Daily Archives: Saturday,December 15, 2012

Pelicans

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A couple of California sea lions (dark) and Northern sea lions with 3 pelicans and an elephant seal in the background on west rock Dec 13

Pelicans have been in the reserve again Dec 13 and 14th.  There were up to 5 individuals, I was not able to see tags on any of them.

It is impressive to watch these birds, especially in flight.  They apparently have a wingspan of 6 to 8.5 feet.  They glide within what looks like a couple of feet of the water so when they flap their wings the tips will often touch the surface. 

touching the surface while flying low

Elephant Seals

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There have been two tagged elephant seals on the main island over the past days, green tags 6397 and 6375.  Misery has been on the main island, younger male on west rock.  There continue to be a total of around 15 elephant seals in the reserve.

The yearling in the two photos on the left looks like she could be the one that was born here in January (named Squall) but it is hard to tell for sure.

green tag 6375

Anas platyrhynchos: Mallard Duck–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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pbdec15mallards

Pam Birley from England took this first set of images of mallard ducks at Race Rocks with the remote camera today. Over on Vancouver Island it is a very common duck but has never been recorded out here before.

This is the first image taken of this species at Race Rocks. Pam said in her e-mail “Not too exciting but never seen them before at RR.  A group of 6 Mallards in a rock pool along the NE shore.  Seemed to be one breeding male and I believe the others were all female.  Light very poor but have enhanced the pics as best I could.”.

 

 

 

Domain: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Anas
Species platyrhynchos
Common Name: Mallard Duck

Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students, faculty, staff and volunteers of Lester B. Pearson College and website viewers on our remote cameras on the internet. 15 Dec. 2012–Pam Birley