Wildlife

Today I noticed a strange swelling of the neck on this chick. It’s not unusual to see chicks with various injuries from wandering too close to another adult or running in a panic from intrusions into their own nesting site- swollen or missing eyes in particular. Christine’s post from earlier in the nesting season points out a few of the noticeable injuries around. This one is new, and looks serious! The chick doesn’t seem to be impaired otherwise, and is alert and feeding. I’ll keep an eye on it for the next while and see if the swelling improves at all.

In other news, the sea lions seem determined to battle for the jetty! Twice today I came down to find different sections of downed posts and warped fence wiring, and a handful of cheeky haul-outs where they should not be. By the time I went to fix the cracked post at the end of the jetty, it was starting to get dark. A quick reset will have to do for tonight, tomorrow I’ll have to rethink the current setup.

Facility notes

– Cleaned panels

– Washed windows

– Tidied inside student house

– Tidied inside main house

– Fence maintenance

Weather

Cloudy, winds mostly from the Southwest from 9 to 18 knots, early morning gusts up to 23 knots. Temperatures 12 to 17 degrees.

Vessels

Ecotourism: 19

Private: 1