It is animal census day again at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Thankfully, a nice sunny mostly clear sky which I’m grateful for when spending the day outside observing the animals around the islands. It was however still quite windy, which might have affected my seeing the smaller birds that I usually spot around the island. With the sun glare today, I did not separate the cormorants into species as it was quite hard to tell when silhouetted.
Animal Census Saturday, March 14, 2026:
Mammals:
- Steller sea lion: 48
- California sea lion: 10
- Harbour seal: 153
- Northern Elephant seal: 2 (Baby and adult female)
Birds:
- Glaucus-winged gull: 326
- Herring gull: 10
- Cormorant Spp: 338 (Pelagic & Brandt’s)
- Double-crested cormorant: 6
- Black oystercatcher: 6
- Harlequin duck: 8
- Black turnstone: 6
- Canadian goose: 9
- Surfbirds: 4
- Bald Eagle: 3 (2 Juveniles)
*Not seen on census day but seen otherwise has been large groups of Pigeon Guillemots wading by the jetty
Facility work
- Animal census
- Batteries top-up
- Seawater sample
- Fixed fence
- Generator checks
Weather
- Wind: 7-19kts NNW
- Mostly sunny
- Air temp: 6C