Category Archives: Bird Notes

August 10 and 11

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Ecological Notes:

  • First sighting of Ollie the sea otter since I arrived. His new favourite location is in the kelp east of Great Race. I had seen him there on a boat trip on Aug 1.
  • First on-land passerines of my stay seen on Thursday, Aug 11: two juvenile Brown-headed Cowbirds. It is possible the bird I saw in the fog last week could have been one of these.
  • Sea lion numbers continue to climb.
  • Whale action must be in the Gulf Islands/San Juans, as fewer whale watching boats are coming this way.
  • Most of the young gulls are busy testing their wings, especially when the wind comes up.
  • Very low tides have revealed the eel grass beds and normally hidden intertidal zone.
  • See photos below for more ecological sightings.

Weekly Census observed on Wednesday, August 10:

Mammals

  • Elephant seals: 3 (1 adult male, two juvenile females)
  • Steller sea lions: 124
  • California sea lions: 40
  • Harbour seals: 186
  • Sea otter 1

Birds

  • Canada geese: 4
  • Harlequin ducks: 8
  • Black oystercatchers: 9 (8 adults 1 chick )
  • Killdeer 2 (only on island between dusk and dawn)
  • Black Turnstones: 194
  • Surfbirds: 17
  • Common Murres: 79
  • Pigeon Guillemots:183
  • Rhinoceros Auklets: 2
  • Heermann’s Gulls: 2
  • California Gulls: 353
  • Glaucous-winged Gulls: 341 adults 169 chicks (probably undercounted as wind caused a lot of chicks to seek cover)
  • Caspian Terns: 2
  • Pelagic Cormorants: 5
  • Brandt’s Cormorants: 12
  • Brown Pelican: 1

Weather:

  • Yesterday (Wednesday, August 10):
    • Sky: Overcast, with a few sunny periods
    • Wind: W 11-31 kts
    • Sea: up to 3′ chop
    • Temperature Low 12 oC, High 19 oC
  • Today (Thursday, August 11):
    • Sky: Overcast until mid morning, then partly cloudy
    • Wind: W 4-21 kts
    • Sea: calm to rippled
    • Temperature Low 14 oC, High 18 oC

Facility Work:

  • Solar panels cleaned daily. Some windows washed.  Postponed on Wednesday due to brief electrical storm. North side of researcher building skipped on Thursday due to presence of large elephant seal.
  • Compost renewal project continues.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve. Cruise ship traffic is increasing

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Eel grass

Race Rocks mussel beds appear unaffected by last year’s heat dome

Eel grass and mussel beds

Leatherback chitons

Bull Kelp

Many varieties of seaweeds exposed by the low tides

Feather duster tube worms in the intertidal zone

Alumni tours from Pearson College continued.

Cooperative Brown Pelican for census

Brown Pelican south of Great Race

Lots of food available Aug 10

Bait balls nearby were a boon for gull chicks

Young California Gull

Heermann’s Gull

Harlequin Ducks (females)

Young elephant seals on the ramp

Young elephant seal

Caspian Tern

Juvenile Brown-headed Cowbirds

Brown Pelicans west of Great Race Aug 11

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelicans west of Great Race

Smoke is coming. Moonrise on Aug 11

California sea lions

Black Oystercatcher

Ollie the sea otter sighting

Pigeon Guillemots

California sea lion

August 8 and 9

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We said good-bye (for now) to Jeremias and Abi on Monday. It was great having them on the island, helping with the chores and sharing their interest in this amazing place. I am here for another couple of weeks or so, and so have undertaken a new project to rejuvenate the large compost bins near the ecoguardian’s residence. The weather has shifted from the calm and beautiful days on the weekend to more typical wind and fog of “Fogust”.

Ecological Notes:

The elephant seals continue, much to the delight of the ecotourism boat operators who always check out the ramp for them.

Steller and California sea lion numbers are still on the rise. I’m looking forward to a good count on this week’s census.

Black Turnstones dominate the east bay, with high numbers still continuing. About 200 are on the island in the late afternoon.

Many of the young Glaucous-winged Gulls are stretching their wings, jumping into the wind in preparation for their first flights.

Harbour porpoises, including one with a youngster, were seen on August 8. No whale sightings in this report, but only one day of visibility was a factor.

