This is my last post and tonight is my last sleep here. There is so much I will miss…the ever changing sea, current, winds and fog, the 360 degree view, seeing the curvature of the earth, the tower, sleeping with three blankets, my toque, the smell of the ocean air infused with gull and seal aroma, the sounds of the rushing tide and waves on the shore, and yes, I will miss the constant gull calls and chatter, the barking and growling of the sea lions, the high pitched calls of the pigeon guillemots, the alarms of the oyster catcher, the excitement of seeing a new bird, and of course, the two elephant seals. In a way I am glad I am leaving before the elephant seals do as there will be an emptiness here when they go. Unfortunately, I won’t get to see the chicks learning to fly, the pigeon guillemots leave their nests, the influx of new bird species as migrations begins and the onslaught of the sealions. I will need to follow the logs of the next Ecoguardians to learn of those things.

I leave you with two photos: Virabhadrasana 3 and Yinyang.

Virabhadrasana 3 (Warrior 3)

Yinyang. It is comical to watch her slap him in the face as she stretches or moves her rear flipper.

Facility work:

• Tidying up, finishing small jobs
• Cleaning keeper’s house, fridge, stove, floors, bathroom etc. for the next Ecoguardian
• Ran the generator and the desalinator together on account of the fog and overcast conditions.

Vessels:

• 27 Ecotourism, 3 private

Weather:

• Fog in the morning. Overcast most of the afternoon. Winds light and variable throughout the day. Daytime temperatures: low 14, high 18.

The glaucous-winged gulls that breed and nest on Race Rocks are present year-round in the Salish Sea. They are being studied as indicators of ecosystem health by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Salish Sea Marine Bird Monitoring and Conservation Program. Individual birds are identified by their colour bands. This allows researchers to track their movements over time, their location preferences (site fidelity) and survival. They also collect blood and feathers samples for genetic, physiological and contaminant analyses. Some of the birds get GPS tags so their precise movements can be followed. The project has been running since 2020. The researchers visited over 200 sites and banded over 800 gulls.

Details of the three banded gulls sighted on Race Rocks in June and July 2024. I’d love to search for more of them, but right now it causes too much mayhem with the chicks walking around to visit the shores where the non-breeding gulls hang out.

Like the three banded gulls I reported in June and July, the majority of the glaucous-winged gulls stay close to home. They did find two glaucous-winged gulls with a penchant for travel. One travelled up to Cordova Alaska to breed and another to spend the winter in San Francisco California.

They have one more year to go in the study. Next year they will be able to report on gull habitat use, diet (via stable isotope analysis they can tell if the gulls feed in marine versus inland areas), physiological health, age, and contaminant levels. From the genomics data they will be able to determine provenance (the location they came from), population structure, and the extent of hybridization.

To learn more about this project, and both glaucous-winged and the California gulls, see their 2023 and 2022 Annual Reports.

How to report a banded gull?  Illustration from the ECCC poster

To contribute to this project and report a banded gull, take a photo showing the bands, record date and location and send to:

• https://forms.office.com/r/i9PG9zHCfs
• or to report with your phone, see their poster

Wildlife notes:

Three Canada geese visited the island today. Despite their size, they were pushed around by the gull parents. There were at least 40 cormorants on the island today – more than double the amount reported in the last two weekly censuses. The rain and fog today didn’t seem to affect anyone’s behaviour. The gull chicks who are not yet fully feathered appeared wetter than their parents but they still stood out in the elements.

Facility work:

• Cleaned Keeper’s house and Student House windows
• Edged along walkways
• Ran the generator on account of the fog and overcast conditions. The desalinator was running for 4 hours and produced 330 L of potable water.

DND activity:

Blasts heard today, no disturbance noted in the wildlife.

Vessels:

• 16 Ecotourism, 3 private

Weather:

• Fog and NE light air to light breeze until 14:00. Overcast conditions and SW gentle to moderate breeze the rest of the day. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 15.

We have several excellent new tools for clearing vegetation. The Root Slayer is one of them. It was pressed into service to help clear vegetation away from the Desalinator Building. Now we can walk from this building to the freshwater tank shed to measure water production levels without fear of stepping on little chicks hiding in the tall grass. I’ve also started on the walkways but this is a bigger job that won’t get completed before I leave.

Three quarters done. Vegetation was removed from the gravel border and the grass edged along the building.

All done. Desalinator Building on the right and shed with 4500 L fresh water storage tank on the left.

Wildlife notes:

Apart from the chick slaying, the gulls are so amusing to watch. Some couples are still doing their courting displays and head bobs. The gulls are still grass pulling (which seems to be a warning to others they are angry) and grass gathering (with nests no long used, I’m guessing they are teaching their chicks this important task). Some gulls are constantly testing and pushing boundaries, which results in challenges. Others run quickly to watch when their neighbour is disturbed by my passing, like they are waiting for a confused to chick to run in their direction. The chicks are also entertaining to watch. The older chicks are jumping a lot and unfolding their wings and, like toddlers, taste and pick at things in the dirt and take things from each other.

