WEDNESDAY 17 April CENSUS DAY
Calm & sunny. Wind N6/18 gusts mid-morning.
Began count on tower at 6.30 to count especially gulls while still mostly at rest.
Vessel Traffic: At any time, 5-8 freighters including what looks to be super tankers. CA naval
patrol vessel. 8-10 fishers out at all time of day. May be after prawns as some floats visible. Not
a single tour vessel!
DND detonated explosives 4 times; one blast shook windows.
Facility Work: Cleaned solar panels; attached hose from student bldg.
Began sawing/splitting wood but again interrupted by E seals near by.
Cleaned/rearranged kitchen drawers; cleaned top of fridge
Cleaned out freezer
Census Count
Mammals: Sealion 43
Steller 12
California 31
Seal 77
Elephant seal 5
Birds: Gull 1531
Guillemot 150
Oystercatcher 8 (4 pair)
Bald eagle 2 (1 adult; 1 immature; 7 immature on 18 th )
Harlequin 27
Cormorant 100
Scoter white wing 7
Dunlin 4
Turnstone 6
Surfbird 5 (10 seen on 15 th )
Savanah sparrow 1
Golden-crowed kinglet 1 (seen 13-14th)
Junco 1 (seen on 15th)
Crow 1
Canada goose 8 (4 pair)
Tag Archives: animal census
Animal Census April14
by Eco-guardians Allen ilka Olsen MONDAY 15 April
Still windy. What a difference a day makes! At 7.15 only a single sealion on jetty (mature male
Cal); only 11 sealions on rocks near jetty/nine relocated to Middle Rocks. The ‘Two Sisters’
moulting Elephant seals separate but reunited and tucked into vegetation for wind protection.
Single moulting Elephant seal inactive most of day. The seal reported by Joan last week to Van
Aquarium not seen again.
Lots of freighter traffic—7 at once. Now watching for HMCS Max Bernays, new arctic patrol
vessel, to arrive at Esquimalt @1030. Failed to see its arrival, however a navy frigate was
observed. As well, US Coast Guard. Only one private vessel came in the turbulent seas.
Maximum flood today extremely dramatic with standing waves.
Cormorants and guillemots feeding in north water. Immature eagle on rocks next to jetty
keeping 50 guillemots from favourite, sunny east-facing perch. 20 Oystercatcher on seal rock
this morning; 10 surfbird; 6 Harlequin
Spent windy day (41 W/62 gusts) observing animal behaviour (and later in week):
1. Sealion— 18 mostly Cals have remained on rocks near jetty. 25 mostly Stellers have
relocated to Middle Rocks. On Saturday observed 18-20 sealions in water west & near
South Islands all day simply floating; occasionally one would swim staying nearby. They
remained there until dark but were gone Sunday morning. Observed this behaviour with
8 on Wed; group would occasionally go into herding mode.
2. Elephant seal—Moulting large females (?) very attached to each other; one observed
grooming/rubbing itself on the one less advanced in its moult. One quite vocal when
separated from the other. Youngster stays completely away from The Sisters (so
named by Joan).
3. Stellers roar; Cals bark; E seals honk/snore/growl/trumpet (played poorly).
4. Oystercatcher—single bathing in inter-tidal pool.
5. Surfbird—10 bathing in inter-tidal pool.
6. Eagles—three immature perched shoulder to shoulder on Turbine Rock; three more
immatures shoulder to shoulder on West Rock. Odd behaviour. A single elsewhere.
7. Cormorants leave the Rock each evening to roost (on DND land?) and return in droves in
early morning.
Animal census April 14/2024
SUNDAY 14 April
Internet restored by IT Dan by 1200.
1330 from tower:
Mammals: 51 seals on South Islands; 2 on Middle Rocks + 1 on West Rock. 27 sealions on Race
Rocks; 9 on Middle Rocks; 2 on West Rocks.
Young Elephant seal observed heading to water; not seen rest of day.
Birds:
22 cormorants
Weather: Sunny with lots of solar power generated. Lowered flag. Gale force winds by mid-
afternoon; big blow all night.
