Glaucous –winged gulls: 285
Chicks: 130 to 150
Californian Sea lions: 120
Northern Sea lions: 70
Harbour Seals: 50+young ones
Pelagic Cormorant: 3
Oystercatchers: 4
Pigeons-Guillemot: 60
Western Sandpipers: 60to70
Whimbrel: 1
Eagle: 1
Geese: 5
Elephant Seal:0 But Courtney from Second Nature saw 1 small one on middle island
Category Archives: Animal census
Animal census
Gulls:
Adult Glaucous – winged gulls: around 600
Juveniles: a few
Chicks: (Glaucous – winged gulls) 130
Harbor seals: around 200
Californian Sea lions: 105
Northern Seals: 7
Elephant seal: 1
Canadian geese: 5
Seashore birds:
Sandpipers: 132
Solitary sandpiper: 1
Little shorebirds: 4
Eagle: 1
Pelagic Cormorants: 2 on the rocks and 6 flying closed to the main island
Pigeons – Guillemot: 67
Oystercatchers : 8 (4 couples ) and 1 chick
July 23rd: Animal Census
Glaucous – winged gulls: 300 and + or – 70 young ones
Californian sea lions: 60
Northern Sea lions: 110
Pigeons – guillemot: 80
Shorebirds possibly Western sandpipers: 17
Oystercatchers: 8 and 3 young ones
Pelagic cormorants: 3
Elephant seals: 3
Geese: 2+3 young one
Harbor seals : Incertain number
July 9th: ANIMAL CENSUS CORRECTION
In the afternoon I spotted 2 Oystercatchers close to the crane and 2 chicks at least 2 weeks old if I compare with the really small one I saw the first day we came back. I couldn’t find other couples so I will try to find out in the coming days if they have left or not.
ANIMAL CENSUS
July 9th Thursday: Animal census
The fog was still there pretty thick but around 11:30 it cleared up and we could go up the tower to do the census. We had a west wind and the forecast was a gale warning for the end of the afternoon.The wind at noon was from West at 24 knots and could go to 35 in the late afternoon. We saw a few Whale watchers boats around noon and we had no visitors. Water is getting colder under 12 degrees Celsius. Guy put a new VHF on the whaler.
The estimation of the population is:
Elephant seals: 3
Sea Lions: 180
Pigeon–guillemots: 80
Gulls: 450 (yesterday we could see a group of gulls with black winged maybe some west gulls)
Pelagic cormorants: 3
Geese: 11 (Today the smallest one of the family of 5 was not in the water swimming but looked lost alone in the island hanging around). They spend more and more time in the water.
Black oystercatchers :0
Bald eagle: 1 (they attack the colony almost every day once in the morning)
June 28th Animal census day
Formal procedure when you want to enter the water by a hot day: Guy observed
Chunk going in the water in the middle of the afternoon. In the same way as people when the water is cold and, he took his time and delicately with his ‘ left arm and hand ‘ he sprayed water on himself and only after that did he go in.
It has been a calm and hot day: no visitors no whale watchers. The day was busy with the animal census. Maybe because of the wind coming, the island was not so crowded :one couple of oystercatchers could not be found neither the small baby I saw when first coming back. Just a few pelagic cormorants and no harbor seals closed…
Slowly the wind raised and at 6h00 it was 30 knots: gale warning was in effect.
Animal census
Link
Northern Elephant seals: 3
Harbour seals: 75
Pelagic cormorants: 3
Pigeons –guillemots: 75
Black oystercatchers: 2 couples
Canada geese: 4 adults and 7 goslings
Bold eagle: 1 adult
Glaucous -Winged gulls: 400 (a few young ones)
No whales
No shorebirds
A Tale of T-Whales
Today the wind continued its westerly path, bringing fresh ocean air in through the central Strait of Juan de Fuca at 20 to 35 knots. The sky was mostly clear, with clouds forming in the distance, along the tops of the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges. The barometer continued the climb it started yesterday until late afternoon, reaching almost 1020 hPa., before starting to gradually drop as the sun descended toward the horizon. Gale warnings continue to be in effect and the forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud tomorrow.
