Calm Saturday

Light variable winds most of the day. Four brief periods of rain, clear skies in between. Very low West swell. Rainbows.

6 tour boats
2 dive boats

I spent some time today trying to learn to use the Nikon DSLR that lives out here at Race Rocks. The zoom on the big lens is awesome, but I still have a few technical issues to work out. My mission was to get a photo of a Pigeon Guillemot flying away from me with its red feet sticking out, but I wasn’t happy with any of my attempts. While wandering around looking for things to photograph I saw 10-15 Turnstones. They are spending most of their time in the middle of Great Race. There was 4 Western Sandpipers, 1 Sanderling, and 2 Dunlins all feeding in the muck-puddles on Great Race.The Elephant seal that has been next to the tank shed left this morning, but there are still two out on Middle Rocks. There are a few monster Steller Sea lions among the group out on South Rocks. There are now three Canada Goose nests, all with eggs in them.

Pigeon Guillemots

Overcast/cloudy. Light North to North-East wind. Low SE swell in the afternoon.
5 tour boats

This morning there was a Great Blue Heron on the bluffs on the NE side of Great Race, 5 eagles on the outer islands, and Guillemots!
I don’t know if all these birds have been in the reserve for a while, but with the high tide this morning there were probably 100 Pigeon Guillemots whistling their little high-pitched whistle all along the shore of Great Race. Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba) are members of the auk family. They are small diving birds. Their most obvious attribute is their radioactive-red feet that stick out behind them when they fly. Interestingly, these feet only have 3 toes (most birds have 4). They also have large white wing patches with a black bar. They spend spring and summer onshore to breed. A pair mates for life. They build their nests on bluffs and lay 3 to 4 eggs.  The rest of the year they live in offshore waters. They are fairly inefficient flyers, and goofy walkers (kind of like a penguin) but they are amazing swimmers. They use their wings to propel themselves underwater. They typically forage for small fish and invertebrates at 10 to 30 m, but they have been documented at 45 m. A group of Guillemots is apparently called a “bazaar”.

 

-measured windows
-figured out jetty ladder hardware
-discouraged geese from nesting

Canada Geese

Clear skies. Light winds.

The most Canada geese that I have counted to date is 33. The Canada goose (Branta canadensis. Not “Canadian goose”, they do not have citizenship) is a regular visitor/resident out here at Race Rocks. The species has 11 sub-species, many of which experienced a dramatic decline at the beginning of the 20th century because of hunting pressure and habitat loss. However, in the last 25 years the species has experienced a strong recovery. There are many groups that have also ceased to do their seasonal migration. They have recovered to a point where they are now considered a pest in many places. The main reasons for their change in status and migrations has to do with the bird’s adaptability. It has thrived under decreased hunting pressure and changes in weather/climate. This has combined with an increase in protected grassy areas (eg lawns, golf courses, and parks) and agricultural practices that leave waste grain in the fields over the winter. The species is considered to be invasive in New Zealand, where it was intentionally introduced as a game species. The species was also introduced, and has also migrated, to the UK and several Scandinavian countries. The species’ adaptability means that the Canada Goose is now the most numerous waterfowl in North America.

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Spring Equinox

Clear skies. Variable North-East to South-East winds.
Waning gibbous moon, only one low day-time tide (~1m), and 4 to 5 kt currents.

I’m a day late, but Spring has officially arrived as determined by the sun crossing over the celestial equator.
There was a lot of Harbour seals out on Middle and Turbine rocks today. The Elephant seals are on the West Rocks. The Sea lions are still out on South Rocks. There was a large group of Harlequin ducks (14) in the water off the East beach. Cormorants were arriving in the reserve all day so assume my count dramatically under-estimates their numbers. The Canada geese with the nest next to the Keeper’s house have two eggs now. None of the other pairs of Geese seem to have settled enough to have eggs. The gulls are starting to pair up and settle into nesting spots. Amazingly, there were 7 Bald Eagles in the Reserve this morning. Most of them were sitting in pairs on the tops of various rocks. They were a fairly even mix of juveniles and adults. I saw a few sandpiper-like birds, but they were too fast for me to photograph or properly identify. Judging by the smell coming from the tank shed walkway, there is still a River otter living out here. And I saw some Scoters in the mouth of Pedder Bay on my way into the college this morning.

2 Tour boats

First Day of Spring Animal Census

Steller Sea lion: 31
California Sea lion: 6
Elephant seal: 3
Harbour seal: 144
Cormorant: 54
Gull: 133
Canada Goose: 15
Harlequin duck: 17
Black turnstone: 5
Unidentified sandpiper: 3
Oyster catcher: 6
Bald eagle: 7
Savannah sparrow:4
Pigeon Guillemots: 25
River otter: 1

Off station today from 0830 to 1030 to get keys and dive gear.
-fixed sagging corner on crane deck/walkway
-checked/cleaned Science House propane cleanout

Holiday Weekend

Overcast. Moderate West wind.

