Author Archives: Carol and Mike Slater

2500 to 3000 sea birds feeding

Posted on by

 

Thursday, January 03, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.0C — Min. 6.9C – Reset 7.7C — Rain 1.3 mm
MARINE LIFE:Another red letter day,calm sea,blue sky and wonderful warm sunshine. There were 3 ( 1 mature ) Bald Eagles today. Counted 18 Black Oyster Catchers and again 7 Harlequins ( 4 Male ). There was a lot of feed in the water in the tide lines, 200-300 hundred metres off the reserve to the west and north,and into Pedder Bay.There must have been 2500 to 3000 sea birds feeding. The eagles were flying low just skimming the surface, talons outstretched as they hit the water.As the eagles circled,the other birds flew off and landed some distance away, except for about 7 or 8 gulls that tried to ‘herd’ the eagles away.Every once in a while the eagles would dive at the gulls, I think more out of frustration from the harassment then wanting to catch the gull- it was the fish they were after.It is so quiet with the light wind that we have heard Elephant Seals vocalizing tonight.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 4 boats through the reserve today 2 orange Ribs ( 1 whale watcher ) 1 pleasure craft-sight seeing and 1- 4 metre boat with 3 divers between Gr. Race and West Race.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:10 PM

Good Morning

WEATHER: Sky Cloudy — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind South East 3 Knots — Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:11 AM

Peregrine falcon visits

Posted on by

Wednesday, January 02, 2002

 Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.5C — Min. 7.9C — Reset 9.0C — Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: It  was sooo nice to see the sun after so many dark, windy days! It was such a pleasure to do the morning walk without getting chilled to the bone with the north wind and drenched in spray.We had 7(2 mature) Bald Eagles and 1 immature Peregrine Falcon today.The Eagles spent several hours on the Southeast rocks then moved over to West Race.The crows and starlings were nowhere to be seen while the Peregrine Falcon was around but soon reappeared after it flew off towards the north.The gulls and cormorants seemed more alerted to the Falcon than the Eagles.The eagles are impressive in their size but the Falcon is incredibly fast.A group of 22 Black Oyster Catchers spent a good part of the day along the south shore of Gr. race. The 7 harlequins were also back today in the east bay.The big job tomorrow will be clearing the boat ramp of all the driftwood that has piled up over the past week.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis 12 Miles — Light Rain — Wind North 9 Knots — Sea 1 Foot Chop Low East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:45 AM

Clear view of Mt. Baker

Posted on by
Wednesday, December 26, 2001
TEMPERATURE:Max 6.9 —Min 3.7 c — Reset 5.0
MARINE LIFE: Today we enjoyed the sunshine, the view of Mt. Baker was outstanding. We had 3 Bald Eagles all immatures, spending about two hours sitting on the south east rocks, no prey taken. Just after 11am, 3 Orcas came into the area from the south west, they traveled through the kelp to the south and east of Gr. Race but stayed no longer than 30 minutes. A large bull Elephant Seal is hauled out on the closest of the south east rocks, tucked in just below the ridge, somewhat protected from the very chilly north east wind.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 3:18 AM

