Tag Archives: bald eagle

Re-runs

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Weather & Sea Conditions

Light, variable winds and overcast skies were the norm for most of today. The sun came out in the early evening but total accumulated sunlight levels were way down from the highs of last week. Of course this also meant a low UV index, which barely reached 2 today. The barometric pressure climbed steadily from a low of 1010 on Sunday, to over 1030 hPa today and tomorrow’s forecast calls for more sun and a moderate (5) UV index. Light winds are predicted to continue, rising to 15 knots Wednesday afternoon. Except for tidal rips and current driven standing waves, sea conditions were calm and rippled today.

Vessels

Six whale watching vessels were observed working in the protected area today. One of the larger yellow vessels took chances with safety and wildlife security, ignoring common sense and rules, by barging through the narrow, shallow passageway between the South Rocks sea lions haul-out and Great Race. They were lucky, they missed the shallow rocks and the sea lions were disturbed but did not stampede.

Why is it always the same company that pushes the limits? Not all of their operators take these kinds of risks but it certainly makes one pause and wonder: what kind of leadership allows this to happen repeatedly?

Very few sports fishing boats were seen today except in the distance at Constance Bank and Beechey Head. One was observed passing through the protected area (not fishing), near Rosedale Reef.

Ecological and General Observations

Ecologically it was the day of the goose. The time has come, (the Walrus said), for egg laying to start, whether nests are built and territories staked out, or not. There was a certain desperation and pandemonium amongst the geese today leading to much honking, numerous chases, physical battles between the males and general goose drama. They are here to stay, like the California Sea Lions.

Everything else seemed to proceed as usual; sea lions and seals slept. Beulah crushed the beds where I picked tulips yesterday and then moved over behind the boat-shed. The river otter continues to use his two story, rock, otter spot and ‘decorates’ the walkway with evidence of his fish predation. The gulls seemed more settled and there seemed to be fewer marauding eagles. Black Oystercatchers are all in pairs in the same areas where they nested last year, through most of the day. The Pigeon Guillemots spent more of the day ashore and were still here in the late afternoon. The Harlequins were busy fuelling up for their move to the mountains.

A true sign of spring, the bull kelp could be seen reaching the surface at low tide. Soon there will be beds of kelp around each rock making it easier for the skippers to see the underwater hazards that are compounded by ‘the race’. The Sea Otter made a brief appearance and appeared to be itchy. Maybe he was just doing his daily ritual of grooming to keep his fur impeccable and impenetrable to the ocean’s cold.

Chores were routine today. There were no visitors.

Wild Goose Chase

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Weather & Sea Conditions

At dawn, the west wind was already blowing 30 knots and gusting. Although it dropped to 20 – 25 knots at times, the west wind continued to bring dramatic clouds and showers along with brief glimpses of sunshine and rainbows, throughout the day. The marine forecasters call for the wind to back to southwest and they estimate that the SW wind will diminish to 10 -15 knots, late overnight and drop to light, early Tuesday morning. Showers and the mix of sun and cloud are predicted to continue. Seas were rough today to the west and out in the Strait, while the entrance to Pedder Bay and the eastern horizon remained a little calmer in the lee.

Vessels

No vessels were observed in the protected area or passing nearby, today.

Ecological and General Observations

Canada Geese are more and more insistent that they belong on Great Race and two pairs are actively nesting now. Even if the eco-guardian were to spend 24/7 chasing off geese, it would be ineffective as they are incredibly persistent, very strong and have a certain goose cunning that harkens back beyond the etymology of ‘wild goose chase’. Without the large numbers of geese that were present last year and the crushing effects of dozens elephant seal dozers, the grass does appear to remain a little longer, but then it has been a wet spring.

Beulah, the large female Norther Elephant Seal staying in the garden, went for a dip this morning and on her return she seemed to enjoy ‘frolicking’ in the long grass, head down undulating through the greenery. She also found a clean place to sleep, next to an old, lighthouse heritage, rockery bed. After watching the elephant seals purposefully destroy the tulips last year, I picked a bouquet when she moved into that part of the garden and they are brightening my world on the little desk in the house.

More and more adult male California Sea Lions are hauling out on Great Race, This afternoon there were ~50 on the south side and a dozen more on the west side. Younger animals and Steller’s continue to haul on South Rocks. Yesterday evening, I discovered a new (to me) den for the old, male River Otter. I knew that there was an otter spot nearby due to the telltale ‘calling cards’ left outside the den area but it took a while to find it. He is barely visible and very protected, sleeping under one of the big boulders just northeast of the compost.

