3 Female Elephant Seals, 2 nursing pups, one still expecting
2 Elephant Seal pups, sometimes struggling to move around with mom when she changes terrain
Although the Eagles have been actively hunting gulls out here, I was puzzled but the remains of Turnstones as well. This morning I witnessed the successful hunt of a Turnstone by one of the 2 Ravens here
Adult Eagle
Juvenile Eagle
Raven
Turnstone
Facility Work:
Covered the broken window on the crane shed
refinishing in the spring
Collected and bucked more firewood logs
Noted Vessel Traffic:
3 Ecotourism Vessels
Weather Events:
Yesterday (Saturday January 21):
Sky: Overcast with very occasional rain sprinkles
Wind:NE 15-20 kts
Sea: rippled to 2′ chop
Temperature Low 6oC, High 9oC
Today (Sunday January 22):
Sky: Overcast with sunny breaks in the morning, light haze by afternoon
Wind: N/NE 0-5kts, shifting to SE in the afternoon
Sea: light chop
Temperature Low 5oC, High 7oC
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
3 Female Elephant Seals. 2 nursing pups, and 1 expecting to give birth any time now.
Newest Female Elephant Seal, arrived Jan 19
2 Elephant Seal pups nursing and growing very fast! The smaller pup is 7 days old, the large pup is 24 days old.
Moms and Pups
There are now at least 10 pairs of Canada Geese, display territorial behaviour prior to nest site selection.
With the aid on binoculars, still able to spot an Adult Humpback and calf in the separation zone, south of the reserve
Orca passed back and forth in front of the pier, as well as circling the main island, appears to have taken a younger Sea Lion in the process.
1 of the group of 3
Visitors:
The Marine and Seafront Operations Coordinator brought groceries, plywood, and fuel over 3 trips. Also aided in log retrieval for firewood
Also transport 2 people from the IT Department to continue troubleshooting the internet system.
DND events:
Some detonations over the last few days
Noted Vessel Traffic:
3 or 4 Ecotourismvessels enjoying the sights and sound of the reserve
5 Private vessels, 1 rental from a local marina
Noted Infractions:
The rental vessel circled the main Island 3 times, quite close to the rocks, then went through the main channel at full speed when departing
Vessel was approached by the Marine and Seafront Operations Coordinator (who was on his way here with deliveries), and the rental location was politely contacted by phone. They will remember to let their customer know about the guidelines for Ecological Reserve at Race Rocks.
Feature Event:
Have spent lots of time working with Media requests around the birth of the second Elephant Seal pup ……. all requests vetted through the Pearson College Director of Communications
For anyone who may have missed it, here is the link to the Video on the Pearson College YouTube channel:
Recent Weather included a mix of overcast and sun, seasonally mild temperature, and only one day of rougher seas to 1 meter waves.
1 Juvenile Male Elephant Seal (yearling?). He is determined to be with the others, but they keep chasing him away. He does a big loop around the flagpole mound and returns
Still finding gull remains from the Eagle hunts, but have also seen the eagles swoop diving on the Turnstones as well
Have seen all 3 types of Cormorants this last week – Pelagic, Double Crested, and Brandt’s
Most gulls present are Iceland (formerly Thayer’s)
Thanks to Ann Nightingale for helping me to learn to ID more birds!
Visitors:
Cedric brought 2 groups of 6 students with their Teacher over to see and learn about the Elephant Seals and pup
Weather Events:
Primarily N/NE winds for the last week, overcast with lots of snow
Tuesday January 10:
Sky: Slight haze, light haze, mostly sunny in the morning
Black Oystercatchers feeding
Details
several large groupings on known refuge for this species- exact count