Wildlife notes

I heard more whales blowing today.  They are still to too far away for a good look or a good photo and certainly too far for a good whiff of their distinctive whale breath. Four purple martins visited this morning and inspected the nesting boxes again but something must not be right for them. All I can say is it isn’t for the lack of flies. The Keeper’s House oystercatchers moved their two two-week-old chicks down to East Beach today where they learn about foraging on the shoreline. The Coast Guard, Energy Building and East Beach oystercatchers eggs have not yet hatched. Below is a photo of the East Beach oystercatcher’s chick from this day in June 2025, already about 10 days old.

The timing is quite different this year. Last year on June 23 the East Beach black oystercatchers chicks were already 10 days old (shown in this photo) and the Keepers House pair’s eggs had not yet hatched.

Facility notes

Greg and Richard came by today with a new starter battery for the generator. Great news as we can now trust the generator to start when needed.  Richard built a stand for the desalinator. It now sits high enough to work on properly and away from the rear wall for better access to the filters, so there should less profanity in 6 months when the next set of filters need changing. We also changed the oil for the reverse osmosis pump, another much easier task with the unit raised off the ground. Also the pressure is holding at 40 psi so all of our efforts with the foot valve replacement, the pressure balance tank adjustments and the filter changes have paid off.  Things are running smoothly for the time being in the Bunker.

The desalination unit on a stand. With everything working well I can give this room and floor a good clean up.

• cleaned solar panel
• weeding
• adjusted plumping and raised desalinator onto stand
• changed oil in RO pump

Vessels (partial count)

• Ecotourism: 10
• Private: 3

Weather

Clear skies. Winds variable 3 to 13 knots. Daytime temperatures 13 to 26 degrees.