Weather:

Yesterday (Monday, Aug 8)

  • Sky: Clear and sunny all day
  • Wind: Variable 4 to 29 kts
  • Sea conditions: rippled to light chop
  • Temperature: Low 13 oC, High 22 oC

Today (Tuesday, Aug 9)

  • Sky: Heavy fog in the morning and late afternoon. Partially cloudy for a few hours mid-day.
  • Wind: W 11 to 26 kts
  • Sea conditions: unknown to 3′ seas late afternoon
  • Temperature: Low 12 oC, High 16 oC

Visitors:

Volunteers Abi and Jeremias departed Monday morning.

Facility Work:

Solar panels cleaned; electric fence checked and in good condition. Battery bank checked and topped up with distilled water on Monday. Generator was run during fog on Tuesday morning to top up battery levels. Compost rejuvenation project got underway.

Vessel Traffic:

Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve. More alumni from Pearson College toured the area on Tuesday. Cruise ship traffic is picking up.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Farewell to Jeremias and Abi. Safe journeys ahead!

View from the solar panel array at sunrise

Young Glaucous-winged Gull testing its wings

California Sea Lions and their most popular poses

A (very) little bit of sunshine

 

Glaucous-winged Gull pair doing courtship/bonding display.

A beachload of Black Turnstones (and a few Surfbirds)

Alumni tour from Pearson College

Young elephant seals on the move

Compost project supervisor

Large root masses at the top of the old compost

The first buckets of aged compost into the hole

August 4 and 5

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Thanks to everyone on the island and the transport team for a wonderful welcome back. It’s been a year, and my brain is spinning with things I think I should remember and new things to learn. I will be posting many bird sightings to the Race Rocks hotspot (Race Rocks, Capital District, BC, CA – eBird Hotspot) on eBird during my stay here. I really like Nick’s succinct summaries and will be following his format for the most part.  I will also be updating a personal blog with many more words and photos here: http://nightingaleadventures.blogspot.com/

Ecological Notes:

The large elephant seal remained onshore on Aug 4, but headed to the ramp and nearby waters much to the joy of whale watching boats on Aug 5. There is at least one young elephant seal still in the area as well, and it made its way almost to the lighthouse on Aug 5.

Steller and California sea lion numbers are growing with several groups of Californias now being seen around the island.  Next week’s census should be considerably different than last week’s.

Brown Pelicans continue to be seen with a group of 10 heading west in late afternoon Aug 5.

California Gulls are clustering on the south part of the island.  I’m expecting these numbers to increase over the next weeks.

Three Heermann’s Gulls were with California Gulls on Aug 4.

A flock of about 15 Barn Swallows headed south over the west side of the island mid-morning on Aug 5.

One humpback whale was seen in the company of whale watching vessels south of the island on the morning of Aug 5.

Weather:

Yesterday (Aug 4)

  • Sky: Overcast in the morning, clearing in the afternoon
  • Wind: W 16-25 kts
  • Temperature: Low 13 oC, High 16 oC

Today (Aug 5)

  • Sky: Clear, except for fog that rolled in for about two hours in the morning
  • Wind: Variable from ESE 3 to W 21 kts
  • Temperature: Low 11 oC, High 20 oC

Visitors:

Volunteers Abi and Jeremias continue.  Garry Fletcher arrived with Greg and Ann for the Ecoguardian changeover on Aug 4.

Facility Work:

Solar panels cleaned; electric fence checked and repaired as required.

Vessel Traffic:

Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Changing of the eco-guard. Nick leaving, Ann arriving.

Glaucous-winged Gulls are ferocious protectors of their young.

California Gulls amassing at the southwest corner of Great Race

Sharing a meal- Glaucous-winged Gulls

During breeding season, the mouth lining and feet of the Pigeon Guillemot become bright red.

Pigeon Guillemots in flight.

Not birds–flies! The quantity of organic matter on the island attracts a lot of them.

Surfbirds

Black Oystercatcher family

One of 15 migrating Barn Swallows over Race Rocks on Aug 5.

Do you really want to fight a sea lion for a meal?

