August 13

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Wildlife Notes:

This morning, I spotted a Steller sea lion on the north side of the island that had a brand 460Y. This sea lion was branded 12 years ago as a pup in July 2013 in Rogue Reef, off the southern coast of Oregon. I have read that sea lions live between 20 to 30 years. I submitted the resighting to the researchers at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Check out this log post by Anne Stewart from April 2015, when this sea lion was last recorded at Race Rocks.

Facility work:

  • Check and top up the water in the 24 batteries

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 4

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: west 19-39 knots
  • Sea: up to 3′ moderate
  • Air temperature: low 11 °C, high 19 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6 °C

Photos from today:

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

August 12

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Wildlife Notes:

  • I don’t need an alarm clock here because my neighbours get excited when the sun rises. Eagles do a few passes of the island and freak out the gulls. The growing concentration by the jetty of sea lions bark and bellow ever so slightly louder in the daylight.
  • This afternoon, I got word from an ecotour boat that a northern fur seal was spotted several nautical miles west of the ecological reserve. Hopefully the seal stops by here like one did in December and April. Before that, a fur seal had not been spotted at Race Rocks in over four decades!

Facility work:

  • Clean the 44 solar panels first thing this morning before the guano got baked on by the sun
  • Clean the windows of the main house
  • Laundry load of sheets and towels used before I got here in July. There was plenty of solar power to accommodate the extra power load of the washer and dryer. While the dryer is heated with propane, the motor still draws a few hundred watts of power.
  • Remade some of the depth sounding charts around the island that are getting hard to read. We used these charts to see how many litres of diesel are in the tanks by dipping a ruler into the tank to measure the level.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 22
  •  Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: variable directions 3-25 knots
  • Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in the afternoon
  • Air temperature: low 18 °C, high 26 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6°C

Photos from today:

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

August 11

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Wildlife Notes:

The sea lions are spreading out more on the main island. So far they are resting on the shoreline rocks and staying off the jetty and paths. If only the gulls would be as open to sharing the space. There are a few gulls that are for some reason getting even more territorial near the intersection of the paths in the centre of the island. Maybe they are getting tired of protecting their chicks for so long. Unlike the eagles that fly over the island and cause panic, I come in peace. I am still holding a broomstick over my head as I walk on the paths, so the gulls have a harder time dive bombing me. Perhaps the broomstick does not show peace to them.

Facility work:

  • Swept the rest of the stairs in the lighthouse. The thick stone walls make it a cool place to be in the afternoon heat.
  • Maintained the electric fence around the jetty to dissuade the California sea lions from taking it over.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 15
  •  Private: 7 (including 3 sea kayakers)

Weather:

  • Sky: clear
  • Wind: variable 4-15 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 14 °C, high 30 °C (And I thought yesterday’s monthly high of 21 °C was hot!)
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.9 °C

Photos from today:

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

August 10

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Wildlife Notes:

  • Many of the gull chicks and adult gulls were panting in the middle of the day, due to the high (for Race Rocks standards) heat reaching 21 °C. The low wind and clear sky helped crank the heat.

Facility work:

  • Tidying the top of the lighthouse tower and sweeping the stairs

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 16
  •  Private: 8

Weather:

  • Sky: Clear
  • Wind: variable, predominately from west 1 to 19 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 11 °C, high 21 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7°C

Photos from today:

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

August 9

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Weekly Census
Observed today in between fog patches.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 41
  • California sea lion: 35
  • Harbour seal: 105

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 1
  • Canada goose: 4
  • Cormorant: 37
  • Gull: 495
  • Black oystercatcher: 16 (including 3 chicks)
  • Pigeon guillemot: 112
  • Harlequin duck: 2
  • Surfbird: 34
  • Black turnstone: 68

Facility work:

  • Check and top up battery water
  • Weed whacking paths

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 21

Weather:

  • Sky: fog with occasional patches of visibility up to 2 km
  • Wind: west 12-26  knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 15 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7°C

Photos from today:

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

August 8

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Wildlife Notes:

  • I have postponed the weekly census count until tomorrow, due to fog that obscured parts of the islands for most of the morning and afternoon.
  • The California sea lions are getting louder as their numbers increase. Fortunately for the Race Rocks infrastructure, the sea lions are being good neighbours and keeping to the shoreline.

