Category Archives: ER Warden Report

3 concrete rings

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On December 29, 2012 I was looking at the winter erosion effect on the First Nations Burial Cairns. On the largest  Cairn, three concrete rings appeared which have never shown up before, since they have been covered with vegetation.

Here is the 2011 version of the mound:

Burial Cairn in 2011

Burial Cairn in 2011

And below are the concrete rings after heavy geese grazing and erosion has bared the top of the mound: Currently we can only guess that they were added since construction of the lighthouse and were perhaps used as a marker or base for an antenna.

Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks 2012

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2012  Christmas Bird Count – Summary       Date _Dec 29___Area or Sub-Area______127 Ha___ Leader Garry Fletcher
Temp ______ to ______ Wind NE, 3.5Kn Time Start_10_a.m.   Finish_12noon____p.m.
Snow ________inches A.M. cloudy light rain P.M.   cloudy              light    rain Still Water
Please report totals here
for your entire count team # hours (on foot) 1.5 distance (on foot)
Maximum # of parties________ # hours (by boat) 0.5 distance (by boat)
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

ER #97 Wardens Report, Dec.8 2012

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Leaving the Docks at Lester B. Pearson College I noticed an unusually high number of western grebes. These birds (a species at risk) have an unusual migration pattern, in that they nest in wetlands on the Canadian prairies and then instead of migrating south as most other birds, they fly west, over the Rocky Mountains to winter in the small bays of southern Vancouver Island. We have few records of them at Race Rocks , but one that ended up at the docks dead made it into our taxonomy and gallery of species.

Western grebe — 11 in Pedder Bay today

On the approach to Race Rocks one of those ever-changing sky scenes unfolded.We could see that the middle islands to the west are covered with Northern (Steller) sea lions today as well as a number of elephant seals .  We only had time to check out Great Race Island as Erik was doing some underwater work, changing zincs on equipment and cleaning the underwater camera.

Red phalarope near docks

As I tended him diving, a red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius ) swam in the waves near the dock, churning up plankton in a vortex . This is the usual location  where we have  sighting of the red-necked variety of these birds in the winter.

 

 

Grass enclosure, Dec. 8, 2012

 

A year ago Alex set out three 1 square metre enclosures to monitor the effects of grazing and marine mammal trampling on vegetation at Race Rocks.  In this one by the centre path it was evident that there is beginning to be a build up of organic material which will contribute to the turf cover.

Below are some of the pictures of the elephant seals on Great Race Island when we were there today. One female by the docks is injured as has been reported previously. Normally when there are natural injuries to animals out here we have a policy of not intervening as nature takes its course . When there may be evidence of a human cause for the injury where it may be treated, then the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has jurisdiction and must decide what to do. In this case, i suspect there is some irritation  in the mouth or jaw which is causing continual bleeding, probably a fishhook. In the past we have had one successful treatment of an elephant seal when DFO arranged for the Vancouver aquarium to capture it and rehabilitate it.  It was returned to the reserve at the end of summer in perfect health. So we have to wait and see what the decision is on this animal.

Again this year there are two males on the main island which could lead to some sparring around breeding time in January. The size of the proboscis on the younger male indicates his lesser age, and he is probably several hundred kilos lighter. It is quite amazing to see the amount of weight that Misery has put on over the past year.

Garry Fletcher
December 8, 2012
Ecological Reserve Warden for Race Rocks Ecological Reserve #97

 

Light Beacons on Great Race Rock Island

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rrtowr

Originally in 1860, the light installed at Race Rocks was made up of a tall set of crystal prisms (said to be Lalique crystal from France), designed to carry the beam from an oil or gas-light far out to sea. We do not know why this complete cage was removed but you can see in these historic photos that it was replaced with the current cage sometime in the early 1900’s. An interesting adaptation of the Fresnel lens is noted in this article about using it to focus the suns energy in photovoltaic applications:

 

When walking over the cobble areas on the south side beaches at Race Rocks, we often turn up pieces of very thick glass. This one was found in April, 2006.This glass came from the Fresnel lens on the original light installed in 1860, seen here on the right in an artists drawing. When walking over the cobble areas on the south side beaches at Race Rocks, we often turn up pieces of very thick glass. This one was found in April, 2006.This glass came from the Fresnel lens on the original light installed in 1860, seen here on the right in an artists drawing.[/caption]

When walking over the cobble areas on the south side beaches at Race Rocks, we often turn up pieces of very thick glass. This one was found in April, 2006.This glass came from the Fresnel lens on the original light installed in 1860, seen here on the right in an artists drawing

In this report of John Langevin, 1872, The light is referrred to as a “second dioptric light.”The Doty burner was used in lighthouses till the end of the nineteenth century. Note this reference from the 1874 session of parliament where the expense of oil for lighthouses on the West Coast is referred to.

Trev Anderson, 2010–(When they arrived at Race Rocks) “All the equipment for the kerosene light was still there including tanks, pump, and 80mm mantles. The huge weight that was used to drive the clockworks was still connected. I believe the A/C power had just been installed at Race Rocks,  as with the station at Lennard Island , and they had turned on the electricity soon after we arrived in 1962. The weight with cable was still used at Lennard Island….(it had to be rewound every two hours…good thing I was ambidextrous) !”

From CCG reference: “These light stations used colza oil with the Argand burner until it was superseded by the introduction of mineral oils. Colza oil had been cheaper than whale oil, but mineral oil was cheaper than both and its use was extended after the development of a multiple wick burner, invented by a Frenchman, Captain Doty, for the consumption of hydro-carbon oils.”

You can get a live close-up look of the lucite-lens light beacon above currently operating at Race Rocks by going to the remote control camera 5 .

