Category Archives: Facility work

Census Day

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Gulls:475

Elephant Seals: 5 ( on main )

Sea lions :0

Harbour Seals:104(same number than last week!)

Pigeons-Guillemot:50

Oystercatchers:3 couples +1 baby :7 ( maybe more )

Harlequin ducks:0

Eagles:1 (5 seen in the week)

Canada geese:0

Whales:0

Cormorants:0 (3 seen above this week)

Seashore birds:  -11 Western sandpipers or surfbirds

-1 Whimbrel

– Another specie :not very small black ones :2

On Sunday .The weather has been magnificent and hot with a light west wind. The seawater temperature got warmer than Yesterday.We got a few hours of fog last night with the horn on.

The rocks are not so busy those days …(no luck for the watchers).The kelp is growing like crazy. I found a fresh small herring on a solar panel! The eagle are pretty active in the morning.I saw for the first time this year some seashore birds and going for the water sampling from the jetty I quickly had a glimpse on one little oystercatcher,the one from “the”nest. It looks to me that we have only one baby.

Other: 2  planes above and a  kayak with 2 people went around the rocks at the end of the slag (beginning of the ebb tide :current :4 knots). No problem…

Maintenance : Another curtain for bedroom number 3 in the eco – guardians house, grass cut, solar panels done,water sample house cleaned.

Fog horn 2nd time in a month

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Weather

At 5:00 AM wind 15-20 knots increased to 27 knots in the evening. Cloudy and foggy (no  census Today!) Calm sea and Visibility :3 miles.The fog horn honked a part of the night.This didn’t happen often this month. Seawater:10.9 degrees and Salinity:31.2.

Ecological

No birds around the oystercatchers nest maybe because of the pretty strong wind?We saw just see 2 Sea lions on South Islands and 3 elephant seals at night on the rock ! quiet and lonely place.

Boats

A RCMP vessel was doing in the late evening some navigation practice around the green boyd and we watched the same boats passing by : a big fishing boat and the cruise ships coming from Victoria. At 10:30 PM the last watching boat.

Maintenance 

We had a meeting at the college with Chris and at the same time Kyle had a look at the whaler. He changed a filter and some spark plugs.Maybe a checkup by Yamaha specialist pretty soon.We got some rods for the new curtains in the eco guardians house and some wood chips for the compost.

Blue mountains

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Weather

At 5:00 light west wind 15/20 knots;Sky:cloudy;Visibility:10 miles; Sea:calm.Some rain in the morning

Ecological

The famous couple got their babies.They were not easy to observe and the parents became alarmed as soon as we got closed. so impossible to get pictures . About birds : the colony of pigeons -guillemot is getting bigger and  we have only 3 or 4 elephant seals on main.

Visitors

We got a group of people from Metchosin. They were so happy to be here that for us it has been such a pleasure to share our small world. On person thought not be able to come in his lifetime and the other one has been a  fisherman and used to see the rocks from the sea and never came on the rock .  Very touching ..We went to the top of the lighthouse ;so much fun for them and for us !

Maintenance

The desalinator was on for 9 hours and the generator for 4 hours.Guy changed the propane tank of the main house and we will need to fill up the finished one .Ready to go on the jetty.

Other

2DND blasts – strong ,always surprising.

In the evening around 6H00, looking by the window I realized that the mountain and the Vancouver Island coast was all blue. Beautiful but unusual and sure enough ,going outside it was smoke smelling…That remembered me the 5Th July ,2015 this awful yellow sky! I checked right away on CBC and it was some 4 apartment buildings in Saanicht burning. A friend of us living closed never got a clue of it.

 

Heermann’s Gulls?

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Weather

At 5:30 westerly 30 knots wind ;Visibility: 10 miles ; Sea: wavelets and white caps. The wind stayed pretty steady the whole day.