The Bald Eagles continue to spend the day in the Ecological Reserve; most active early and late, chasing gulls. There is a lot of evidence of piscivory on the island, but some of the remnants are hard to pin on any particular predator. The gulls here eat a lot of small forage fish like herring and marine invertebrates like chitons but there are also remains that look more like either River Otter or Bald Eagle leftovers (see images).

A Turkey Vulture stopped and rested near camera 5 today. I was hooked up to a staff meeting by conference call or I would have gone outside to photograph it. I did get a photo through the window, before it was swept away by the west wind. Black Turnstones continue to be present in high numbers, resting and fattening up before their northward migration.

Chores & Visitors

Chores today were routine and there were no visitors.

Conservation Message

If you are a commercial boater or if you use docks and harbours, you may be interested in two really excellent booklets on Green Boating and Displacement Hull Fuel Efficiency put together by the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation. Their Green Boating Guide covers good marine practices in seven main areas: wildlife protection, habitat protection, waste discharge, fluid handling, solid waste, fuel efficiency, and cleaners. The Fuel Efficiency Guide covers ways to reduce fuel consumption through both operational and design measures. Another way to look at savings on fuel is that it also reduces carbon dioxide pollution to the atmosphere. CO2 is not only a greenhouse gas, ~ 40% of it ends up in the ocean causing the shift in basic chemistry which is called ocean acidification, global warming’s evil twin.

There is a real shift in attitude happening amongst boaters of all types, as more and more people realize that we have to profoundly change our basic routines and behaviours in order to have a sustainable ‘blue’ future. I call it investing in green and keeping it clean for a blue economy. If you use social media please use the hashtag #green4blue to connect with other people going green for a blue future. Check out the booklets here for great ideas on how you can make a positive difference on the water.

http://www.bucksuzuki.org/images/uploads/docs/GBGweb2012.pdf

http://www.bucksuzuki.org/images/uploads/docs/FEGweb2012.pdf

Aussi disponible en français http://www.bucksuzuki.org/publications/

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See Otter

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Last night the westerly rose to 40 knots with stronger gusts, after dark. In the morning, it settled to a steady 25 to 30 knots and maintained that early evening when it rose again. The west wind and sunshine dominated the weather here today. The barometer stayed high between 1017 and 1019 hPa until early evening when it started to fall. There is a strong wind warning in effect and westerlies of 20 to 30 knots are expected to diminish to west 5 to 15 late overnight then become light near noon Sunday. The UV index climbed over 4 (moderate) today and should drop with cloud cover and showers predicted for tomorrow.

There were no whale watching or sports fishing vessels observed in the protected area today. The blustery winds and choppy, rough seas were a deterrent and there were whales elsewhere. A tug called Service X, about 35 – 40 feet long, was observed travelling west through Race Passage. It was plunging and taking waves over the wheelhouse as it made headway towards the west coast. One float plane flying fairly low at ~250 to  300′ passed over the island from west to east.

In the Ecological Reserve many of the animals were seeking shelter from the winds. A lone male, Sea Otter came close enough to be photographed and he appears to be in fine form. It may the same individual who was here for the last couple of years. He was seen once in the early morning about a week ago and then yesterday during the census, I spotted him drifting near the few, old Bull Kelp that survived the winter near Turbine Rock.

The eagles continue to chase the gulls and keep them flighty. I didn’t get a good count, but estimated early in the day that there were at least, twice the numbers of gulls counted in yesterday’s census. I will try to get a high count at some point during the week. Two of the juvenile eagles were also observed battling several times today, knocking each other out of the air and tussling on the ground. Chasing off geese is starting to be a losing effort. There are at least two nests now.

Chores were focussed on cleaning and the ever constant battle of the fly today. There were no visitors.

 

 

 

Eagles Use Foghorn Daily

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The morning started with either low cloud or high cloud. The sun shone under the fog on the Victoria side and on the Sooke side it thickened and the ceiling lowered to become more fog-like. Port Angeles was obscured early. The fog lifted from east to west and resulted in a beautiful clear day with a west wind of 20 – 25 knots, constant throughout the day. Barometric pressure held fairly steady as well, at 1016 -1017 hPa. The marine forecast for the central Strait has a strong wind warning in effect, calling for west winds of 20 to 30 knots and there are showers in forecast.

No whale watching vessels were observed today. One ‘sports’ fishing vessel was observed inside the boundary today but no fishing activity was observed in the protected area.

Second Nature visited briefly with Kyle at the helm and a second person that was supposed to be measuring things.

Today was census day and the results are below. It should be noted that the Bald Eagles were hunting gulls all day on Great Race Island. Although no takes were seen, the gull population thinned significantly during the day and the gull numbers today may not reflect a representative sample of the true numbers seen this week.

