Pam Birley has taken some excellent photos using the remote cameras of a pair of ravens at Race Rocks. You can see them on her Flickr site at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/sets/72157632533500094/page2/
Category Archives: Bird Notes
Wildlife
Bertha left the main island the night of the 16 and I have not seen her since. She was on the island and mating with Misery for just over a week. Zeke stayed around for the first few days and was very interested in the new arrival and activity but after being chased off by Misery a few times he left, I have not seen him in about a week. Misery seems to still be looking for her sometimes. He has been on the main island every day since Bertha arrived and seems to go off the island most nights.
The Pigeon Guillemots are becoming more frequent with a recent count of over 200, they stay mostly just offshore or in the intertidal zone and make their shrill calls. A couple pairs of Black Brant Geese have also been showing up just offshore of the main rock. Most days there are over half a dozen bald eagles in the reserve perched on the crane, the generator exhaust pipe, camera 5, on rocks, on the smaller islands, gliding in the air on the west winds, or chasing each other around.
Census, Monday Feb 18, 2013 Continue reading
Cormorants on winter roosting site at Race Rocks
A good way to keep track of cormorants using the ecological reserve as a winter resting areas is by regular photographs from the remote cameras. Pam Birley has frequently provided such images as this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/8418080956/in/set-72157632533500094
Census Jan 8
Black Oystercatchers (over 100–a record for RR) and gulls with westerly swells.
Green Winged Teals
The SGBs (Small Grey Birds). Not only do they all look very similar but they hide their beaks! There was a mix of Black Turnstone, Surfbirds and Rock Sandpipers in the NE bay.
On January 7 an 8th there was a W wind 30-35 knots. The Green Winged Teals returned to the island with slightly higher numbers than last time, they spent their time in the pools on the NE side and picking through the mud with their beaks. I have not seen any Pelicans in about a week and there have not been any Canada Geese here for about two weeks. Karen Benzel from International Bird Rescue contacted us recently to report that Pelican R36 that was seen here in November has been taken in for rehabilitation at Wild Arc in Metchosin.
Census January 8, 2013:
75 Cormorants
7 Harlequin ducks
4 Bald Eagles
1 Mallard
81 Black Oyster Catchers
120 Gulls
17 Green Winged Teals
20 Black Turnstone
10 Surfbirds
10 Rock Sandpipers
1 Kildeer
1 River Otter
20 Harbour Seals
100 Northern sea lions
10 Elephant Seals: 8 female, 2 male
Weather past week
On Dec 25th Easterly winds were gusting over 40 knots pushing swells into and over the jetty. Zeke is seen below just above the jetty near the crane pad. The Pelicans pictured below were hovering in winds around 30 knots.
Since Dec 25th atmospheric pressure has climbed steadily reaching a high point of 1030 hPa yesterday, Jan 1. For the past several days we have had sustained NE winds between 10 and 20 knots which demonstrates the potential for harnessing wind energy at Race Rocks, particularly in the winter months when there is less solar radiation to charge the batteries. Pearson College is in the process of sourcing a wind generator for the island with the goal of further reducing and eventually eliminating dependance on fossil fuel electric generation in the Ecological Reserve.
Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks: Dec.29, 2012
Gallery
This gallery contains 2 photos.
In most years since 1997 we have been able to contribute to the Christmas Bird Count for the Sooke/Victoria area. This website contains all the past records: This year, Garry Fletcher was picked up with the station boat by the … Continue reading
Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks 2012
| Greater White-fronted Goose | American Kestrel | |||||||||||
| Snow Goose | Merlin | |||||||||||
| Cackling Goose | Gyrfalcon | |||||||||||
| Canada Goose | Peregrine Falcon | |||||||||||
| Mute Swan | Ring-necked Pheasant | |||||||||||
| Trumpeter Swan | Virginia Rail | |||||||||||
| Tundra Swan | American Coot | |||||||||||
| Wood Duck | Sandhill Crane | |||||||||||
| Gadwall | Black-bellied Plover | |||||||||||
| Eurasian Wigeon | Killdeer | |||||||||||
| American Wigeon | Black Oystercatcher | GRR | 36 | |||||||||
| Mallard | G RR | 1 | Greater Yellowlegs | |||||||||
| Northern Shoveler | Spotted Sandpiper | |||||||||||
| Northern Pintail | Whimbrel | |||||||||||
| Green-winged Teal | Black Turnstone | GRR | 10 | |||||||||
| Canvasback | Surfbird | GRR | 2 | |||||||||
| Redhead | Sanderling | 2 | ||||||||||
| Ring-necked Duck | Rock Sandpiper | GRR | 1 | |||||||||
| Greater Scaup | Dunlin | |||||||||||
| Lesser Scaup | Wilson’s Snipe | |||||||||||
| Harlequin Duck | 3 | Bonaparte’s Gull | ||||||||||
| Surf Scoter | *****PedderBay | 60 | Heermann’s Gull ( * ) | |||||||||
| White-winged Scoter | Mew Gull | |||||||||||
| Black Scoter | Ring-billed Gull ( * ) | |||||||||||