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• finished clearing vegetation around Desalinator Building
• clearing along walkways

Vessels:

21 ecotourism, 2 private

Weather:

Partial clouds in the morning, overcast by late afternoon. Winds predominately southwest, light to moderate most of the day, with a fresh breeze in the evening. Rain expected over night. Daytime temperature range: low 13, high 14.

Jump for joy

Wildlife notes:

The chicks near the house that hatched on June 28 made it past their 4 week birthday. Seeing what goes on around here, that is an accomplishment! At three weeks old their wing feathers were just starting to grow.

Four week old chicks

The other exciting news is two whimbrel visited the east beach briefly.

Whimbrel

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• topped up battery fluid
• weeding around desalinator building

Vessels:

13 ecotourism

Weather:

Fog lifting by noon, sunny afternoon. Moderate westerly breeze most of the day, building to near gale in the evening. Daytime temperature range: low 10, high 15.

The desalinator is working! It purred away running off solar power this afternoon for two hours 10min. It has a new reverse osmosis membrane (good for 1-2 years), and new pre and post filters. It looks a bit intimidating with the gauges and flow meters, a network of hoses, pumps, filters and the accessory equipment like pressure tank, sand wash tank and water pump, but the instructions are excellent.  It produced 1.3 L of fresh potable water per minute for a total of 169L. The concentrated sea water was discharged at 9.5 L per minute, for a recovery rate of 12% (1.3/(1.3+9.5) x 100).

Greg also delivered 550 L of diesel fuel today. The large tidy tank in the Tank Shed now holds 699L, more than enough until the fall when the weather changes and the days become too short to maintain the station needs on solar alone.

Wildlife notes:

I was busy for most of the day and didn’t observe the wildlife much. While laying out the fuel line and coiling the fire hoses from the cistern filling done the day before, I watched the two elephant seals “playing” together in the water at the end of the boat ramp. I wonder if he will miss his friend. They say it is a hard life for the male elephant seals. They live shorter lives and only 1% get a chance to breed, as only one alpha male maintains breeding rights over his large harem. Other than his beta male which patrols the boundary, the other males are not allowed in.

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• diesel delivery
• work on desalinator

Vessels:

19 ecotourism, 1 private, 3 kayakers

Weather:

Sunny, moderate westerly breeze most of the day. A thick fog with visibility less than 1/4 mile rolled in at 19:00.  Daytime temperature range: low 10, high 13.

I have only one week left on this incredible rock. I’m trying to get a few big jobs completed. Today I finished clearing the debris off the Energy Building roof. It was hard work crawling under the panels. I collected three and half buckets of organic debris which I distributed in the grass and one box of construction/installation debris. One day when there is some rain or lots of extra water, someone can brush it down and hose it off.

Wildlife notes:

Every day there is a new dead chick on or near the walkway.  Today it was “Intersection” gull’s chick. She made her nest at the four way intersection of the walkway leading from the house and is very perturbed when I pass, which I do many times a day.  The gulls a few feet from her are relaxed by comparison. Yesterday there was a large, two to three week-old chick lying dead near her. The way she runs at me, I assumed she killed it. Today one of her one week old chicks was lying in the path.  Was it revenge? I wonder if birds do the tit for that thing?

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• finished clearing Energy Building roof
• pumped salt water to cistern

Vessels:

16 ecotourism, 3 skilled sea kayakers touring and playing in the tidal current – all of us where wearing kayaking crash helmets, only mine is for gull protection. This is only to be attempted by advanced paddlers.

Weather:

Fresh to strong breeze westerlies. Daytime temperatures: minimum 13, maximum 17 degrees.

Greg and Cedric came to work on the desalinator. They made progress and we are closer to being able to produce fresh water on site again. Work began on filling the cistern with sea water.

Water pump at the end of the jetty. Pumping sea water up to the concrete cistern on west side of the Keeper’s house. The smoke in the background is from the Sooke fire.

Wildlife notes:

The number of Stellar sealions in the area is increasing. About 18 of them hauled out on Middle Rocks this morning. Their roars sound so much more lion like than the yelping of the California sealions. The injured CA sealion was also around today. It is hard to say how much his wound has healed since the photo posted on July 5.

Stellar sea lions on Middle Rock.

Injured California sea lion.

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• cleaning Energy Building roof
• repairs on the desalinator and filling the cistern

Vessels:

15 ecotourism

Weather:

Sunny day. Moderate to fresh, westerly breeze most of the day, with a strong breeze in the evening. Daytime temperatures: minimum 12, maximum 14 degrees.