Census Day!

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Another stunning day on the rocks! Calm seas, and beautiful sun all day long. Nothing beats waking up to watch the sunrise and thinking it can’t get better and then you watch the sunset as whales lunge feed in the distance.

Today was census day, a few new birds (for me) and surprisingly low sea lion numbers compared to Christines last count and compared to my counts at this time in 2025 and 2024. We had a good rain a few days ago and that usually clears out a lot of them so I imagine they’re slowly coming back now and by next Saturday the numbers will be higher.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 330
  • California sea lion: 390
  • Harbour seal: 49
  • Humpback whale: tons, as far as the eye can see

Birds:

  • Canada goose: 10
  • Gulls: 608
  • Cormorants: 502
  • Turnstones: 73
  • Sparrows: 20+ but they are so fast I can’t keep track!
  • Oyster catcher: 7
  • Harlequin duck: 22
  • Greater yellow leg: 1
  • Osprey: 1
  • Red-Footed booby: 1

Shout out to my cousin (and wildlife biologist) Nick for helping me ID the osprey and greater yellow leg!

Facility work:

  • Ran generator in the morning, solar took it the rest of the way!
  • Minor fence repairs
  • Started weeding around the old wheel bricks

Lonely Little Steller Pup

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The red-footed booby was here bright and early his morning, seems to be going back and forth between the western rocks and the southeast side. It also seems to have quite the fan club of boats coming out to check it out.

Came across another sea lion with an entanglement scar, bringing the total to 5, plus the one that still has an active entanglement.

Active entanglement, unsure what the material is.

Another wildlife note – there is a small Steller sea lion pup that I have yet to see with a mom in the 3 days I’ve been here. He is underweight but not terribly so and is still bright and alert. He spends his time chasing the male California sea lions and today decided to try and eat a small rock. Will see if he sticks around, and hopefully mom comes back for him!

Facility work:

  • Ran generator
  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Cleaned main house windows

Vessels:

  • Paddleboard: 2
  • Private: 4
  • Eco: 12

A Red-Footed Booby!? Here?!

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Beautiful day today, cloudy but flat calm seas. Only a few minor repairs for the fence today, the new system is pretty sleek!

As per usual most of my notes are wildlife related. I found 4 sea lions with entanglement scars today, two are untagged so were likely able to free themselves. Two were tagged, one was the CSL the team at VAMMR disentangled in August about a month ago, and the other one took me a bit longer to track down the story.

Entanglement scar, no tag.

Entanglement scar and tagged, this one was rescued in August thanks to Eva’s great tracking and reporting.

As it turns out, he was disentangled by a NOAA team in 2021 on San Miguel Island when he was only a couple of years old. It’s wild that he’s come so far, but he looks great!

Later in the day I got a call over the radio from one of the eco-tourism boats in the area to let me now a few transients were coming by. They passed quickly but were awesome to see, and for the first time in my LIFE I actually stopped photographing killer whales to photograph…a bird!!!

But not just any bird, it was a red-footed booby! It was first sighted around Race Rocks a few weeks ago and was apparently hanging around but I really didn’t think I’d get to see it. My photos aren’t great so hopefully he’ll stick around for some better ones!

 

 

Facility work:

  • Fence repairs
  • Ran the generator

Vessels:

  • Paddleboard: 1
  • Private: 2
  • Eco tourism: 15

I’m Back!

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Home sweet home! If I’m counting correctly, this is my 8th time coming out to work at Race Rocks, and fingers crossed there are many more in my future!

Christine left the house and site in excellent condition and set me up for a great month ahead. No huge changes since last October, will mostly be just getting back into my usual routine.

Tons of sea lions out here, but not as many as I’ve seen previously, but I suppose it’s not even October yet and I’m sure it’ll fill up fast! I saw a few pelicans this afternoon, including one with a different plumage I haven’t seen here before. Lots of humpbacks around the reserve this afternoon and even a few breaches.

Great start already!

Vessels:

  • Eco: 6
  • Private: 1
  • Paddle: 1

Facility work:

  • Just unloading and settling in!

    Tiny Steller Sea lion pup! Only a few months old.

    Adult Steller, much bigger, and still not fully grown!

    Adult pelican, I have never seen this plumage before!

Hard

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It is always hard to leave here and to know how to properly say goodbye to all the creatures and things I will miss. I find it helps me to imagine the beauty, wonder and excitement Kendra will experience over the next month. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart! It has been an honour and a privilege.

Tonight’s sunset.

Wildlife notes

I woke this morning to find 80% of the sea lions had left. By evening the numbers were a bit higher but the majority were still away.  I can only assume they are out fishing.

Facility work

Another day of only minor adjustments on the fence.  Hopefully this will continue for Kendra. She will have a busy month with the major renewal of the energy system (new solar panels, controllers, batteries and the removal of the old stuff), the new water line to the cistern, the installation of the basement door and possibly students on the weekends.

  • ran the generator
  • topped up battery fluids
  • cleaning and preparing for the shift change tomorrow

Vessels

  • Ecotourism: 15
  • Private: 0

Weather

Overcast and rain in the morning, skies clear by evening. Winds SW 13 in the am veering to WNW 26 early evening.

Still with us

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Wildlife notes

The two one-eyed gull chicks observed this summer (see post) are still with us. The one-eyed chick that lives near the Energy Building has learnt to fly, although not well it still has a chance at survival. The one-eyed chick by the walkway to the Keeper’s House can’t fly yet and it has been several days since I have seen its parent around feeding it. Its two siblings are long gone. They developed on schedule being quicker and able to get more than their fair share of the food.  I know of only one other gull chick that still isn’t flying but this one seems to have an issue with one wing.

The one-eyed walkway chick on July 29, 2026

The one-eyed walkway chick on Sept 28, 2026.  It is probably around 10 weeks old.  Normally a chick will fledge in 5 to 6 weeks.

Facility work

This is the first day, I did not have to do any major repair to the fence!!!

  • ran the generator
  • cleaned the solar panels
  • started on the months end report and data entry

Vessels

  • Ecotourism: 12
  • Private: 1

Weather

Fog early in the morning, cloudy mid-day, overcast by evening with light rain.  Winds mostly from the south, 3 to 14 knots. Daytime temperatures 11 to 15 degrees.

Peckers!

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Wildlife notes

A few days ago I showed a visitor the only clump of sea thrift (Armeria maritima) that I know of on the island.  Last year there were two clumps near the flag pole. There is only one clump left now and today I found it pecked at with many stalks removed. The pieces weren’t eaten but strewn about. I don’t know which bird is responsible – gull or goose?  I hope it makes it through the winter.

The pruned clump of sea thrift on Sept 27 2026.

Sea thrift clippings.

 

A photo of the clump of Armeria maritima on May 16 2025:   Thrift in bloom at Race Rocks.  The thrift was once on the British three pence coin.  If you were “thrifty” you would be able to buy something with this small amount of money.  Source: Armeria maritima – Wikipedia

They all look guilty.

Facility work

  • ran the generator in the morning
  • cleaned the solar panels
  • fence repair at the Jetty and along the flats

Vessels

  • Ecotourism: 21
  • Private: 1

Weather

Clear skies. Winds light, SE 0 to 10 knots. Daytime temperatures 10 to 15 degrees.

September 26 Census

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Mammals:

  • California sealion: 614 plus 9 on outer islets
  • Stellar sealion: 350 plus 287 on outer islets, mainly Middle Rock
  • harbour seal: 64
  • humpback whales: 5 inside the reserve, more outside
  • sea otter: 1

Birds:

  • gulls: 352
  • cormorant: 367
  • Canada goose: 9
  • harlequin duck: 4
  • black oystercatcher: 3 juveniles
  • black turnstone: 71
  • surf bird: 43
  • western sandpiper: 2
  • semipalmated plover: 1
  • killdeer: 2
  • savanna sparrow: 11

Notes on census

Wildlife seen this week but not observed on census day were eight sanderling. The red-footed booby was on Race Rocks this week according to BC Rare Bird Alert. The numbers of sea lions, especially the Stellar sea lions is likely higher. Oddly I haven’t seen or heard an eagle this week.

The census took a long time today.  There were several trips up the lighthouse and just too much to count!

This is photo 2 of 4 taken in a series to count the sea lions on Middle rock, one of the outer islands. There were so many sea lions I needed to count them using this method. The number of sea lions in the census would surely be higher if I could see the back side of the outer islands!

Surfbirds and black turnstones on the Energy Building beach.

Semipalmated plover.

Killdeer.

Eight sanderlings and a western sandpiper in the flats between East beach and the Jetty, in a spot free of sea lions.

Facility work

The sea lions didn’t just mess with the Jetty fencing today, they also took out a long section of the fence near East Beach.

  • ran the generator
  • repaired fences

A section of electric fence that the sea lions took out today. They dragged the line down to the beach and took a weathered tree root ball with it.

Vessels

  • Ecotourism: 30
  • Private: 13
  • Jet ski: 2

Weather

Clear skies. Winds light 0 to 6 knots, direction variable. Daytime temperatures 12 to 15 degrees.

Boat ramp excitement

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Wildlife notes

With so many sea lions around, one gets to see a wide array of injuries and deformities.  I’ve seen cuts, abrasions and scars of all shapes and sizes on all parts of their bodies. Some scars, like those from the cookie cutter shark are perfectly round. I am not sure if the fellow shown below was born this way or had an unfortunate encounter. I don’t think the one-eyed gull chicks will live as long as him.

Facility work

There must have been a major event on the boat ramp late this morning.  Normally just one post is knocked down. This time the sea lions took out the entire line sending some of it up the Jetty and some of the it down the ramp, wooden posts and all. The line is attached to a wooden post that sits in a concrete block.  The wooden posts were all pulled out and the concrete blocks were knocked over and moved by several feet or more, even the biggest one.

The brown stained areas are outside of electric fence line.

  • ran the generator a lot today as it was rainy
  • fence repairs and patrol
  • topped up battery fluids
  • scrubbed the east porch and stairs

Vessels

  • Ecotourism: 16
  • Private: 0

Weather

Overcast. Periods of rain. Wind direction variable in the morning 4 to 20 knots. Winds westerlies early afternoon, 30 knots gusting 37.  Daytime temperatures 11 to 13 degrees.

Fence repair

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Wildlife notes

The sea lions thrashed a large section of the electric fence running on the south side of the island behind the lighthouse. They shattered the wooden posts, redistributed the concrete bricks, ripped apart the lines and sent parts of the fence down the hill.  And then they crawled over and shat on all of it. This section of double line fence running from the Energy Building to the Keepers House has not yet been replaced.  We had the new holes drilled, rods cut and line supports made, but were waiting on new electric fence line.  I had no choice but to rummage through the torn, shat on line and cobble together and mend enough of it to feed through the new support posts.  I had to undress at the basement door to keep the filth away from the cooking and eating facilities upstairs.

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above… don’t fence me out!

A section of torn electrical fence line that was dragged down the hill and some guilty looking sea lions avoiding eye contact. The old fence was double lined and used wooden stakes. The white pipe supports are for the new single line fencing system.

These animals are so strong and heavy they easily shatter the wooden posts and rip apart frayed fence line. In this part only a piece of the bottom line is still in place.  None of them are fessing up to it.

Facility work

  • ran the generator
  • repaired the fence
  • DID NOT even have time today to clean the solar panels but it was mostly overcast so they wouldn’t have contributed much power in their current state.

Visitors

Two more groups of Pearson College students visited the island for a field class but I was too busy to spend any time with them.

Vessels

  • Ecotourism: 15
  • Private: 2

Weather

Cloudy, overcast by evening with some very light rain. Winds light, 5 to 12 knots, direction variable, mostly SE or NE. Daytime temperatures 12 to 13 degrees.