Ecological

For the first time I saw a gull quickly replacing the other on the nest .Speaking about gulls, we saw around 20 gulls among the others with a red bills (maybe Heermann gulls ? ) It a real challenge to know the kind when you are not a specialist! Only 3 elephant Seals ( the 2 large males and a young) on main ,around 80 harbour seals on Turbine and I just spotted 2 Seal lions(Californian) on South Islands. Where are they gone? At one time all the gulls were in the sky : I jumped on my camera and when I looked at my pictures later I discovered that the problem was an Oystercatcher ! So small birds but that long and thin beac must be fearsome. The oyster catcher nest under camera with no move ,the bird on the nest. Oyster catcher nest :Still

Maintenance

The solar panels are one of the favorite perching places for gulls and I tell you they need to be cleaned! Guy organised the wood closed to the boat shed and discovered a bench under the pile. He cleaned and sanded it, so now it’s again a bench and we have a gossip corner!.He saw some woods and did a new pile, Winter will come…

Other

A call from Kyle . He was around with a group of people from the college . We had an eye on the boat in case…Tomorrow he will come back and will visit the Rocks with another group . At the same time he will bring some stuff like wood chips for the compost

 

Beautiful Summer week-end

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Weather

For the whole weekend  Wind: Light west breeze; Visibility: over 15 miles; Sky: light clouds to sunny. Some rain in the evening on Friday (good for a rock cleaning!)

Ecological

The bird on the nest under video is pretty steady on her nest and we are expecting the small ones pretty soon. During the week end we have seen no Sea lions . They all disappeared from the rocks :a pretty silent place now because even 4 of them can be very noisy.We saw the same day 2 groups of 4 orcas on the south side of the island.The moon is getting bigger and the days longer …lovely  and gorgeous time of the year and especially on Race Rocks. We have 6 to 7 elephants seals on main. they are moulting a lot and you can find pieces of skin all around.The gulls now are everywhere ,very organized and some are still mating and preparing new nests . They get in fighting a lot more too. No cormorants but 4 cormorants went above may be they will do a coming back soon.

Boats

With the Weekend and Summer many many whale watching vessels around the rocks Most of the time they can be closed but they are respectful. However I have to say that one time just before sunset 2 of them went full speed between main and Channel Rocks: sad and frustrating.

It’s a busy time for the cruising vessels . Victoria had 5 boats on the same day. they are magnificent when they leave in the sunset . One time one crossed a huge barn full of wood ; 2 important sides of the west coast economy right under my eyes.

Visitors

1 visitor one of our daughter came on Sunday and stay overnight with us.

Maintenance

Closets tidying up inside

Grass cutting (compost side )

Solar panels very dirty those days

 

Other

An Coast guard helicopter did a big circle but not above the reserve. on Saturday a plane did the same and the usual seaplane on Saturday

 

 

Census day

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Harbour Seal:104

Californian Sea lions:8

Steeler:1

Elephant Seals :8 on main and 1 on middle

Glaucous winged gulls:667

Oystercatchers:10

Harlequin ducks:1

Pigeons -Guillemots:30

Canadian Geese:2

Eagle:0 but 3 seen around this week

 

Weather

Light Southwest wind,sea :flat;Sky:cloudy;Visibility:+10 miles.

Ecological

More gulls everyday and some are mating so new nests coming.The census from the tower confirmed what we thought.It was interesting to discovered a new Elephant seal on middle rocks :a very long and golden specimen. We never saw her before on main. Those last day we have between 6 and 8 elephants on main at night.About gulls : it hard to believe that those grayish birds with a black beak will become those white and light gray ones with a yellow beak..beautiful and short mutation

Maintenance

The generator has been working for 4 hours (last time :12 days ago) and the desalinisator  for11 hours (last time 8 days ago).

Guy reemplaced the water cistern hatches that were worn out with some good marine plywood ones and put a few coats of paints .The second coat was a bright yellow ! for a few second it was a shock for me ! at the end a discreet gray…ouf!

The grass around the eco guardians house has been cut

Inside work: kitchen cabinets

Boats

No so busy in the strait . For whale watching vessels ,it’s the same traffic every day. A huge cruising boat going to Victoria and a beautiful and big fishing boat going to the West coast in the early morning

Other

One and only one” BOUM”! from DND at 10h30…

Some visitors in the evening : Chris family :6 people

DSC_0292

 

 

 

 

Busy Week -end for the gulls

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Weather

Saturday:Wind:20 knots Westerly breezes stayed almost the whole day,Visibility : over10  miles;Forecast:30 knots in the afternoon,Sky clear to cloudy;Sea state :choppy.

Sunday:Wind : between 17th and 25 knots for the most part of the day and a gust around 30 knots in the evening at 9:00PM. Sky : clear

Ecological

Gull incubation is happening right now. You can see laying female almost everywhere with their protecting mate . I guess more gulls are coming because it looks to me that it was more crowded last year. Only 2 geese this WE: the couple with the incubating female .. More pigeon- guillemots (some mating) and a few Steeler Seals (5)on the rocks closed to the jetty. 10 Elephants Seals at night …the 2 large males and even the bad looking one always in the same spot closed to the solar panels building. Her skin is not so pinkish so her condition has maybe improved.