Five whale watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve today in spite of adverse weather conditions. They all moved carefully and at a respectful speed being mindful of the marine mammals (Elephant Seal, Harbour Seals, Sea Lions, Sea Otter) and nesting seabirds in the Reserve. The only other vessel observed transiting the Ecological Reserve today was the Fisheries and Oceans vessel, Cape Kuper travelling at a discreet 25 knots towards Victoria, in the go slow zone.
Ecological happenings described in some detail in my earlier logs continue. (Elephant Seals haul out, socialize, sleep and moult. Other pinnipeds haul-out socially. Glaucous-winged Gulls, Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatchers mate, nest, lay, incubate and get territorial. Mixed species feeding flocks (fish balls) attract gulls on the water and kelp is still growing.)
Glaucous-winged Gull incubating three eggs.
Of note was the sighting of Biggs’ Killer Whales (Transients) in the evening. I counted six individuals including a large bull with a very triangular fin. The two whale watching boats closer to them reported seven or eight individuals including a young calf. As often happens with T’s, as they used to be known, we spotted them a couple of times and then they totally disappeared. They showed up again, with the whale watching boats “in tow” a mile or so to the east.
Orca Spirit runs upstream through Middle Channel.
Here are the results of the weekly animal census.
Northern Elephant Seals 3 (Chunk, Floyd and young female) only on Great Race, none on Middle Rocks)
Harbour Seals 221
California Sealions 1
Northern or Stellers Sealions 1 (juvenile (Could be the two year old that was still with its mother earlier in the season (that size).)
River Otter (not seen but probably still here, fresh feathers in boat house)
Sea Otter 1
Biggs’ Killer Whales 6 (Transients) (Just north, outside of Ecological Reserve in Middle Channel near North Rock.)
Humpback Whale 1 (“Big Mama”) (Just outside of Ecological Reserve to the south of Rosedale Reef.)
Canada Geese 16 (= 10 goslings + 6 adults) (most have left)
Pelagic Cormorants 3
Double Crested Cormorants 5
Bald Eagles 1 sub-adult (no adults seen)
Black Oystercatchers 8 (4 nesting pairs)
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots ~100
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 457 (385 adults in nesting areas; 72 roosting/resting on Middle Island including 14 juveniles). Large majority of gulls are incubating now, although some are still getting started. No chicks observed yet
Alex and I came out on Second Nature last night with Chris. Christine and Guy returned to shore the same way. A big shout out to Chris for all his support.
There were no visitors and chores were routine, but more fun with company.
Double-Billing (Thursday-Friday)
Thursday was a howler. The wind started early and blew ferociously all day. Although it developed into a classic westerly, it actually started out from the west-northwest, which is closer to the direction running down the outside coast of Vancouver Island (NW). Most of the day, it was westerly from 30 – 40 knots and late in the afternoon there gusts over 40 knots. The fog that formed early on the Port Angeles side of the Strait was blown away early and the sky stayed clear until just after sunset when clouds became visible in the west. The barometer has been rising since Wednesday and the forecast is for continued gale warnings and mix of sun and cloud.
It really calmed down on Friday. The westerlies with a touch of southwest, continued but at moderate speeds of 15 -25 knots. Although there were clouds to the west early in the morning, they evaporated quickly and it was full on sunshine all day. The barometer is dropping from a high of 1020 hPa and the forecast is for strong winds and mostly clear skies.
There were no whale-watching boats, or sport fishers on Thursday, as the weather and sea conditions were just too wild. Friday was a totally different story with 16 whale-watching vessels observed, visiting the Ecological Reserve. Some vessels made multiple visits.
There was a lot of whale activity within and around the Ecological Reserve. Both a Minke Whale and a large Humpback were feeding just to the southeast and south respectively and three different pods of Killer Whales moved through the area in the afternoon and evening, including small group of Bigg’s Killer Whales (Transients), two pods of southern residents ( J-pod and L-pod according to the whale-watching boats). One of the SRKW pods came right into the Reserve within fifty meters of South Rock, heading east. There were two large adult males, one small calf and about 15 individuals all together. Another ~ 20 individuals were travelling in the same direction about one mile to south, at the same time. It appeared as though the two groups met up and mingled to the east of Race Rocks. Time for the sockeye to be running.
