Category Archives: Mammal Notes

Beautiful Summer days but a little bit chillier at least on the Rocks!

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Weather

On Monday at 5:00 AM 22 knots west wind getting to 25 in the afternoon and cloudy to clear later. On Tuesday same kind of weather , wind closed to 28 knots in the afternoon and very clear and hot even if the wind on the sea is chilli. Water and air same temperature of 12 degrees celsius,barometric pressure stable:101.7KPA.

Ecological

The little birds are learning how to fly but it’s just the beginning. One elephant seal ,a young one, came back on Tuesday . The sea lions are getting closer and closer on the south side of the Rock and already have  to keep the window closed because of their noisy shoutings.Kelp beds are all around and we have to be cautious with the boat.I found an egg broken still liquid and a bird smoldering and 2 very young chickens.. so the season is not over yet.

Maintenance

Guy for the last time tried to make the seawater pump working but niet it’s really dead so we brought it back to the college and we will get another new one pretty soon.He chopped more wood and will got all the wood in piles closed to the houses instead of a big one at the jetty. We had after that to hoover the water sample house because with the wind :all the wood chips went inside ! the desalinator was on part of the days. Solar panels are  efficient ( Generator once a week on)

Other

Some DND activity.

We went to the college to bring back the pump and some recycling and garbage bags and at the same time we went for an interview with Aziz for the video in a quiet environment ;too much noise all the times here. Also we had a short meeting with Kyle to double check for the  next week organisation. A lot happening around the Sea front : year 31 and 32 alumni  are coming back for 4 days.

Steady watching boats activity.

 

 

First sea lions on Main!

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Weather

The night between Sunday and Saturday was a noisy one :the horn was honking a major part of the night and even in the morning on Monday. Later in the day the wind was strong 29 knots at 16:00 and 32 around 19:00.

Ecological

The first sea lions (californians) were on their favorite spot ,the flat rocks closed to the jetty. We discovered 1 and pretty soon they were 3 and among them a huge one .We have to get ready for a very noisy environment ;even 2 of them can be very tiring ,so when you think about hundreds of them…plugs plugs ! …but we are lucky ,they are late , last year they were already here at this time  .  No more elephant seal on the rock. I miss them a lot!  For now we have  found 7 dead chicken bodies,mainly because of territorial fights.

Boats

Many watching boats and some beautiful sailboats (those ones not in the ecological reserve). Actually one came on Saturday and it was something to see it speeding with the current and without engine.

Maintenance

The fire pump died! this old timer was worn out even if it worked pretty well to now! Solar panel pretty dirty and the whole island ,alleys and rocks,roofs …everything is mainly white because of the gulls .Rain will be welcome.

The sea lions are coming back

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Weather

It was very foggy in the morning at 5:00 with fog horn on even in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. it honks to 10 AM.After it was sunny and the wind picked up to 28 knots in the evening

Ecological

We found the first Sea lions sleeping on Main rock Today behind the student’s house and later we discovered  around 20 of them on Middle Rock :they are back . Many harbour seals and babies on the rocks around.DSC_7613

Maintenance

We went to the student’s house to do some needed cleaning in the kitchen and tidying up .

Boats 

We had many watching boats That day and among them we had the surprise to see 2 guys with diving suit (one from the Navy) standing up on their  surf boards with oars to propulse them. The tides and currents were OK but imagine 50  or more people doing the same ! They were in the middle of the passage but not closed enough to make them go! We checked to be sure they left safe and it took at least half an hour.They had some diving materiel with them on a bag .DSC_7614

DSC_7607VisitorsDSC_7596

Kyle brought a long time friend for a short visit.

