Wildlife notes:

The other day I went looking for more banded gulls to report. I’ve found three different ones so far and was hoping for another. They don’t mix in with the breeding gulls on the island but hang out along the rocky shoreline with the juveniles or other visiting gulls. Instead of a banded gull, I found a Heermann’s gull. The bird guides state it is the easiest gull to identify with its red bill, white head, grey body, black tail and black feet, perfectly dressed for a formal dinner. What a classy bird.

Heermann’s gull

Heermann’s gull preening

Heermann’s gull in flight

From left to right: Heermann’s, immature western and California gulls.

I spotted seven killer whales about 1.5 miles to the southwest. They were flanked for about 3 miles by an armada of ecotourism vessels of all sizes. No peace for these creatures just trying to find some lunch!

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• cleaned windows on Keeper’s house

Vessels:

20 ecotourism

DND activity:

A few blasts were heard mid-day. Wildlife was not visibly disturbed.

Weather:

Sunny and fresh westerly breeze throughout the day. Daytime temperature steady 12 degrees.

Wildlife notes:

The gulls are feeding their chicks the tiniest of fishes. The gulls are large compared to the pigeon guillemots. Seems incongruous when you compare the size of their catch to what the pigeon guillemots brings back.

The male elephant seal is travelling further afield. He used to hang out in the water near the jetty and bellow but today I heard him call at the east beach and then at the west shore.  Nobody answers him. I wonder if he will leave soon.

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• cleaned windows on Student Building and Keeper’s house
• removed vegetation at the Keeper’s house door

Vessels:

9 ecotourism, 1 private

Weather:

Sunny and westerlies. Fresh breeze most of the day, except gale force in the evening. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 13 degrees.

Wildlife notes:

These two chicks were found this morning on the walkway down to the Tank Shed. The nest was inches away from the walkway. There seems to be two likely suspects, the gulls on the rock wall a few feet above them or the ones across the walkway. The dead chick’s parents were still there, even 8 hours later, continuing to defend their tiny chick less area.

Wildlife notes:

Three short-billed dowitchers visited the east beach.

Short-billed dowitcher

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• finished weeding around Energy building
• house cleaning

Vessels:

21 ecotourism, 6 private

Hundreds of vessels have transited the area since mid June. Generally the vessels are very compliant and only a few of the larger vessels appear to travel a bit faster that what is required to maintain bare steerage in the tidal current. Today was the first incident of excessive speed and possibly also a fishing violation (I do not have a rangefinder to be sure).

Weather:

Sunny day. Light westerlies in the morning, fresh breeze by late afternoon. Day time temperature range: low 12, high 18.

Wildlife notes:

Nothing extraordinary to report with the gulls, just the normal level of excitement and aggression towards each other and me!

The gulls spend a good amount of time preening. They are precise about it and are able to isolate single feathers. The young chicks learn this very early, focusing at first mostly on their chest area.

Preening

Preening

The chicks near the house that hatched on June 28 are now two weeks old. They are starting to explore moving their little wings and are learning to hop and jump.

Two weeks old

Two weeks old

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• topped up battery fluid
• cleaned and weeded around Energy building.

Vessels:

25 ecotourism, 4 private

Weather:

Sunny day. Gentle westerly breeze in the morning, fresh breeze in the afternoon. Temperature range: low 11, high 15.

The flag is lowered and lashed. The house is humming and quaking, and the seas are lively.

Wildlife notes:

All the gulls are facing head to the wind, including the egg thief. After the anger subsided, it became sort of amusing to watch him to chase the egg shell as the wind carried it away…picks it up, brings it back to the preferred dinning spot, and away it goes again.

Getting in there

Swallowing

Carrying it back

Stuck ?

Getting the last drop ?

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• weeding

Vessels:

9 ecotourism

Weather: 

Full sun. Near gale and gale force westerlies most of the day, winds gusting to 42 knots.  High 18 degrees.

Wildlife notes:

While some of the animals are getting along better and sharing the space (the male and female elephant seals are sleeping in the same grassy area near the Energy Building) others are not. The gulls are so tightly packed in places that some nests are only a few feet away from each other.  A gull chick got picked up today by a nasty neighbour that was forced to drop the chick very close to its original location. The little creature didn’t make it and still lies in the spot it was dropped only a foot away from where it’s parents and sibling are simply carrying on and hunkering down for the night. This chick is just outside the kitchen window on top of the cistern and I can’t help but look every 20 minutes to see if it is still there.

On a cheery note, here are some photos of the superbly camouflaged surfbirds.

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• weeding brick walkway
• thistles

I am almost done the thistles. Only three small patches remain but the gulls are nesting in these so I will leave them until I have some backup. The record breaker thistle is 17.5 inches, found by the rock wall behind the water storage building.

I had to lower the flag this evening as winds were >25 knots and forecast to reach 30-40 tomorrow. The original “Flagpole” gull was not impressed.  I stayed very close to the pole and couldn’t be reached by her beak or bomb. “Latecomer” gull, on the other side of the pole, still has eggs in her nest so she just left the area. Hopefully the winds diminish before her chicks hatch – raising the flag with the two approaching from different sides will require a thick rubber raincoat with some additional padding underneath.

Vessels:

22 ecotourism, 1 private, 1 outrigger canoe

Weather:

Clear skies. Westerly gentle to moderate breeze most of the day, building and becoming near gale force SWS by sunset. While some parts in southern coastal BC hit record high temperatures, the high here was only 18 degrees.

A panting parent (they do this to dissipate heat) with their young chicks hiding in the shadow.

Wildlife notes:

Many new chicks have hatched. I was happy to see the relatively calm “sidewalk” gull has a new chick. This gull has had a hard time of it right in the favourite path of the male elephant seal. He mostly enjoys the grassy hollow these days but previously he crossed the walkway daily. The nest is close to and several inches below the walkway, which has saved her last remaining egg from being crushed – the other egg disappeared in mid June.

Sidewalk gull’s new wet chick.

Two purple martins investigated the fog sensor pipes protruding half way up the south side of the lighthouse tower.  Gary will bring a purple martin nesting box to the island. Hopefully they will find it to be a suitable home.  A hummingbird was spotted but moved too quickly for a positive identification or photo.

Facility work:

• cleaned solar panels
• weeding brick walkway by Energy House.
• house cleaning

Vessels:

28 ecotourism

Weather:

Clear skies, winds light and variable most of the day, switching to a moderate westerly breeze late afternoon, high of 25 degrees.

“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself”    D.H. Lawrence

I am reminded of how durable and enduring wildlife is when I watch the surfbirds hunker down for the night on the cold hard rocks at the water edge, the wounded California sealion favour his injured flipper, and this morning, seeing the female elephant seal with bloody tears around her eye.

Wildlife notes:

Approximately 1/3 of the gull nests have chicks.  Even the more relaxed gulls which previously continued to sit on their nests and let me pass with just some squawking are are now irate and charge at me. The chicks are becoming vocal and I can hear their peeps. The oyster catcher chick that hatched yesterday hasn’t been moved to the cover of the rocks and is still out in the open.

Two day old black oyster catcher chick

The male elephant seal “playing” with the kelp.

The injured California sealion…. like watching someone’s head nod when they fall asleep on the bus or at a meeting.

Facility work: