Category Archives: Bird Notes

elephant seals have both left the boat ramp

Posted on by
Wednesday, April 03, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.9 ºC »» Min. 3.3 ºC »» Reset 9.3 ºC
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today, 1 arrived first light, the other after noon. The elephant seals have both left the boat ramp- very good timing as we needed to use the boat today. If today was an example of the weather for the rest of spring the cold and snow of a couple weeks ago was not so bad.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 ecotour boats and 3 pleasure craft. The 2nd Nature was in with 2 loads of fuel this morning; station boat made a return trip to Pedder Bay -mail and supplies- Garry was out this afternoon with some students(college boat)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North East 8 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:19 AM

Blue Heron flew over from Pedder Bay

Posted on by
Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1 ºC »» Min. 4.0 ºC »» Reset 7.7 ºC
MARINE LIFE: Not much activity this morning, the north wind was really cold but the afternoon sun was very therapeutic.While I was out picking a few greens the geese waddled over to see what I was up to, they are quite tame and a bit like puppies. As I worked my way along the garden they they kept up about a foot behind me.They enjoyed the carrots I threw on the grass and they spent an hour or so after I went inside, up in the garden scratching about for more. The small pond was popular this afternoon with the gulls and crows. The geese tried to join the gulls in the pond but the gulls squawked and took off , the geese happily shared with the crows and starlings About 14:00 a Blue Heron flew over from Pedder Bay and sat majestically on the east ridge of Gr. Race and is still there as the sun sets.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats and 2 College boats this afternoon with students for a dive with Chris and filming with Garry.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North East 20 Knots »» Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:23 AM

engaging in the preliminaries of early courtship

Posted on by
Monday, April 01, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.0 ºC »» Min. 5.9 ºC »» Reset 7.5 ºC
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature bald Eagle today. The geese are still here but I expect any day now they will move on in search of better nesting sites. The two elephant seals have inched their way up the ramp to within 8 inches of the boat house door and show no signs of leaving. Many of the gulls are spending all day in nesting areas and some are engaging in the preliminaries of early courtship-very entertaining to watch- much neck stretching and head bobbing.It can get quite noisy what with the gulls, Oyster Catchers and 7 crows all vocalizing at once when the eagle flies over head, even the geese get in the act.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats and 5 Pleasure Craft through the MPA today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:53 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind West 17 Knots »» Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:07 AM

Starlings

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Saturday, March 30, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.0 C  Min. 6.3 C  Reset 7.7 C
MARINE LIFE: only 1 mature Bald Eagle today. Still the pair of geese-will miss them when they leave.This morning they spent several hours by the garden area along the walkway watching the starlings flying nesting material into the air vent hole in the dessaliation plant building. The starlings raised 2 ‘clutches’ last year and it looks like we will again be able to enjoy the antics of the young learning to fly and then hunt for food. The Marine mammals are interesting and certainly impressive by their size but I find bird behavior fascinating.Here we are lucky to observe the full range of activity – courtship, nest building ,egg laying etc. and watching the way they will band together to drive away an eagle or other danger. Individual birds have personalities, some are very aggressive and always on the alert, then others much slower to take action.There are a few gulls already making attempts at getting a nest together but for most of them nest building is a few weeks off yet. The small elephant seal is still on the boat ramp – doesn’t look like we will be using the boat for a while!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 3 ecotour boats, 1 Pleasure craft, 1 College boat- brought some students over to spend the night(filming project)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:02 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 17 Knots  Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:07 AM

Eagle harassment

Posted on by
Sunday, March 31, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1 C  Min. 6.5 C Reset 8.5 C
TOTAL PRECIPITATION: Rain 92.5 mm Snow 20.2 cm Total 112.7 mm For the Month.
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature Bald Eagle today, it spent most of the day atop the ridge on the southeast rocks then late in the afternoon, much to the consternation of the gulls and Oyster Catchers, landed on a high point along the east of Gr. Race. There was a lot of noise as the gulls and Oyster Catchers tried to drive the eagle away, at times diving within inches of the eagle’s head.Finally after about 5 minutes the big bird flew off towards Whirl Bay and everything was quiet again.The Juvenile elephant seal has company now, about 17:00 another juvenile elephant seal, just a little larger, hauled out alongside on the ramp.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats through the M.P.A. The college boat picked up the students about 14:30 to return to campus( hope they did not get too wet in the flying spray from the 30+ knt westerly)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind West 21 Knots �� Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:50 AM

