Monthly Archives: July 2021

Keeping Gulls safe?

Posted on by

My rant about Gulls and chicks,

picture by Sierra

When I am here I am very aware that my presence has positive and negative effects on the wildlife. Certainly keeping fishing boats out of the protected aware, monitoring boat traffic speed and proximity to wildlife, observing and recording all are benefits. With so many nesting birds my first couple of days were fraught with the feeling that every time I walked outside I was causing chicks to be attacked. After a week here I can walk fairly safely because I have figured out a few things. The gulls have very small territories which, if the chicks stay in, they are not attacked by other gulls. It is when they run into another gull’s territory that they are attacked. It didn’t take me long to realize whose territory was whose. if I walk slowly along the paths I give the chicks time to get into their safe places and the parents may cluck at me or actually lift but rarely. If I see a chick going in the wrong direction I wait and it will most often turn back and go back to its territory. It is not hard to figure out who goes where as the chicks are different sizes (ages) and in different numbers. For  instance there are 2 almost fledged chicks that hide under our walkway (safe place) but if they are out and frightened they run into the territory next to them and the adult there will attack them. When I leave the house I give them time to get under the walkway before I pass. There is one chick that lives right beside our doorway and every time I open the door I wait for it to run to its territory (to the right of the entrance). This may sound a bit crazy but not seeing chicks attacked as I walk around is worth it. I haven’t done anything scientific in my observation and it would be interesting to do. Walk briskly without any attention to details or slowly with attention and compare adult attacks on chicks . It would be a small study easily done but I am leaving today. When I arrived here I thought adult attacks on young were because we were scaring off the parents leaving the chicks vulnerable but I haven’t noticed an adult leaving its territory to attack an unprotected chick. It seems the chick runs out of its  territory first.

 

 

Animal Census-July 28, 2021

Posted on by

Weather: west wind 15 knots, fog cleared by 8 a.m. visibility good

Tide .8 m at 12 noon

Elephant Seal 1 male, 1 female
Orcas 4
Seals 68 (13 pups?) on south and south seal rocks
Sea Lions both Stellar and California 60 on middle and west rocks
Gulls

While I was counting these gulls there were 2 “feeding flocks” just off the island with about 1000 gulls so there may have been fewer gulls on the islands than usual
660 on rocks below generator shed western and glaucous winged gulllls
110 on island “nesting” mostly glaucous winged gulls but several western/hybrid gullls nesting as well
estimate of between 80 and 150 chicks

Cormorants 14
Pigeon Guillemots 56
Surfbirds 8
Black turnstones 58
Black Oystercatcher 18? they are hard to count as they move around so much 1 new chick!

Bald Eagle 1

Western sand piper 4

can you identify this bird? red knot ?

Wolf Eel

Posted on by

 

Weather: Fog this morning with very limited visibility. Wind about 20 knots at noon and visibility increased. At 1800 hours clear (and the fog horn is off!)

Facility : The fog made window cleaning easier so washed the outside house windows followed by the solar panels. Much easier to clean when they are still damp with fog. Also cleaned the porch of the lighthouse as during the gale it was very slippery. Layers of algae over the bird poop. I continue with sweeping the lighthouse stairs. Greg came out this afternoon and miraculously fixed 2 squeegees and also showed me how to use the power washer. I started cleaning the walkways but it takes too much water for a task that is endless. If it ever rains it would be good to go out and scrub them then.

Even though it was foggy there was still enough sun getting through that I didn’t require the generator today.

Traffic: 4 ecotourism boats in the fog ( Greg on his way to RR did see Orcas!)

Wildlife: At noon I was able to count 58 seals (including pups) on the south island and south seal island. The fog reappeared and so wildlife viewing was limited. I did see the sea otter! It was in the kelp bed east of the island. I took a very poor picture confirming typical sea otter posture (on its back with his head flexed). Walking on the east shore looking at the intertidal at low tide I saw large white anemones open beneath the surface (Metridium sessile) and sea cucumbers (Cucumaria) in the crevices. I found this dried skeleton of a wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) beautifully hung on the rocks.

