Author Archives: Julie Bowser

Another juvenile elephant seal

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Winds decreasing all day to almost zero. Forecast calling for showers after midnight tonight. Barometric pressure still on the rise since Saturday night.

5 whale watching boats

3 recreational fishing boats

Another juvenile elephant seal arrived on the island today, bringing the total number to three. All three made their way down to the jetty this afternoon and the two juveniles were sparring for an hour or so. The adult river otter also made its way from Camera 5 to the winch deck again today. Great bioluminescence tonight!

Continued cleaning the boat shed.

Sea lion on the jetty

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Westerlies between 20-30 knots all day. Sky cloudy for most of the day with some sun. Barometric pressure starting to climb since yesterday. Winds are forecasted to reach a high of 25 knots tomorrow evening.

10 whale watching boats in the reserve today.

First sea lion on the main island found a spot on the end of the jetty. Although there have been several Stellers on West Rocks for more than a week, this was one of the first Californias I have seen this shift. Saw both pair of Black Oystercatcher chicks today and their beaks and plumage are getting much lighter.

Started cleaning out the boathouse this afternoon.

Business as usual

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Northwesterlies for most of the day rising from 15 knots this morning to 35 knots now. Skies cloudy this morning but cleared up in the afternoon. Barometric pressure decreasing all day.

2 whale watching boats passed through the reserve this morning.

Business as usual. The river otters went for another outing this evening making their way towards the helicopter pad.

Animal Census and more…

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Winds have been on a downward trend since Monday but since noon today have picked up to 35-40 knots. Barometric power dipped to a low of 1010 hPa Wednesday evening. We’ve had heavy fog until yesterday and today.

Few boats in the reserve this week (I suspect due to fog).

Two whale watchers today and 2 recreational fishing boats passed through the reserve today.

Animal Census (for Wednesday, 16 July):

256 Gulls
9 Pigeon guillemots*
2 Elephant seals
13 Steller sea lions
1 Double-breasted cormorant
9 Black oystercatchers
6 Canada geese
38 Black turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala)
2 Ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres)

*I only saw nine guillemots on Wednesday, 5 of which were flying away from the island. I don’t know the reason for the low number but Thursday I counted over 80 again.

I have not seen Cheeky since Tuesday, however, a new (very plump) female elephant seal arrived Wednesday afternoon. After female was on the jetty at ~1800h but seems to have swam away again. Chunk is still here. The river otters made another appearance tonight. Running in the same direction the adult led the two young otters with a gull chick in its mouth. Before going under the diesel holding tank the two juveniles started away at the chick. the Canada geese arrived Monday afternoon. Until today, there was a group of 5 that moved around together and an additional single goose that was seemed on its own. Today I counted seven and they were all together.

Monday morning I lost ethernet connection in the main residence. Jonathan came out Tuesday to have a look and he returned with two electricians on Thursday to fix the issue. Filled the batteries yesterday while they were here and got a tutorial on the Nikon camera.

Whimbrel and otters

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Fog until after 1100h. Westerlies that stayed between 20-30 knots for most of the day. Air temperature was 10-12 degrees Celsius all day. Forecast calls for winds rising to 20-30 knots tomorrow afternoon.

2 recreational fishing boats passed through reserve today

This afternoon I spotted a Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) on the south side of the main island. It was flying solo and I didn’t see any others around. Chunk has finally completely finished moulting. He’s looking silver and sleek! He and Cheeky have been testing out new resting spots on the island that are unfortunately close to some gulls’ nests. (Yesterday Chunk rolled over on one of the chicks, but it survived.) This evening I saw three river otters run under the big empty tank near the winch shed used for transporting diesel. They were hurrying from the direction of the main residence (opposite the ocean side) right through a number of gulls’ nests. It was the gulls’ squawking that made me notice them in the first place.

Ran the desalinator today. Sharpened the axes on cite. Prepped the propane tanks for painting but it was too windy.

 

Fog all day

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Consistent fog since sunrise. West winds between 20-30 knots for most of the day and on the rise. Barometric pressure increasing since Thursday night. Gales forecasted for tomorrow afternoon.

No boats today (although maybe because of zero visibility).

5 Canada geese arrived on the island today. Chunk and Cheeky did not visit the water today but recently Cheeky has been visiting after dark.

Started inventory of safety kits on the island. Filled up on gas yesterday at Pedder Bay Marina.

Animal Census

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Low winds all morning that rose quickly to 30 knots after noon but is now descending again. Barometric pressure still decreasing since Sunday. Winds forecasted to stay between 10-20 knots for tomorrow.

10 whale watchers

Animal Census
380 Gulls (Glaucous-winged + Heermann’s)

59 Pigeon guillemots
1 Elephant seal
2 Stellar sea lions
2 Bald eagles
140 Harbour seals
18 Black oystercatchers + 2 chicks
1 Spotted sandpipers (Actitis macularius) 
I conducted the census when the tide was rather high which may account for the fewer number of harbour seals, which appear in larger numbers at low tides when they rest on the outer rocks.
One float plane passed over the reserve this afternoon.
No sight of Cheeky today, our second largest male elephant seal.

 

Elephant seal shots

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Chunk and Cheeky sparring near the jetty

Chunk and Cheeky sparring near the jetty

Cheeky hurrying up the boat ramp away from Chunk

Cheeky hurrying up the boat ramp away from Chunk

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Chunk and Cheeky sparring in the water near the jetty

Chunk snoozing next to a gull's nest

Chunk snoozing next to a gull’s nest

Cheeky showing his flexibility

Cheeky showing his flexibility

Winds between 10-20 knots all day. Barometric pressure has been decreasing since Sunday. Forecast calls for same winds as today. 2 whale watching boats, 1 sailboat, 1 float plane flew over around 1400h.
Business as usual in the reserve today. Gulls are becoming evermore aggressive as eggs continue to hatch and chicks begin to wander away from the nests. The oystercatcher eggs next to the jetty finally hatched today! Like the gulls, the red-beaked parents are also very aggressive. Ran the fire pump today to fill the cistern.

July 8 Visitors

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Lots of fog all morning. Winds have picked up this afternoon reaching nearly 50 knots.

2 whale watchers today

Yesterday Garry and Helen brought the Whalen family to Race Rocks for a tour of the island. I took the boston-whaler in in the afternoon to drop off my parents who have been visiting. (I’m going to miss the extra help. Thank you!)

Washed down the batteries and scrubbed off the grease. Checked the water level in the cistern.

 

Heermann’s gulls in high numbers

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Overcast and cloudy for most of the day. No wind in the morning until noon when it starting slowly rising up to 16 knots around 1900h. Strong wind warning in effect for late tomorrow afternoon. A fog belt is coming in now and the horn has just started sounding (2200h).

DSC_0259A group from Victoria of a dozen kayakers paddled around the island this morning. They launched from Weir’s beach.

 

 

 

9 recreational boats in the reserve today                                                                     5 whale watchers

Two bald eagles visited the south islands this evening joined by an immature eagle and the three stayed there for over an hour. It was unclear which was being more harassed by the other–the eagles or the gulls and oystercatchers.

My father who is visiting counted 574 Heermann’s gulls today which is a notable increase from the 21 recorded on Friday.

Chopped and stacked wood. Ran the desalinator.