Gull Chicks Everywhere

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It is great to be back as the Ecoguardian at Race Rocks. I have been lucky enough to spend a total of almost seven months here between 2014 and my last shift which ended on September 1, 2020. I have been spending the past three and a bit days reacquainting myself with the island and infastructure. I have not stayed here before in July, so it is taking some adjustment to live in harmony and not disturb hundreds of nesting gulls. It drastically limits where I can go on the island.

Ecological Notes:

  • The glaucous-winged gull population is increasing everyday with lots of chicks hatching. I do my best to avoid getting close to the nests. I move quickly by the ones near doors and pathways on which I need to travel to get to the energy building, jetty and lighthouse.
  • A pod of orcas swam westward through the ecological reserve on Saturday, July 2, then went eastward in Race Channel. The orcas continued to head eastward, with at one point 14 ecotour boats viewing them from a safe distance.
  • A juvenile male elephant seal, tagged D018/D019, has been hanging around here for a while this spring and early summer. I noticed the tags this weekend, so I could confirm it was the same seal that Ecoguardian Joan spotted on the seal’s arrival on the island on May 19. Here is a link to the tagged resight histories, when I spotted this seal in April 2020 and reported the details to the Director of the Año Nuevo Reserve, in California. The brief version is he was tagged in February 2017 as a pup in Año Nuevo. He was first observed at Race Rocks in April 2018. He was again spotted here in April 2019, December 2019, and April 2020. His proboscis (nose) and body has grown a lot in the past couple years. I wonder what adventures he has gone on in that time.
  • I know of two black oystercatcher chicks that I have seen through the binoculars and  long lens of the camera. One is hanging out near the jetty with its parents. The other is hanging out near east bay with its parents. The dark grey fluff ball chicks are hard to spot, as they blend in well with rocks.
  • See the photos below for these and more ecological sights.

Weather:

  • The wind has been consistently coming from the west over the past four days that I have been here.
  • Friday and Saturday were part cloudly with lots of sun to fully charge the solar panels by 17:00 both days.
  • Sunday and Monday were overcast with periods of rain and fog.
  • The temperature in the past four days has ranged between 11 to 14 oC.

Visitors:

  • Greg drove the boat on the afternoon of Friday, July 1 to do the shift changeover between Jillian and I. Thanks, Jillian, for leaving the place in such great shape.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby throughout this long weekend.

Here are photo highlights from the past few days. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Gulls and Oyster Catchers are nesting

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(having trouble uploading photos right now, will add photos later)

Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Young Adult Male Elephant Seal, who is very possessive of the 1 Female elephant seal also on the island
  • The yearling “pup” was very thin and wrinkly by the time he finished his molt, but appears to have left the reserve now.
  • Less than half as many as last year, but the gull have now made their nests and sitting on eggs
  • Have found 3 Oyster Catcher nests, but now they are nesting, I avoid the perimeter areas where they make the nests, so there may be more.
  • Frequent Humpback whales close to the reserve, and one actually passed withing about 5 meters of the end of the pier!
  • 4 different times, Transient orca were observed passing between the reserve and Bentinick Island

Visitors:

  • A College instructor and 2 researchers came for an overnight to take collect some data
  • The Desalination / water pump contractor came to help repair the systems

Facility Work:

  • Replaced the pressure pump and switches in the Desalinator system.
  • Consistent near daily cleaning of the Solar Panels
  • Repaired the frozen firepump used to fill the cistern with salt water

DND events:

  • Ongoing detonations at rocky point and Bentinick Island

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Very regular visits to the reserve by Ecotourism Vessels, both Canadian, and American vessels
  • Increase in private vessels also visiting the reserve.
  • Many sailing vessels passing both sides of the reserve during the Swiftsure Race.

 

 Noted Infractions:

  • All boats on best behavior. One instance of a private vessel fishing within the reserve. They were intercepted and warned by an Ecotourism vessel after not receiving (or ignoring) my radio calls.

 Feature Event:

  •  The repairs to the fire pump ended up an extended event!

    • The main pump was frozen and wouldn’t turn over, but the back up pump started easily.
    • Transferred the firehose pump fittings to the back up pump.Laid out and connected all the hose for transfer.
    • Attempted to restart the backup pump and the pull cord snapped!
    • Swapped the pull cord from the main pump and started the back up pump.
    • When the backup pump started to pump, there was a leak from the housing right at the engine mount. Did not want to dismantle that part of the pump without parts.
    • Stripped down the main pump to cleans and wire brush all the parts to get it turning over properly (which as it turns out, I should have just done in the first place!)
    • Transferred the pump fittings and pull start back to the main pump
    • Was then finally able to fill the cistern!
    • Flush the pump thoroughly with fresh water before storing!

