Thistles

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Thistles:

During yesterdays visit, Garry Fletcher remarked on the expanding thistle population around the tower base and suggested they be pulled. Today I started to tackle this job.  The thistles have a tap root that connects to a horizontal root which can spread many feet.  The thistles are growing in patches where many of the plants could be connected to the same horizontal root.  When a larger plant is pulled, the tap root breaks at this junction and reveals the depth of the horizontal root.  The longest root so far is almost 10″ long suggesting there is in places 10″ of soil on Great Race Rock! Only the smallest of plants, which may have germinated from seed, can pulled with the entire root intact. Today I cleared 2 square meters – a bucket of small ones and bundle of larger plants.  I plan to do this amount each day (more would be too hard on the back). I may not finish before I leave but with the horizontal roots still in the soil, this may be a yearly task.

Developing thistle flowers and the longest root of the day.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • thistles
  • split rounds of firewood

Wildlife notes:

No new wildlife sightings to report. The gulls continue the mate and fight, and the Elephant seal spent his day sleeping in the grass.

Battle wounds

Vessels:

7 Ecotourism boats and 1 private boat

Weather:

Steady westerlies all day 18 – 23 knots

E-Bird June Race Rocks gull survey and Census

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E-Bird Gull Survey https://ebird.org/checklist/S184107190

Subject: June Racerocks Gull Survey

Rocky Point Bird Observatory & Pearson College Race rocks Gull Survey June 2024
Survey conducted by Andrew Jacobs and Ann Nightingale
Thank you to Greg for getting us out there again on the boat and Christine with the assistance during the survey.
This survey was conducted to investigate the phenotypes of the glaucescens-occidentalis hybrid complex using the Great Race Rock as a nesting area. We looked for pairing preference of phenotypes, nest habitat preference and mapped the nests that had parents on them. We looked at the breakdown of the colony diversity into five phenotypic groups – pure type Glaucous-winged Gulls, Glaucous-winged trending hybrids or light morph Olympic Gulls, intermediate trending hybrids or intermediate morph Olympic Gulls, Western trending hybrids or dark morph Olympic Gulls, and pure type Western Gulls. The nesting of Western Gull on the island is of specific interest as there are adult Western Gulls near the island year round and we would like to see if Western Gull pairs are starting to breed in Canada or if they are forming mixed pairs.
The survey also counted other species of gull and age classes as well as other species using the rocks this time of year. The general nesting grounds on the main rock were used by the hybrid complex, Pigeon Guillemot, and Black Oystercatcher although no nests of the latter two were seen they were displaying as if nests were nearby.
Ebird link with photos and sound recordings.
The numbers of pure type Glaucous-winged Gull were up for the breeding season over our previous survey by about 6-7 times at 69 individuals with 64 adults and 5 immatures. The number of hybrid and intergrade type Olympic Gulls was 321 with 314 adults and 7 immatures. The breakdown of colour morphotypes in the Olympic Gulls was light morph (Glaucous-winged trending hybrids) 138 individuals with 133 adults and 5 immatures, intermediate morph (Intermediate trending hybrids) 166 individuals with 164 adults and 2 immatures, dark morph (Western trending hybrids) 17 individuals with 17 adults.
The island at this time contained 4 adult Western Gulls, two of which were on nests, one was in the grassy area on a rocky outcropping and one was on the outer rocky part of the island along the cliff. The two nesting Western Gulls did not have a partner present while we were on the island. Surprisingly one of the Western Gull nests appeared to have a rock placed in with its three eggs in the nest of roughly egg size.
Total glaucescens-occidentalis hybrid complex birds 394
Glaucous-winged Gull 69 (17.51%)
Olympic Gull 321 (81.47%)
-Light morph 138 (35.02%)
-Intermediate morph 166 (42.13%)
-Dark morph 17 (4.13%)
Western Gull 4 (1.01%)
Visible pairings 44
Glaucous-winged + Glaucous-winged 2 (4.54%)
Glaucous-winged + Light Olympic 6 (13.63%)
Glaucous-winged + Intermediate Olympic 3 (6.81%)
Light Olympic + Light Olympic 14 (31.81%)
Light Olympic + Intermediate Olympic 5 (11.36%)
Light Olympic + Dark Olympic 1 (2.27%)
Intermediate Olympic + Intermediate Olympic 11 (25.00%)
Intermediate Olympic + Dark Olympic 2 (4.54%)
Banded individuals included three Olympic Gulls one colour banded adult (cobalt blue over metal right leg and red over cobalt blue left leg), and one adult and one immature with metal bands.
Other Gull species in the survey area included California Gull with 3 immature individuals and Heermann’s Gull with 4 adults.
The other non larid species present
1 Canada Goose
3 Harlequin Duck
11 Black Oystercatcher
2 Killdeer
8 Rhinoceros Auklet
254 Pigeon Guillemot
3 Brandt’s Cormorant
23 Pelagic Cormorant
1 Bald Eagle
2 Barn Swallow
Pinniped abundance and usage of the area
2 Northern Elephant Seal – two immatures one small and one medium sized.
59 Harbour Seals
2 California Sealions
Map of nest locations.
Next time we will also log unidentified nests.
Any other questions or feedback is welcome.
Thank you,
Andrew Jacobs

Lots of Visitors Today

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Visitors:

Greg brought 6 visitors today:

  • Lisette and Mads – Mads is former student and both are volunteering at Pearson College
  • Garry Fletcher – Park Warden
  • James Tuohy – future Ecoguardian
  • Ann Nightingale and Andrew Jacobs – Rocky Point Bird Observatory

Bird count and gull nesting survey:

The highlight of my day was helping Andrew with the gull nesting survey. I was amazed at how many different gull species, hybrids, and colour morphs of the Western x Glaucous-winged Gull hybrid (Olympic Gull) a highly trained expert eye can distinguish. In addition to a count, Andrew mapped the location of nests, the species/hybrid on the nest, and for obviously paired birds, the identity of each member of the pair. I expect Andrew and Ann’s observations will triple the species number reported in the June 12 census!  I learned a tremendous amount and hope they return again during my time here.

Facility work:

  • split rounds of firewood

Wildlife notes:

The one year old Elephant visited for a brief period in the morning.

Vessels:

Ecotourism boats were not counted today but a shockingly large log barge in tow was seen.

Weather:

Winds variable in the morning turning to westerly 20 knots in the afternoon.

Battery Top Up Day

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Battery maintenance

The batteries are stored in a separate room in the Energy Building. Once a week the 24 unsealed lead acid batteries require a top up with distilled water to insure the plates are fully covered.  We open the battery cap, use a dip tube to measure fluid levels and add water to achieve fluid depth of 10 – 15 mm above the plates. It is not a complicated task but vital for the long-term health of the batteries.

 

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • topped up batteries
  • cleaned house windows

Wildlife notes:

One Canada goose, a swallow and two Hermann’s gulls were sighted today.  Like the last few days, the male Elephant seal spent most of his day asleep in the grass. He moves to the side of the house in the late afternoon and often heads to the water via the boat ramp in the late evening.

The Elephant seal asleep on his back.

The Keeper’s House

 

Vessels:

14 Ecotourism boats of varying sizes

DND:

Several blasts were heard in the morning. The wildlife were undisturbed by all but the last and loudest blast which sent two sealions into the water.

Weather:

A pleasant windy day.

June 12th Census

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Mammals

California sea lions: 4
Elephant seals: 1 (male)
Harbour seals: 92 (19 South Islands, 72 Middle Islands, 1 Great Race Rock)

Birds

Bald eagle: 1
Cormorants: 32
Gulls: 389
Oyster catchers: 8 adults, 2 chicks
Pigeon guillemots: 133

Oyster catcher with one of two chicks

 

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Census
  • Repair fences toppled by the high winds of the previous day

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 10 vessels

Weather:

  • Wind: steady westerlies 18 – 24 knots

Notes for Day 2 at Race Rocks

Census day

After the morning cleaning of the panels I decided to wander beyond the electric fence.  Surely it wasn’t meant to keep me in and how else could I complete the census.  It was liberating wandering about and I even peered into a spectacular tide pool. I am used to different methods walking in certain terrain: through the sprawling yellow cedar or “shin tangle” of coastal BC bogs or the Tuckamore of Newfoundland, you bob and weave, through Devil’s club it is more like Thai Chi. Today I learned how best to walk with the birds.  I started with the head down, quick and deliberate, travelling from one small gull free patch to another. The better approach is to travel very slowly, only a few steps at a time then have a long and still pause. I observed many nests during my slow walkabout and was surprised by number of the poorly formed or empty ones. There are often bursts of commotion when all the gulls take flight but I haven’t yet seen an eagle at that time or any other obvious cause for the scare. Even though I feel more comfortable walking past or through hovering gulls, I still wear my helmet and often carry a broom over my shoulder.

My day ended watching the cormorants leave in the fading light.

New to the Rock

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Today is my first day as the Ecoguardian at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. I was dropped off at 8:30 am with my personal gear, bags of groceries and a reminder to monitor the solar panels, batteries and the electric fence – there are more duties and responsibilities but a source of power is one of the essentials.

Power

I unpacked, put groceries away and set off to tackle the my first chore – clean the panels. The solar panels are mounted on the roof and on the side of the Energy Building which houses the diesel generator.  At this time of year, with the long sunny days and daily cleaning, it is possible to power the house systems just on solar power.  Why the daily cleaning? There are hundreds of gulls nesting here and what do we will do at least once a day? Poop!

