Category Archives: Species

Windy Week and Sea Lion Update!

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled
  • It has been very windy this week. Most days the wind has hovered around 30 knots, sometimes as much as 35+ knots! It has been overcast intermittently, and we did receive some rainfall.

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • Greg visited today with some supplies. Thanks Greg!
  • Since it has been so windy, there has been very little boat traffic. Yesterday we saw one small pleasure craft playing in the waves near Pedder Bay, and one coastguard ship passed by earlier today. A few small vessels and fishing boats passed by but no vessels entered the reserve.

Ecological:

  • Animal activity has been very quiet due to our stormy weather
  • The geese seem to be moving on now- there are fewer every day.
  • There are not many more seagull nests beginning but the seagulls have chosen their nesting locations and are defending them from other breeding pairs.
  • There is one sea lion who has been coming onto the jetty and does not move away from us as the others do. We believe this is the same one that we observed last year who seemed to have a propeller injury on his head. It’s interesting that he has been able to survive with seemingly quite a bit of behavioral impact due to the head trauma.

 

Windy Weekend

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear, a few clouds on the horizon
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: white caps, chop up to .5 m

Boats/Visitors:

  • 1 pleasure craft  passed through yesterday, and they were very careful not to bother the animals. It’s always heartwarming to see parents sharing an appreciation and respect for wildlife with their children :)

Ecological: 

  • It has been very windy so the animal activity has been minimal. There are two newly arrived adolescent male elephant seals beginning their molt.

Many Seals, Census

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Weather:

  • Visibility 10 + NM
  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Wind 15-20 Knots SE
  • Sea state: calm, rippled

Marine Traffic/Visitors: One pleasure craft drifted through in the early afternoon. They did an amazing job of drifting with the current so the animals would not be disturbed, and were very careful of the kelp and shallow areas. Well done!

Ecological: 

  • The animals have been keeping to themselves and trying to stay out of the elements as yesterday there was quite a bit of rain and wind. When the weather is harsh, the elephant seals typically try to lay behind a rock or outbuilding to avoid the wind. The seagulls point themselves into the wind and sit close to the ground. The sea lions don’t seem to mind at all, but the geese love the rainy days! They like to drink from puddles and clean their feathers in the fresh water.
  • Yesterday we were visited by a flock of pigeon guillemots, who prefer the jetty or rocks immediately surrounding.
  • Comments in photos refer to pineapple weed..check it out here in the Taxonomy File

Census:

  • 7 Elephant Seals
  • 8 Oyster Catchers
  • 32 Sea Lions
  • 101 Harbor Seals
  • 22 Geese (one active nest)
  • 285 Seagulls

 

Blooming Biodiversity

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 15-20 NE diminishing to 5-10 SE
  • Sea state: calm
  • Temperature 22.5°C

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • A trickle of pleasure crafts outside of the reserve, 4 inside of the reserve
  • Yesterday a very small vessel came to the reserve with 3 people aboard. They approached each outcropping very closely, scaring the animals into the water.
  • This evening a boat with 6 passengers sped through the reserve. They passed the resting sea lions very closely, and sped through the passage where many were swimming and fishing.
  • On Friday Greg visited to work on the generator, and Nick came too
  • There have been large commercial barges steadily passing through the straight. Since the weather has been so calm we can hear them inside the house, even though they are nearly 8 km away.

Ecological:

  • The elephant seals have been taking daily soaks in the shallow water surrounding the jetty in this warm weather.
  • In the shallow and warm waters this week we have been spotting schools of small fish. The larger animals in the water seem to ignore them completely.
  • There have been blooms of jellyfish passing by in the currents, mostly water jellies and the small “sea gooseberries” which seem to glitter in the light due to the the tiny hairs (cilia) that pulsate to move them through the water.
  • A few harlequin ducks spent the evening in the reserve on Friday

Census: 

  • 16 Canada Geese
  • 8 Oyster Catchers
  • 4 Crows
  • 8 Elephant Seals
  • 300 Seagulls
  • 2 Cormorants
  • 2 Bald Eagles
  • 48 Sea Lions
  • 9 Harbour Seals

Coralline Algae Discoveries, Impossible Invasive Plants

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 5-10 knots SE
  • Sea state: calm

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • One medium sized catamaran passed through race passage this morning drifting on the current
  • This afternoon we were joined by Guy and Christine, who brought us some generator hardware and spent a bit of time enjoying the beautiful weather.
  • Quite a bit of commercial traffic outside the reserve today including barges of logs and shipping containers.