 

 

Whaler back

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Weather

It has been a very windy day. At 5:00AM we had 34 knots with a gale warning in effect ;the sea was choppy and we had a clear sky with 10 miles of visibility. At 7:45 AM it was still around 33 knots and after a decrease at 19 knots at the end of the morning the wind picked up again and stayed strong between 25 to 28 late in the evening.

ecological

5 geese visiting on Main,no Sealions,only on Elephant seal the adult male . More gulls have returned

Maintenance

The camera on the gulls have been cleaned and stored. The seawater pump has been on for 4 hours and the desalinator for 6 hours. We cleaned the dirty panels as usual and sweeped the alleys full of feathers. We got the whaler back and everything is working well,he starts OK now.

Other

Plane over

 

 

 

 

Foggy Nights

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Weather

We had a very windy Friday . The whole day the wind stayed around 30 knots from 5:00 AM to 18:00 PM . The rest of the WE was beautiful but foggy at night and in the morning. The fog horn has been working a lot those last mornings and nights but in the afternoons it has been really gorgeous .

Maintenance

The pump has been working for 8 hours in the WE, actually 4 hours each day, at the high tide and more hours will be necessary. The zodiac is now clean underneath and will be lighter and faster. Usual chores ;we have to clean the house windows almost 2 times a day.

Ecological

First flying exercises for the older chickens. I found a dead body with the guts above ! River otter ‘s job pretty sure. At the most 15 Sea lions on the adjacent rocks . Not one on Main and only 2 elephant seals .they have lost a lot of weight now.

Boats 

Many watching vessels and because there is not so much to see they make people enjoy their speed ,forgetting sometimes or often, where they are .

Equipment check up

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Weather 

West light wind in the morning,visibility:over 10 miles,sky :clear. In the afternoon the wind increased strongly to 35 knots at 9:PM and still 33 knots at 10:00 .In the evening fog and fog horn on.Water temperature :12.2 and salinity:30.4. Dusk before 9:30 PM.(1/2 h sooner than a month ago). Phenomenal sunset with some fog on the sea and some lightning on dark grey sky and a rainbow later!DSC_0171DSC_0237DSC_0221

Ecological

Only 8 sea lions  and 2 elephant seals :the bigger one and a small female (Chunck is gone) 5 geese visiting.

Boats

Heavy US navy boat going to the ocean. Watching boats.

Visitors

kyle and Jeff from the college came to make a general check up of all the equipment on the rock:hydro,water,security,roofs,electricity,propane,cisterns…They went all around and took notes.

Maintenance 

Filling up of the seawater cistern:4 hours

Check up for the whaler

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Weather

West lo southwest light winds under 20 knots have been on  almost all the time since last week. We got some fog and the fog horn running the whole night between Sunday and Monday to a stop at 8:30 in the morning.The rest of the day was sunny with a flat sea…DSC_0191

Ecological

At low tide the water was pretty far discovering an interesting world of rocks covered with fresh algae. We could count only 4 sea lions (Steelers) around and 60 chickens seen from the front window. If we compare with last year we had 110 sea lions and 87 chickens from the front window .What a different situation.Last year the first one on the jetty came on the 23rd.We will see …the usual 4 elephant seals are most of the time sleeping on Main Rock and the babies are growing fast. Not so much drama I guess because they have enough space but the gulls closed to the path are still defensive and this night a new one was born with 2 more coming (the last ones )so it’s going to be even more difficult to go the jetty! No new dead birds.(only 3 to now ) On Sunday we could count more than 16 whale watching vessels  way beyond the green boyd because of a long pod of orcas.DSC_0217DSC_0220

Maintenance

Guy changed the boat pump for a more efficient one.It was 360 GPM and now it’s 750. He left in the fog early on Monday because of an appointment with a Yamaha specialist. At the college they took the whaler off the water and put it on a trailer.We took the zodiac until the trailer is ready. Camera 3 has been stoppedDSC_0194

Other

3 times this week we had a plane above. Watching boats like usual.

 

 

Woaw!So many gulls to count!?

