. After verifying there are no eggs on the island yet, we sprayed down the 7 test plots and photographed them along with the 7 control plots.

A hypersaline solution was applied in and around seven Roseate Tern nesting shelters to reduce the growth and spread of non-native plants on the island. Seven control plots were also chosen where no solution was applied. At the end of the breeding season, we will compare plants present in both plot types as well as the density of plant matter.

Hypersaline solution application dates: April 29th, May 5th, and May 12th.

Hypersaline solution control plot (No Saline) - North Brother - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Hypersaline solution treated plot (Saline sprayed) - North Brother Note the difference in colour of the vegetation inside and outside of the treatment plot after applying the solution. photo by Luc Bilodeau

A few scrapes were seen on the South and West ends of the island, though none in the Roseate boxes yet.

During our short visit, an estimated 75 Common Terns flew overhead and loafed on the rocks by the shore.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau & Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

(Daphnée is a research assistant (student) for her second year with the team on North Brother, and is a student of Professor Shawn Craik at Université Sainte-Anne - Ted)

May 12, 2025 - Email from Alix d'Entremont.

First Foraging Survey 2025

Kathleen MacAulay and I completed our first foraging survey of the year this morning off Woods Harbour. I will send the completed spreadsheet to Shawn in a separate email but will provide some highlights here.

An estimated group of 350 terns was foraging at Ball Bar and was comprised of an estimated (using ratios) 308 Commons, 35 Roseates and 7 Arctics. There was a strong tidal rip present. The attached image named NZ8_1868.jpg shows 284 terns (counted 1x1).

This is the largest foraging group of terns I've ever seen–even bigger than the groups I've seen in late June and July at Dennis Point Wharf. This was quite the spectacle!

Roseates were successfully catching prey (see images below). The only other place where Roseates were found to be foraging was at the Northern End Ledge near Vigneau Island where 8 Roseates were with about 40 Common Terns.

My new camera (Nikon Z8 and 600 mm f/6.3) was excellent at tracking and getting sharp images of the terns both in flight and perched. I was able get photos of a number of plastic field readables. See the details below.

I would appreciate it if others could have a look at the unconfirmed bands below because I'm not sure of the codes.

PFRs seen at Ball Bar
L36 Left Leg (white on red) - 9822-51567

PFRs seen at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island)
R62 Right Leg (white on black, (Common Tern)
B76 Left Leg (white on red)  - 9822-51512
BE1 Right Leg (white on red) - 1392-31413
LY0 Right Leg (white on red) - 1392-31405
BL0 Right Leg (white on red) - 9822-53291

Unconfirmed PFRs seen at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island)
C43? Left Leg (white on red) 
L40? Left Leg (white on red)
L12? Right Leg (white on red)

Thank you Alix and Kathleen. You make a fantastic team!

Alix Arthur d'Entremont has a Bachelor of Science in Geomatics Engineering and works for the Municipality of Argyle (when he's not on a field trip, often in his boat, checking out birds and bird colonies for various organizations, and often with Kathleen).

Kathleen MacAulay is a veterinarian in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (when she's not in a boat on the water, looking for birds with Alix).

The flock of 284 terns foraging at Ball Bar - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern C43? at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern L12? at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern L12? at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern L40? at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern L40? at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern L40? at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern with prey at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern with prey at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern with prey at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern with prey at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern with prey at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 12 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

May 14, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

A quick trip to the island allowed us to count about 150 terns, where we counted up to 10 Arctic Terns and 8 Roseate Terns.

We managed to identify the following bands:
ROST :
 	VR2 (yellow field readable, left leg); with a GPS on its back
 	B40 (red field readable, right leg)
 	BL0 (red field readable, right leg)
COTE :
 	X14 (white field readable, left leg)
 	R76 (black field readable, right leg)
 	R82 (black field readable, right leg)

An eider nest, with 2 warm eggs, was found during our visit.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

Roseate Tern (VR2) with GPS backpack. This bird was banded and tagged in Galinhos, Brazil this past February - North Brother - May 14, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with hake - North Brother - May 14, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Two Roseate Terns demonstrating courtship behaviour - North Brother - May 14, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Arctic Tern with spider foraged on North Brother Island - North Brother - May 14, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

May 17, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

We began with a walk around the island. A few scrapes and potential scrapes were noted in the ROST nest boxes. Common Tern scrapes along most of the island, 5 single egg COTE nests and 3 double egg COTE nests were also found. One possibly predated COTE egg was seen on the Western side of the island.

One predated Common Tern was found in the hollow which might explain the lower number of terns on the island at the time of our visit.

Barn swallows, a spotted sandpiper and 6 unidentified shorebirds visited the island during our observation block.

During this time, we also saw a few feedings, some copulation and courtship behaviours, as well as roughly 30 terns foraging in association with 7 cormorants near South Brother Island.

The eider nest now counted 3 warm eggs. A maximum of 110 terns were counted during our visit.

Identified bands:
ROST
 	B39 (red field readable, right leg)
 	B65 (red field readable, left leg)
 	

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

Common Tern with June bug - North Brother - May 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Flock of terns foraging in association with cormorants near the island - North Brother - May 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with herring - North Brother - May 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common/Roseate Hybrid Tern with juvenile fish - North Brother - May 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

May 20, 2025 - Email from Alix d'Entremont.

Second Foraging Survey 2025

Kathleen MacAulay and I completed our second foraging survey of the year this morning off Woods Harbour.

Roseates were seen foraging at three locations. Five were at Solomans Island Ledge, six were at the Ball Bar and eight were at the Northern End Ledge. The Northern End Ledge, north of Vigneau Island, was not a popular place for terns in previous years but has been so far this year. I was able to photograph and read 7 plastic bands on the Roseates at the Northern End Ledge. See the details below.