Panels on the Energy Building roof

After hauling the cleaning supplies up to the roof and turning on the water, I thought a methodical approach would serve me best. I climbed back down and noted my “starting point” of 3.1 kW of energy being produced by the panels.  After cleaning four panels, I climbed down to check the display.  It was up to 3.4 kW.  Cleaning is one of those tasks that provide instant gratification and now, doubly so.  With all the roof panels cleaned they were producing 4.2 kW and with lower side panels it was up to 4.8 kW!  I tell myself “what a worthwhile task and job well done Christine”

Well, later in the day I have some time to sit down and familiarize myself with OPTICSRE, the software package that lets you visualize your energy system production (solar or generator), storage (battery bank) and consumption levels. It turns out that in the long time it took me to figure out the best way to clean the panels and finally get the job done (between 10 am and noon), the sun was moving, as it does everyday, and with the clear skies, was naturally approaching its peak midday production levels (see graph below). Silly me, it wasn’t all my doing!  Shame there is no easy way to determine the added benefits of cleaning the panels.

OPTICSRE graph of energy levels produced by the solar panels (green bar), stored in the batteries (dark blue bar), taken from the battery by the house systems (light blue bar) for each hour on June 11.

The software also displays live time power use. I consult this throughout the day and find it memorizing.  The image below shows the current situation at night as I write this. Very little energy is going from the panels to battery, the batteries are at near full capacity and we are operating in the red, drawing power from the battery bank.  The house (appliances, computer, lights etc) generally draw 1.3 kW of power. If I turn on all the lights in the house and the bathroom fan, it jumps to 1.5 kW. I think if we had such a monitor in our homes, we would be more aware of our consumption and our footprint.

OPTICSRE live display of the energy system

 

Heads to the wind

The another thing I discovered today was all the gulls were facing the same way because of the wind!  We went from light winds at 8:00 am to 41 knots with gust of 46 by early afternoon. Like me, if standing, they took a wider stance, arching and bracing for the gusts. I watched one trying to move travelling side-to-the-wind and being blown off a rock; most scuttle side-ways like crabs.

Bracing and ruffled in a gust of wind

A very interesting first day.

It is a privilege to be here.

 

 

Farewell! (For Now)

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Well, just like that it’s been 6 weeks and it’s time for me to return to the mainland. The wind is gusting 65km/hour right now, giving me one final storm before my departure. The animals are all hidden away, protecting themselves from the weather. All except the male elephant seal who is still harassing the gulls.

I thought I’d wrap up my final blog post with my favourite photos and moments from this trip. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Pinnipeds:

Cetaceans:

Ollie the Sea Otter: 

Birds:

Northern Lights:

Sunsets:

That’s all from me for now, but I’ll be back! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Gulls Gone Wild

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The gulls are showing no mercy. Not to the elephant seal, not to the eagles, and certainly not to me. I will say that they haven’t been as bad as what I was expecting but it does amaze me that nothing seems to scare them, even animals much larger than them.

Through no fault of his own, the elephant seal has been romping through the grass and squashing nests as he goes. The gulls, as you might imagine, absolutely despise him. He seems rather confused as to why they are dive bombing his head and I was impressed as he nearly bit one out of the air. Last night he managed to lay on top of a nest all night without cracking the eggs and I’m still trying to figure out how. He moved onto a different nest this morning and the nest of 3 eggs is now down to 2. Currently he is back on the original nest except this time he is fully on top of it and I would be shocked if any remain unbroken when he leaves.

I ended my evening by watching a humpback breach in the distance, causing big splashes with its tail slaps. Unfortunately it was too far away for any decent photographs!

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 30 vessels – most so far this season!
  • Private: 8 vessels, lots of boats on the water this morning

Weather:

  • Sky: Mix of sun and cloud
  • Wind: Low of 1 knots, High of 18 knots – picked up in the afternoon
  • Sea: Glassy, small whitecaps late afternoon
  • Temperature: Low 13•C, High 24•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Porpoises, Killer Whales, and Humpbacks, Oh My!

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Another gorgeous day on this rock! The gulls are laying eggs faster than I can count them and they seem to range from 1-3 per nest. Lots of nests still without eggs though and lots still being built. I got to see both humpbacks and killer whales not too far out of the reserve today and yet I think I was most excited about the porpoises. I see harbour porpoises nearly every time I go to the beach when I’m home yet I rarely seem to see them here. The water today was so glassy they were impossible to miss!

Facility work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Cleaned solar panels

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 24 vessels
  • Private: 1 vessel

DND Blasting:

  • 10:30am – Birds fled, pinnipeds aware but remained hauled out
  • 10:32am – Birds still hadn’t returned from first blast, sea lions sat up, harbour seals went in the water
  • 10:45am – Was in the midst of battery maintenance, did not note disturbance
  • 12:50pm – Birds fled
  • 12:52pm – Birds still gone from previous blast 
  • 1:10pm – Birds fled but quick to return

Weather:

  • Sky: Blue sky and sun
  • Wind: Low of 4 knots, High of 9 knots
  • Sea: Glassy
  • Temperature: Low 10•C, High 24•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **