Monthly Archives: November 2019

Storms, birds and elephant seals

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Weather: 

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 0-40 knots NE
  • Water: waves between 0-2 metres

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Saw a couple boats here and there, not during the big storm though
  • Greg is dropping by today with some supplies

Ecological

  • Seems like some of the sea lions came back when the storm hit, it was blowing up to 40 knots on Wednesday but today it has finally come down to almost nothing
  • A couple different birds also came by, I’ve been seeing a lot of ravens lately, eagles, snow buntings and one whimbrel
  • There is a little elephant seal by the jetty today, pink tag V173
  • Thankfully the storm brought in some driftwood than can be cut up and dried out for next winter

Sea lions coming and going

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Weather: 

  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 15-30 knots SW
  • Water: Choppy

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Didn’t see any boats today
  • I am expecting some visitors tomorrow, we are working on decluttering and getting the desal going

Ecological

  • The sea lion numbers were dropping but it seems there is a lot more today than there have been in the past week, possibly due to the sudden change in weather the wind came up today
  • Census
    • Sea Lions – 500 (145 Steller and 315 California)
    • Harbour Seals – 0
    • Gulls – 240
    • Cormorants – 56
    • Canada Geese – 23
    • Black Turnstones – 30
    • Eagles – 10, there have been quite a few eagles hanging around lately
    • At least 2 male elephant seals around as well

Nice Weather

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Weather: 

  • Sky: Clear
  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 5-15 knots NE
  • Water: flat

Boats/Visitors: 

  • A few tour boats and fishing boats cruising around today
  • We have had visitors coming and going recently as we declutter the island along with maintenance

Ecological

  • With the beautiful weather in the past couple days there seems to be a few more sea lions around than I last counted but they’ll probably continue leaving as it gets colder
  • I saw a large male a few days ago that I believe is chunk but he was only hear briefly and I haven’t noticed any elephants since but I’m sure he didn’t wander too far I would expect the male elephants to be returning in bigger numbers soon

Larus californicus: California Gull

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In March 2010 Pam Birley captured this gull with the remote camera. She wrote “I saw a California gull recently and attach pics.  You don’t seem to have any in the taxonomy pages.   It’s not a rare gull but this maybe the first I have seen at RR.” Indeed it is one of those gulls which has fallen through the cracks so this is a rather late addition to our taxonomy.

This adult plumage is reached after 4 years. Note the black tip on the bill and the yellow legs which distinguish it from the Western Gull.
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Laridae
Genus Larus
Species californicus
Common Name: California Gull

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The 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. March 10 2010- Pam Birley

Larus hyperboreus: Glaucous Gull — The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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A photo of the rare second year Glaucous Gull on the right, Western Gull on the left. Photo March 8, 2009 by RyanThis is only the third record for this area in the Rocky Point Bird Observatory records.

Probable identification of the white gull on the left is the immature Glaucous gull. The gull on the right is an immature Glaucous-winged gull (photo 21st Dec 2005..camera 5 by Pam Birley)

To the left: This is a tentative identification. If it is correct, according to David Allinson of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory, ” this probably represents only the second record for Glaucous Gull (a 1st winter bird) for Rocky Point’s checklist (and a first for Race Rocks too!). The big head, the large bubble-gum pink dark-tipped bill, and white head and body (at least what can be seen) seems to be diagnostic.
However, to be cautious I should only say probable as we cannot see all of the bird.”

 

To the left: This is a tentative identification. If it is correct, according to David Allinson of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory, ” this probably represents only the second record for Glaucous Gull (a 1st winter bird) for Rocky Point’s checklist (and a first for Race Rocks too!). The big head, the large bubble-gum pink dark-tipped bill, and white head and body (at least what can be seen) seems to be diagnostic.
However, to be cautious I should only say probable as we cannot see all of the bird.”This is one of the largest species of gull. It can be up to 66-81 cm. in length. It nests on the tundra, and the range is circumpolar.It moves South in winter but only small numbers reach as far as the Pacific Northwest.”

