Monthly Archives: March 2022

Improved Solar Power

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Ecological Notes:

  • 5  Elephant Seals
    • The Beachmaster (Bernard) has left the island, most likely for one more big feed before molting
    • 2 Adult females, both starting their molt

    • 2 new (to me) animals here, either very large pups, or small yearlings …. waiting to see if they do a normal molt.
    • The only remaining pup that was born here has completed it’s first baby fur molt, and has been tentatively exploring the area by the pier, when encouraged by another new pup I don’t recognize

Tentative first tries

Meeting a new buddy

Moved into the water while he had support

 

  • 3 known Canada geese nests now, one was right by the door to the house. The gulls robbed all the eggs though, so I dismantled that nest so that they would build somewhere else.
  • Gulls and Black Oyster Catchers are pretty much all paired up now, although I have not seen any nests yet as it’s still a bit early in the season

Visitors:

  • 4 contractors stayed for 2 days to work on the solar power system
  • 3 guests of the Ecoguardian  over 2 different time slots
  • College instructors and their guests came for a brief visit and overview of the reserve

Facility Work:

  • Replacement of damaged solar panels
    • added a new array or 4 panels
    • redid most of the wiring involved

There was an immediate improvement  to the system, resulting in a reduction of generator fuel use by about 1/3. This will only improve as the days get longer and brighter.

  • Visiting guests aided the ecoguardian in some tasks better accomplished by have some else there for safety and/or lifting. (including log and firewood prep and other  wastewood and equipment moving and stacking.) they also helped with pressure washing.

Safer to cut down on the rocky shore with someone here with me

DND events:

  • 3 or 4 days of the regular blasting, with safety vessels and Marine Mammal Observers present.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels are gearing up for the season and visit on a regular basis, often reporting the location of the sea otter and injured or entangled animals to the ecoguardian.
  • 2 jet skis in today … a little loud running against the current, but they kept proper speeds

 Noted Infractions:

  • Only one private fishing vessel in the reserve noted.

 Feature Event:

  • Spring is in full swing. Flowers are blooming, the pineapple weed is growing and of course the birds are all in courting behavior.

Weather Events:

  • very typical mix of spring weather …..wind from all directions on any given day, mix of sun, clouds and rain squalls.

 

** 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?

Census

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march 21/2022

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                         19
  • Harbour seal                            48
  • California sea lion                   38
  • Northern Elephant Seal            6
    • 1 Large male
    • 2 non-nursing female
    • 1 weened pup
    • 2 new have arrived that I don”t recognized … 1 very large pup, 1 small yearling (unsure,, may be able to confirm if it does a full molt)
  • Sea Otter                                 1

 

Birds

  • Bald eagle adult                        4
  • Bald eagle juvenile                      8
  • Turnstones                                  30
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western     78
  • Cormorants                                 37
  • Canadian goose                           14
    • (4 nests with eggs)
  • Harlequin Ducks                          8
  • Oyster catcher                             10
  • Pigeon Guillemots                        24

50th Anniversary of Ecological Reserves in British Columbia

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Often when we visit special ecological areas our observations are restricted to a limited view. In this video, we visited six diverse Ecological Reserves  with the goal of revealing some of their special features from  a distant viewpoint as well as a close up one. Under a special permit from BC Parks, Jamie Frith used his drone and a macrophotographic camera to enable us to present a unique perspective on the reserves.

This video was made for the Friends of Ecological Reserves with the support of BC Parks. We started the project in March 2021 and originally were only allowed by  BC Parks to film in  6 Ecological Reserves in the southern part of Vancouver Island due to restrictions of COVID 19. Plans to include ERs from the interior of the province also were not possible   As those restrictions were eased mid summer, we were able to extend our range and travel North to include the Nimpkish River ER,  in order to include a  representative area of mature Douglas Fir forest.

Ecological Reserves which we were able to include were: 

  • Nimpkish RIver  ER#118   start time- 1:20
  • San Juan RIdge  ER #83   start time- 5:58
  • Oak Bay Islands  ER #94    start time-11:02
  • Mount Tzuhalem  ER#112    start time- 16:38
  • San Juan River  ER#141   start time-  25:01
  • Race Rocks  ER#97    start time- 25.03

 

One of the goals of the Ecological reserves act is to provide protected places for research and education. Some reserves, especially those with seabird colonies  are closed to the public and only accessible  with a permit from BC Parks. Since it is illegal to fly a drone over any provincial (or federal) protected area without a permit, the use of the drone was possible only with permission and precautions for no disruption to animals.  As mentioned in several of the interviews, because of the sensitive ecological nature of the areas, the public is not encouraged to visit Ecological reserves.

THE 50th ANNIVERSARY: 
On April 2, 1971, the Government of British Columbia became the first jurisdiction in Canada to pass legislation to protect Ecological Reserves, places set aside primarily for ecological research and education, not recreation. The Ecological Reserve Act led to an Order in Council that established the first 29 ecological reserves on May 4, 1971. Fifty years later, British Columbia has 148 ecological reserves across the entire province. This video features just a few of the ones on Vancouver Island. In 2021, the BC government proclaimed April 2nd as Ecological Reserves Day in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Ecological Reserve Act.”

Protecting rare species and ecosystems is just one of the reasons to have an ER established. Equally important was protecting representative examples of natural ecosystems. See the wording in the Purpose section of the ER Act:
Garry Fletcher

Census

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March 15, 2022

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                         14
  • Harbour seal                             38
  • California sea lion                   33
  • Northern Elephant Seal            4

    • 1 Large male
    • 2 Adult female
    • 1 weened Pup male
  • Sea Otter                                 1

 

Birds

  • Bald eagle adult                           4
  • Bald eagle juvenile                      8
  • Turnstones                                  18
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western    72
  • Cormorants                                 41
  • Canadian goose                          14
  • Harlequin Ducks                         4
  • Oyster catcher                             10
  • Pigeon Guillimots                       8

Spring is in the air

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Ecological Notes:

  • 4 Elephant Seal on the main island
  • The Male Beachmaster (Bernard), 2 Adult Females, and 1 weened Male “pup” (very large now!)
  • The last pup had grown to almost double the size he was when I got here, and  I had hoped to report he was doing well, but unfortunately the nature and the Beachmaster had other plans. The (female)pup passed suddenly about a week ago and was returned to the sea today. Samples were taken for analysis, including hopefully testing for DNA to check paternity.
  • 1 California Sea Lion noted with rope entanglement. He is surprisingly active for the depth of the wound. Reported to the Marine Mammal hotline.
  • On a more positive note, the Black Oystercatchers are paring off, and some Gulls are wondering around showing off nice clumps of grass they have collected to whoever will notice.

“See my stuff????”

Visitors:

  • A couple of visits from the shorefront coordinator, delivering groceries, parcels, diesel fuel, and parts for repairs.

Facility Work:

  • After a couple attempts to repair the existing connections from the outside line to the pump, it was decided to just replace and simplify the pipes ….. to a final success.
  • Repaired the VHF Antenna on the main house, applied tape to hopefully stop it from vibrating the threads free in the wind.

DND events:

  • On and off all week, except the weekend of course

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Several Ecotourism vessels enjoying the sights and sounds of the reserve.

Responsible viewing and educating

  • With the nicer weather, several kayaks and outrigger canoes have looped out around the reserve, experienced paddlers who all stayed out of the main channel in the reserve where currents can be strong.

 Noted Infractions:

  • Some private fishing very close to the reserve, but measurements with a laser rangefinder suggest they were just outside the 40M depth contour.

Weather Events:

  • A mixture of winds, but mostly light days with mostly sun for the last couple days.

 

** 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?