Weather Events:

  • Full range of spring weather, no extremely high winds though.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

More Spring Activities

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Ecological Notes:

  • 6  Elephant Seals, including this years pup

  • Although they have been courting for a while, starting to see the first of the gulls actually making nests

  • I thought the Canada Geese were done with nests for the season, but found this hidden nest after moving a propane tank

  • The Oyster Catchers are starting to protect there chosen nest areas, and are really vocal and aggressive to anything coming near.

  • A lifetime on the ocean for me, and the first time I saw one of these ….. A Lancet fish. He was looking physically good, but having trouble swimming and kept coming in to the shore … I got in the water and walked him out and did a fisherman’s revive for about 15 minutes, then he finally swam away …. Not sure if he’ll make it, but still worth the effort!

Facility Work:

  • Attempted to replace the pressure pump for the desalinator, but something is not right and we decided to bring in the pump professional.

DND events:

  • 3 separate days of detonations

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • More private, and commercial ecotourism vessels visiting.

 Noted Infractions:

  • One large Ecotourism Vessel entered the reserve a little fast, but this was a vessel that is normally exemplary in their behavior, so probably a temporary oversight. Discussed it informally with a manager from the company.

Weather Events:

  • Again, quite the mix of spring weather

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Improved Solar Power

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Ecological Notes:

  • 5  Elephant Seals
    • The Beachmaster (Bernard) has left the island, most likely for one more big feed before molting
    • 2 Adult females, both starting their molt

    • 2 new (to me) animals here, either very large pups, or small yearlings …. waiting to see if they do a normal molt.
    • The only remaining pup that was born here has completed it’s first baby fur molt, and has been tentatively exploring the area by the pier, when encouraged by another new pup I don’t recognize

Tentative first tries

Meeting a new buddy

Moved into the water while he had support

 

  • 3 known Canada geese nests now, one was right by the door to the house. The gulls robbed all the eggs though, so I dismantled that nest so that they would build somewhere else.
  • Gulls and Black Oyster Catchers are pretty much all paired up now, although I have not seen any nests yet as it’s still a bit early in the season

Visitors:

  • 4 contractors stayed for 2 days to work on the solar power system
  • 3 guests of the Ecoguardian  over 2 different time slots
  • College instructors and their guests came for a brief visit and overview of the reserve

Facility Work:

  • Replacement of damaged solar panels
    • added a new array or 4 panels
    • redid most of the wiring involved

There was an immediate improvement  to the system, resulting in a reduction of generator fuel use by about 1/3. This will only improve as the days get longer and brighter.

  • Visiting guests aided the ecoguardian in some tasks better accomplished by have some else there for safety and/or lifting. (including log and firewood prep and other  wastewood and equipment moving and stacking.) they also helped with pressure washing.

Safer to cut down on the rocky shore with someone here with me

DND events:

  • 3 or 4 days of the regular blasting, with safety vessels and Marine Mammal Observers present.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels are gearing up for the season and visit on a regular basis, often reporting the location of the sea otter and injured or entangled animals to the ecoguardian.
  • 2 jet skis in today … a little loud running against the current, but they kept proper speeds

 Noted Infractions:

  • Only one private fishing vessel in the reserve noted.

 Feature Event:

  • Spring is in full swing. Flowers are blooming, the pineapple weed is growing and of course the birds are all in courting behavior.

Weather Events:

  • very typical mix of spring weather …..wind from all directions on any given day, mix of sun, clouds and rain squalls.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Spring is in the air

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Ecological Notes:

  • 4 Elephant Seal on the main island
  • The Male Beachmaster (Bernard), 2 Adult Females, and 1 weened Male “pup” (very large now!)
  • The last pup had grown to almost double the size he was when I got here, and  I had hoped to report he was doing well, but unfortunately the nature and the Beachmaster had other plans. The (female)pup passed suddenly about a week ago and was returned to the sea today. Samples were taken for analysis, including hopefully testing for DNA to check paternity.
  • 1 California Sea Lion noted with rope entanglement. He is surprisingly active for the depth of the wound. Reported to the Marine Mammal hotline.
  • On a more positive note, the Black Oystercatchers are paring off, and some Gulls are wondering around showing off nice clumps of grass they have collected to whoever will notice.