 

Boats

Saturday:A few whale watching boats today . The usual  cruising boats going out in the sunset.

Sunday:Early in the morning a tug hauling a big barge with a mechanical pele on, going towards Sooke ,Vancouver Island side. Many many whale watching vessels:5 at a time around noon and even one of them came back 5 times in the same day.

Maintenance

Chainsaw:filling up and sharpening. Some wood shopping for the reserve.Cleaning of the jetty (with the sea water pump and hose :a lot of fun !)soiled by the Sea lions living there almost all the time . They even get so much used to us that it’s difficult to make them dive when we have to get fresh water for the sampling . Solar Panels

Other

Plane heard maybe not above the Rocks but not far .

 

Quiet day

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Weather: 

Wind:12.4 knots southwest ;Sea:flat;Visibility at 5:00: to 10 miles;sky: clear. Very sunny day.

Boats 

Like usual especially when it’s flat and calm many eco-tour vessels going back and forth even in the evening at sunset.

Maintenance

This week the water sampling has to be done very late around 9 PM

 

Other: We went to Victoria for some errands and especially to buy some fabric:We would like to put some curtains on the windows ; First in the eco-guardians house and later in the student house.

 

 

Census day

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Weather

g 5:00 17 knots West wind;Visibility:10m;Sky:cloudy,Sea:Wavelets,white caps.In the evening 8:00 PM. A gust of South wind ,very local ,not expected brought an heavy rain that clean our windows and the solar panels!

Boats

Intense traffic the whole day in the strait and around the Rocks …eco-tour boats more than 30 for sure! We got call from Amatuana coming back from its trip . We had a look on it.

Ecological

7 elephants seals back from fishing at 7:00AM.(9 on the main Rock at night) Census done during the whole day. We were lucky to see for a second like in a dream a humpback whale, tail outside the water. The flowers are almost done this year ..so early if we compare with last year…I found a dead gull .

Visitors

Kyle brought some stuff,took back some barrels,went to check the whaler engine with Guy. A tool was needed to do the job so we will go to the college tomorrow.

Maintenance

Guy emptied completely the diesel barrels in the tank of the main house.. He looked at the yellow cistern:old pipes ,hoses and lines need to be removed pretty soon. With Kyle they looked at the best way to put the new ladder on the jetty.We weeps the alley and did the solar panels. Guy modified the outside pipes for the eco-mar toilets :he put an elbow shape pipe to let the air in but not the rain…Eco-mar toilets are working perfectly well.Heavy duty oven cleaning done …

Census 

Harbour seals: 103

Seagulls :around 350

Canada guess:5

Californian lion seals :20

Stellers :0

Black oystercatchers:10 birds and 3 nests found

Elephant seals:9 and none on the other Rocks

Humpback whale : 1 (one today and another one this week at the green boyd) on the south side

Orcas : a few this week

Harlequin ducks: 1

 

Other

What do you think about this I found today (Yogi tea bag): “You are the sky the rest is just the weather”..Made my day!

 

Efficient solar panels

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Weather

At 5:00 Wind:30 knots West wind;Visibility :5miles;Sky:cloudy;Sea:Wavelets and white caps.At 7:00:30knots, 8:30:34k, 9:30:40.6k,1o:30:30.6 and rain.In the afternoon it became sunny giving a intense blue to the ocean..gorgeous with the white heads everywhere and the currents…The water temperature was 9.8 and the salinity 33.5.

Ecological

The elephants Seal at least 8 of them spent the day sleeping on the grass but the young one were pretty nervous ..May be the wind?

Maintenance

House cleaning

Trimming of the rusty iron bolts where  the old ladder was attached the jetty.

Filling up of the water tank.It’s full. The pump has been running for 11 hours. This needs to be done every 8/9 days. We have been here for a week and we never used the generator even if the pump worked for so long. Thanks to the solar panels. They are working really well but it’s really important to keep them cleaned all the time. It works and it’s free.

Guy finished to empty the house tanks barrels

Solar panels

Boats

No one to 10:30,one big fishing boat heading against the wind,one whale watcher around noon by a 35 knots wind and later another long and fast one by 36 knots wind! A Canadian coast guard boat going towards Sooke very slow in the Sunset.

Other

DND activity: 3 blasts (2 strong ones)