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Weather

At 5:00 AM :West wind 15 knots ,choppy sea , clear sky and visibility 10 miles. the whole was calm and just a few drops of rain in the afternoon

Ecological

3 elephant seals came back from swimming early in the morning .(the big males are losing a lot of weight). Like everyone around the elephants are tired of the permanent cries and aggressivity of the seagulls. and with the chicks around it’s getting worse.Even for us : we have 4 nests very closed to the path ,between the main house and the boat shed.. it’s always an adventure and they got me 2 times ! Hopefully I wore a helmet and I even don’t speak about those white splashes on my coat! Hatching is done almost for all the nests and some babies are already pretty big . it ‘s going fast.Today it was the census day and going to the top of the lighthouse ,we couldn’t stop smilling at the idea of counting so many birds ! looked like a joke! but with the small device we use, we managed to have a number.(1200)  We think that we have at least 2 kinds of gulls around. It’s really a dilemma even if you look at books .So to make things easier I look mainly at feet and beaks: so you have red beak and black feet (white head and black feathers ):those should be Heermann gulls and the whitish feet and black beak :one or 2 years young ones ?..The glaucous winged are easy to recognize (adults and young ones). Last year we had almost only those ones in Summer.This year it’s a mix of different ones and if they fit really well ,they stay together in groups .DSC_7529DSC_0378DSC_0320DSC_0353

 

Maintenance

We have now 620 liters of diesel in the student house . Guy put 400 liters more. the 6 barrels are empty ready to be filled up another time for Winter.The yellow tank (generator)is also full.

Boats 

Many watching boats .

6 barrels and 2 men

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Weather

At 5:30 West light wind 6 knots,no visibility :very foggy .Actually the fog horn has been honking from 3:00 Am to 5:30. It cleared up around 6:00. Sea flat the whole day. and sky :cloudy to sunny

Ecological

The seagull are the main actors right now on the rocks :they are busy and noisy.The little ones pops out everywhere ,even the ones closed to the camera 3. They were born Today but still under the parent’s wing right now…At least every hour ,especially this morning you could see clouds of gulls and listen their shrill cries,sometimes because of the presence of an eagle but not always . All at once ,around 600 of them (at least) at the same time  were taking wing in the sky and a few minutes later  back to the ground…Now I understand the expression a flock of seagulls. Still around 5 Elephant seals . Yesterday night we counted 10 oystercatchers before sunset and some very small and adorable seashore birds.A big pod of Orcas were closed to the green boyd around Noon

Maintenance

Kyle came early because of the tide with 6 barrels of diesel and they hauled them with the crank .Now we have 1200 litres of gasoil. I never saw the solar panels dirtier than Today. It was thick and smelly .One bucket of warm water for the top panels was not enough .I had to do it twice .The young ones under the low panels were born so it’s now getting tricky to do the cleaning job! The parents are getting mad …and we have to wear an helmet.

Other

Many watching boats Today and the same helicopter above 2 times. A tanker had to honk for a watching boat too closed…

 

No dust around this Week end!

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Weather

Almost a permanent gale warning situation those last days: a few hours in the morning around 20 knots and very quickly it increased to 35 to 40 knots for the rest of the day

Ecological

More chicken were born but no comparison with last year . Even if there are many birds on the rocks around we have maybe half of the nesting birds on main! same thing for the sea lions : not one ! 2 times we saw a sea otter: eggs and chicks!..No cormorants and 4 to 6 maximum Elephant seals. Maybe this is because of this very windy spring or/ and less fish.

Boats 

We saw some commercial fishing boats going or coming back even at night but otherwise no pleasure or watching vessels.On Sunday afternoon we spent 2 hours observing a sail boat with some engine problems in a 35 knots wind going towards Victoria .(they had already past the most dangerous area around Race Rocks)   We try to get in touch but nobody answered and finally they managed to enter Pedder Bay entrance and a fishing boat followed them and it looks like he changed its route .

Maintenance 

The desalinator has been on for 16 hours between Saturday and Sunday.The soft water tank is now full.