I am here for another brief stint, just 4 days. After arriving in relatively calm weather within an hour boat a gale started. For about 30 hours the wind didn’t let up. Which means the electric fences came down and anything not tied down went flying or crashing (like the doors to the water tank shed).And seagull poop travels horizontally in a gale. That meant the amazing calm weather today came with some tasks, which are welcome when it is so easy to be outside. The 2 barn swallows are the only ones flying with gusto. Those two are everywhere and the wind did not seem to deter them. The gulls are sticking close to their eggs and I have only seen one eagle pass overhead. The oyster catcher eggs have hatched and it is easy to witness the chicks being fed from the lighthouse or our back porch. I saw another chick above the heli pad from the light house as well. I don’t dare go in the intertidal and scare any parent away from the nest so I didn’t record any activity in other O.C. nests.

Greg and Second Nature did a rescue today. An aluminium craft called for help as their boat engines had quit right in Race Passage. They reported “imminent danger” and Greg came and towed them back to safety! There apparently was a “very pregnant” woman on board as well so she was probably happy to get back to dry land.

Visitors

No visitors on the island

Few ecotourism boats, during the gale there were 2 or 3 and although it is flat calm today there have only been 3

Work

vacuumed and mopped the basement floor using the water that is leaking from the pipes

cleaned the science house windows and (as high as I could reach) the light house windows

cleaned the solar panels

fences, moved a bit of wood, cleaning and preparing for new resident will be done tomorrow

 

Census

Mammals

California sea lions 5

Stellar sea lions 1

Elephant seals 1 female

Seals 94

Birds

Pigeon guillemots  56

Swifts 2

Canada geese 2

Gulls 460 (and many nests with eggs)

cormorants 7

barn swallows 2

Insects

thousands of flies!