Wildlife notes:

I haven’t seen any gull chicks hatching yet but the gulls continue to build up and pad their nests. The elephant seals usually lay partially in the water on the boat ramp or float around the Jetty blowing bubbles. The female was in the water for a long time today and actually went for a swim. I saw her on her return trip at East Beach. The East Beach oystercatcher chicks are doing well, growing quickly and darting about. I figure they are around two weeks old. The Keeper’s House and Energy Building oystercatcher pairs are still incubating their eggs.

It tried to stuff more in there but it kept falling away.

East Beach oystercatcher parent with one of the two chicks.

A “raft” of cormorants – some of over 40 birds in a long line on the water last evening. Other collective nouns: colony, flight, gulp, sunning.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• topped up battery fluid levels
• continued cleaning/organizing the Tank Shed

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 7
• Private: 2

Weather

Light to gentle southwest breeze becoming westerly in the early evening. Skies overcast in the morning, clear by late afternoon. Daytime temperatures: low 11 , high 13.