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Laridae
Genus Larus
Species hyperboreus
Common Name: Glaucous Gull

 

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The 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.
October 2006 Pam Birley

Less Sea Lions

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Weather: 

  • Sky: Overcast
  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 5-15 knots NE
  • Water: flat

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Not as many boats out lately
  • some visitors to work on projects around the island having to do with energy, infrastructure, desalination

Ecological

  • Over a period of a few days the sea lions left in big numbers
  • Census
    • Sea Lions – 370 (200 Steller and 170 California)
    • Harbour Seals – 24
    • Gulls – 360
    • Cormorants – 150
    • Fox Sparrows – 10ish, harder to count these guys
    • Canada Geese – 22
    • Black Turnstones – 30
    • Eagles – 6
    • Haven’t seen any humpbacks in a little while, I would expect most of them to be well on their way south by now
    • At least 2 male elephant seals around as well
    • some of the stellers look pretty young

Marine Mammal Rescue

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On November 4th and 5th the Marine Mammal Rescue Team was here to help out a couple California sea lions that were entangled. They arrive on the 4th and after doing a thorough search around the island there were no tangled sea lions around so we were afraid they may have left the area but thankfully the team stayed the night and the next morning they were able to find two sea lions who needed some help getting the garbage off of their necks. The first animal was on the north east side of island up on the rocks and Marty was able to dart him without him fleeing into the water. His tangle was pretty bad but thankfully the team was able to help him out before it got any worse. I’ve seen him hanging around the same spot since he’s been untangled.

The second one was in a bit of a tougher spot he was already half in the water so he jumped right in as soon as the dart hit him and went for a swim. The dart was very helpful in making him easier to spot as he swam around until he was sedated and the team was able to get a hold of him to help him out.

Overall it was a very successful trip and I am so glad the Marine Mammal Rescue team was able to come out here and help these guys out. I have not seen any new tangles since and I’m keeping an eye out for the two that are on the mend.

 

Bird List and Census by D.Donnecke

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Daniel Donnecke has contributed his images and counts from a visit to race Rocks on October 30 to ebird.org

https://ebird.org/checklist/S61055064

 

Census update

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Weather: 

  • Sky: partly cloudy
  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 0-10 knots NE
  • Water: flat

Boats/Visitors: 

    • still a few tour boats cruising around along with some fishing and sailing boats
    • had visitors recently, the marine mammal rescue team came and I will post more on that later

Ecological

  • So many sea lions, here is an updated census
  • Census
    • Sea Lions – 1085 (365 Steller and 720 California)
    • Harbour Seals – 37
    • Gulls – 400
    • Cormorants – 210
    • Fox Sparrows – 10ish, harder to count these guys
    • Canada Geese – 22
    • Black Turnstones – 30
    • Eagles – 6
    • Raven – 1
    • possibly 1 sea otter, bit hard to see from this distance
    • still seeing a humpback here and there but less frequent than last week

Archive of Salinity Recorded at Race Rocks 1926 to Present

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Year   Jan  Feb March  April  May  June  July  Aug  Sept Oct Nov Dec