Ecological: 

  • There are quite a few beginnings of seagull nests now. They have become more aggressive, and now fight each other over space. We have seen some pairs mating.
  • We have been finding coral-like white fragments in the intertidal since last year, but until now have not been able to identify what they could be. Today we found some that were not white, but red! This insight has led us to believe that this is coralline algae. Amazingly, this article states that these unassuming structures can continue to grow forever (!) if left undisturbed and have growth rings that be counted, just like trees!
  • As Gary Fletcher mentions in this post, prostrate knot weed is one of the invasive species here on Race Rocks. We noticed that it is particularly efficient at growing in places where no other plants are able, therefore it’s beginning to spread in rocky areas. It has notably spread to the rocky areas on the SW side of the island where no other flora nor fauna has managed to establish itself.

 

Ixoreus naevius; Varied Thrush- The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Ecoguardian at Race Rocks,  Nick Townley , spotted this first specimen recorded occurance of Ixoreus naevius  a  Varied Thrush at Race Rocks on February 22 2020

At this time of year the migranting birds are starting to show up. Their flyway is from the Olympic Penninsula , 10 Km across the Strait of Juan de Fuca , and the Race Rocks archipelago is the first landfall that they can rest on.   This record is the 20th migrating songbird species that has been photographed at Race Rocks over the past 20 years. . About another 20 species of migrating seabirds also use Race Rocks as a migratory stopover in the spring and fall .

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Ixoreus
Bonaparte, 1854
Species:I. naevius
Binomial name
Ixoreus naevius
Gmelin, 1789

 

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. Nick Townley , Ecoguardian

Setophaga townsendi: Townsend’s warbler- The Race Rocks taxonomy

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Our first observation  of this species at Race Rocks was made by Laas Parnell, Ecological Reserve Warden on Dec 16, 2019.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Parulidae
Genus: Setophaga
Species: S. townsendi
Common name Townsend’s warbler

 

and this reference  from The Cornell Lab website:

Backyard Tips

On the Pacific coast in winter, Townsend’s Warblers often investigate backyard feeders, most regularly when temperatures drop below freezing, to eat energy-rich foods such as mealworms, peanut butter, and suet.

  • Cool Facts
    • On the wintering ground in Mexico, the Townsend’s Warbler feeds extensively on the sugary excretions (known as “honeydew”) of scale insects. It’s such a good food resource that Townsend’s Warblers set up and defend territories around trees infested with the insects.
    • Townsend’s Warbler was first noted to science by John Kirk Townsend, an American naturalist who collected a male specimen near the mouth of the Columbia River in what is now Oregon, on April 16, 1835. His discovery followed a long cross-continental trek. Townsend was accompanied on this expedition by English botanist Thomas Nuttall. Dozens of western plants and animals bear the names of these early naturalists.

 

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. Dec, 11 2019- Laas Parnell

Larus californicus: California Gull

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In March 2010 Pam Birley captured this gull with the remote camera. She wrote “I saw a California gull recently and attach pics.  You don’t seem to have any in the taxonomy pages.   It’s not a rare gull but this maybe the first I have seen at RR.” Indeed it is one of those gulls which has fallen through the cracks so this is a rather late addition to our taxonomy.

This adult plumage is reached after 4 years. Note the black tip on the bill and the yellow legs which distinguish it from the Western Gull.
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Laridae
Genus Larus
Species californicus
Common Name: California Gull

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. March 10 2010- Pam Birley

Larus hyperboreus: Glaucous Gull — The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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A photo of the rare second year Glaucous Gull on the right, Western Gull on the left. Photo March 8, 2009 by RyanThis is only the third record for this area in the Rocky Point Bird Observatory records.