PFRs seen at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island)
B40 Right Leg (white on red) - 1172-79345
LU1 Right Leg (white on red) - 9822-53293
C43 Left Leg (white on red) - ?
Y85 Left Leg (white on red) - ?
Z29 Left Leg (white on red) - 1392-31647
Z61 Right Leg (white on red) - ?
Z64 Right Leg (white on red) - 1392-31674

Also, 12 Common Terns and 2 Arctic Terns were landing on Goodwins Island where there had been a tern colony in recent years.

All of the attached images are from the Northern End Ledge. Most of the fish that were seen being caught by the terns were the long skinny ones shown in most of the photos. Image NZ8_5647.jpg shows a Common Tern about to grab a tiny fish sticking out of the seaweed. Most of the foraging at Northern End Ledge was terns picking prey off the surface on or near the seaweed. A minority were actually diving.

Thank you Alix and Kathleen.

Roseate Terns B40 and LU1 at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 20 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Common Tern with a long and skinny fish at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 20 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Common Tern picking up a small fish from seaweed at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 20 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Common Tern with a small fish at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 20 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern Y85 with small fish at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 20 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern Z64 with small fish at Northern End Ledge (near Vigneau Island) - May 20 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

May 21, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

About 250 terns could be seen flushing before we made it to the island. On our trip over we noticed a large flock of about 20 terns foraging with about 20 cormorants just North of our launch site at the end of Rock Rd. Upon arrival, we walked around the island and found quite a few COTE nests, 10 of which we marked to monitor breeding success throughout the season. We also found our 2 first ROST eggs in nest box R3.

First ROST eggs of the season for NBI, nest box R3 - May 21 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

We did 2 observation blocks with a lunch break on shore in between. During these, the terns flushed strangely (high, dispersed, on the East and West sides) a few times. Large groups of terns continued to forage alongside up to 56 cormorants following the beach to the East of NBI. ROST tagged VR2, with a GPS on its back, was still present. Alexis and I saw an egg being laid in box nest R21 by ROST L95, which we can now confirm as being female. This brings our total ROST eggs to 3 for the day.

There was little variety in prey seen, notably small herring and hake-ish fish.

Identified bands: ROST
 	T83 (yellow field readable, left leg)
 	Z00 (red field readable, right leg)
 	Z61 (red field readable, right leg)
 	A81 (yellow field readable, left leg)
 	BJ0 (red field readable, right leg)
 	BA1 (red field readable, right leg)
 	L95 (red field readable, left leg, female)
 	BY0 (red field readable, right leg)
 	Z79 (red field readable, left leg)
 	Z62 (red field readable, right leg)
 	C43 (red field readable, left leg)
 	Z96 (red field readable, right leg)
 	LU0 (red field readable, right leg)
 	915N (metal field readable, right leg)

COTE
 	X09 (white field readable, left leg)
 	X21 (white field readable, left leg)
 	Orange flag (left leg)

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

Arctic Tern demonstrating courtship behaviour - North Brother - May 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with Rock gunnel - North Brother - May 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with quadruple catch of herring (one fish had already been fed to its partner) - North Brother - May 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with sculpin - North Brother - May 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Closeup of Common Tern with sculpin - North Brother - May 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with herring - North Brother - May 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

May 22, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Because of strong wind and large swells forecasted for the afternoon, we made an early trip to the colony.

An estimated 350 terns were on the island, in addition to the ?40 terns foraging with cormorants to the Southeast of South Brother.

In addition to the observations conducted for directional data and prey identification, our time in the blinds allowed us to count out a minimum of 28 ROST.

We identified more bands and were able to presume the sex of a few banded birds via observations of copulation:

ROST
 	LJ0 (red field readable, right leg)
 	BB1 (red field readable, right leg, male)
 	Z64 (red field readable, right leg)
 	LU1 (red field readable, right leg)
 	LY0 (red field readable, right leg, female)
 	Y85 (red field readable, left leg)
 	Z04 (red field readable, right leg)
 	BU0 (red field readable, right leg)
 	L03 (red field readable, left leg)
 	Z36 (red field readable, right leg)
 	RX6 (yellow field readable, right leg)
 	Z86 (red field readable, right leg)
 	BZ0 (red field readable, right leg)
    B40 (first observed on May 14th is presumed male) 

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

Common Tern with juvenile fish North Brother - May 22, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

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Roseate Tern (Z64) in flight North Brother - May 22, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - May 22, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

May 26, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Approximately 375 terns flushed as we got to the island, and an additional 60 could be seen foraging with cormorants.

On this day we walked around the colony to keep track of nests from all 3 tern species. Roughly a dozen ARTE nests (holding 1 or 2 eggs) were found on the Northern ridge. COTE nests were found all over, carrying 1, 2 or 3 eggs each. 34 of the ROST nest boxes now held eggs.

During our walk in the colony, we found 3 deceased ROST (C43, fed L, and an unbanded bird). Two of the bodies were removed off of the island for a post-mortem examination; rat or mink predation was suspected.

We continued with some observation blocks during which more cormorant/tern foraging groups were seen. For about 30 minutes a group of approximately 20 terns were seen flying and dipping sporadically between NBI and the mainland. Alix, who was passing by the island on his way to conduct his surveys, confirmed that the terns were foraging for bugs.

Some prey seen on this day included herring, hake, mummichog and some small juvenile fish.

Identified ROST bands :
-	Z49 (red field readable, left leg)
-	T42 (yellow field readable, left leg)
-	LR0 (red field readable, right leg)
-	L96 (red field readable, left leg)
-	Z52 (red field readable, right leg)
-	L53 (red field readable, right leg) - presumed female by copulation
-	Z07 (red field readable, right leg)
-	B19 (red field readable, right leg)
-	C76 (red field readable, left leg)
-	R62 (black field readable, right leg, COTE)
-	L36 (red field readable, left leg)
-	Z72 (red field readable, left leg)
-	B76 (red field readable, left leg)
-	BE1 (red field readable, right leg)

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

Roseate Tern (LU0) exhibiting kleptoparasitic behaviour North Brother - May 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (LU0) with a fish successfully stolen from another tern in the colony North Brother - May 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Kleptoparasitic Roseate Tern in a dive to steal a fish North Brother - May 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with stickleback North Brother - May 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with sandlance North Brother - May 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

May 27, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Upon our arrival to NBI, Luc and I found 3 dead terns (1 unbanded COTE, 2 unbanded ROST) which were removed from the island and sent off for post-mortem examination. Rat or mink predation was again suspected. In hopes of identifying the predator, 2 trail cameras were installed to the North and South of the ROST boxes.

