August 20 and 21

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Compost project was completed on Saturday, with incorporation of a barrel of rain/fog water from the roof as the final touch. The rainwater was heavily contaminated with gull droppings, so not useful for much, but excellent to keep the compost moist and provide nutrients. The number and aroma of sea lions is increasing, but bird diversity remains low.

Ecological Notes:

  • Only the alpha male and one young female elephant seal were seen present in the last couple of days.  The male remained in his spot alongside the science house until mid-day Sunday. One of the young females made her way to that spot Sunday morning, and was still in place at sunset.
  • Only passerines seen in the last two days were Brown-headed Cowbird.
  • Another branded Steller’s sea lion (431Y) was seen. He was branded at Rogue Reef, Oregon in Jul 2013, and had not been reported since 2014. (Although some data is still pending.
  • Birders touring the area on Sunday found a single Common Tern, rare for this area.
  • A Short-billed Dowitcher was on East Beach on Sunday.
  • The aroma from the California sea lions and resulting flies are increasing. All  California sea lions have remained outside the fence–so far.
  • See photos below for more ecological sightings.

Weather:

  • Yesterday (Saturday, August 20):
    • Sky: Overcast in the early morning becoming clear and sunny
    • Wind: W/WNW 12-29 kts
    • Sea: light chop to 3′ chop
    • Temperature Low 13oC, High 17oC
  • Today (Sunday, August 21):
    • Sky: Overcast in the early morning becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon
    • Wind:   W/WSW 9-24 kts
    • Sea: rippled to 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 14 oC, High 16 oC

Facility Work:

  • Solar panels cleaned daily. Windows washed.
  • Compost renewal project completed
  • Fences all checked and one west of lighthouse repaired

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve. Cruise ships are going through daily.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Brown Pelicans

Short-billed-Dowitcher

Surfbirds

Short-billed Dowitcher with Black Turnstones

Birders checking out the shorebirds in East Bay

Young Glaucous-winged Gulls and young elephant seal

Young elephant seal beside the Science Building

Harbour seal and pup

Brown-headed Cowbirds

Bonaparte’s Gull

Steller’s sea lions

Steller’s sea lions

Branded Steller’s sea lion

Steller’s sea lions

Steller’s sea lions

Steller’s sea lions

Collected rainwater makes good compost moisture!

Boards all in place and ready for compost action

Compost project – Done!