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Weather : winds westerly between 15 and 25 knots all day but this evening back up to 30! Sky clear. temperature 16′ Traffic: saw 12 tourism boats today, all respectfully distancing from mammals and going slowly through the rocks. Facility: … Continue reading
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Weather: wind west currently 26 knots fog Facility: Every morning I clean the solar panels before 630 a.m. and this morning they were wet enough from the fog that they don’t require water. Because I do it every day they … Continue reading
Weather: west wind 15 knots, fog cleared by 8 a.m. visibility good
Tide .8 m at 12 noon
Elephant Seal 1 male, 1 female
Orcas 4
Seals 68 (13 pups?) on south and south seal rocks
Sea Lions both Stellar and California 60 on middle and west rocks
Gulls
While I was counting these gulls there were 2 “feeding flocks” just off the island with about 1000 gulls so there may have been fewer gulls on the islands than usual
660 on rocks below generator shed western and glaucous winged gulllls
110 on island “nesting” mostly glaucous winged gulls but several western/hybrid gullls nesting as well
estimate of between 80 and 150 chicks
Cormorants 14
Pigeon Guillemots 56
Surfbirds 8
Black turnstones 58
Black Oystercatcher 18? they are hard to count as they move around so much 1 new chick!
Bald Eagle 1
Western sand piper 4
can you identify this bird? red knot ?
Weather: Fog this morning with very limited visibility. Wind about 20 knots at noon and visibility increased. At 1800 hours clear (and the fog horn is off!)
Facility : The fog made window cleaning easier so washed the outside house windows followed by the solar panels. Much easier to clean when they are still damp with fog. Also cleaned the porch of the lighthouse as during the gale it was very slippery. Layers of algae over the bird poop. I continue with sweeping the lighthouse stairs. Greg came out this afternoon and miraculously fixed 2 squeegees and also showed me how to use the power washer. I started cleaning the walkways but it takes too much water for a task that is endless. If it ever rains it would be good to go out and scrub them then.
Even though it was foggy there was still enough sun getting through that I didn’t require the generator today.
Traffic: 4 ecotourism boats in the fog ( Greg on his way to RR did see Orcas!)
Wildlife: At noon I was able to count 58 seals (including pups) on the south island and south seal island. The fog reappeared and so wildlife viewing was limited. I did see the sea otter! It was in the kelp bed east of the island. I took a very poor picture confirming typical sea otter posture (on its back with his head flexed). Walking on the east shore looking at the intertidal at low tide I saw large white anemones open beneath the surface (Metridium sessile) and sea cucumbers (Cucumaria) in the crevices. I found this dried skeleton of a wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) beautifully hung on the rocks.
This gallery contains 9 photos.
Weather: the wind kept up most of the day and this evening is currently a gale (33 knots) from the west, clear until 6 pm and the fog bank has rolled in. I found ear plugs! Facility With a brief … Continue reading
I wonder, does the fog horn go all night?
Wind westerly
At sunrise (530 am) between 30 and 35 knots, dropped to 20 knots midday for about an hour and then quickly came back up at 1800 hours between 35 and 40
clear most of the day but fog rolling in now
water whitecaps huge swells
Boats
About 6 whale watching boats, all respectful of speed and distance from marine mammals (sea lions on middle rocks)
Facility
Could not work outside today cleaning windows or solar panels due to wind but did manage to clean camera 5 as requested
Wildlife
.3m tide at 10:38 this morning. Great place to get away from the nesting birds. I wanted to see if there was damage from the very hot weather 3 weeks ago. Marine life on many coastal areas of BC suffered greatly. The California mussels and most barnacles looked healthy. I think the tidepools suffered the most but hard to tell as I have nothing to compare. in many tidepools the Coralina algae had gone white and there were many dead chitons. Below are some invertebrate pictures, gumboot chitons, Katerina chiton, lined chiton, abalone!, nudibranchs…
I had time to practice counting birds from the lighthouse lamp room. The middle island at midtide had about 500 gulls. Below the light on the east side of Race rocks there were about 50 Turnstones and Surfbirds. They are well camouflaged. Cormorants (pelagic?) numbered about 12 on the north west. Pigeon guillemots are numerous and 2 groups perching on the rocks above me while I walked numbered 34. Oyster catchers I did not count. Below is a picture of the nest by the boat ramp.
Many of the gull chicks are practicing flying. Jump jump jumping while spreading their wings. I saw a couple get good lift.
Eco guardian switchover. Thank you Sierra for welcoming me. As the boat pulled away leaving me alone with hundreds of seagulls and their chicks, oyster catchers and pigeon guillemots I was drawn to the other mammals on the island. Hard to be lonely with this guy around! Watching the sunset from the lighthouse I was entertained by the seal pups still trying to nurse from their moms. A river otter ran along the jetty. Tomorrow morning I will check to see if it discovered the Oyster Catcher eggs surrounded by a circle of broken shells. The wind is howling from the west. Huge whitecaps. I was very glad the stairs down from the lighthouse had a railing!
Stormy day –wind 25 to 30 knots from the east
When I entered the lantern room around 9 a.m. there was a wren. It went through the metal hatch on the floor where there is a hole but soon came back. eventually, I opened the door and it flew out.
The winter wren was previously recorded in October 2016 and April 2014.
Wind from the east at 25 to 30 knots
In the light house around 9 a.m. and noticed splashing to the south.
My binoculars caught the flukes of the whales hitting the water.
I watched and counted the flukes smashing the water 10 times.
Then the whales started breaching.
I counted 50 breaches. When I counted in the teens the 2 whales breached in synchrony, for about 3 breaches. Then one whale seemed to take a break and I saw a few breaths but the other kept leaping! After I counted 36 breaches both whales seemed to take a breath ( I saw 2 breaths ) then started up again until I counted 50.
So beautiful!
It was a wild, windy day
wind 11 knots north east
sky clear
water calm visibility >15
Started the day watching the sunrise from the light house as I have for the past 7 days. This was the first morning whales were not visible. the water surface was like a mirror. There was no wind. Many groups of birds, between 20 and 50, were headed south. In the course of 30 minutes I saw over 10 groups. They looked like Alcids and I suspect common murre. There is a poor picture below but when I enlarge it I can make out the markings..
I saw what I believe was a dolphin twice. Just a blow much smaller then the whales and almost no animal visible. I only saw each blow because I was looking through binoculars at the birds, otherwise I would have missed it.
About an hour later I took this picture of an immature eagle eating a gull and when I looked online I could see its’ tag.
The humpback whales were visible again around 10 a.m. and I watched 2 of them for about an hour. There were lots of pectoral fins,dives and mouths breaking the surface followed by bubbles.
Maintenance
Greg and Guy came out today and filled the water tank, pressure washed around the generator house. We cleaned up some oil that is leaking in the generator house from the coast guard abandoned machinery. Brought fuel up to the generator. This week I brought almost all the wood from under the porch into the house and today I started moving the pile of driftwood by the jetty up under the porch. Also I am planning to have the lighthouse stairs swept by tomorrow (20 left to go). Electric fence mending continues daily.
Whale Watching boats
I have been pleasantly surprised at how respectful the whale watching boats have been. There has not been one incident of the sea lions plunging into the ocean. The boats go slowly and seem to watch the sea lions behaviour and veer away if they notice any activity suggesting anxiety. BUT TODAY after I had watched the humpbacks a boat zoomed over way too close and kept following the whales. they did not drift but actively pursued the whales for over an hour within 10 metres of them or closer. I took lots of photos and will send them to Tyron Pile. it was upsetting to watch. Maybe a new driver?