 

 

Click on this  slideshow , made on a foggy evening of July 1 2006. Images were taken from the remote camera 5.
GF Photos.

 

 

Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris— Race Rocks Taxonomy

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abjune102012rrseaotter

Adam Bird, aboard a whale watching charter took this photo of a sea otter on June 10, 2012 at Race Rocks .

This is the first image taken of this species at Race Rocks .

This sea otter was observed over several days in the kelp bed off the Middle Rocks in Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Sea otters were introduced to the Bunsby Islands, Checlesset Bay north of Kyuquot village on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in 1969, 1970 and 1972. Considerable research on them has been done over the years especially by Dr. Jane Watson, and it is archived on the Friends of Ecological Reserves website in the Checlesset Bay Ecological Reserve #109 archives:

Since then Ecoguardians have taken pictures of sea otters out in the lkelp and along the shore of Great Race Rocks almost every year, here are a few samples:

This tag will bring up other examples of observations of this species at Race Rocks

 

I also observed a sea otter and was able to get some pictures in 2014

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Mammalia
Order Carnivora
Family Mustelidae
Subfamily Lutrinae
Genus Enhydra
Species lutris ( Linnaeus,(1758)
Common Name: Sea Otter

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, 2012

 

Phalaropus fulicarius:red phalarope–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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This is the first image taken of this species at Race Rocks  March 2012

 

 

I was on the docks at Race Rocks when I saw this small phalarope which I thought was the red-necked version. A viewer pointed out that it had a grey back and a thick bill. Therefore it is the “Red” phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius. It turns out that all the others we have seen in that same area by the docks in the past have been the red phalarope,  Phalaropus lobatus  which have a brown marked back  This is their winter non-breeding plumage so none of the colourful plumage of the breeding season shows up.  (Garry Fletcher)

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae
Genus Phalaropus
Species fulicarius Linnaeus 1758
Common Name: Red Phalarope
Garry Fletcher

Race Rocks Sponsors 2005-2011

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Lester B. Pearson College– is one of ten United World Colleges located around the world. Two hundred students from over 80 countries study the International Baccalaureate curriculum during their two years at Pearson College. Garry Fletcher, a former faculty member who taught Environmental Systems and Biology at Pearson College, is the educational director of racerocks.com. Garry still works with students and staff to guide the educational content of the site. In addition, Laura Verhegge, also a faculty member teaching Biology and Marine Science provides additional guidance to the program. Pearson College operates the former Race Rocks light station facilities as a education centre under an agreement with BC Parks. Chris Blondeau, the Director of Operations for Pearson College provides the Operational Management of Race Rocks, and Ryan Murphy is employed by Pearson College as the on-site Ecoguardian. Pearson College is the lead proponent and partner directing the racerocks.com project.

 Apple Computers (Canada)– The Computers we use for the live video webcasts from Race Rocks are all made by APPLE COMPUTERS. In July of 2000, Apple Canada became a partner in the Millennium Partnership program with the donation of a Macintosh PowerBook G3. 500 MHz. It followed up with further support in April of 2001 with the donation of a G4 500 MHz portable computer, and a G4 1GHz computer a year later. These new high speed computers have been essential in broadcasting the manually operated live programs from the islands. They have been a most valuable addition for our live video webcasting programs.

Apple Learning Interchange The QuickTime live video streams are being hosted by the Apple Learning interchange over the Akamai Internet distribution network. In April of 2001, a set of three airport cards was provided by ALI in order to make all the cameras webcasting wirelessly from the island. In late 2003, Apple has upgraded our equipment at Race Rocks with the contribution of 2 AirPort Extreme base stations and three 1GHz eMac computers for the webcasting cameras at Race Rocks. In addition, they provided funds for the purchase of the new robotic camera 5 for the island. Race Rocks support pages, ideas for educational applications and learning activities are available at: http://newali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000007/


TELUS  has been a major supporter of the rac erocks.com since its inception. This link provides the history of our long term relationship and dependence on TELUS.In 2008 , Pacific Coast Environmental Metrics assisted by volunteering time to set up a new database to restore and improve the daily log for the racerocks.com website.  PCEM donated the database hosting for the log

DONORS: This file presents several of our donors to the Race Rocks program.

The Hesse Family: Mr. and Mrs. Hesse of Metchosin have been long-term enthusiasts for ornithology. They decided to help us with our Race Rocks Program in 2003 and 2005 with a generous donation to the program. They have both passed away now but have left a generous legacy to the college.

Dr. Anita Brinkmann Voss : has provide long-term scientific support and financial assistance to the racerocks.com program.

In the design of the Race Rocks Taxonomy central index file, I have been able to rely on the freely available JavaScript DHTML code supplied by Andy Wooley of Milonic. The availability of such free assistance on the web has been essential to the building of this website .

Graduate Students: We are particularly fortunate to benefit from the services and support of a number of alumni of Lester B. Pearson College who have donated their time or have given direct financial assistance to racerocks.com

Ken Dunham ( PC year 9) has designed and implemented the advanced network at Pearson College, and recently extended these facilities across the water to Race Rocks.

Giovanni Rosso (PC year 24) has provided the money for a digital camera and a videocamera for underwater work at Race Rocks.

Jochen Kumm (PC year 10) has provided a computer for the Ecological Overview database.

Ryan Murphy (PC year 25) is now employed as the ecoguardian at Race Rocks and has provided images for the racerocks.com website.

animal census

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From the remote camera 1 the following were recorded:
Elephant seal, (Misery) main island : Misery1
Sea lions :
North Rock:10 ( probably northerns)
Middle rocks: 8 northerns
Middle-east rock:1 California
The attached images were the California and Thayers  gulls on the left, the east side: and on the right, gull censusthe south west corner.