Wind has been light all day, barometer on the rise. Mostly clear sky for a change.
Chunk came back on the main island in the morning, he is resting in one of his usual spots, near the centre of the island close to the metal box that covers the diesel hose spool.
I took the station whaler in to the college in the afternoon to drop it off for annual maintenance, came back out with a zodiac.
The barometer hit a low of below 985 hPa in the afternoon. Winds had been 10 to 20 knots N most of the day but picked up in the evening and switched to west late in the night, gusting over 50knots.
I spotted one pelican offshore in the reserve. Chunk was on the main island overnight but left around noon.
A submarine passed by close to the reserve.
submarine passing on the East side of the reserve, heading North.
pelican in the reserve, N of Great Race
A lot of wood debris got washed up on the boat ramp throughout the day and this evening. Collected lots of driftwood for burning. Working on compost toilet installation.
Lots of rain today. The barometer continued to fall this morning reaching a low of 985 hPa this afternoon. It was windy overnight and a west wind picked up this evening briefly gusting over 35 knots. There have been swells coming in on both the NE and W sides of the island today along with high tides all morning that combined to submerge the jetty with waves and provide good surfing conditions for sea lions.
I spotted a infrequent visitor, a belted kingfisher perched on the crane. There were also three green winged teals in the mud flats on the NE side of the island, I only ever see them when it rains a lot and there are fresh water puddles.
Sealions had good surfing conditions most of the day. The images were taken off the south side of the island, reef break.
Before dusk Chunk (Zeke) came up the boat ramp onto the island, the first time he has come on the main island during my shift. He has grown since last winter and has a stronger vocalization.
This is our first record of the Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) at Race Rocks. It came today from the Ecoguardian, Alex Fletcher. We see these birds frequently in Pedder Bay and along the Coastline of Taylor Beach, but so far we have not had a record from Race Rocks.
Belted Kingfisher _ Megaceryle alcyon on the winch cable: photo by Alex Fletcher, Dec 10, 2014
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Subclass: Neornithes
Infraclass: Neognathae
Superorder: Neoaves
Order: Coraciiformes
Suborder: Alcedini
Family: Cerylidae
Genus: Megaceryle
Species: M. alcyon
Megaceryle alcyon (Linnaeus, 1758)
Usually kingfishers are common around the shores of Pedder bay and Taylor Beach. They are rarely sighted at Race Rocks
| Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks |
 Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File |
 The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams. Alex Fletcher (PC) |
Rain throughout the day. Atmospheric pressure has continued to drop towards 1000 hPa. Wind shifted throughout the day blowing upwards of 20 knots NE, then E then West. Wind speeds were not as high as had been forecast here but the swells from the NE breaking over the jetty indicate wind upstream.
Sea temp has been rising incrementally over the past few days up to 9.3 Deg C today which is higher than I recall from my previous years for December.
Cleared more debris from the boat ramp, ran desalinator and familiarized myself with the new composting toilet to be installed in the guest house.
Barometer continued to drop during the day to below 1005 hPa by nighttime. The wind was10 knots N in the morning and picked up to gusts over 30 knots in the evening. There have been growing swells coming in from the North East.
Observed two river otters around the boardwalk in the morning and several eagles hunting and feeding in the reserve today. Before dusk there was a lone humpback whale between West rock and Church rock. Also around dusk I saw a sea otter off the south end of the island swimming on its back eating something off its chest.
Cleared the boat ramp twice of debris, harvested driftwood, cut and stacked firewood.
Whale watching boat, sealions on south islands
Atmospheric pressure rose from around 1004 hPa yesterday to top out around 1020 hPa near Saturday night. Pressure has been falling today; winds up to 45 knots expected Tuesday.
Most of the sealions are out on the south islands now. There are still a few on the main island, bellow the fog horn and the engine room.
Boats in the reserve: 2 dive boats, 1 whale watching boat, and 1 sailboat under motor.
Moved fire wood, cleared boat ramp and took down more electric fence.
Rainbow, between the tower and the guest house, Dec 6.
Wind light all day, overcast, light rain.
Two dive boats in the reserve today.
Took advantage of good weather to go off island in the afternoon to run some errands.
Wind N 15 building up to over 25 knots in the evening. Barometer over 1010 in the morning falling to 1005 in evening. Overcast with heavy mist in the morning reducing visibility to below 1 mile.
Did some more unpacking, checked the boston whaler electrical, took down electric fencing around the jetty and put away concrete footings, cleared wood and debris from jetty, harvested driftwood and moved firewood.
Wind NE 15-20 knots becoming N 10-15 knots in the afternoon. Sky cloudy with periods of rain.
Courtney brought me out this morning in Second Nature to start a 3 month winter shift. She brought Nick back after I was able to get a quick update on systems and supplies.
Census:
California Sea lions: 20
Northern Sea Lions: 155
Harbour Seals: 1
Elephant Seals: 7
Cormorants: 70
Canada Geese: 5
Gulls: 252
Bald Eagle: 1
Harlequin Ducks: 2
Black Turnstone: 2
Sparrow: 1
3 Branded northern sealions observed: 870R, 347Y, and 975? (last symbol not visible)
Spent most of the day moving in, unpacking and getting reacquainted. We brought two full propane tanks out in the morning. Running diesel this evening.
The house is clean and things look to be in order here. Thanks to Nick, Ann, Jeff, Julie, and Courtney for their work out here since my last shift.