For the duration of our visit, the female Eider on nest E4 remained on its eggs.

Trail camera on Northern end of North Brother May 27 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Eider on nest E4 - North Brother May 27 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Team: Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Luc and Daphnée.

May 28, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

On this visit to the island Luc and I did an observation block during which little prey variety was seen: mostly hake and herring. About 400 terns were in the colony, excluding the 30 such terns seen foraging with cormorants near South Brother Island. 2 adult and 2 juvenile loons could be heard and seen around NBI for the duration of our visit. 1 deceased unbanded ROST was found and removed from the island.

Identified ROST band : 
-	BT0 (red field readable, right leg) - presumed female by copulation
-	Y61 (red field readable, left leg) - presumed female by copulation
-	LL0 (red field readable, right leg)
-	B12 (red field readable, right leg)
-	Z26 (red field readable, left leg)

C76 (first observed May 26th) is presumed male by copulation.

Z96 (first observed May 21st) is presumed male by copulation.

Z62 (first observed May 21st) is presumed female by copulation.

Team: Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Luc and Daphnée.

Common Tern with hake North Brother - May 28, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (C76) with herring North Brother - May 28, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with mummichog North Brother - May 28, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with June bug North Brother - May 28, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with herring North Brother - May 28, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

May 29, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

An estimated 325 terns flushed as we landed on the island.

As we made our way through the colony, we marked more ARTE and COTE nests. 42 of the ROST nest boxes now held eggs, 12 of which had 2 eggs each. One additional ROST nest containing two eggs was found outside the nesting shelters to the southwest.

A total of eight active Common Eider nests were found on our walk around the island.

2 deceased ROST (banded LY0 and Z04) were removed from the island.

During our 4-hour observation block, prey seen being brought back to the colony included hake, herring, stickleback, silverside, mummichog, juvenile fish and June bugs.

A Roseate Tern (left leg federal band) was seen practicing near constant kleptoparasitic behavior (stealing fish from the bill of terns in flight or on the ground).

Some other wildlife seen near/on NBI included a harbour seal, eiders, juvenile loons, barn swallows, tree swallow, a spotted sandpiper and a black guillemot.

Identified ROST bands :
-	L12 (red field readable, right leg)
-	Z70 (red field readable, right leg)
-	L40 (red field readable, left leg)
-	B95 (red field readable, right leg)
-	Z97 (red field readable, right leg)

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau, Shawn Craik and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, Shawn, and Daphnée.

Common Tern with June bug North Brother - May 29, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with double catch of herring North Brother - May 29, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with hake North Brother - May 29, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with herring North Brother - May 29, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

June 2, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

During this visit to the island, with the help of a licensed wildlife nuisance officer (trapper), rat traps and conibear traps were installed in hopes of catching NBI's recent predator.

No deceased terns were found since our last trip before the weekend. The colony seemed strong and aggressive, with roughly 350 terns counted in a flush.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau, Julie McKnight & Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, Julie, and Daphnée.

June 3, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

An estimated 325 terns flushed as we landed on NBI.

We started off by checking the traps installed the day before, but no predator had been caught. There were also no new tern mortalities.

During our 4-hour observation block, hake, herring and lumpfish were confirmed amongst the few prey seen being brought to the island. 2 out-of-box nests were confirmed as well as 2 new bands.

Identified ROST bands :
-	BX0 (red field readable, right leg)
-	BC1 (red field readable, right leg)
Z52 (first observed May 26th) is presumed male by copulation.

Team: Luc Bilodeau, Julie McKnight, Shawn Craik & Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Luc, Julie, Shawn, and Daphnée.

Roseate Tern (Y85) feeding herring to its mate North Brother - June 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with mummichog North Brother - June 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with silverside North Brother - June 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

June 3, 2025 - from Alix d'Entremont's Facebook page.

Kathleen MacAulay and I were searching for foraging Roseate Terns off Woods Harbour and Forbes Point this morning. We were in and out of the fog until the end of our trip when it mostly cleared.

On the last leg of the route, near Vigneau Island, we were thrilled to find a Black Tern loosely associating with the other terns. It was mostly flying south, so I had to overtake it by boat and then stop to wait for it to fly past for photos.

Black Tern is my 300th species for Shelburne County!

Black Tern - Vigneau Island, Shelburne County, NS June 3 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Thank you Alix and Kathleen.

June 5, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

After entering the colony and seeing no new mortalities as well as increased aggression from the terns, we decided the colony was strong enough that we could move forward with our plan to band and GPS tag COTE and ROST adults.

A visit before and after lunch permitted us to trap 19 terns as seen below.

New ROST bands :
-	NB2 (yellow field readable, left leg) 
-	NB3 (yellow field readable, left leg) - formerly BM1 (red field readable, left leg) 
-	NB4 (yellow field readable, left leg) 
-	NB5 (yellow field readable, left leg) added to existing 800E (metal field readable, left leg)
-	NB6 (yellow field readable, left leg)
-	NB7 (yellow field readable, left leg) - formerly L08 (red field readable, left leg)
-	NB8 (yellow field readable, left leg)
New COTE bands :
-	X39 (white field readable, left leg)
-	X40 (white field readable, left leg)
-	X48 (white field readable, left leg)
-	X50 (white field readable, left leg)
-	X52 (white field readable, left leg)
-	X54 (white field readable, left leg)
-	X56 (white field readable, left leg)
-	X57 (white field readable, left leg)
Deployed GPS trackers :
-	ROST : RX6, L96, NB2, NB3, NB4, NB5, NB6, NB7, NB8, 680E (MFR)
o	A GPS tracker was removed from ROST VR2 (yellow field readable, right leg)
-	COTE : X39, X40, X48, X50, X52, X54, X46, X57

COTE X39 getting a GPS installed - North Brother June 5 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

2 ROST were in fact identified as COTE/ROST hybrids while getting banded : L96 and 680E.

A Black tern also visited the colony during our trip.

Over 30 ARTE nests were now present on the island, and growing numbers for COTE nests as well. 60 active ROST nests were counted, 13 of which had 2 eggs. One Common Eider nest located near the high tide line was washed away, leaving seven active nests on the island.

The terns will be getting a well-deserved break until our next visit for the nest census next week.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau, Julie McKnight, Jen Rock, Kathleen MacAulay, Shawn Craik & Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, Julie, Jen, Shawn, and Daphnée.

June 9, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

On this visit Luc and I did a 3-hour observation block during which we watched for prey. Only a handful of fish was seen around the island during this time. The terns were glued to their nests as we approach hatching time.

A presumed Peregrine falcon (possible Merlin) landed on the island during our visit and headed North with an unidentified tern in its grip. This left the colony rattled and flushing for nearly 45 minutes.

We were lucky enough to see 2 eider ducklings in nest E4.

Team: Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Luc and Daphnée.

Common Tern with hake North Brother - June 9, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with pollock North Brother - June 9, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Eider duckling North Brother - June 9, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

June 10, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Nest count day!

Upon arrival a peregrine falcon was spotted leaving the island Eastwards (empty handed).

Fog and strong winds began moving in as we began our count.

A grand total of 585 nests were found on the island.

Here is the breakdown:

"	COTE nests: 480
 	Average clutch: 1.95
"	ARTE nests:  31
 	Average clutch: 1.48
"	ROST nests:  68
 	Average clutch: 1.25
"	COTE/ARTE:    4
"	Unknown:      2 (ROST or COTE to confirm by seeing an incubating adult)
                   ----
                    585   

In addition to this, our 2 first COTE chicks for the season have arrived and the 2 eider ducklings were still seen in their nest. NBI now houses 9 Eider nests.

Despite our plan to remove some vegetation around the ROST boxes (to help with our observations), the worsening weather cut our trip short. We made our way back to the mainland amongst the waves.

Team: Luc Bilodeau, Alexis Saulnier, Julie McKnight, Shawn Craik and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Luc, Alexis, Julie, Shawn, and Daphnée.

June 12, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

About 400 terns were on the island when we arrived, 280 of which were on the rocks by the Western ridge.

Though our observation block was cut short by strong winds and big waves, we managed to spot 2 juvenile unbanded terns (probable COTE), our first ARTE chick, and confirm some out-of-box ROST nests marked during our previous visit.

The few prey we did see flying around the island mostly consisted of sandlance.

Arctic Tern chick - North Brother June 12 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Arctic Tern chick - North Brother June 12 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Roseate Tern (B39) with herring North Brother - June 12, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - June 12, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (Y85) with sandlance North Brother - June 12, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Luc Bilodeau & Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Luc and Daphnée.

June 13, 2025 - from Alix d'Entremont's Facebook page.

Kathleen MacAulay, Bertin D'Eon and I did the tern nest count on Cape Sable today. Over the years it has become apparent that the site that has been chosen by the terns to nest isn’t ideal. We have seen evidence that washovers happen with regularity due to the low elevation of the area. Today we had about 100 adult terns at the colony with about a 50/50 split between Common and Arctic. There was a large number of nest scrapes but few nests with eggs. Two and perhaps three Roseate Terns were also seen around the colony; however, no breeding evidence was seen.

Four American Oystercatchers. Reading up on their behaviour, it seems that this may have been two pairs engaging in what is known as a "Piping Tournament" where a displaying pair is often joined by residents from adjacent territories. Cape Sable - June 13 2025 - text and photo by Alix d'Entremont

Bertin d'Eon and Kathleen MacAulay standing in the crystal clear waters of Cape Sable - June 13 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Common Tern nest with three eggs - Cape Sable June 13 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

It seems to be a chunk of Blushing Star Coral from the Gulf Of Mexico. https://images.app.goo.gl/kKuX8fpPH5K847GEA. - Bertin D'Eon Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, June 13 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Thank you Alix, Kathleen, and Bertin.

June 14, 2025 - from Alix d'Entremont's Facebook page.

Kathleen MacAulay, Bertin D'Eon and I left Abbotts Harbour at about 6:30 am this morning. June is tern survey time so we were out searching for tern colonies.

We went straight to Green Island off Cape Sable Island and then worked our way back north from there.

We had 35 Atlantic Puffins and 11 Razorbills at Green Island. Our count of Razorbills is the highest ever for the island. We even had one that may have been on a nest.

An Atlantic Puffin at Green Island (near Cape Sable) June 14 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Thank you Alix, Kathleen, and Bertin.

June 14, 2025 - Email from Alix d'Entremont.

Kathleen MacAulay, Bertin d'Eon and I visited Gull Island late this morning (June 14).

There appears to be two tern colonies on the island. We did not land, so our observations are solely from the boat. The largest colony is where most terns had nested in 2017 and 2018, on the western side of the pond. A smaller group of terns appear to be nesting closer to the northern end of the island on the western side.

We estimated a total of 200 terns in the air during a flush. Most that I saw and photographed were Common Terns, but there were some Arctics as well. Two Roseates were seen on multiple occasions flying around the island and landing at least twice on the shoreline. They were never seen landing at the colony sites.

A lone Roseate was spotted as well that may have been separate from the presumed pair.

It was raining while we were at Gull Island, so we did not attempt to land or conduct a nest survey. We will return to do a full nest count in the next week or so.

I've attached two images (see below) taken at Gull Island. The Roseates in the image do not appear to be banded. The image of the terns in flight shows mostly Commons.

Roseate Terns on Gull Island June 14 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Mostly Common Terns above Gull Island Gull Island June 14 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Thank you Alix, Kathleen, and Bertin.

June 15, 2025 - Noddy Island - from Alix d'Entremont's Facebook page.

It was another early start for us this morning. Kathleen MacAulay, Bertin D'Eon, Florian Schmitt and I left Abbotts Harbour as the sun was rising and were landing on Noddy Island at 7 am. The last time I set foot on Noddy was in June 2021. The island is the southernmost of the Mud Islands and therefore is quite exposed. The conditions this morning were perfect for a landing: no wind, very little swell and a slack tide.

We anchored on the northern side of Noddy Island and made our landing with the Zodiac. As we approached the island, Kathleen yelled out “Laughing Gull!” and we all looked up at a presumed pair of Laughing Gulls overhead. The two gulls were calling and circling over the island for about 15-20 minutes then disappeared. We found a Laughing Gull nest on nearby Flat Island in 2023, so it is possible that this species is nesting somewhere nearby.

Our goal was to census the tern colony. In late May of this year, Jordan Paul James Doucette reported about 300 terns foraging in the rip south of Noddy Island, so I was hopeful that there would be a good-sized colony. Once the terns flushed, we estimated about 300 terns (mostly Commons). Our nest survey resulted in a count of about 200 nests.

Once the nest count was done, we continued walking around the island. Most Atlantic Puffin nests that I’ve seen have been in rock crevices, so we were excited when Bertin found a few puffin burrows in the edge of the dirt. We had a total of 6 burrows, but didn’t do a thorough survey. We found a few puffin nests and eggs in rock crevices. The find of the day was certainly the Razorbill nest with a 1–2-day-old chick that Kathleen found. This was our first time seeing a nestling Razorbill.

Our exit from Noddy was a bit trickier with a small swell that made launching the Zodiac and jumping in a bit difficult. The tide had turned and was now rising so the boat anchored just offshore was pointing east and not west as we had left it. The Rocna anchor I have is supposed to be pretty good at re-setting after a change in direction of wind/tide and it seemed to do well in this case.

We motored past Mud and Round and then landed on Flat Island. There were was a small tern colony on Round, but we decided to skip doing a count since it was fairly small. We were hoping to find breeding Laughing Gulls again on Flat but there were none found. We did a quick count of the tern nest there and then made our way back to Pubnico.

Thank you Alix, Kathleen, Bertin, and Florian.

The crew after our landing on Noddy Island with the Zodiac Kathleen, Bertin, and Florian (Mud Island in the background) June 15, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Laughing Gull at Noddy Island June 15, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Atlantic Puffin at Noddy Island June 15, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Atlantic Puffin on Noddy Island June 15, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Atlantic Puffin at its nest on Noddy Island June 15, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Nelson's Sparrow on Noddy Island June 15, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

The highlight of the day, a Razorbill chick on Noddy Island! June 15, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

June 16, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

We walked around the island to do a follow up on nests. We found 7 ROST chicks spread amongst 6 ROST nests, plenty of COTE and ARTE chicks as well as some pipping Eider eggs in two different nests. From what we could see, all chicks seemed alert and strong.

For the first time this year we launched GoPros in the aim of identifying prey, banded pairs and feeding rates to the chicks (we are hoping to see a difference between the feeding rate from kleptoparasitic adults vs non kleptoparasitic adults).

Around 12:25pm a presumed Peregrine falcon flew to the West on the island (not seen landing). A group of nearly 100 terns followed and mobbed it all the way to the tree line North of NBI. The rest of the terns remained agitated and flushing often for the remainder of our visit.

We estimated there to be 400 terns on the island.

Common Tern chicks with herring North Brother - June 16, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with hake North Brother - June 16, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X52) with hake North Brother - June 16, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with double catch of herring North Brother - June 16, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Roseate Tern (NB6) with hake North Brother - June 16, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

June 17, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

While Shawn did the season's first Kayak survey in the Harbour, Alexis, Luc and I did a long observation block. About 400 terns were on the island.

We launched 6 GoPros on ROST nests for the duration of our visit. While installing these, Eider ducklings were seen in a nest near the Roseate boxes.

Fish seen flying around the island remained somewhat sparce despite the amount of chicks seen. Prominent fish seen were sandlance, hake and herring.

Common tern with Silverside - North Brother June 17 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Common tern chick eating Herring - North Brother June 17 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Acrtic tern with Sandlance - North Brother June 17 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Common Eider duckling North Brother - June 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - June 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with hake North Brother - June 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with stickleback North Brother - June 17, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

June 21, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

While bad weather had kept us off the NBI for the past few days, we did return to a strong, aggressive colony of approximately 325 terns.

Now counting 38 ROST chicks amongst 34 ROST nests, including our first out-of-box chick seen to the Southwest of the island, in the same spot some ROST had settled last year. 2 additional out-of-box nests were found and confirmed bringing our total of ROST nests to 73. 15 ARTE chicks and plenty of COTE chicks were seen in their nests and hiding in nearby vegetation.

2 COTE chicks, 1 ARTE chick and 1 Eider duckling were found dead on the island. Presumably from having strayed too far out of their nests. The observed live chicks looked alert and strong.

We once agained installed GoPros while we did our observation block. The quantity of fish seen flying around the island had drastically increased from the past few weeks, and most feedings went directly to the chicks. Notable prey of the day included sandlance and fairly big herring (measuring around 1.5 - 1.75 bill-lengths).

Roseate Tern (B65) with sandlance North Brother - June 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with hake North Brother - June 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern feeding herring to chick North Brother - June 21, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

June 23, 2025 - Gull Island Visit - Email from Alix d'Entremont.

Bertin d’Eon, Jerome d’Eon and I visited Gull Island on June 23, 2025. After having seen about 150 terns in the air above the island on June 14, we were expecting a good number of nests. An estimated 125 terns were observed during a flush on June 23 (mostly Commons with some Arctics and 4 Roseates). A total of 76 tern nests were found on the western and southern edges of the pond with the majority in the south.

Three Roseate Terns were seen next to a Roseate nest with an egg and a chick. I believe the one incubating was not banded. The nest is fairly open but is 2-3 feet from a lobster trap. One of the adult Roseates near the nest was B12 (white on red, right leg; banded on North Brother in 2012 as an adult; seen on North Brother in May 2025). Also, one of the Roseates flying overhead was NB7 (black on yellow, left leg) that was fitted with a GPS device on North Brother Island on June 5, 2025. NB7 was formerly L08 (white on red, left leg; banded as a chick on North Brother in 2015). Roseate NB7 was not observed landing in the colony.

When I was walking east out of the colony, a Roseate was being very aggressive and diving at me around the eastern edge of the pond. There may be another nest there. I will return to Gull Island in the next couple weeks to monitor the progress of the Roseate Tern nest and to look for others. The terns at the Gull Island colony were landing and incubating quite readily even when we were near, so we should be able to setup nearby (maybe across the pond) to observe.

The same day, we went to check on Pinch Gut Island to find that there were no terns this year. However, there were 58 Common Tern nests on Inner Fish, near Wedgeport. On June 21, Bertin and I counted Common Tern nests on Chesapeake Island (27 nests) and Île Ferrée (46 nests). On June 22, Kathleen MacAulay, Bertin and I counted 134 nests on Nigh Island in Matthews Lake near Lockeport but the colony had been raided by a predator with 85% of nests with at least one broken egg. Also, there were 8 dead adult Common Terns. Kathleen picked up and froze an adult and a chick for necropsy.

All of the attached images (below) are from Gull Island (including the Roseate nest with egg/chick).

Roseate Tern above Gull Island June 23, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern B12 on Gull Island June 23, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Roseate Tern nest with chick and unhatched egg Gull Island - June 23, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Same Roseate Tern chick as above (note the purpleish leg) Newly hatched ROST chicks have purplrish legs, as opposed to the orange legs of Common and Arctic chicks. Gull Island - June 23, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Thank you Alix, Bertin, Jerome, and Kathleen.

June 25, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

We started the day with observations from our blinds. Just a short moment after we sat down, an adult male Northern Harrier landed on South side of the island and took off with a COTE chick in its grip. He later returned but was not able to land as the terns successfully chased him off.

During our 3 hour observation block, Alexis and I noted more fish coming in from the East of the island than previously in the season, where the South and West had been more active. Little variety was found in the prey, which consisted mostly of Herring.

In addition to these observations, we also saw 3 (presumed) Harbor Porpoises heading South between NBI and the mainland. During this time, Shawn did a kayak survey in the harbor.

We met on the shore for lunch before returning to the island to both band chicks and take fecal samples for Project Poop (where genetic analyses of fecal matter will tell us what the chicks have been eating). We banded 7 ROST chicks as well as 7 COTE chicks and collected samples from all chicks in hand.

There was a significant decrease in ARTE chicks on the Northern ridge during our visit (only 2 were seen). Gull fecal matter and regurgitations were seen near the area. We counted a total of 53 ROST chicks, and one out-of-box nest was added, bringing our total ROST nest count to 75 (63 in box nests and 12 out-of-box).

COTE nest with an impressive haul of bones and feathers North Brother, June 25, 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

GPS tagged Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - June 25, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - June 25, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with pollock North Brother - June 25, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (LU0) with stolen herring (kleptoparasite) North Brother - June 25, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau, Shawn Craik and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, Shawn, and Daphnée.

June 25, 2025 - Dennis Point, Lower West Pubnico, NS - from Alix d'Entremont's Facebook page.

Roseate Tern Z00 flying off after a successful dive at Dennis Point Wharf. This individual was banded as a chick on North Brother Island in 2019. photo by Alix d'Entremont, June 25, 2025

June 26, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

On this day we only did observations from the blinds.

Luc spotted a GPS tagged bird (NB8) exhibiting kleptoparasitic behavior for the first time, bringing our total number of identified active kleptoparasitic Roseates to 5 ( since the start of chick rearing period).

For the first time this season, fish bits were seen brought to the island by a COTE. The most prominent prey of the day were Herring from the East and Sandlance from the South.

Other birds seen included Black guillemots, a Spotted sandpiper and Eider adults and ducklings.

Common Tern with hake North Brother - June 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with herring North Brother - June 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (L03) with stolen sandlance (kleptoparasite) North Brother - June 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (left federal band) with stolen herring (kleptoparasite) North Brother - June 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X50) with herring - note the antenna on the bird's back North Brother - June 26, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

June 27, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

The water was so calm Shawn kayaked to the island while we took the zodiac over.

The perfect morning to head out to North Brother June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

We started the day off by walking around the colony.

Tern nest and chick survey North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Roseate Tern nesting shelter housing two chicks North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

The Northern harrier was again seen, flying near the island, though we did not see him land.

2 possible new ARTE nests were found on the Northern ridge, along with an advanced ARTE chick to the Southeast. We now count 57 ROST chicks, though we suspect a few of the more mobile chicks are hiding in the vegetation as we walk through the colony. Very few COTE chicks were found deceased, none of which had suspicious signs as had been seen the past 2 years.

We processed 7 ROST and 6 COTE chicks for bands and fecal sampling.

Collecting fecal samples for later DNA analysis of diet North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Tern chick processing on North Brother June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Luc Bilodeau keeping track of the birds and the bands North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Roseate Tern chick getting a federal band from Daphnée North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Roseate Tern chick NC9 being banded by Daphnée North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Me (Ted), doing my best to help North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Shawn Craik

Alexis and Shawn getting a plastic field readable (PFR) band onto a Roseate chick North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

Tern chick processing on North Brother June 27, 2025 - photo by Ted D'Eon

After a short lunch off the island, Shawn headed to the harbor to do a kayak survey while Alexis, Luc and I did observations from the blind. On our boat ride back to NBI, 40 terns flew by the zodiac with fish (coming from the East). The tern's foraging grounds have shifted from the South and West in the early season to the East, with a whopping 73 recorded observations in 1 hour. Such high return rates from the East were last seen in the 2021 breeding season when Herring were abundant in the harbor. While most of the day's prey consisted of Herring, we also saw some Sandlance, Mummichog, Silverside, Stickleback and a possible Squid.

