Monthly Archives: June 2014

Animal Census

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Clear skies. Glassy calm most of the day (Force 0), 23 W in the evening (Force 6).
Barometer peaked around noon at 1019 hPa, then dropped. Forecast is for strong West all of tomorrow.

2 tour boats
3 fishing boats passed through the reserve

Elephant seal: 6
Harbour Seal:112
California Sea lion: 1
Steller Sea lion: 0
Eagle: 3
Canada goose: 4 + 4 goslings
Guillemots: 23
Gull: 295
Oystercatcher: 5

I saw the pair of Caspian Terns again today. A MASSIVE male Elephant seal was on the boat ramp when I cam back this afternoon. He had lots of scars on his back so it could be the seal known as ‘Slash’. There are still 3 juvenile Elephant seals running amok on the boat ramp, and one adult female. There is only one lone Sea lion in the reserve, I think this time of year the California Sea lions head South to their breeding grounds, and the Stellers head North to their breeding grounds. The juvenile Eagle that has much more white mottling than typical was sitting on the crane today. There were 2 crows in the reserve in the afternoon.

Off station in the am for groceries
-Keeper’s house basement tidy-up

Pictures

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Clear skies. Moderate West in the am, Force 3. Strong West this evening, Force 6.
Barometer rose until 1600, then dropped. The daily West wind cycle continues, light in the am and picking up in the pm.

3 tour boats

The Race Rocks website says that there are typically 6 Oystercatcher nests on Great Race, I have only found two. Tomorrow I will see if I can find more. The Oystercatcher nest next to the jetty no longer has eggs in it. A bird was sitting on the nest yesterday when I showed the nest to my Mom. If I had to guess, I would say that the River otter ate the eggs because it lives under the walkway very close to the nest. I am curious to see if the pair tries another nesting site. I saw two Oystercatchers poking around the rocks on the West side of the jetty so maybe they will try again. There has been a lot of Eagles around lately. Juveniles and adults. My Mom saw one empty the eggs out of a Gull’s nest. Apparently Glaucous winged Gulls can learn to recognize particular people, to a point where they will allow familiar researchers right up to their nests. My new plan is to befriend the Gulls that are nesting next to the tank shed and maybe they will stop flying at my head whenever I walk past.

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Caspian Terns

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Clear skies. Light variable winds. Force 1-2. The barometer has been on the rise today. Although the forecast for today called from strong West winds, the barometer does not lie, and it was a lovely calm day. The forecast for tomorrow is for the usual strong West winds in the afternoon. 1 tour boat I saw two Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) today. They briefly flew over the island in the morning, and then came back in the late afternoon while I was washing my dive gear. They stayed up pretty high, coming maybe as low as the top of the tower, and are really hard to photograph. But their loud croak and dark heads gave them away. I also saw a Heermans Gull (Larus heermanni ) while I was taking my dive kit apart. It’s the first one I’ve seen, but as far as gulls go, it is one of the easiest species to identify because of it’s dusky grey colour. According to the Cornell Bird lab, the Heermans Gull is “unmistakable; [it is the] only North American gull with a sooty gray body and a white head.” Erik came out today at low slack and we went for a dive. We cleaned the camera, checked some camera connections, and cleared the path through the kelp to the jetty. Ok visibility, but it is always awesome to get underwater.

Gulls

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Fog until 1500, clear after that. Moderate West in the am, strong Westerlies late. Force 6.
Barometer has been falling most of the day. The forecast is for the same weather pattern with light winds in the morning, and strong Westerlies in the afternoon. Expecting fog tomorrow morning.

I’m seeing lots of eggs in the Gull nests. Some of the birds are getting pretty feisty, especially the ones on the rocks next to the tank shed. The Elephant seal sage continues, with their midday pool party and afternoon nap; It’s a busy life as an Elephant seal.

Off station 1400 to 1500 to pick up my Mom who is visiting for a couple days.

Paddling Symposium

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Clear skies. Light variable winds early, then strong Westerly.

3 tour boats
2 fishing boats on the edge

Two large groups of kayakers came through the reserve today as part of the Paddling Symposium at Pearson College. Chris brought out another gorup in the afternoon for a tour of the island.