Other ecological happenings are progressing as has been reported on for the past few weeks. I started a Glaucous-winged Gull nest survey Thursday and finished surveying about one third of the island. On Friday the female Northern Elephant Seal # 5866’s tags were noted. Chunk and Floyd have been peacefully moulting, sleeping and travelling up and down the ramp for several swims a day (more like lolly-gagging in the water).
Thursdays are animal census day. It is worth noting that the winter resident bird species such as Black Turnstone, Harlequin Duck and many species of gulls that nest elsewhere are gone now and so are the transitory migrant shorebirds and other migrants that stop off briefly or for a while. The sealions are at their lowest number which is expected since they too should be on or heading towards their breeding grounds. Census results follow.
Northern Elephant Seals 10 (including 5 on Great Race)
Harbour Seals 218
California Sealions 5
Northern or Stellers Sealions 2
River Otter 1
Sea Otter 1
Canada Geese 24 (= 10 goslings + 14 adults) (many appear to have swum away)
Pelagic Cormorants 3
Double Crested Cormorants 5
Bald Eagles 2 (1 adult, 1 sub-adult)
Black Oystercatchers 10 (5 nesting pairs all incubating)
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 110
Caspian Terns 2
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 424 (402 adults in nesting areas; 22 sub-adults in roosting/resting area). Most gulls are incubating now, although some are still getting started.
There were no visitors on Thursday and two visitors Friday, who did a retreat in the science house. They came and went in Second Nature with Chris.
Chores and maintenance were routine today and I am glad to report that I am able to wash windows again.
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Again it was a day dominated by the west and west-southwest winds. It was blowing 30 to 35 knots at dawn but the velocity subsided and most of the day it blew 20 to 25 knots. Skies were partially overcast and as predicted there were a few showers. Air temperature remains low, and is not much different than flooding sea surface temperature at ~ 9.7 oC. ranging between 10 oC and 12 oC .The wind is also chilling and today had the highest wind speeds of the week. The barometer rose today from 1008 to 1013 hPa and is dropping now while the forecast calls for gales and a gale warning has been issued. Saturday is supposed to be mainly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers.
There were four whale-watching boats observed, working in the Ecological Reserve today. No other vessels were observed in reserve.
Female Northern Elephant Seal # 5086 is on day seven of her moult now and has made great strides in losing skin during the last 24 hours. She has achieved the two thirds moulted milestone and is still grouchy.
Black Oystercatchers are without a doubt nesting now and there are eggs in their terribly spartan nests, which have none of the comforts of home like soft vegetation or down.
Some of the goslings are getting quite large and although they may be considered pesty, they are still fascinating to watch.
The California Sealions are moving back onto Great Race and I awoke to a chorus of them doing a call and response outside my bedroom window this morning.
Thanks go out to Don Stewart for spotting and identifying an Anna’s Hummingbird on Great Race today, I believe this is a new addition to the species list here.
Another thank you to Rocky Point Bird Observatory for identifying a Yellow-headed Blackbird, another possibly new bird to the island. It has been hiding in the long grass and thistles near the base of the Light Tower and it has been difficult to get a photo fast enough. Today it flew to the roof of the Energy Building which made a photo much easier.
Yesterday was census day but it was too foggy much of the day to do a good census. Here are the results from today’s census.
Northern Elephant Seals 26 (18 on Great Race, 8 on Middle Rock)
Harbour Seals 228
California Sealions 14
Northern (Stellers) Sealions 26
Canada Geese 24 (+ 21 goslings)
Harlequin Ducks 6
Pelagic Cormorants 8
Double Crested Cormorants 13
Bald Eagle total 3; 1 adult, 2 sub-adults
Black Oystercatchers 14
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 230
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 564 (556 adults in nesting areas; 8 sub-adults in roosting/resting area)
California Gulls 6
Common Raven 1
Northwestern Crow 1
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Chores were routine today. Courtney came out with the new switch box for Camera 2 and installed it. Camera 2 is working again now but a close-up study on diatom film. Don left on Second Nature.