1936 ——- ——- ——— ——— ——— ——— ——- ——- ———– 31.36  31.65  31.54
1937  31.66  31.76  31.55  31.36  31.26  31.10  30.94  31.13  31.18  31.29  30.88  30.82
1938  30.60  30.70  30.80  31.21  31.11  31.18  30.87  31.34  31.24  31.65  31.54  31.41
1939  31.07  31.18  31.44  31.53  31.31  31.05  31.03  30.78  31.34  31.77 —— – 30.93
1940  30.76  30.78  30.60  30.92  30.65  30.60 —— —– —– ——- ——- ——- ——-
1941 —— —— —— —— —— 31.49  31.50  31.25  31.49  31.62  31.45  31.31  30.97
1942  31.18  31.00  31.44  31.58  31.56  31.62  31.25  31.11  31.32  31.80  31.73  31.46
1943  31.43  31.33  31.69  31.28  31.53  31.51  31.34  31.12  31.20  31.46  31.53  31.60
1944  31.60  31.57  31.80  31.91  31.80  32.10  31.81  31.89  31.77  31.68  31.70  31.49
1945  31.37  31.21  31.51  31.58  31.78  31.65  31.60  31.54  31.67  31.82  31.88  31.56
1946  31.12  31.30  31.19  31.43  31.39  31.06  30.76  30.95  31.44  31.54  31.80  31.26
1947  31.69  31.24  31.53  31.72  31.63  31.28  31.43  31.08  31.48  31.66  31.24  31.34
1948  31.07  31.42  31.40  31.53  31.32  30.83  30.46  31.13  31.12  31.19  31.45  31.03
1949  31.40  31.56  31.34  31.59  31.37  31.29  31.88  31.61  31.45  31.60  31.50  31.08
1950  31.14  31.12  30.79  31.01  31.34  31.31  30.95  31.06  31.20  31.05  30.91  30.34
1951  30.21  30.22  30.69  31.34  31.54  31.13  31.37  31.27  31.61  31.67  31.53  31.20
1952  31.39  31.00  31.33  31.60  31.65  31.30  31.12  31.47  31.48  31.44  31.79  31.58
1953  30.79  30.52  31.38  31.45  31.44  31.21  31.20  31.00  31.14  31.37  31.26  30.63
1954  30.47  30.56  30.76  31.06  31.41  31.41  30.74  30.76  30.67  30.87  30.73  30.49
1955  30.67  30.77  31.37  31.41  31.57  31.27  31.27  30.89  30.94  31.39  30.78  30.79
1956  30.50  31.10  31.02  31.21  31.27  30.85  30.56  31.15  31.33  31.28  31.14  31.01
1957  31.22  31.30  31.17  31.28  31.44  31.20  31.15  31.35  31.24  31.12  31.35  31.29
1958  31.05  30.82  30.89  31.01  31.01  30.78  30.53  31.04  31.22  31.05  30.96  30.86
1959  30.75  30.66  30.99  31.04  31.20  31.19  30.57  30.83  31.14  30.99  31.07  30.91
1960  30.99  30.85  31.16  31.14  31.13  31.06  30.66  31.02  31.04  31.21  31.15  30.84
1961  30.63  30.65  30.43  30.75  30.99  30.52  30.60  31.08  31.42  31.56  31.52  31.35
1962  31.22  31.29  31.49  31.66  31.44  31.52  31.28  31.31  31.07  31.48  31.13  30.74
1963  30.75  30.98  31.04  31.08  31.19  31.26  31.16  31.18  31.36  31.33  31.00  30.79
1964  30.67  30.70  31.15  31.42  31.68  31.49  30.85  30.75  31.14  31.22  31.31  31.16
1965  30.47  30.86  31.21  31.61  31.51  31.24  31.65  31.55  31.40  31.77  31.25  30.98
1966  30.83  30.87  31.03  31.13  31.35  31.45  31.35  31.14  31.42  31.50  31.62  31.07
1967  30.86  30.75  30.94  30.98  31.36  31.08  30.56  30.92  31.05  31.26  30.83  31.15
1968  30.93  30.64  30.69  30.85  31.28  31.02  30.64  30.96  31.09  31.23  31.01  30.67
1969  30.55  30.75  30.94  31.08  31.06  30.83  30.86  31.20  31.07  31.12  31.42  31.15
1970  31.00  30.74  31.05  31.50  31.71  31.24  31.19  31.65  31.79  32.10  31.84  31.42
1971  31.25  31.04  31.10  30.91  31.06  31.12  30.81  30.59  30.73  31.21  31.57  31.05
1972  30.94  30.89  30.05  30.27  30.69  30.33  29.82  30.40  30.84  31.37  31.80  31.53
1973  31.25  31.09  31.45  31.66  31.94  31.77  31.30  31.62  31.83  31.95  31.64  31.12
1974  31.14  30.92  30.97  31.21  31.55  31.06  30.92  30.53  31.32  31.75  32.11  31.81
1975  31.75  31.61  31.59  32.00  32.14  32.17  31.82  31.69  31.69  32.12  31.42  30.91
1976  30.85  31.07  31.08  31.34  31.56  31.65  31.51  31.34  30.72  30.72  31.13  31.26
1977  31.20  31.40  30.86  31.59  31.46  31.24  31.54  30.97  31.31  31.67  31.52  30.73
1978  30.75  30.67  30.73  30.91  31.29  31.29  31.15  31.53  31.20  31.18  31.25  31.69