Common Tern chick before getting banded North Brother, June 27, 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Common Tern with large herring North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with herring North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with double catch of herring North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern chick with sandlance North Brother - June 27, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Ted D'Eon, Shawn Craik, Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Shawn, Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée, and thank you all for inviting me to be part of the team! I really enjoyed my visit to the tern colony. Ted

July 3, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

On this day we had planned to do observations from our blinds, though thick fog prevented Alexis and I from doing directional observations. Instead, during this time, we associated banded birds to nests, confirming ROST pairs in 71 of 85 nesting shelters. A Northern Harrier flew by the island but did not land.

Despite the fog Luc managed to capture some photos of prey. Few feedings and little variation were seen : mostly herring and sandlance.

New identified bands:
-	LM1 (red band, right leg)
-	B75 (red band, left leg)

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Roseate Tern (Y85) arriving to nest with herring North Brother - July 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with silverside North Brother - July 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - July 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with herring North Brother - July 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with pollock North Brother - July 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with double catch of herring North Brother - July 3, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 4, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Alexis, Luc and I got to the island in the morning. Once again surrounded by fog we did what observations we could without disturbing the colony: band-nest associations, feedings and kleptoparasitism.

After a brief lunch, the weather cleared and we returned joined by Shawn, Julie and Kathleen. A Northern Harrier was seen leaving the island with a chick as we approached the island. We processed 10 ROST chicks for bands, swabs and fecal sampling, and an additional 6 ROST chicks were banded.

Before leaving we attempted to capture Roseate RX6 whose GPS has not been working, though we were not successful. We will try again on another visit as we would like to remove the GPS from the tern.

A new PFR band was observed: L35 (red band, left leg).

Team: Shawn Craik, Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau, Julie McKnight, Kathleen MacAulay and Daphnée Ouellet

Roseate Tern with sandlance North Brother - July 4, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Pair of Roseate Terns (unbanded and Z92) making a nest in an unusual location on North Brother - the eastern ridge July 4, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X40) with fish scrap North Brother - July 4, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Shawn, Alexis, Luc, Julie, Kathleen, and Daphnée.

July 6, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

During this visit to the island, cooperating weather meant Alexis and I could do directional observations for the first time in a week. Feedings were slow and consisted mostly of herring and sandlance, with the exception of a few pollock / potential haddock.

Some sightings of the day included a presumed Parasitic jaeger who flew by the island heading South, a Spotted sandpiper chick and its parent exploring the hollow, some Dowitchers hanging out on the rocks at low tide and a Great black-backed gull predating a chick to the West. We even saw our first flight from a COTE chick on the northern ridge of the island.

After our observation block, we took fecal samples from 6 COTE chicks before heading out.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Common Tern feeding chick herring North Brother - July 6, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X56) with herring North Brother - July 6, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with pollock North Brother - July 6, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (B76) with sandlance North Brother - July 6, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X39) with hake North Brother - July 6, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 7, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

We got to the island and started off by walking around the colony to do a follow up on nests, though COTE nests are hard to follow as the chicks are nearing fledging. In the ROST region we were able to select 10 chicks that we aimed to band and collect fecal samples from.

3 COTE chicks (about two weeks or older) were found deceased in the vegetation near the ROST boxes, with no visible cause of death (X75 banded the on June 27th and 2 unbanded chicks).

We successfully processed all 10 ROST chicks before removing some of the vegetation near ROST boxes to help with our observations, making sure to leave enough for the chicks to have cover.

Mini Common Tern (COTE) egg North Brother, July 7, 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Team: Shawn Craik, Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Shawn, Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 10, 2025 – Small Herring Die-Off at Pond Road, Lower West Pubnico – email from Alix d'Entremont.

Ellis d'Entremont found a large number of dead small herring at the shore at the end of Pond Rd on July 10.

It is possible that they may have been trapped in shallow waters as the tide went down. Ellis noted lots of gulls and terns foraging in the area while the tide was still up (on July 9 or 10, I'm not sure exactly).

Thank you Ellis d'Entremont and Alix d'Entremont.

July 11, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Shawn did a kayak survey in the harbor while the three of us made it to the island where thick fog quickly cleared and we managed to do 3 hours of observations. Most of the day's prey consisted of sandlance from the South and herring from the East (large quantities of which were brought back by Roseates).

Many chicks were seen flying around the island; an exciting sight considering the state of the colony these past 2 years. We also saw a Great black-backed gull steal a large fish from the bill of a Double-crested cormorant in the water. A Harbor seal and a flock of about 30 Dowitchers also visited the island during this time.

Our plans to do Project Poop and band Common and Roseate chicks were halted by the wet conditions. We plan to try again later in the week.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Roseate Tern (LU1) with double catch of herring North Brother - July 11, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X39) with piece of fish scrap North Brother - July 11, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Great Black-backed Gull with sculpin stolen from the bill of a Double-crested Cormorant North Brother - July 11, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with sandlance North Brother - July 11, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 13, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

We walked around the island where nest monitoring for Arctic and Common tern chicks has become difficult considering the mobility of chicks and the growth of vegetation. In the Roseate tern section, most of the chicks are fledged or near fledging. Many of the Common tern nests on the western ridge of the island are just beginning to hatch. On a few occasions, Common terns even landed on our heads as we made our way through the colony.

We followed up with a few hours of observations from our respective blinds. A little more variety in prey was seen, including fish bits (presumably from an effluent pipe near Dennis Point), pollock and silverside in addition to our usual herring and sandlance.

Roughly 80 Dowitchers remained on the island for the duration of our stay. Another exciting sight for the day was a presumed Harbor porpoise jumping (full breach) to the north of NBI.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

GPS tagged Common Tern (X50) with herring North Brother - July 13, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X50) with another herring North Brother - July 13, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (Z36) with a sandlance among the growing vegetation North Brother - July 13, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 13, 2025 – Roseate Success on Gull Island – email from Alix d'Entremont.