Christmas Bird Count

Posted on by
Monday, December 24, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 8.0C — Min 4.9C — Reset 6.7C — Rain 0.0
Merry Christmas To One And All!!!
MARINE LIFE: Yesterday Angus Matthews took Alan MacLeod, Andrew Harcombe, and Ron Satterfield out in the Pearson College boat, 2nd Nature for the annual Sooke Christmas bird count. The trip was postponed from the 22nd because of the 40 knt. north winds. Following is a list of the birds seen between the Pearson College dock and Race Rocks- most of the sightings were in the area around Race Rocks. The highlight was the lone Iceland Gull, a very rare bird in this area! The first sighting of this bird for the trio of bird counters!
Pacific Loon 14
Common Loon 1
Horned Greb 1
Double Crested Cormorant 80
Brandt’s Cormorant 60
Pelagic Cormorant 12
Harlequin Duck 2
Surf Scoter 30
Bufflehead 60
Hooded Merganser 5
Bald Eagle 4 adult,2 immature
Black Oyster Catcher 16
Black Turnstone 6
Surfbird 6
Rock Sandpiper 9
Mew Gull 15
Herring Gull 8
Thayers Gull 530
Western Gull 1
Glaucous Winged Gull 720
Common Murre 40
Pigeon Guillemot 8
Marbled Murrelet 6
Belted Kingfisher 1
Eurasian Starling 8
Common Flicker 1
You may check out the file on the Christmas Count with pictures at:https://www.racerocks.ca/2001/12/24/9651/
Thank you Angus, Alan, Ron and Andrew, maybe it wasn’t blowing 40knots from the north but it was still a cold bumpy trip with 20 knots from the north east!
HUMAN INTERACTION:11:30 am 1 Whale Watcher Boat
12:15 1 Rib with 2 divers (burrrr)
14:30 Discovery Launch (2 passengers)
Thank You Jane and Chris for holding the ‘fort’ so we could visit with family and restock the pantry.posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:11 PM

Orca Feeding

Posted on by
Thursday, December 20, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.7C — Min. 3.9C — Reset 4.2C — Rain 0.4 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:05 PM
 MARINE LIFE: With the relatively calm sea today the hauled out Sea Lions slept the time away.The most action came from a few Northern Sealions on Southeast Rks. that went into the water to investigate the Orcas that came in from the West at 1:20pm.There was one bull,3 that could be females or juveniles and one fairly small one.It was really hard to get a good look as they didn’t stay on the surface very long.The whales made their way along the south shore of Gr. Race then veered out towards the Rosedale light buoy where they spent until 3:40 swimming back and forth with frequent tail slapping,breaching and slapping of flippers. 200+ gulls and 30 or so Cormorants stayed with whales I would guess feeding on any scraps floating about on the surface.Since the Orcas stayed well off shore,were quite ‘noisy’ and did not seem interested in the seals and sealions my guess is that they were residents. The last we saw of them they were headed SW.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:58
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind North North East 21 Knots — Sea 3′ Moderate — Low North East Swell — Occasional light Rain showers
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:33 AM

Eagles and Sea lions

Posted on by
Wednesday, December 19, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.1C — Min 3.7C — Reset 4.9C — Rain 0.8 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:17 PM
MARINE LIFE:The Sea Lions seen on cameras 1 and 2 show about 1/2 the population presently hauled out, the other half are spread out along the east and south shores of Gr. Race and on the Southeast Rks.There are quite a few young Northern Sea Lions this year maybe an indication of a healthy population growth? The Northern Sea Lions presently hauled out, out number the California Sea Lions approximately 8-1,there being approx. 325 Northern Sea Lions hauled out this afternoon.
5 immmature Bald Eagles visited the area today but stayed only 50 minutes,arriving and leaving within minutes of each other,three sat over on the southeast rocks and the other two on the highest point on West Race. Was nice to have a day with light winds and even enjoyed a few glimpses of the sun!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:21 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind South East 5 knots — Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:23 AM

