The sunsets here at Race Rocks are amazing, but the sunrises are pretty spectacular as well. This morning the roving mass of California Gulls were hanging out among the kelp on the southeast side of the island. Hundreds of gulls all looking for breakfast! The krill is still around, at least early in the day, but you can tell that it’s moving around because the flock of birds will be here one minute and gone the next.
Sunrise at Race Rocks with Mt Baker in the background
While I’m not seeing a lot of bird diversity during my stay here, I have been given the chance to study the behaviours of the gulls. With all the krill in the area, there is no shortage of food, and the young Glaucous-winged Gulls know that. Depending on their age and whether or not there are siblings, the adults may regurgitate directly into the chick’s mouth, or onto the ground so the young can fight over it.
Single chick gets special delivery of food
Triplets fighting for the goodies the adult brought from the sea.
One of the most interesting behaviours I’ve seen has been that of a young gull that has figured out that even though it can’t fly, it can swim! For three days now, I’ve seen this single chick in the channel to the east of the island. I suspect that it accidentally ended up in the water one day and survived to tell the tale. It certainly is more mobile than the other youngsters on the island.
Meandering along like this is normal
Completely able to come ashore when it wants to
And speaking of flying, it’s incredibly amusing to watch the antics of the youngsters trying to make their wings work.
Today I saw the first Orcas of my visit here. The marine radio is a constant companion, and while most of the chatter is about where the best fishing is, tonight a call came in about Orcas just off Bentinck Island. A pod of 5 put on an incredible show for the whale-watching boats and private vessels. They moved from Bentinck to the mouth of Pedder Bay and continued the action for more than half an hour.
Surprise! The pod surrounded this small boat.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Donnecke was at Rocky Point and spotted Humpback Whales to the east of Race Rocks. I managed to get on them thanks to his sighting. Two whale species day!
Ecological Notes:
Mammals
2 Humpback Whale
5 Orca
2 Harbour Porpoise
1 male Elephant Seal (went to the water early today–around 10 am–and spent the whole day there. Still on the ramp at dark)
California Sea Lion
Steller’s Sea Lion
Good contrast between male Steller’s in the rear and male California in front of him
Harbour Seal
Mom and nursing pup
Birds
5 Canada Geese
1 Killdeer
8 Black Oystercatcher
14 Black Turnstone
This Black Turnstone hasn’t yet moulted all of its breeding plumage. Note the white speckles on the chest and pale eyebrow.
This one is a little closer to the birds we typically see here in the winter.
3 Surfbird
6 Common Murre
60 Pigeon Guillemot
3 Heermann’s Gull
700 California Gull
Little white specks of a massive flock of (mostly) California Gulls
600 Glaucous-winged Gull
3 Pelagic Cormorant
5 Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorants with Pelagic Cormorant and Pigeon Guillemots
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
Facility Work: Cleaned solar panels and continued fly-busting in the houses
Vessel Traffic: Late start for the eco-tourism vessels. Saw very few before 11, then they were steady the rest of the day until dusk. Very large container vessel heading west.
Weather – Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?