Kathleen MacAulay, Bertin d'Eon and I visited Gull Island on July 13 to check on the Roseate Tern nest with a chick and an egg that was found on June 23 (https://ebird.org/checklist/S253532238).

Thick fog kept us on land during the morning but it cleared by noon, so we headed off in early afternoon. The warmth of the afternoon sun resulted in a severe heat haze that made observations difficult. To minimize disturbance to the colony, we watched from a distance.

Eventually, I decided to climb the navigational tower and quickly saw that the distortions from the haze were much less severe from an elevated vantage point. We were able to confirm that there were two Roseate Tern chicks, including one that was pretty close to fledging. The colony appears health0

I've attached two images. The first (NZ8_9319.jpg) shows the oldest Roseate chick just left of mid-frame and the youngest on the far right side partially hidden behind rocks (just in front of the vegetation). The next image (NZ8_9337.jpg) shows both chicks moments after the larger chick was fed by an adult Roseate.

(NZ8_9319.jpg) shows the oldest Roseate chick just left of mid-frame and the youngest on the far right side Gull Island - July 13, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

(NZ8_9337.jpg) shows both chicks moments after the larger chick was fed by an adult Roseate. Gull Island - July 13, 2025 - photo by Alix d'Entremont

Thank you, Alix, Kathleen, and Bertin.

July 14, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

On this day we did 2 trips to the island. First off, we went to the island for observations, during which the weather was not cooperative. Fog kept Alexis and I from doing directional observations. Instead, we associated bands to nests, making an exhaustive list of partners and confirmed banded offspring. Luc managed to watch for kleptoparasitic behavior and photograph some prey though little fish was seen around the island (probably due in part to the fog).

On a few occasions, groups of 3-6 Parasitic jaegers were seen chasing down terns near the island.

After a quick lunch break on the mainland, we returned to advance with Project Poop. We managed to process 7 Common and 4 Roseate tern chicks, bringing our current totals for this project to 26/40 and 36/40 fecal samples, respectively.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

GPS tagged Common Tern (X50) with herring North Brother - July 14, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern (X39) with hake North Brother - July 14, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with double catch of herring North Brother - July 14, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 18, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

During our observations we saw our first butterfish of the season and some silverside, alongside the usual herring and sandlance.

Many chicks are now fledged, and groups of up to 15 can be seen flying together above the water. The hollow flooded at high tide, which gathered some chicks for a bath.

A large group of over 100 dowitchers stayed and fed on the island as well.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Common Tern with butterfish North Brother - July 18, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern chicks fighting over a sandlance North Brother - July 18, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with herring North Brother - July 18, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 19, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Common terns landed on our heads as we walked around the colony to do a follow up on marked nests. Two newly hatched chicks were found in the Roseate boxes, along with another chick aged at a few days. Arctic tern nests were all empty, and some new eggs were seen in old Common tern nests. We removed the trail cams as there had not been adult tern predation since May 29th.

During our observation block, the few feedings seen were mostly directed to the newly hatched Common tern chicks on the Western ridge. A Great black-backed gull caught and ate an advanced Common tern chick. A Least sandpiper also hung out in the hollow. After lunch we did some sampling for Project poop, and tried to catch RX6 to remove its GPS, but were unsuccessful.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - July 19, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with herring North Brother - July 19, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with pollock North Brother - July 19, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern with pollock North Brother - July 19, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 20, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

We got to the island and immediately began sampling Roseate tern chicks for Project poop. We successfully got our 40th fecal sample, completing the project for Roseate chicks. We managed to catch a few more Common tern chicks for sampling as well, with only 4 samples to go.

A lot of fresh dropped butterfish were found in the colony.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 23, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

Before getting to NBI, the colony was very loud and flushing frequently. During our boat ride over a presumed falcon (Merlin or Peregrine) was seen leaving the island. A recently predated fledged Common tern chick was found to the South of the hollow.

We began our visit by doing 3hrs of observations. On a few occasions chicks returned to the island alongside adult terns (without fish). More than a dozen banded Roseate tern chicks were counted on rocks to the Southeast. Some herring, sandlance and a few butterfish were seen.

Afterwards we managed to wrap up the last of our 40 Common tern chick fecal samples for Project poop. Once again, lots of dropped butterfish were found all over the island.

3 (of the 15+) dropped butterfish North Brother, July 23, 2025 - photo by Daphnée Ouellet

Common Tern with sandlance North Brother - July 23, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern with butterfish North Brother - July 23, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Roseate Tern (BY0) with sandlance North Brother - July 23, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Common Tern chick with sandlance North Brother - July 23, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

GPS tagged Common Tern with butterfish North Brother - July 23, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 25, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

During our 3hr observation block, few fish were seen fed to chicks on the island. Gulls flew near but never landed, as they were mobbed or chased by the terns. A Grey seal, with its tongue sticking out, hung out to the West of NBI for the duration of our stay. A Harbor seal was briefly seen to the East. 2 Least sandpipers and many Dowitchers foraged on the island as well.

More dropped butterfish were seen around the colony while we placed and retrieved the GoPros that had been put on 2 of the 3 remaining active Roseate nests.

Two Common Tern chicks having a nap North Brother - July 25, 2025 - photo by Luc Bilodeau

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

July 29, 2025 – North Brother – by Daphnée Ouellet

On this visit to the island, we checked the Roseate nesting boxes for the last time. Only 3 chicks remained: two banded and one unbanded. We banded the unbanded chick bringing our total of banded Roseate Tern chicks for the season to 49.

Fewer than 150 terns were estimated on the island, bringing this year's field season to an end. No more observation blocks, though visits to the island will still be made to download data and check in with the remaining terns.

Team: Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Daphnée Ouellet

Thank you Alexis, Luc, and Daphnée.

Ted C. D'Eon