 

July 25 Gale

Posted on by

I wonder, does the fog horn go all night?

Wind  westerly

At sunrise (530 am) between 30 and 35 knots, dropped to 20 knots midday for about an hour and then quickly came back up at 1800 hours between 35 and 40

clear most of the day but fog rolling in now

water whitecaps huge swells

Boats

About 6 whale watching boats, all respectful of speed and distance from marine mammals (sea lions on middle rocks)

Facility

Could not work outside today cleaning windows or solar panels due to wind but did manage to clean camera 5 as requested

Wildlife

.3m tide at 10:38 this morning. Great place to get away from the nesting birds. I wanted to see if there was damage from the very hot weather 3 weeks ago. Marine life on many coastal areas of BC suffered greatly. The California mussels and most barnacles looked healthy. I think the tidepools suffered the most but hard to tell as I have nothing to compare. in many tidepools the Coralina algae had gone white and there were many dead chitons. Below are some invertebrate pictures, gumboot chitons, Katerina chiton, lined chiton, abalone!, nudibranchs…

I had time to practice counting birds from the lighthouse lamp room. The middle island at midtide had about 500 gulls. Below the light on the east side of Race rocks there were about 50 Turnstones and Surfbirds. They are well camouflaged. Cormorants (pelagic?) numbered about 12 on the north west. Pigeon guillemots are numerous and 2 groups perching on the rocks above me while I walked numbered 34. Oyster catchers I did not count. Below is a picture of the nest by the boat ramp.

Many of the gull chicks are practicing flying. Jump jump jumping while spreading their wings. I saw a couple get good lift.

 

 

 

Arrived at Race Rocks

Posted on by

Eco guardian switchover. Thank you Sierra for welcoming me. As the boat pulled away leaving me alone with hundreds of seagulls and their chicks, oyster catchers and pigeon guillemots I was drawn to the other mammals on the island. Hard to be lonely with this guy around! Watching the sunset from the lighthouse I was entertained by the seal pups still trying to nurse from their moms. A river otter ran along the jetty. Tomorrow morning I will check to see if it discovered the Oyster Catcher eggs surrounded by a circle of broken shells. The wind is howling from the west. Huge whitecaps. I was very glad the stairs down from the lighthouse had a railing!

Final Day

Posted on by

Personal Note:

  • Even though my time here was short and sweet, I will cherish the life long memories created during my time here on the island. I hope to continue my role as eco-guardian here in the future! 

Starry Night at Race.

 

Ecological Notes:

  • 1 female Northern Elephant Seal.
  • 1 male Northern Elephant Seal. 
  • 8 Steller Sea Lions spread out on Middle Rock and South Island.
  • 2 River Otters made their way up towards the house and successfully caught a Gull chick. After making their catch, they quickly ran to hide under a wooden platform.

Facility Work:

  • Cleaned the main house in preparation for the new eco-guardian! 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 7 Ecotourism vessels and 3 pleasure vessels sightseeing in the reserve.

Feature Event: 

  • My partner, Zenon, proposed to me at the top of the lighthouse (I said “yes!”) 

Zenon (left) and Sierra (right) engaged!

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Maintenance

Posted on by

Ecological Notes:

  • 1 female Northern Elephant Seal.
  • 1 male Northern Elephant Seal. 
  • Many Black Turnstone’s on the East side of the island.

Black Turnstone

Visitors:

  • Greg came out to help with maintenance of the Ocean Network Canada CODAR system and taking battery cell readings. 
  • Welcome Zenon to Race Rocks!

Facility Work:

  • Power washed the East side of the main house. 
  • Applied wood preservative to the back deck of the main house. 
  • Maintenance on Ocean Network Canada CODAR system; swapped out UPS.
  • Battery cell readings with Greg and Zenon.  
  • General cleaning of main house. 

 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 7 Ecotourism vessels.
  • 2 private vessels sightseeing.
  • 1 Canadian Coast Guard Vessel and 1 Western Canadian Marine Response vessel passing through the reserve and sightseeing.

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?