Early stages of Gull nest building

Posted on by
Friday, March 29, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.7 C  Min. 5.9 C  Reset 7.0 C Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 Bald Eagles – 1 mature -1 pair Geese. The day started out quite promising however by 13:00 the westerly picked up to 23knts and gusting 30. The small elephant seal is still nosed up to the boat house door and shows no signs of leaving. Enjoy watching the geese which find the activities of the gulls worth investigating up close- as some of the gulls wander about doing what I call ‘ the best methods of nest materials gathering practice’ the geese waddle along behind and follow the gulls right into what will soon be a danger zone -the nesting area. The gulls tolerate the geese now but once they start constructing nests they will become very territorial and will drive off any threat including another gull. Poor friendly geese!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats and 1 small sailboat through the M.P.A. today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:39 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 11 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:26 AM

Pigeon Guillemots are coming ashore

Posted on by
Saturday, March 23, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max.11.0 C Min.4.9 C  Reset 7.9 C
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature bald Eagle. 2 pr. Geese. The Pigeon Guillemots are coming ashore in the early morning now, they stay,some near nesting areas others grouped together along the dock, until near noon.2 Bull Elephant Seals spent most of the day hauled out on the boat ramp, the smaller seems much less bothered by the human presence.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 4 Ecotour boats, 6 pleasure craft through the M.P.A.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:55 PM

a change in the weather

Posted on by
Friday, March 22, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.5 C  Min. 3.9 C  Reset 6.2 C
MARINE LIFE: Well the birds are certainly willing to give this ‘spring thing’ another go, what a difference a day can make.At first light the island was alive with honking geese-2 pair- cheerful Oyster Catchers and 80 to 100 noisy gulls.Amazing how a change in the weather can have such an effect , hope it lasts! 1 of the bull Elephant Seals hauled out again on the boat ramp and over the course of the day moved up by the tank room and seemed not at all stressed by the attention of the human visitors, as long as reasonable distance was maintained of course!
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 5 Ecotour boats, 3 Pleasure Craft through the M.P.A. 1 College boat with Garry and students arrived in the afternoon also the station boat made a return trip to Pedder Bay.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:59 PM

Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Cloudy �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind North East 11 Knots �� Sea 1 Foot Chop

posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:17 AM

Hopefully the ‘spring’ is just around the corner!

Posted on by
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE:Max. 4.1 C  Min. – 1.9 C  Reset 0.0 C  Rain 5.6mm } } Snow 4.0cm  Total Precipitation 9.6mm
MARINE LIFE: Very little animal activity today and definitely not typical weather for the first day of spring for Race Rocks.Counted 6 gulls just below the northeast ridge, huddled against the really bitter wind. Although the temperatures don’t seem all that cold they are taken in an enclosure protected from the wind,so no wind chill is factored in to give a real feel of how cold it is for the birds, especially.The 7 Northern Sealions that started out the day hauled out on the southeast rocks soon took to the water which at about 7 degrees would be the warmer choice.No Elephant seals hauled out on the ramp today which is good as the 6-7 foot swells toss all sorts of debris including large logs as far as the boat house door. Hopefully the ‘spring’ is just around the corner!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:20 PM

Good Morning

WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 1 Miles Snow Wind 29 North North East Gust 37 Knots Sea 5 – 6 Foot Moderate Low East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 AM

Largest bull Elephant Seal spent the morning hauled out

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Tuesday, March 19, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 6.0 C Min. 2.7 C  Reset 3.9C Rain 6.0mm
MARINE LIFE: 3 Bald Eagles – 2 mature. Largest bull Elephant Seal spent the morning hauled out beside the winch house then rejoined the others on the boat ramp. 1 pair of Geese today.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Coast Guard Helicopter arrived close to 9 a.m. with 2 men to work inside the tower, chopper back at 2:15 to return workers to Victoria Base. Very blustery all day, hard to believe official start of spring is tomorrow.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:07 PM

Good Morning

WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 23 Knots  Sea 4 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:39 AM