Wildlife notes

Nothing out of the ordinary to report today. I think I was just too consumed with my indoor tasks, cleaning, packing, planning, paperwork, talking with the next Ecoguardians etc. to pay enough attention.

This is my last post. I leave tomorrow. Before I go I’d like to thank those who supported me and provided assistance. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my supervisor Greg for all he has done, for always being there and always answering his phone. Thank you to Garry the Park Warden for his encouragement, Mike and Richard the waterfront staff for their assistance, Laura the marine biology instructor for letting me join her tours, Ann and Andrew for their help with bird ID, Hans for verifying the new plants found on the island and Val from Eagle Wing for keeping me informed on animals beyond my line of sight. I’d also like to thank Derek for helping with the camera issue and Kendra for talking to me when I worry about a young seal pup. And to the person who donated to Race Rocks in my name, thank you for reading and for acknowledging my effort on the posts!!!

It is a great privilege to be here. I will miss everything, except the toilet anxiety: am I properly positioned over the right compartment, pee or poo or what if both happen, or did I forget to open to the poop flap?

Mostly I will miss having so much to observe, smell, hear and feel (the sky, wind, waves, tide, plants, birds, seals, sea lions, whales…) and the experience of spending my days is awe and filled with wonder.

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• contributed to next month end report
• emails, correspondence
• cleaning house, organizing

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 26
• Private: 3

Weather

Clear skies. Fresh westerly breeze until late afternoon, strong breeze in the evening. Daytime temperatures: low 11, high 14.

Goodbye Race Rocks. Christine Chourmouzis, July 20, 2025.

Wildlife notes

Large, older Stellar sea lions are starting to arrive and settle on the islands and rocks in the area. There are still a few gulls with eggs. The oldest gull chicks are starting to grow their feathers and are jumping and stretching out their wings. The oldest oystercatcher chicks are almost full size, their beaks are orange except at the tips and are also stretching their wings. Harbour seal pups haven’t been dropped off on at East Beach for the past two days. The population of black turnstones and surfbirds has exploded. There are so many of them and they are all nattering away – no wonder the ruddy turnstone keeps to itself.

On a sad note, I watched an adult gull take its last breath. It was floating in the back eddy at East Beach, with one wing bent in an odd position. For the 10 minutes I watched, it didn’t struggle or move except to lift its heavy head out of the water. I don’t know how it got there or what happened to it. It was gone when I checked 30 minutes later. Sure there are so many gulls all over the world but still it feels odd displaying these moment of death photos. If it had chicks, they will likely also die as one parent can’t both feed and protect the chicks.

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• measured battery specific gravity
• finished cleaning the laundry room (walls, windows, ledges and shelves), swept and cleaned woodpile area in basement

After…so nice to look out the windows.

The laundry room.  The last of my cleaning jobs as I only have one and a half days left.

Vessels

• Ecotourism:22
• Private: 2

Weather

Skies partly cloudy. Strong WNW or W breeze until evening then near gale force. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 14.

Wildlife notes

A wandering tattler was feeding at the rocks near the Jetty. I last saw one on May 17.  This time I could get good photos and actually sit for a while on the Jetty and watch it bob its tail and feed. I have so many photos – I’ll share just three. With regard to the gulls, nothing out of the ordinary to report. There are still just a few birds left on the nest with eggs and I have been spared seeing chicks killed by angry neighbours. I witnessed some close calls but the chicks were able to stand again and run away. It seems the best outcome results when chicks squat and freeze during an attack. I notice the same for myself – if I move away quickly from an angry, challenging parent on the ground, they chase me, but if I stop and hold my ground, they do the same. This doesn’t work if they are in the air. I was weed whacking today with the ear muffs on completely oblivious to their overhead threats and vocal warnings.  I need two hands to hold the tool so there really is no choice but to hope for the best and go change my clothes afterwards. Only four more sleeps. I shall miss this place dearly.

Wandering tattler

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• weed whacked the walkways

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 12
• Private: 0

Weather

Moderate to fresh westerlies, building to strong in the late afternoon. Daytime temperatures: low 10, high 12.

Wildlife notes

Sea lions are starting to return in low numbers but they are hauling out on Middle Rock. There are very few gulls left with unhatched eggs and some of the late layers have abandoned their third egg after the first two hatched. The eggs I found previously with their shells partially missing/chipped away (like on July 9th) have been discarded from their nests.

A gull and its chick – not to be messed with!

I have two more introduced species on Race Rocks to report. Cleavers, catchweed, sticky willy, or goosegrass (Galium aparine) was found in the rocks behind the Energy Building. Geese seem to eat it and that may explain how it got here. The second plant, European searocket (Cakile maritima), is growing on the boat ramp in a crack in the concrete. It is common in coastal areas in Europe, Asia and North Africa and may have come to North America in ship ballast water.

