Isle au Haut Winter Seabird Research Expedition

Event Details

Join MNHO’s Executive Director, Glen Mittelhauser, along with MNHO ecologists Elliot Johnston and Logan Parker, for a winter seabird research expedition among the exposed islands of Jericho Bay, east of Isle au Haut.

Participants will help spot birds, tally counts, and contribute directly to one of Maine’s longest-running winter seabird monitoring efforts. We will likely encounter large numbers of Harlequin Ducks and hope to find flocks of Purple Sandpipers, a species that has declined along much of the Maine coast but historically wintered in large numbers in this area.

Glen began winter surveys for Harlequin Ducks in this region in December 1988, long before MNHO was formed, later expanding that work to include focused surveys for Purple Sandpipers. Since MNHO’s founding, these surveys have continued and evolved into a collaborative effort.   Currently, Elliot leads renewed statewide research on Purple Sandpipers and Logan leads winter Harlequin Duck surveys at Isle au Haut.  Elliot, Logan and Glen work together to maintain and expand these long-term dataset.

In the 1990s, Jericho Bay supported what was then the largest wintering concentration of Harlequin Ducks in eastern North America. However, recent surveys indicate significant declines at Isle au Haut, particularly along the island’s southern shore. This trip focuses on adjacent islands east of Isle au Haut to determine whether those declines are localized at Isle au Haut or reflect a broader regional shift.

By joining the trip, you help fund the boat charter, the single largest expense of offshore winter surveys, and get to collaborate with a field team whose collective experience spans decades of winter coastal bird research.