Census April 13/2024
Eco-guardians Allen & Ilka Olsen
SATURDAY 13 April
Weather: Warm; sunny; slight breeze
Birds: 100 guillemot,
52 cormorant (1 injured,)
4 harlequin,
4 oystercatcher,
6 Canada goose
6 turnstone,
6 surfbird,
1 Golden-crown kinglet
Mammals:
4 Elephant seal,
17 sealion
Maintenance: Internet down from 30 pm until noon Sunday; many trips to gen
building/eventually told to wait for IT help on Sunday morning.
Cleaned hand railing &molding in stairwell/some cabinet doors
Wednesday Census
I am writing this on Thursday although the census was done yesterday.
I was happy to welcome 3 new elephant seals to the island. Yesterday the count was at 5 and from what I can discern there are 2 large female, one subadult female, 1 small female and 1 small male. The small male is tagged. Update next post when I can get the number on its green tag.
Census
A sunny day in the intertidal
Mammals
Elephant seals 5
4 confirmed female and perhaps 1 male
Stellar sea lions 19
California Sea lions 33
Harbour seals 57 (mostly on surrounding rocks at low tide)
Sea otters 3 (seen off Turbine rocks 2 days ago)
Birds
Gulls 292 mostly glaucous wing and western and hybrids (please see the amazing survey done last week by RPBO for species breakdown)
Bald Eagles 1 mature 2 immature about 1/2 and 1 year old
Turnstones 10
Cormorants 112 (roosting in the evening) the recent survey suggested the majority are Brandts, about 15% Pelagic and some Double Crested)
Dunlins 7
Surfbirds 56 (see photos below)
Rock Sandpiper? there may be some mixed in with the surfbirds see photo below
Fox sparrow 1
North western crow 1
Weather:
Clear and warm with mild variable winds mostly from the west
Visitors
Greg brought 3 boat loads of Pearson College biology students out with LAura to explore the low tides
Facility Work
Cleaned solar panels in the morning
wood to house
began cleaning fuel shed
Vessel traffic
A very noticeable change in the last several years in the marked increase in shipping traffic. I understand what a shipping lane is now. There is a CONSTANT stream of large container ships travelling by. There are about 6 on the horizon whenever I look out.
Constant shipping traffic
2? year old Bald Eagle
3 elephant seals , the 2 moulting are new
Surf Birds and others camouflaged
The Weekly Animal Census
Today, it was time for the weekly animal census on Race Rocks – a longstanding tradition (see the full archive, here) that allows us to keep track of an ever-fluctuating population of birds and marine mammals. The morning weather wasn’t particularly promising, with wind, rain, and dark overcast skies.
Combined with high tides and a rough sea state, perhaps it wasn’t entirely surprising that the numbers seemed a bit lower than usual – with the harbour seals in particular mostly hiding out in the waves surrounding the South Rocks, and thus rather tricky to count. Alas – who was about?
Census equipment – species list, binoculars, and a clicker to keep track of everyone
March 27th Animal Census
Birds:
Oyster catcher: 22
Harlequin duck: 15
Gulls: 195
Cormorant: 73
Pigeon guillemot: 101
Juvenile eagle: 1
Adult eagle: 1
Canadian geese: 9
Shore / Surf birds: 15
Turnstones: 10
Marine Mammals:
Steller sea lions: 14
Harbour seal: 21
Male Elephant seal: 1 (back on land after a lengthy morning expedition)
Female elephant seal : 0
California sea lion: 24
The weather did eventually start to calm down a bit – still hopeful to catch my first RR sunset of the trip later tonight!
Facility Work:
- Weekly Animal Census
- Continued algae clean-up on Generator Roof
- Chopped Firewood
- Prepared new Water Filters for both the Keeper’s Residence and the Marine Science Building
- Early AM generator run to top up batteries, PM solar enough to reach charge status of 100%
Noted Vessel Traffic:
- 1 ecotourism vessel, passing between the South Islands and Rosedale Reef
Weather – Current:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather – Past:
Animal Census and Blog
The great weather had to come to an end eventually! Despite being a dark and cloudy day we lucked out with no rain and no wind.
I had 9 extra helpers for the animal census today, the Pearson students are extra observant so this may be the most accurate count yet!
No sea otters were seen today but the two new ones have been around the past few days. Still no additional elephant seals on the main island, just our solo male! A couple of females have been hauled out on the various surrounding rocks but none of come ashore here.
March 20th Animal Census:
Birds:
Oyster catcher: 15
Harlequin duck: 12
Gulls: 261
Cormorant: 62
Pigeon guillemot: 149
Juvenile eagle: 3
Adult eagle: 4
Canadian geese: 9
Shore birds: 10
Turnstones: 28
Savannah sparrow: 1
Marine Mammals:
Steller sea lions: 17
Harbour seal: 64
Male Elephant seal: 1
Female elephant seal : 2 (north rocks)
California sea lion: 20
Injuries:
Harbour seal with facial injury
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- Harbour seals on high alert
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- One of two female elephant seals counted today
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- An impressive balancing act
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- Beautiful!
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- I initially thought this was meal remnants but I’ve seen this seal multiple times over a couple of weeks
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- A very tricky to photograph Savannah sparrow
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- Harlequin ducks at low tide
DND Activity:
- 2 blasts at 12:55 and 13:00. They did startle the harbour seals and the second blast sent a California sea lion fleeing into the water.
- 3rd blast at 14:15 no obvious disturbance noted.
- 4th blast at 15:05 no obvious disturbance noted.
- 5th blast at 15:08 no obvious disturbance noted.
Noted Vessel Traffic:
- One ecotourism vessel
- One Coast Guard vessel
- Three RCMP vessels
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- RCMP coming by for a visit
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- Coast Guard with guests passing by the jetty
Weather Events:
- Wednesday, March 20:
- Sky: Cloudy all day
- Wind: High of WNW 13 knots, Low of SW 4 knots
- Sea: Calm
- Temperature: Low 8oC, High 10oC
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Weather – Current:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather – Past:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?
Growing sea lion numbers…
Animal Census and Blog
Time is flying by here! Nothing too wild to report today, the weather is definitely getting warmer and the solar panels are working hard. See below for more details!
March 13th Census:
Birds
- Harlequin duck: 13
- Bald eagle adult: 5
- Bald eagle juvenile: 1
- Turnstones: 16
- Gulls, Glaucous and Western: 130
- Cormorants: 27
- Pigeon Guillemots: 86
- Oyster catcher: 21
- Canadian goose: 11
- Surf Birds: 8
Mammals
- Steller sea lion: 23
- Harbour seal: 40
- California sea lion: 27
- Elephant seal male: 1
- Sea otter: 1 (+ additional sighted March 11th)
- Animal Tracking and Injuries:
- Injuries: Steller sea lion with head wound (see photo)
- Tracking: California sea lion with small red flipper tag, no numbers or markings on tag
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- This guy has a large head wound but it doesn’t seem to be affecting him
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- Steller with head wound
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- Cali with a tag
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- Nothing legible on this side of the tag
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- Hard to feel lonely here when you’re always being watched
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- Airing out
Ecological Notes:
– Two sea otters observed near the South Island on the morning of March 11th. One was larger with a dark face, the second appeared to be young with blonde cheeks and lacking the nose scar that Ollie is known for. Watched them both for 3-4 hours, they were eating urchins, crab, grooming, and exhibiting other common sea otter behaviours.
– Still just one male elephant seal on the rocks. Female was reported on Middle Rock by an ecotourism vessel.
Visitors:
- Greg to drop off supplies
Facility Work:
- Gardening/weeding
-
- Before
-
- Half way
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- Done!