1979  31.44  31.24  31.41  31.60  31.56  31.59  31.45  31.63  31.52  31.45  31.45  31.50
1980  31.07  31.48  31.38  31.71  31.71  32.01  31.92  31.78  31.93  31.94  32.06  31.75
1981  31.15  31.41  31.16  31.62  31.88  31.90  32.15  32.25  32.29  32.03  31.61  31.25
1982  31.20  31.08  30.77  31.07  31.55  31.71  31.57  31.29  31.33  31.42  31.21  30.85
1983  30.87  30.57  30.45  30.81  30.93  31.03  31.10  31.01  31.08  31.27  31.06  30.58
1984  30.46  30.54  30.46  30.87  31.35  31.34  31.11  31.46  31.35  31.27  31.02  31.08
1985  31.18  31.21  31.81  31.63  31.93  31.60  31.57  31.87  32.05  31.96  31.45  31.72
1986  31.54  31.16  30.94  31.27  31.64  31.25  31.36  31.17  31.67  31.80  31.82  31.50
1987  30.98  31.02  31.03  31.29  31.43  31.54  31.22  31.67  31.83  31.72  31.87  31.44
1988  31.34  31.40  31.61  31.77  31.70  31.67  31.73  31.83  31.78  31.90  31.59  31.41
1989  31.44  31.42  31.46  31.39  31.89  31.99  31.23  32.47  31.81  32.55  32.12  31.71
1990  31.80  31.54  31.37  31.57  31.76  31.37  31.81  31.21  31.29  31.84  31.43  30.56
1991  30.99  30.95  30.92  30.87  31.60  30.85  30.98  31.26  31.07  31.21  31.46  31.17
1992  30.96  30.51  30.75  31.12  30.90  31.00  30.92  30.56  30.88  31.12  30.91  30.52
1993  30.62  30.35  30.51  30.83  30.71  30.21  30.50  30.76  30.78  30.97  31.10  30.85
1994  30.84  30.64  30.73  31.78  31.53  31.85  31.04  31.34  31.22  31.44  31.57  31.29
1995  30.83  30.76  30.79  30.82  31.02  31.09  30.82  31.23  31.32  31.55  31.25  30.40
1996  30.26  30.20  30.36  30.71  30.84  31.04  30.44  30.88  31.18  31.33  31.27  30.76
1997  30.53  30.41  30.73  30.64  30.43  30.58  30.34  29.90  30.74  30.58  30.49  30.52
1998  30.62  30.39  30.50  30.57  31.08  30.66  30.89  30.92  31.04  31.34  31.20  30.79
1999  30.58  30.32  30.58  30.68  30.73  30.72  30.24  30.29  30.06  30.80  31.26  30.71
2000  30.82  30.80  30.91  31.17  31.07  30.90  30.55  30.70  30.78  30.96  31.25  31.40
2001  31.37  31.19  31.67  31.82  31.79  31.81  31.42  31.37  31.32  31.61  31.49  31.07
2002  30.84  30.81  31.17  31.35  31.41  31.31  30.82  30.76  31.28  31.38  31.75  31.43
2003  31.01  31.05  30.91  30.73  31.17  30.80  31.16  31.21  31.45  31.69  31.05  31.09
2004  30.92  30.71  30.99  31.15  31.25  31.38  31.15  31.38  31.48  31.15  31.17  31.11
2005  30.92  30.58  31.05  31.12  31.11  31.15  30.83  30.83  31.16  31.41  31.17  31.21
2006  30.80  30.23  31.19  31.21  31.08  31.09  30.81  31.00  31.48  31.54  31.15  30.98
2007  30.65  30.80  30.84  30.83  30.82  30.88  30.65  30.48  30.79  31.23  31.09  31.10
2008  30.76  30.86  31.06  31.20  31.50  31.19  31.31  31.30  31.13  31.53  31.23  31.53
2009  31.25  31.52  31.43  30.04  30.50  31.31  31.23  31.39  30.97  31.32  31.27  30.90
2010  30.95  30.84  31.04  30.98  31.32  31.00  30.62  31.01  31.23  31.26  31.47  31.28
2011  30.57  30.92  30.85  30.75  30.76  30.75  30.34  30.46  30.86  30.99  31.47  31.20
2012  31.30  31.31  31.06  30.84  30.69  31.12  30.56  30.39  30.59  31.10  30.92  30.54
2013  30.54  31.10  31.27  31.27  31.42  31.09  30.26  31.09  31.00  30.97  31.29  31.45
2014  31.49  31.43  31.01  30.89  31.06  30.54  30.47  30.42  31.00  31.25  30.53  30.39
2015  29.99  30.34  30.47  30.48  30.90  30.77  31.11  31.78  31.46  31.62  31.62  31.36
2016  31.31  30.91  30.74  30.82  30.94  30.88  30.91  30.88  31.66  31.87  31.45  31.62
2017  31.59  31.34  31.31  31.19  31.17  30.99  30.99  31.33  31.67  32.01  31.83  31.39
2018  31.35  31.14  31.30  30.96  31.22  30.72  29.93  30.37  30.93  31.10  31.12  30.96
2019  30.67 ——-  30.85  ——-  ——-   31.25  31.78  31.93 ——  – —— – —– —
Year   -Jan   — Feb    -Mar   -Apr    -May    -Jun  – Jul   -Aug  – Sep  – Oct  –  Nov  –  Dec