Wildlife notes

It has been a regular day here with little to report on. The two female elephant seals are still here. The smaller of the two looks thinner each day. The larger of the two, who arrived on May 18th (Sunday surprise) looks as though she will start her molt soon. The brown pelicans haven’t been seen in days. The Canada geese haven’t run out of food yet, so they are still here. The eagles continue to fly overhead and send the birds to the skies.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• finished fixing and sorting the compost bins

As I needed to empty the composting toilet, I figured it was an opportune time to finish working on the compost bins. After the tiring and displeasing work (removing the grasses and invasive sow thistles and other items, consolidating the mushy toilet bags into one bin and distributing well composted material), it was kind of fun – I got to do some chainsaw carpentry!  I fixed the base rock work, cut and replaced the rotten bottom drop boards and cut and mounted new stringers. Now we have two bins – one which will be ready to disperse next year and one to add new material to. I finished it off by hand pulling the weeds from the perimeter and weed whacking the grass around it and it looks really nice now!

Sow thistle and grass in the compost bin

Bin on on the top – partially composted material for dispersal next year. Bin on the bottom – cleared out and ready for new material.

DND Activity

Several blasts were heard today. A few birds took flight.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 10
• Private: 2

Weather

Clear skies. Winds variable 1 – 15 knots. Daytime temperatures: low 10, high 18.

I have now located 5 active black oystercatcher nests, each with 1 to 3 eggs. Last year I was only aware of two nesting locations: Keepers House nest and the Energy building nest. For these two pairs at least, the number of eggs is the same this year as I saw hatched last year.  When I noticed the Keeper’s house pair, they had two young chicks (few days old), and this year two eggs. Later on I found the Energy House pair with only one egg (2 days old, 1 day old) and had assumed the other eggs were eaten but this year they also have only one egg. There is an additional pair of oystercatchers on the east side of the Jetty but I can’t find a nest.

Keeper’s House black oystercatcher peaking out from its nesting spot

Keeper’s House black oystercatcher’s two eggs on a nest made of small stones and shells.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• cleared vegetation from along the north and east electric fence
• worked on the compost bins, removed massive sow thistle and grasses, dispersed compost

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 19
• Private: 3
• Kayaks: 4
• Row boat: 1

Weather

Clear skies. Light and variable winds during the day, gentle westerly breeze in the evening. Daytime temperatures: low 10, high 15.

Another person and dog with good timing, living their best life.

Daily temperature and salinity readings taken at the time of maximum flooding current.

Yesterday Merriam-Websters word of the day was “gust”.  “Zephyr” was more appropriate for that day but for today “gust” and “gale” work just fine! There is a gale warning for Juan de Fuca Straight East Entrance and there have been steady strong WNW winds with gusts of 35 knots.

” 7 words in the wind – listen closely and you hear them rustling” from Merriam-Webster

sirocco – desert wind or hot, oppressive wind
Aeolian – after the Greek keeper of the wind; moaning, sighing, or musical winds, or made or effected by the wind
Gale – winds 28 to 47 knots (near gale, gale, strong gale), or any strong wind
Zephyr – another Greek! the god of the west wind, any light breeze
Squall  – sudden violent wind, often with rain or snow
Wuther – from the title “Wuthering Heights”, blows with a dull roar
haboob – violent dust or sand storm

I spent the day inside various buildings working on the month end reports, studying the SOP and battery manual, organizing, cleaning etc.  A couple eagles visited, the pigeon guillemots returned from being away most of yesterday, and the two elephant seals slept in the grass.

Facility work

• morning rain cleaned the panels
• ran the generator and measured specific gravity again
• organized, cleaned

Vessels

• ecotourism: 1
• private:0

Weather

Rain ending in the morning. Strong westerly winds building to WNW 30, gusting 34 in the afternoon. Daytime temperatures: 10 low, 12 high.

The flag spent the day lowered and bound.

Mammals:

• Steller sea lion: 10  (May 23: 6, May 15: 21, May 8: 37)
• California sea lion: 31
• Harbour seal: 90 (May 23: 50)
• Elephant seal: 2 female (May 23: 4)

Birds:

• Gulls: 464 (May 23: 467, May 15: 391, May 8: 114)
• Pigeon guillemot: 6 – been gone all day (May 23: 30, May 15: 78, May 8: 153)
• Cormorants: 36
• Canadian geese: 6
• Bald eagle: 2
• Harlequin duck: 3
• Black oystercatcher:  12
• Barn swallow: 2

I climbed the tower twice today, once at low tide and again near high tide at 7pm. There were hardly any pigeon guillemots to be counted. Wildlife species that were present in the past week but not observed today include: brown pelican, savannah sparrow, humming bird.

Gulls mating

Black oystercatcher foraging

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• topped up battery fluid levels
• measured specific gravity after equalization charge run yesterday

DND Activity

At least 5 explosions today. Birds on the west shore took flight.

Vessels

• ecotourism: 24
• private: 6

Weather

Variable calm to gentle breeze throughout the day. Daytime temperature: low 10, high 15. 15

Wildlife notes

The last two-year-old female elephant seal as has left. The two older females remain. I expect the smaller of the two who has completed her molt will leave soon as well.

Egg laying continues with more gulls sitting on their nests. Other than eagles wreaking havoc in the gull colony, no unusual sightings today.

Today was a busy day with much house cleaning (floors, bathroom, and the stove) and laundry (used 150L of water for this task, now down to 1600L).