Facility work:

  • Clean windows
  • Tidy and move tools and wood around the island

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 14

Weather:

  • Sky: fog, then partly cloudy in late afternoon onwards
  • Wind: West 15-30 knots
  • Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in afternoon
  • Air temperature: low 10 °C, high 15 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7 °C

Photos from today:

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

August 7

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Wildlife Notes:

  • Orcas and humpback whales were south and east of the ecological reserve throughout the day. I did not get any photos, but enjoyed catching occasional glimpses of them through the binoculars.

Facility work:

  • I replaced the hand winch on the boat cradle. The old winch was getting rusty and the strap was beginning to fray. I also tested all the electronics on the boat and motor while it was tied to the jetty.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 18
  •  Private: 4

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: West 15-30 knots
  • Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in afternoon
  • Air temperature: low 13 °C, high 17 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.1°C

Photos from today:

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

August 6

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Wildlife Notes:

  • A scoop of brown pelicans stopped by the ecological reserve this afternoon. They rested and preened on the South Islands before taking off a couple hours later. A group of pelicans can go by many names: brief, fleet, pod, pouch, scoop, and squadron.
  • Many of the gull chicks are practicing their take offs and landings. Some are getting about 30 cm or higher off the ground during their wing strengthening exercises. Soon they will all take flight! Then I can stop walking around with a broom over my head to prevent the gull parents from attacking me.

Facility work:

  • The generator ran automatically this morning when the battery voltage dipped down to 47.8V just before 07:00am. The batteries did not fully charge from solar power yesterday due to the clouds. The generator ran for almost seven hours today, using about 30 L of diesel. The battery state of charge went from 65% to 100%, with only some assistance from solar energy since it was cloudy this morning.
  • Changed the relatively much smaller 12V battery in station boat after charging it for a couple days.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 17
  •  Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy this morning, partly cloudy this afternoon, fog patches in the evening
  • Wind: variable early this morning, west 4-30 knots from mid morning onwards
  • Sea: rippled for most of the day, then up to 3′ chop in the evening
  • Air temperature: low 13 °C, high 18 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7°C

Photos from today:

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

August 5

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Wildlife Notes:

  • A brown pelican flew by the ecological reserve this afternoon, stopping off briefly in the water on the east side, just past the large kelp bed. The pelican did not stay long before flying back through the south channel, which allowed me to snap photos (see below) of the big bird in flight.
  • After five days off looking from afar, I finally was able to see some of this year’s black oystercatcher chicks. Christine’s map of oystercatcher nests from June 1 has helped me find where the oystercatcher pairs are located, but the chicks are either too well camouflaged or are no longer around.
    This afternoon, two chicks and their parents were between the ecoguardian’s house and the edge of the east beach. The chicks are looking more like adults with their orange bills, pink legs, and black feathers. Like other chicks born on Race Rocks, they begin their lives blending into the rocks as grey fluff balls.
  • This afternoon, there was a flock of ecotour boats gathering to the northwest of the ecological reserve. A pod of orcas in Race Passage (directly to the north) were travelling near the shore of Bentinck Island.

Facility work:

  • Top up the water in the batteries
  • General tidying
  • Take measurements for an instrument installation

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 18

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Wind: variable 0-18 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 13 °C, high 16 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.4°C

Photos from today:

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

August 4

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Wildlife Notes:

There were many humpbacks to the south of the ecological reserve again today. They were too far away to get any decent photos even with the 400mm lens.

The population of the California sea lions is increasing by a few each day. I woke up this morning to their barks in the east bay.

Facility work:

  • Clean the 44 solar panels
  • Check the electrical systems on the station boat
  • General tidying around the island’s buildings

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 19
  •  Private: 5

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: West 15-26 knots
  • Sea: 2′ to 3′ chop
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 17 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.7°C

Photos from today:

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