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• weeding
• studying the Programmers Guide for the Mate3s power system controller and the programmed setpoints

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 21
• Private: 1

Weather

Skies clear. Winds variable and light until late afternoon, moderate SWS in the evening. Daytime temperatures: low 12. high 20.

Today we reached 27 degrees C at 5pm (the highest temperature since I arrived on May 15th) but three hours later it was back to a breezy 15 degrees.  I have been spoilt and will suffer when I leave Race Rocks and face real heat. Just 6 more sleeps :(

Wildlife notes

The highlights of the day were the 9 pelicans doing a flyby, another harbour seal pup on East Beach and finally, photo confirmation of the least sandpiper. The seal pup was tiny and had different face markings than the last ones at East Beach so it could be a new addition. I sat on the rocks below the compost pile for a while watching it struggle to move higher up the beach to escape the rising water. Sitting still with the flies also gave me a chance photograph the least sandpiper.

Harbour seal pup pulling itself up the rocks.

Least sandpiper

Least sandpiper with two western sandpipers.

Pelicans flying over Race Rocks.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• weekly meeting with Greg
• studying the Outback power systems manual

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 15
• Private: 2

Weather

Mostly light to gentle breeze, direction variable. Skies clear. Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 27.

Wildlife notes

Grandparent gulls lost their entire brood, all at once. They nested under the small porch by the north entrance of the Keeper’s House – same place as last year where they successfully raised their chicks. When I first noticed Grandpa gull last year I sent a picture to the local gull expert Andrew Jacobs and asked if this was a particularly old gull as I was wondering about the darkening around its eyes. He said it was a just a pigmentation not related to age. Regardless, the name stuck. I see a lot of him out the window as he likes to sit on the deck railing. Oddly both parents have the same darkened eyes.

Grandpa and Grandma gull

Grandparent gull’s nest with two dead chicks beside and one inside the disheveled nest.

Usually when I find a dead chick or see one being killed it has wandered too far from its nest and the protection of its parents, but this is different. Here, all three chicks are very near or even in the nest. Both parents are still alive, so starvation doesn’t make sense. I wonder if it could be sickness or poisoning? Neither are good news.

Facility Work

• cleaned the solar panels
• cleaned the outside windows
• cleaned the back door

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 22
• Private: 1

Weather

Clear skies.  Strong WNW breeze in the morning, moderate WSW in the afternoon. Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 16.

Wildlife notes

Looking at the collections of boats on the horizon everyday I know there are whales around but rarely do I get to see them. Today a humpback was feeding off the jetty and I got to sit in the sunshine and watch this magnificent massive creature. I am glad it is a baleen whale and not a threat to the little seal pups. In the high winds, tide and waves of the early evening the two moms and seal pups are bobbing in the waves in the shallows at East Beach – it seems there must be a lack of haul out spots in these conditions that they can get their pups up on. It will be a tiring time for the little ones.

Humpback whale beside the Jetty.

The two sopranos.

Facility work

I created a place inside the warm and dry Generator Room to store and hang the solar panel brush and squeegee. These tools are important and having them in good shape saves a lot of water, frustration and time on the roof. The squeegee is a brass Ettore. I call it our Hattori Hanzo squeegee – a prized possession not to be left outside in the salt spray.

• cleaned the solar panels
• general house cleaning

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 16
• Private: 3

Weather

Fresh westerly breeze until 3pm with winds rapidly strengthening to near gale force WNW by 4pm. Daytime temperatures: low 11, high 15.

Wildlife notes

Harbour seals are bringing their pups to East Beach and I can watch them from the back porch!  All of this pup activity must have been going last summer but was I so focused on the birds not to see it?

At 9:30 am I watched a mother leave her pup on the rocks halfway up the beach on low tide. I left to do the panels, had second breakfast, did some more chores and returned at 2:30. The tide had risen to the height where the first pup was dropped off. I was looking for it and spotted a second very young pup, still with its umbilical chord, further down the beach. Both of the pups were calling out (a weak, mournful, heart-retching sound) and very slowly made their way into the water to reunite with their moms. The first pub spent 5 hours alone, a long time I would think for a very young small creature.

Mother harbour seal (yellow circle) leaving her pup (blue circle) on East Beach at 9:30am.

I watched the second pup for a while as it moved slowly toward the water. It found a piece of Fucus or rockweed in front of its nose that I think may have looked rather teat-like to the little thing as it reached out and put it in its mouth.

A piece of rockweed by the pub’s nose.

Pup stretching for the rockweed.

Pub with rockweed in its mouth. A disappointment, I am sure.

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels and windows on the Energy Building
• topped battery fluids levels
• weeding

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 11
• Private: 0

Weather

Skies clear in the morning, fog patches in the afternoon and evening. Strong breeze throughout the day. Winds WNW in morning, backing to WSW midday, veering to W in afternoon. Daytime temperatures: low 11, high 17.