- Repaired some gaps in the electric fence
- Full clean inside keeper’s house (on bad weather day)
Noted Vessel Traffic:
- Ecotourism vessels, the same 2-3 seem to pass by each day
- Wednesday, March 13:
- Sky: Blue sky with some clouds
- Wind: Low of WNW 4 knots with high of WSW 18 knots
- Sea: Relatively calm today
- Temperature: Low 6oC, High 9oC
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Weather – Current:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather – Past:
Animal Census
Census done by Students of WestCoast Adventure College during their stay here for classes
Birds
- Harlequin duck 12
- Bald eagle adult 5
- Bald eagle juvenile 2
- Golden Eagle juvenile 1
- Turnstones 10
- Gulls 323
- Cormorants 243
- Pigeon Guillemots 18
- Oyster catcher 6
- Canadian goose 10
- Surf Birds 2
- Dunlin 4
- Savannah Sparrow 1
Mammals
- Steller sea lion 79, including 1 female nursing a yearling
- Harbour seal 25
- California sea lion 40
- Sea otter 1
- Humpback whale, mid strait south of Race
- Orca 2 hunting in the reserve
- 6 hunting south of the reserve, waiting until the
- 2 joined them
Detailed Bird Count
Observations
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Number observed: 16
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Number observed: 6
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Number observed: 8
Details
Single group close to shore of Great Race Rock.
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Number observed: 4
Details
Two pairs flying around on arrival.
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Number observed: 12
Details
Ones, twos and threes scattered around. A few initially on grassy areas when we arrived before moving towards the shoreline.
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Number observed: 5
Details
At least five singles scattered around.
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Number observed: 3
Details
Scurrying around grassy area when we arrived then moved towards rocky shoreline. One definitive, two formative.
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Number observed: 3
Details
Two together on south side which I had good views of through my scope for a couple of minutes as they moved in and out of view between rocks. I moved closer for a better look but they vanished either walked around the back of the little island or flew off.
Later I had superb views of a definitive bird (see definitive wing coverts) on the north shore but only for a couple of minutes before the bird quickly moved west along the shore and around a corner.
Media
© James Kennerley Macaulay Library © James Kennerley Macaulay Library © James Kennerley Macaulay Library © James Kennerley Macaulay Library © James Kennerley Macaulay Library © James Kennerley Macaulay Library -
Number observed: 12
Details
Most moulting into alternate plumage.
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Number observed: 4
Details
One in alternate plumage.
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Number observed: 25
Details
All loafing on West Race Rock.
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Number observed: 4
Details
Two definitive, two first cycles.
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Number observed: 7
Details
At least a couple of definitive birds, a couple of second cycles and three first cycles (juv).
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Number observed: 3
Details
Definitive and two first cycles (juv).
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Number observed: 180
Details
130 in main flock on Great Race Rock. 10 on West Race Rock. 40 others scattered around. Approximately 95% of adults with primaries darker than mantle to varying degrees so likely this number includes some individuals that may better fall under ‘Olympic Gull’.
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Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)
Number observed: 25Details
Estimate for the number of especially distinctive hybrids.
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Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)
Number observed: 5Details
At least a handful of ‘Cook Inlet Gulls’. Likely were more which I may have overlooked or incorrectly called ‘Olympic’.
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Number observed: 292
Details
240 in main flock on west side. 27 on West Race Rock. 25 on north side. Approximately 90% were definitive birds.
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Larus sp.
Number observed: 60Details
Estimate of the number of indetermined hybrids.
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loon sp.
Number observed: 2Details
Distant on water and another in flight.
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Number observed: 88
Details
Majority loafing on north side of Great Race Rock near gull flock.
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Number observed: 25
Details
Majority loafing on north side of Great Race Rock near gull flock.
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Number observed: 61
Details
Majority loafing on north side of Great Race Rock near gull flock.
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Number observed: 17
Details
Spread out loafing on high points of islands.
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Number observed: 3
Details
Three appeared just as we were leaving hawking low around jetty for insects.
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Number observed: 1
Details
Lurking along edge of rocks. Fairly dark chocolatey and rufous bird. Slim bill. Prominent yellow at base of supercilium.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S160741512
Details
Several groups, largest was eight birds. Many smart drakes. Some males moulting into formative plumage too.