Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks 2020

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Today was the annual Christmas bird count. Martin Stewart provided the transportation on the boat Ecosphere for Matt and Courtney Cameron to go out to Race Rocks Ecological reserve from Pedder Bay with Garry Fletcher. 

Observations were done from the marine a out through Pedder bay and then we docked at Race Rocks to be met by Courtney the Ecoguardian.  We had only a brief window of time, probably an hour  there before the wind started to pick up from the North East, but that was adequate to get a good count of the birds on shore.

Pam Birley from England took these photos on camera 5 :

Striking in their abundance were the and Pelagic and Brandts Cormorants. On leaving we circled around the South side of the islands and out past West Rock where there were also large numbers of cormorants.  From West Race Rocks we went over to Emdyck Pass behind Bentinck Island and found another large gathering of Cormorants, and some alcids.  The other bird that seemed much more frequent than previous years were the Black Turnstones

On the island, after stepping carefully past a male elephant seal on the jetty, we were able to view the new pup and mother elephant seal with the large male up on the lawn by the house. 

The following three sets of data are from their e-bird posts,

FOR PEDDER BAY

CHECKLIST S78100244

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DateSun 27 Dec 20209:50 AM
Location

Pedder Bay mouth-Juan de Fuca Strait

OwnerMatthew Cameron

Other participating eBirders
Traveling
  • 2
  • 5 km

Totals
18

Species observed
292 individuals

 

Observations

  1. Canada Goose

    Number observed:8

  2. Surf Scoter

    Number observed:60

  3. Bufflehead

    Number observed:20

  4. Common Murre

    Number observed:36

  5. Marbled Murrelet

    Number observed:2

  6. Ancient Murrelet

    Number observed:8

  7. Mew Gull

    Number observed:25

  8. Iceland Gull

    Number observed:15

  9. Glaucous-winged Gull

    Number observed:5

  10. Pacific Loon

    Number observed:2

  11. Common Loon

    Number observed:2

  12. Brandt’s Cormorant

    Number observed:80

  13. Pelagic Cormorant

    Number observed:20

  14. Double-crested Cormorant

    Number observed:2

  15. Bald Eagle

    Number observed:4

  16. Red-tailed Hawk

    Number observed:1

  17. Belted Kingfisher

    Number observed:1

  18. Chestnut-backed Chickadee

    Number observed:1

 

 

FOR RACE ROCKS

CHECKLIST S78100905

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DateSun 27 Dec 202010:15 AM
Location

Race Rocks

OwnerMatthew Cameron

Other participating eBirders
Traveling
  • 2
  • 1 km

Totals

17
Species observed
1,009 individuals

 

Observations

  1. Canada Goose

    Number observed:5

  2. Harlequin Duck

    Number observed:5

  3. White-winged Scoter

    Number observed:1

  4. Black Turnstone

    Number observed:50

  5. Dunlin

    Number observed:6

  6. Common Murre

    Number observed:25

  7. Pigeon Guillemot

    Number observed:30

  8. Mew Gull

    Number observed:3

  9. Western Gull

    Number observed:1

  10. Herring Gull

    Number observed:2

  11. Iceland Gull

    Number observed:75

  12. Glaucous-winged Gull

    Number observed:10

  13. Brandt’s Cormorant

    Number observed:750

    Details:Incredible numbers roosting on the main island and the outlying islands.

  14. Pelagic Cormorant

    Number observed:20

  15. Double-crested Cormorant

    Number observed:10

  16. Bald Eagle

    Number observed:15

  17. Common Raven

    Number observed:1

    FOR BENTICK ISLAND AND EEMDYK PASSAGE:

CHECKLIST S78101208

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DateSun 27 Dec 202011:00 AM
Location

Bentinck Island/Eemdyk Passage

OwnerMatthew Cameron

Other participating eBirders
Traveling
  • 2
  • 5 km

Totals

9
Species observed
196 individuals

 

Observations

  1. Canada Goose

    Number observed:12

  2. Bufflehead

    Number observed:30

  3. Red-breasted Merganser

    Number observed:2

  4. Black Oystercatcher

    Number observed:28

  5. Common Murre

    Number observed:50

  6. Ancient Murrelet

    Number observed:10

  7. Glaucous-winged Gull

    Number observed:20

  8. Double-crested Cormorant

    Number observed:40

  9. Bald Eagle

    Number observed:4