“See my stuff????”

Visitors:

  • A couple of visits from the shorefront coordinator, delivering groceries, parcels, diesel fuel, and parts for repairs.

Facility Work:

  • After a couple attempts to repair the existing connections from the outside line to the pump, it was decided to just replace and simplify the pipes ….. to a final success.
  • Repaired the VHF Antenna on the main house, applied tape to hopefully stop it from vibrating the threads free in the wind.

DND events:

  • On and off all week, except the weekend of course

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Several Ecotourism vessels enjoying the sights and sounds of the reserve.

Responsible viewing and educating

  • With the nicer weather, several kayaks and outrigger canoes have looped out around the reserve, experienced paddlers who all stayed out of the main channel in the reserve where currents can be strong.

 Noted Infractions:

  • Some private fishing very close to the reserve, but measurements with a laser rangefinder suggest they were just outside the 40M depth contour.

Weather Events:

  • A mixture of winds, but mostly light days with mostly sun for the last couple days.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

December 29th – A Break in the Snow

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Ecological Notes:

First things first: the new Elephant Seal pup is doing great! 8 days old today, very vocal and mobile; especially when compared to last years pups. The seal pup doesn’t seem to mind the cold, and we’re reached the point of nursing where the mom starts moving around throughout the day. Maybe to stimulate the pup to get moving and muscle-y, or maybe to get a break from the nursing.

The Beachmaster left the island after the first 2 days of snow. He was spotting wallowing around Race Rocks, so maybe just using the warmer ocean water rather than sitting on land getting snowed on.

Once the snow stopped falling we had a shift in birds, with 12-20 eagles spotted in the early mornings feeding on what looks like bits of other birds. Maybe the cold was enough to provide some good food for all those eagles. Prior to the snow we were seeing 3-5 eagles in the mornings.

The California and Steller Sea Lions have been moving around the islands trying to find spots where they can group up and keep warm. This has provided an opportunity for the Harbour Seals to haul out, something that we don’t see much with the available real-estate claimed by the larger sea lions. It’s funny to me that the seals choose to be on land when the sea lions choose to hang out in the water.

Facility Work:

We have been fighting to keep things unfrozen for the last week, with temperatures dropping the water pipes froze and we’re working to keep the desalinator and other infrastructure from freezing as well. Shovelling walkways and keeping things snow free.

DND events:

Real quiet on the DND front. No boats or blasting over the holidays.

Weather Events:

The snow showed up Christmas night, heralded by the foghorn. Not much snow lands on Race Rocks when it’s blowing, and the cold (around -5 to -7 for a few days) kept the snow nice and powdery, perfect to be swept!

30-40 knot winds and cold weather have made us VERY appreciative of the new windows in the Eco-Guardian house, significantly improving the insulation.

 

Weather – Current: 

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

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Eagle Eye

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Ecological Notes:

  • As the California Sealion numbers decrease, I’m noting more Steller Sealions on the main island. They are a lot more skittish to my movements around though.

    Wary of any movement on land …

    Keeping an eye on me

  • Still lots of juvenile Bald Eagles on the island, primarily in the mornings.

Juvenile Bald Eagle, scanning the water from a good perch

More Gull remains

  • At least 3 Humpback whales seen to the southwest of race about 2 miles out, more blows in the distance.

Facility Work:

  • Temporary fix to the generator room door, awaiting new handle to install.

  • Repaired and re-installed the top of the VHF antennae on the main house.

  • Repaired and re-attached the vent hose on the Natures Head in the main house.
  • Hauled out more drifting wood and serviced the chainsaw after cutting through some hardwood logs.
  • Rebuilt and reinforced some old sawhorses to use when cutting smaller firewood.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 2 private vessels and 4 Ecotourism vessels enjoying the sights and sounds of the ecological reserve.

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds of 5 – 10 knots. did a quick rotation around past north, becoming easterly for a brief period before noon, but returned to westerly after that. Clear skies in the morning gave way to overcast by mid afternoon. Seas were flat calm all day.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?