Tour boats:7
Dive boats: 1

The swallows are still here, cruising around the island like mini jet planes. A Cackling goose showed up this morning, and the snow goose is still foraging on Great Race. There are now 7 Elephant seals on Great Race. 6 are next to the path on the way to the energy building, and one with scabby-molt is on the path in front of the West door to the Keeper’s house. The Canada geese are still starting nests. A sure fire way to locate a Canada goose nest is to wander around the island and when a Goose comes flying at you and attacks you, it’s pretty likely that you are right next to their nest.

The generator is still down. Fingers crossed for the new voltage controller and electrician this week. The PV panels and battery bank are still doing their job. They are definitely operate at the low end of the acceptable range on cloudy days, but it is enough to keep everything running. Aside from my accommodation, the other continuos draws on our energy system are the Environment Canada weather station at the top of the tower, the School Network weather station at the base of the flag pole, and the 3 cameras.

The first orthophoto is digitized for the GIS and I finally got the projection issues sorted out so Race Rocks officially has mapping capabilities.

Gale

Strong Westerly gale all day. Intermittent rain and sun. Rainbows.

So far the new chimney for the wood stove is coping with the wind. It’s only been blowing up to 40-ish knots, but it’s still going strong.

There are a few Steller Sea lions still hanging out on the South rocks, although they spent the day in the water because of the foul weather.
This morning there were Pigeon Guillemots all over the end of the jetty.
The eagles are still around, feeding on the Sea lion carcass on the East beach.

Earlier today, while up in the lantern room, all of the Gulls lifted off the island because an Eagle flew over Great Race. So while it was blowing 30+kts, every bird on the island lifted up to the height of the tower and did their best to avoid the eagle. The eagle settled on the East beach and eventually the Gulls sat back on the ground. For those few minutes it was pretty amazing seeing all of the gulls and a great big Eagle doing their aerial acrobatics up at 100ft.

 

-working on drainage issues around buildings
-trying to quiet down all the squeaks and rattles that happen in the keeper’s house when it’s windy

Shift Change

Rain and Moderate West wind yesterday. Blowing hard West overnight and gusting 40+ kts. Clear today with a solid West Gale blowing.

Alex left Race Rocks on Saturday. He picked me up in the Whaler and we had a few hours of overlap to go over the changes to the systems, etc. He left when Erik came to pick up the PC Students that spent Project Week out here.

I spent yesterday settling in and puttering. Alex left the Reserve in great shape. Spring shift will be all about birds. There are lot’s of Bald eagles siting all over the island, often very close to the Keeper’s House. They are impressively large birds when you see them up close.  Th Canada Geese are pairing up and honking and fighting. Mating Canada Geese are pretty terrifying creatures. In terms of sharing the island, I think I prefer the Fall Sea lions, who despite their noise and smell, are quite charismatic and fun to watch, they also don’t rush you when you’re back is turned. There is a pair of geese trying to make a nest under the South porch which makes getting firewood and going to the compost a bit nerve wracking. I will pile some wood down there and hope it deters them.

A pod of Orcas came through the reserve on Sunday. Adults and juveniles. They hung out on the East side and harassed the Sea lions on the South Rocks. A friend of mine out sailing said that they were transients, but I’m not sure. I guess I’ll have too look up how to tell the groups apart. I noticed the whales because an eco-tour boat was watching them. The boat kept its distance and idled respectfully at the edge of the Reserve. It is nice to see the tour boat operators voluntarily following the regulations set up by the Pacific Whale Watch Association for the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve where “Vessels will remain outside all of the Go Slow Zone whenever Resident, Transient or Off Shore Killer Whales are present in the Go Slow Zone.” See this link for more information about whale watching within the Reserve.

-cleared kitchen window weep holes to hopefully help with the leak issue
-dug a drainage ditch along North side of Student house

 

 

Lot’s of People

Clear skies. The odd rainy patch. Moderate West wind.

A busy day out here at Race Rocks. The last group of Marine Science students came out with Anne Stewart to do their transect lab. They will be following up their field work by working with their data in class for a couple days. The Friday ‘Dive Activity’ group came out and I got to go with them for a dive off the jetty. And in the evening Erik brought out Aileen and her big group of advisees for the ’48 hour’ program.

Calm Day

Clear skies. No wind. Glassy water.

6 tour boats
1 recreational fishing boat tied up to the green buoy on Rosedale Reef. They were fishing at the very edge of the Reserve.
 

Erik brought out Anne Stewart and a group of first year marine science students to do a tide pool lab.

 

last day

Clear skies. Strong NE winds. Cold

Despite the winter weather, it is still a busy place out here in the reserve. The female elephant seals are hauled out on Middle Rock. The male Elephant seal is next to the Science House. There were lot’s of Oyster catchers, and way more Cormorants then I was expecting. There are also still quite a few Sea lions (~470) in the reserve; mostly on the South side of Great Race and South Rocks. I finally got a decent picture of a Savannah Sparrow today; and the Sandpiper stopped long enough to get a good photo so I could finally ID it.

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