Orcas out

Posted on by
Sunday, December 16, 2001
MARINE LIFE: 4 Bald Eagles visited the Reserve today,3 immatures and one mature.The first one(mature) arrived just after 9:30 this morning with it’s breakfast-an unidentified fish -grasped in it’s talons. The big bird set down on the NW bluff just above the boat house to eat. As the eagle tore off pieces of fish the 5 crows danced around it, wary, but anxious to get any bits that scattered.After only 5 or 6 minutes the eagle flew off leaving the crows to scour the rocks for any scraps however tiny! I did not see anything that would have scared the eagle,certainly not the crows!
Just after 10 a.m. a lone California Sea Lion came ashore just east of the boat dock and proceeded to lumber across the island stopping every 3 metres or so to roll and rub on the grass.The reason we took note of the poor fellow is that he has a terrible scar around his neck -garbage in the sea or maybe some type of discarded fishing gear.Sea Lions with this type of wound, unfortunately are not that rare.We could not get close enough to see if it was just a scar or whether something was still in the wound.About noon 3 immature Bald Eagles landed on the ridge of West Race.They sat there for about 10 minutes until a boat approached (divers) and they flew over to N Rocks.After 1/2 hour or so they flew over to SE rocks where they stayed except for a couple of flights around the islands, unsuccessful attempts at getting a bird dinner.Two of these birds looked somewhat bedraggled with the mottled appearance of the head and tail feathers.The distinctive white plumage gradually appears with each molt over 4 or 5 years.
Just before 1:30 I noticed two Orcas northeast of North Rks. They were being followed by several groups of Sea Lions at about 100 metres. The whales surfaced 4 or 5 times as they made their way south just at the edge of the east side kelp bed.The last we saw they were in front of the engine room 200-300 metres off shore.As we watched for the whales to come back a 3-4 metre bull Elephant Seal drifted by and came into the small east bay. I did get some video as he floated around with just his head and unmistakable nose above the surface.He stayed in the bay only 12-15 minutes,arched his back,flared his great nostrils,dove into a wave and was gone! We often hear the elephant Seals vocalizing at night, it sounds like a calf bellowing in a tin can, but not lately, and from the sound of the roaring 45+ knt. not tonight either!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 12:10am -1:45pm Boat with 6 divers -West Race
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1C — 6.3C — Reset 8.7C — Rain 26.2 mm — Total rain fall for December 109.9 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 10:11 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind West 13 Knots — Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:32 AM

Sea lions growling again

Posted on by
Saturday, December 15, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.0C — Min. 4.7C — Reset 6.9C — Rain 1.4 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:08 PM
WEATHER: light winds all day,a nice break from the roaring westerly. It was nice to be able to hear the sea lions growling and barking again. Looks like we may be in for another stormy night judging from the swell that is starting to come in from the south east.Some of the Sea Lions on the east ridge are jumping into the water as the 3-4metre waves break over them while others are moving down the west side of the ridge to join a group of 14 California sea lions and the 2 Elephant Seals that have been hauled out all day.The Harbour seals are hauling out as the tide ebbs and unless disturbed will stay ‘high and dry’ until the tide comes in again.
–Today is the first day we have seen the large male elephant seal back on middle rock – ( see camera1- note added by Garry)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:37 PM

Good Morning

WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind North East 9 Knots — Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:26 AM

Westerly blows and Elephant seals huddle

Posted on by

Friday, December 14, 2001

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.9C — Min. 6.8C — Reset 6.8C — Rain 6.2 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM

MARINE LIFE:the westerly continues to howl at 44-50 knots and the favoured spot on Gr.Race is the east Bay area.There are 250-300 gulls,beaks into the wind,along the ridges of the cliffs.The 26 Black Oyster Catchers prefer to huddle in twos and threes in the shelter of large bolders.There are 67 Northern Sea Lions and 26 California Sea Lions packed together like ‘pick-up’ sticks also along the east ridge.Closer to the water and in the lee of the house, two juvenile Elephant Seals are ‘cuddled’ together as if to keep warm.The Harbour Seals however seem to enjoy the surf and spend a lot of time diving into the 2-3 metre waves.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:23 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles — Wind 30 Gusting 45 Knots — Sea 6 Foot moderate with Moderate South West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:48 AM

Daily Gales

Posted on by
Monday, December 10, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.8C — Min. 4.7C — Reset 4.7C — Rain 7.2 mm
WEATHER: We are well into the winter weather pattern now although the winter solstice is another 11 days away.With the heavy dark clouds and almost daily gales the area is not too hospitable.The Sea Lions are always on the move hauling out in the lee as the wind changes direction.
MARINE LIFE: There are 35-40 Cormorants,mostly on the South East Rocks and 250 gulls on the East ridge of Gr.Race,another 300 or so gulls along the south and west shores. Other birds that we see every day are Black Turnstones.Starlings and crows.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:05 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind North 13 Knots — Sea 3 Foot Moderate with Low South East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:24 AM