Probable identification of the white gull on the left is the immature Glaucous gull. The gull on the right is an immature Glaucous-winged gull (photo 21st Dec 2005..camera 5 by Pam Birley)

To the left: This is a tentative identification. If it is correct, according to David Allinson of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory, ” this probably represents only the second record for Glaucous Gull (a 1st winter bird) for Rocky Point’s checklist (and a first for Race Rocks too!). The big head, the large bubble-gum pink dark-tipped bill, and white head and body (at least what can be seen) seems to be diagnostic.
However, to be cautious I should only say probable as we cannot see all of the bird.”

 

To the left: This is a tentative identification. If it is correct, according to David Allinson of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory, ” this probably represents only the second record for Glaucous Gull (a 1st winter bird) for Rocky Point’s checklist (and a first for Race Rocks too!). The big head, the large bubble-gum pink dark-tipped bill, and white head and body (at least what can be seen) seems to be diagnostic.
However, to be cautious I should only say probable as we cannot see all of the bird.”This is one of the largest species of gull. It can be up to 66-81 cm. in length. It nests on the tundra, and the range is circumpolar.It moves South in winter but only small numbers reach as far as the Pacific Northwest.”

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Laridae
Genus Larus
Species hyperboreus
Common Name: Glaucous Gull

 

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.
October 2006 Pam Birley

Unsafe Snorkeling, Fall Changes, Census

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Weather: 

  • Visibility 15+ NE
  • Sky overcast, cloudy
  • Wind 15-25 kn N
  • Water moderate waves, white caps.

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Around 15 whale watching boats yesterday
  • Corey, Guy, and a student with their visiting grandparents visited yesterday, and delivered water- the desalinator is on the horizon!
  • We are ending our term on Race Rocks tomorrow, so Greg and Guy will come for a debrief before the next eco-guardian takes over.

Yesterday we saw a pleasure craft enter the reserve and drop snorkelers into the water less than 100 m from our jetty, within 5 m of shore and the hauled out sea lions. The animals were distressed and swam around the snorkelers barking. The current was flooding very quickly (5 knots), which creates dangerous water currents, eddies, and upwellings. We as well as Corey in Second Nature motioned for the boat to move away, but they simply gathered the snorkelers and moved around the corner where they presumably thought we would not see them. An eco-tourism vessel in the reserve also noticed them and contacted us to let us know, out of concern for their safety given the animals present and the currents at the time.

In the past scuba divers and vessels have found themselves capsized or pulled away from their dive site and rescued by helicopter, and in 2015 a diver went missing and was found deceased days after they disappeared by a fisherman after rescue crews were not able to find them. We were especially concerned for this group’s safety due to lack of float marking their position and the frequent boating traffic through the reserve. In the past, seal pups have been decapitated by vessels passing through too quickly and unable to see them. If these snorkelers had been pulled away by the currents, there would have been a high chance of being struck by a vessel unable to see them in the rough water.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions population continues to grow! We are having to repair the fences sometimes twice per day. It seems like a more powerful electric fence energizer could be a good idea.
  • We spotted a little Greylag goose among the Canadian geese yesterday.
  • The sea lion that we spotted on Sept. 12th with an apparent propeller wound to his head is still here. He stays near the jetty and seems to have some behavioural anomalies, presumably due to the head injury. He is not afraid of us like the others, and does not move away into the water with the others when we clear the jetty. We haven’t had any problems but are weary that his behaviour could be unpredictable. Marty (the vet that came to aid in rescuing the entangled sea lion) mentioned that sometimes when this happens a shard of their skull can splinter and cause a brain infection. We hope this little guy is on the mend.
  • There have been many Canadian Geese passing through this week; A few days ago we counted over 20. The geese are not native to the island, but according to Gary Fletcher they arrived somewhere in the 80’s as the population of geese on Vancouver Island were introduced/grew. Addling the eggs began somewhere in the late 90’s. Unfortunately, this year two nests survived and hatched goslings, meaning that 20 geese left the island after 8 nested here in the spring.

Census: 

  • 500 Sea lions
  • 15 harbour seals
  • <20 seagulls
  • Approx. 20 cormorants
  • 3 short billed dowitchers
  • 1 Greylag goose
  • 1 sanderling
  • 1 Savannah sparrow
  • 20-23 Canada geese