| Long-tailed Duck (Oldsquaw) | California Gull | |||||||||||
| Bufflehead | *****PedderBay | 95 | Herring Gull | |||||||||
| Common Goldeneye | Thayer’s Gull | GRR | 250 | |||||||||
| Barrow’s Goldeneye | Western Gull | GRR1 | ||||||||||
| Hooded Merganser | *****PedBay | 2 | Glaucous-winged Gull | GRR | 10 | |||||||
| Common Merganser | Glaucous Gull | |||||||||||
| Red-breasted Merganser | Common Murre | Race Pas | 50 | |||||||||
| Ruddy Duck | Pigeon Guillemot. | |||||||||||
| Ruffed Grouse | Marbled Murrelet | |||||||||||
| Blue Grouse | Ancient Murrelet | |||||||||||
| California Quail | Cassin’s Auklet (*) | |||||||||||
| Red-throated Loon | ******PedBay | 1 | Rhinoceros Auklet | |||||||||
| Pacific Loon | *****Pedder Bay | 3 | Rock Pigeon | |||||||||
| Common Loon | Band-tailed Pigeon | |||||||||||
| Pied-billed Grebe | Mourning Dove | |||||||||||
| Horned Grebe | Barn Owl | |||||||||||
| Red-necked Grebe | Western Screech-Owl | |||||||||||
| Eared Grebe | Great Horned Owl | |||||||||||
| Western Grebe | Ped Bay | 2 | Northern Pygmy Owl | |||||||||
| Brandt’s Cormorant | *****Race Passage | 10 | Barred Owl | |||||||||
| Double-crested Cormoran | 240 | Short-eared Owl | ||||||||||
| Pelagic Cormorant | Northern Saw-whet Owl | |||||||||||
| Great blue Heron | Anna’s Hummingbird | |||||||||||
| Turkey Vulture | Belted Kingfisher | PedBay | 1 | |||||||||
| Bald Eagle (adult) | RR | 2 | Red-breasted Sapsucker | |||||||||
| (immature) | Downy Woodpecker | |||||||||||
| Northern Harrier | Hairy Woodpecker | |||||||||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | Northern Flicker | |||||||||||
| Cooper’s Hawk | Pileated Woodpecker | |||||||||||
| Red-tailed Hawk | Northern Shrike | |||||||||||
| Golden Eagle ( * ) | Hutton’s Vireo | |||||||||||
| Brown Pelican | GRR2 | |||||||||||
| Total Number of Birds | 784 | |||||||||||
| Total Species | 22 | |||||||||||
| Observer/Phone/Email: Garry Fletcher | Location | Species | Date | |||||||||
| Race Rocks | 21 | December 29, 2012 | ||||||||||
Dec 24th
Have had some really nice weather out here since the storm. Pelicans are still stopping in and flying through the reserve, mostly in pairs or singles. Bald Eagles have been quite active in the mornings hunting.
On top of the crane, the eagle had just finished eating what looked like some part of a seagull. In this picture the eagle’s nictitating membrane is covering the eye. According to Baldeagleinfo.com, “every three or four seconds, the nictitating membrane slides across the eye from front to back, wiping dirt and dust from the cornea. Because the membrane is translucent, the eagle can see even while it is over the eye.”
A few nights ago Zeke got some fresh wounds on his back from Misery, it was not as bad as the the last time. Him and Misery have been on the main island for several days now. I have not been seeing as many female elephant seals since the storm.
On Dec 19 there were 15 Green Winged Teals in a pool on the NE side of the island. This is the first recorded sighting of this bird in the reserve.
There has also been a Mallard duck in the reserve for over a week. Pam Birley first sighted it around Dec 18th, it was also the first recorded sighting of this bird in the reserve.
Yesterday after sunset a lone adult orca passed through the reserve going over Rosedale Reef.
Anas carolinensis: Green-winged Teal: The Race Rocks Taxonomy
Green-winged teals: Photo by Alex Fletcher, Dec 12, 2014. Alex noted that they seem to come after the heavy rains as they did last year.
Below is the first set of image taken of Anas carolinensis, the green-winged Teal at Race Rocks.
The male plumage shows up in this picture .
Ecoguardian Alex Fletcher took this first set of images of green-winged teal ducks at Race Rocks in December 2012.
These ducks are common over on Vancouver Island but we have never recorded them out here before.
Duck scratch
I suspect it was because there were many freshwater ponds on the lawns with the heavy rains recently on the island.
Classification:
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum :Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus Anas
Species caroliniensis
Common Name: Green-winged teal.
On January 13, 2018 Ecoguardian Laas Parnell records an new sighting in her log.
Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image Gallery Index:
This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students, faculty, staff and volunteers of Lester B. Pearson College and website viewers on our remote cameras on the internet. Dec. 18, 2012– Alex Fletcher
Pelicans
A couple of California sea lions (dark) and Northern sea lions with 3 pelicans and an elephant seal in the background on west rock Dec 13
Pelicans have been in the reserve again Dec 13 and 14th. There were up to 5 individuals, I was not able to see tags on any of them.
It is impressive to watch these birds, especially in flight. They apparently have a wingspan of 6 to 8.5 feet. They glide within what looks like a couple of feet of the water so when they flap their wings the tips will often touch the surface. 
touching the surface while flying low