It was a bit confusing today trying to get the batteries up to 100% charge. I had to run two 3 hour equalization charges back to back, but finally we got there. The graph below is a screenshot from OPTICSRE the software that controls the power system. The graph is for the events of today. The left axis is power (kWh) and the right axis is percent from 0 to 100, for both battery voltage (V) and state of charge (SOC).

Grey bars are the load on the batteries to run the house etc (kWh).
Green bars are what the solar panels are producing (kWh).
Pink bars are what the generator is producing (kWh).

The good news happened after 15:00 when the two lines (voltage and SOC) crossed. By 17:00 the batteries were at 100% charge. This was much needed as the last time the batteries were fully charged was on May 20th. A pleasant end to the busy day.

Facility work

• DID NOT clean solar panels – too windy to be on the roof
• ran equalization charges on the batteries
• cleaned house

Vessels

• ecotourism: 4
• private: 1

Weather

Rain ending in the morning, skies clearing and sunny throughout the day. Strong to gale force westerly winds, 22 to 37 knots. Daytime temperatures: low 9, high 14

Wildlife notes

The first gull eggs are being laid. Most gulls are not at this stage – some are still just building nests, mating and fighting over territory – I suppose the fighting never really stops.

The wind picked up in a hurry today. In the span of two hours, winds went from SSE 4 to WNW 35.  The house is moaning and quacking. I have a fire going, wearing long underwear and a down sweater. An incredible evening to be looking out the window watching the waves build as the high winds continue and the tide switches to an ebb (e.g. the tide opposing the wind). I am glad I took the sea water measurements before the waves were washing over the Jetty.

View at 5 pm to the south

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• cleared south electric fence of vegetation
• topped up battery fluid levels
• measured specific gravity of the battery fluids. The values were not optimal, so I will run an equalization charge tomorrow.

DND

Several blasts were heard today. Wildlife appeared undisturbed.

Vessels

• ecotourism:11
• private: 4

Weather

Winds light and variable until 2pm, going from SSE 4 to W 23 at 3pm, building to WNW 35 by 4pm. Strong winds throughout the evening. Sunny. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 19.

Wildlife notes

The only notable event of the day was an eagle made away something fleshy red and torn apart. Other wise it was a relative calm and sunny day. It even felt warm here.

Elephant seal blowing bubbles

CA sea lion floating on his back

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• weeded walkways to Tank Shed and Boat Shed

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 10
• Private: 3

Weather

Wind 3-16 knots, direction variable. Seas calm. Daytime temperatures: low 10,  high 17.

Calm seas, looking toward Mount Baker

I wasn’t outside much today on account of the wind. I lowered the flag this morning to keep it from getting shredded, had a peak at the solar panels and decided 30 knots was just too much to be up on the roof. Apart from taking the sea water measurements, it was mostly a house cleaning day. I tackled the kitchen cabinet doors, the fan hood and screen and the toaster. Next house day, I’ll go at the gas stove and the kettle. Lots of product was used today but it looks great!

Dirty and clean

I cleaned the fan hood above the stove. There are labels on various things here like tool cupboards or drawers or fuse panels but this one over the stove is my favourite.

Wildlife notes:

The elephant seal females had the ramp to themselves today. They could approach the water at their leisure without Chipped Tooth, the dyspeptic male CA sea lion, to deal with.

It appears we are down to 3 elephant seals. One of the two-year-old little ones has been absent for two days now. I’m sad it has gone but they have lost so much weight and will all need to leave at some point.

The elephant seals are much more pleasant to watch and easier to deal with when it comes to accessing the Jetty than the CA sea lions.

CA sea lion going about his business. I am so glad I don’t have to watch them mate.  The gulls and their prolonged courtship displays are most entertaining.

Facility work

• DID NOT clean the panels today
• cleaned house

Vessels

• ecotourism: 1
• private: 0

Weather

Strong WNW winds with gusts to 34 knots, diminishing to 16 by late afternoon. Partly cloudy. Another day squeaking by on solar power without the need for the generator. At 8 am 48.9 V and a 34% charge on the battery.

Cooking instructions for the rice I cooked today. Surely they don’t mean under at running tap. How many liters of water would I waste in 1 minute?

Dyspeptic is the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for May 25, 2025

“A formal and old-fashioned word used to describe someone who is bad-tempered (in other words, easily annoyed or angered), or something that shows or is characteristic of a bad temper”

Dyspeptic

I thought of the California sea lions, in particular the one who keeps hogging the boat ramp. We have the Jetty electrified but keep the boat ramp passable for the elephant seals. Unlike the sea lions, the elephant seals can’t bend their rear legs under themselves to move about over rocks or large obstacles. They can only drag themselves on their bellies by pulling themselves forward using their front flippers. The ramp is the only way for them to get on land here.

Today I watched the two larger elephant seals try to get to the water. He wouldn’t budge. They were forced to slither around him to the right against the jetty wall and over the bits of exposed rusty metal from the rails.  He even bit them as they passed!. A few hours later the small elephant seal was forced onto the rocks to the right side of the ramp. It was hard to watch the small one trying to get herself to the water.

I know this cracked tooth guy. He is reticent and very difficult to move. When I have needed to get the daily sea water readings,  I’ve tried the herding board on him many times but I need to get so close it isn’t safe to approach him. Today, motivated by his bad behaviour, I decided I needed to try harder. I used the wheel barrow, figured it would keep me a good distance away and I could drag the legs to create some noise and vibration. Works like a hot damn!

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• cleared the north electric fence of vegetation

Vessels

• ecotourism: 7
• private:1

Weather

Winds 10 to 22 knots, variable throughout the day, from SE to NW.  Clear in the morning, cloudy in the evening – enough sun for the batteries; generator hasn’t run since May 20 :)