Category Archives: Webcam Visitor Observations

Elephant seals born on Middle Rocks at Race Rocks,2009

Posted on by
Subject: Possible baby Elly on Middle Rock Also:
Although the Elephant Seal haulout on middle rock is over 500 metres away, from the remote camera5 we have been watching the other females still out there in the last few days… and now finally today ……..
Feb 3 10:02 AM. e-mail Exchange:

From Pam: Morning Garry…..have just been watching the middle rock with Slash and the two females.
I believe there MAY be a baby with them.  I’m attaching  a couple of blurry shots because I could not get a really clear view.  However, if you look to the left of Slash you will see a small dark shape.  In one pic it looks as though it has its mouth open, showing the red inside and in the other shot it had moved.   What do you think?   Could it be that the “injured” ES came up on to the rock to give birth?

Pam 12:22 PM – I’ve been watching for about 20 mins and am pretty sure there is an infant there, suckling from the ES with the scars.

Garry-12:28 PM-Pam I think you’re right.  and there’s a patch of blood on the top of the rock as well.. I have predicted there will be three babies from these three females as all look to be at the same level of maturity.
 
Pam-12:51 PM- Just came back up here to the computer.  Three eagles were fighting over something – most likely the placenta.  I noticed the red patch of possibly blood too.  Attached three more pics I took earlier.  Two of them show the pup feeding and the other (again very blurry) showing its head just popping up in silhouette.
Ryan – 1:08 PM- Yes, from Pam’s photo I’d definitely say that there is another baby out there.  I’ll see if I can get any closer photos later today. Ryan 2:39 PM-Lots of eagles out there for sure, certainly showing more interest over there than when the pup was born here.But Pam’s pics definitely show a new live pup out there, so that makes 2 at least!
In the picture above, an eagle is eating near the elephant seals for a few hours in the afternoon. So we think that there is at least one and maybe two more pups on the Middle Island.. More tomorow..
(click on this image to enlarge)e-mail From: Ryan
Subject: a clear shot on a clear day
Date: February 4, 2009 9:38:36 AM PST (CA)
Beautiful day out here, got this clear shot of the pup between both females.  Hard to say which is the mom, I think both have milk on their muzzles, so….?Ryan
At 4:00 PM of Feb 4. The new pup was doing well here seen on he left. Up to 5 eagles were also close by eating the afterbirth or perhaps another dead pup.. The following are from remote cam5.
And eventually by the end of the day on Feb 4, elephant seal pup 2 was on fine display and the scavenger ravens and bald eagles were still hanging around. Ryan was able to zoom in with his telephoto from Great Race Rocks to get these great shots.
In the next few days, the eagles were eating away at something and the young one shown above had disappeared. It is unfortunate they tried to have pups on this Middle island since there is just not very much room.  It is also possible that easterly winds washed the young off the Middle rocks as they are so exposed. So Ninene ended up as the only surviving pup this year, We believe that three pups were born in all at Race Rocks this year. This is the first record for any births this far north as far as we can determine.See the pups born on Middle Rocks in 2010

See the Elephant seal index Gallery and Taxonomy

Dunlins at Race Rocks

Posted on by

PB-dunlinjan2008

Pam Birley took some nice images of Dunlins at Race Rocks today. The location of Race Rocks Islands is important for migratory birds both fall and spring, and overwintering birds.  See her Flickr site for more Dunlin photos.

See other dunlin posts here:

https://www.racerocks.ca/tag/dunlin/

Also one elephant seal male visible.

 

Forficula auricularia: Earwig –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Posted on by

Earwig on the remote camera 5 housing at Race Rocks, November 16, 2007.P.B. photo

An interesting fact about these insect is that they are found on every continent except Antarctica.  They have a pair of forceps-like pincers on their abdomen. Short folded wings or forewings give the scientific order name “skin wings”– Dermaptera

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Sub-Phylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Sub-Class Pterygota
Order Dermaptera , (De Geer, 1773)
Family Forficulidae
Genus Forficula
Species auricularia
Common Name: European Earwig

 

Other Members of the Phylum Arthropoda at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Garry Fletcher

Phocoenoides dalli: Dall’s Porpoise–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Posted on by

PB_Dalls2Porpoises diving in the rip current just west of the main Island. Photos taken by Pam Birley on the remote camera 5 November 30, 2006

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetacea
Suborder: Odontoceti
Family: Phocoenidae
Genus: Phocoenoides
Species: P. dalli
Dall’s Porpoise
Other Members of the Class Mammalia at Race Rock

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.  Garry Fletcher 2006

 

Plectrophenax nivalis: Snow Bunting –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Posted on by
snobuntA355

Snow Bunting from the remote cam 5 Pam Birley photo

Domain:Eukarya
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Sub-Phylum:Vertebrata
Class:Aves
Order:Passerifomes
Family:Emberizidae
Genus :Plectrophenax
Species::nivalis
Common Name: Snow Bunting

c747.jpg
 snow bunting snow bunting

This is a very pale Snow Bunting . Snow Buntings are uncommon around Victoria and best seen in late fall-early winter, so any bunting in February is unusual. This is only the fourth Snow Bunting record for the Rocky Point Bird Observatory checklist. The first three images were taken in February 2005 using the remote camera 5.  The last picture is a poor image through a blurry remote camera 5 housing, but the only one we have so far of a male snow bunting which was taken by PB in March 2007.

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students,faculty and volunteers of
Lester B. Pearson College 		Date:Feb 2006 Pam Birley

Bubo scandiacus: Snowy owl–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Posted on by

Pam was interviewed recently about her wildlife viewing on racerocks.com ref: Anderson, Charlie, “Live Wildlife for your Living Room “,The Province (newspaper) , Vancouver, B.C. ( Sunday, Nov.21, 2004)

A comment from David Allinson of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory:
Pam Birley captured the pictures of this rare sighting at Race Rocks remotely on robotic camera 5.
“This is the second sighting of snowy owls at Race Rocks.The last historical record was almost exactly 40years ago when 7 birds were present on December 3, 1966 at Race Rocks.
I suspect there have been other records since, but they can easily be overlooked out there. We have no records for Rocky Point proper, but Race Rocks is in the checklist area. The bird appears to be an immature due to heavy barring. It is hard to be certain of its age/sex.
….. Note also that the AOU in 2003 announced a taxonomic change to Snowy Owl –it is now ‘Bubo scandiacus’ (was ‘Nyctea scandiaca’) as it is more closely related genetically to other owls in the ‘Bubo’ genus (e.g. Great Horned). The specific name is an adjective and changes to agree with the gender of the generic name.”

Pam Birley captured the pictures of this rare sighting at Race Rocks remotely on robotic camera 5.
Other Owl sightings at Race Rocks

Below are some of the images taken by ecoguardians in other years:

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

 

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 name –year (PC)

Calidris alpina: Dunlin–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Posted on by

Dunlin, Calidris alpina … photo by Rod King March 18, 2021 ( click to see size comparison with a Canada Goose)

Dunlin?

Dunlin, Calidris alpina in winter plumage, photo by Anne Stewart, Ecoguardian, October 14/2014

Dunlin?3

Dunlin photo by Anne Stewart, Oct 14, 2014

Dunlin

Dunlin in summer breeding plumage ( May 2, 2012-Mike Robinson)

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae
Genus Calidris
Species alpina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common Name: Dunlin

The video shows the typical feeding pattern of the dunlin, probing the debris at the bottom of tidepools for crustaceans, insects and larvae.

raisablkturnand-1In this picture taken by Raisa Mirza in December 2011,  you can compare the Dunlin in it’s winter plumage with the Black turnstone. They often feed together in the winter months around the tidepools and over  the rain-saturated lawn areas.

 

See other references on Dunlins posted on this website

Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by a website  observer, faculty, staff and students  of Lester B. Pearson College Date:
Oct 2006		 Pam Birley