Today (Thursday) is my last full day as a relief Eco-guardian at Race Rocks, so it seemed fitting that there be a few interesting events. The first was waking up to a sky full of wildfire smoke. We’ve been so lucky with the westerly winds that kept all of the smoke away, but with the latest heat wave and drop in wind, it was on us before dawn today.

Smoke on the water

It was also eerily quiet.  The hundreds of California Gulls that have been somewhere around here each morning were missing.  What was present were tankers and bulk carriers. I’m sure they’ve been plying the waters of the shipping channel all week, but today was the first day I noticed them in such numbers.  There were 6 in quick succession in the first hour I was watching.

One of many vessels that passed by Race Rocks today.

It’s amazing how much traffic there is in the Juan de Fuca Strait. It’s possible to watch and get details on the ships in real time here.

I started the day by washing the solar panels–a necessary task given the amount of bird droppings on them.  They’ve been outfitted with bird spikes, but on my last panel today, I found this:

Yes, a gull demonstrating how clever he (or she) is in defeating the mechanisms we put in place to stop them. Just step on the flat side, not the pointy end!

A closer look revealed something else.  This bird is banded!!!  For bird banders, there’s little more exciting than finding out what has happened to birds you banded. That happens when others observe or find the bands, determine the band number, and report that information to reportband.gov  . Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me, and the bird also wasn’t going to stick around. In fact, it flew. The good news is that most of the gulls on the island are at least somewhat predictable as they are on territories right now. I saw him fly around the lighthouse but not come out the other side.  It was possible he was very close by.  When I finished the panel cleaning, I grabbed my camera from the generator room, and went off in search of a gull among 700. It didn’t take me too long to find him, but not in a very convenient spot.

Each bird band has a unique set of nine numbers.  You need them all to positively identify the bird.  This means you have to get a decent photo of all sides of the band, and that can take a bit of patience.  Fortunately, I have that! My presence riled the gulls enough that they were all yelling at me and the banded gull came in to help chase me off. That was good enough to get me a partial set of numbers.  Now I had to get him from the other side. I moved closer to the house and waited. After about 4 times of him coming to the ground and flying off, I finally had all the numbers!

If you ever find or photograph a bird band, you should report it to reportband.gov. There are a series of questions to answer, but in the end, you will learn about the banding of the bird and receive a certificate of appreciation.

Ecological Notes:

Mammals

1 male Elephant Seal – departed today after molt. After he spent the night at the dock last night, I suspected this might happen.  He was in the water most of the day, and when I looked for him around suppertime, he was nowhere to be seen.

Steller’s Sea Lions – Good numbers now on Great Race Island

California Sea Lions – Numbers increasing dramatically on Great Race and surrounding islands

Harbour Seals – Many throughout the area

Birds

7 Black Oystercatcher, including young bird near the dock

18 Black Turnstone

5 Least Sandpiper

1 Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper in the lead, followed by Least Sandpiper

11 Common Murre

136 Pigeon Guillemot counted by clicker at around 8 am. There could be more, but no fewer.  Many catching gunnels or blennies (see last bird on right).

3 Heermann’s Gull

400 California Gull, mostly feeding on krill today

700 Glaucous-winged Gull, including 1 banded

Tussles like this are going on all the time

6 Pelagic Cormorant

1 Bald Eagle on Turbine Island at dawn

22 Purple Martin – biggest bird surprise of the day! Flock circled the lighthouse at 8:35 pm and continued south. Only flyovers I have seen this week.

1 Song Sparrow, rummaging in the compost

Facility Work: Cleaned solar panels. Not one window had gull droppings today, thanks to the calm winds.

Vessel Traffic: Many vessels in the shipping lanes today. Smaller than usual number of eco-tourism vessels, likely due to Biggs Orcas in other areas around the region. Several private fishing vessels came by the dock because of the sea lions.

Infractions: Private vessel coming through the reserve at too high a speed. Warned them to slow down, which they did.

Weather Events:  First day of noticeable smoke from fires on the mainland. Reduced visibility. Low winds from the south and east.

Wildfire smoke was present all day.

 Weather – Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?