Animal Census

2016 01-Apr
River Otter 1
Northern Elephant Seal 8
Harbour Seal 176
Northern Sea Lion (Steller’s) 28
California Sea Lion 103
Canada Goose 5
Brandt (flying through) 75
Harlequin Duck 11
Surf Scoter 0
Common Merganser 2
Brandt’s Cormorant 2
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Pelagic Cormorant 3
Cormorant (not ID’d to species) 0
Bald Eagle (juvenile) 4
Bald Eagle (adult) 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 4
Black Oystercatcher 12
Black Turnstone 70
Surfbird 0
Rock Sandpiper 0
Dunlin 2
Mew Gull 0
Glaucous-winged Gull (+ Xs in nesting area) 210
Glaucous-winged Gull (+ Xs outside of nesting area) 98
Thayers Gulls 0
Calfiornia Gulls 3
Western Gull 1
Common Murres 12
Rhinoceros Auklets 2
Pigeon Guillemot 40
Common Raven 2
Northwestern Crow 2
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1

 

 

 

Eco-Guardian Outreach

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Weather Information

It was a beautiful day, calm with lots of sunshine until the fog and fog wind came in from the west in the late afternoon. The westerly rose quickly to 30 knots, gusting to 35 knots as the light faded. There is a gale warning in effect and although it is supposed to come down to 10 – 15 overnight the westerly is expected to rise again late Friday afternoon. The forecast calls for sunny skies with some fog patches. Today the UV Index was just over 4 (moderate) and tomorrow it is expected go higher, to 5 (moderate). Today the barometric pressure went up, from 1016 to 1018 HPa, then back down to 1016 HPa.

Vessel Observations

I picked up Riley this morning in the whaler and then spent most of the day ashore returning in the late afternoon with Alex just before the fog and wind. I was not here most of the day to observe vessels. Second Nature made a visit and delivered 4 barrels of fuel in the morning. On return in the late afternoon, there was one ‘sportsfishing’ vessel trolling in the area closed to fishing. It was enveloped in fog soon after our return.

During the time ashore today, I worked with a group of grade 7 students from the Victoria school district. These students are taking a year-long marine studies program and were very lucky to be able to spend most of today’s school day, studying plankton, marine invertebrates, algae, birds, physical oceanography and marine ecology in the lab and on the foreshore at Pearson College. Thanks to Project Wild, Kelly Nordin and Kathryn Cook, Monterey Middle School parents and Laura Verhegge for making this great learning experience happen.

Ecological Observations

There are still Northern Elephant Seals on Middle Rock and it will be interesting to see how many during tomorrow’s animal census. The Steller’s Sea Lions were sound asleep on South Rock as the fog rolled in late afternoon.

The eagles and gulls continued their deadly game of chase. One goose nest was found with three freshly laid eggs, in front of the student house. This nest is the first of the season.

Solar energy was high and contributed significantly to the island’s power needs, today.

 

Flowers, Birds, and Stuff

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots East, later up to 20 from the West.
  • Sky: sunny
  • Water: calm
Blurry like a painting 2

Blurry like a painting!

Ecological

  • I believe there are at minimum 3 elephant seals out on Middle Rock, perhaps 5.
  • The seagulls continue their coupling and courting.

Maintenance

  • Added 36.5 gallons to the tidy tank from the one remaining diesel barrel.
  • It now has just under 82 gallons in it; should be good for a while.
  • Scraped the rust off the empty barrel and spray painted it blue.
  • Cleaned the solar panels.

Boats

  • One mostly empty eco-tour came by in the morning.
  • Lots of small fishing boats around the reserve today.
  • Only one passed through to my knowledge.

Almost empty eco-tour

Sunny Day Back on the Rock

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Log Entry by Riley Strother

Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Sky: sunny
  • The mercury hit 11C today (which is over 50F!) so you know it was a warm day.

Ecological

  • Spent 30 minutes in the morning chasing the Canada Geese off the island. I did so by walking around the perimeter of the island, and every time I completed a loop the original pair would have returned, necessitating a further loop to invariably chase away some other returned pair.
  • Eventually I only had to walk about once per hour to scare off any geese that had returned. By the evening there only remained one persistent pair near the Students’ House.
  • As Anne has noted, there are lots of gulls and they take to the sky at the slightest swoop of an eagle.
  • It looked to me as though there were 4 elephant seals hauled out on Middle Rock.
  • Several times today the sea lions seemed agitated by the boats that perhaps got a bit too close. They generally chose to bark rather than stampede though.
  • I saw the river otter in the afternoon, my favourite Race Rocks character. It’s good to be back. Thornton W. Burgess should write a book about him/her.
Agitated Sea Lions

Oft’ agitated Sea Lions

Maintenance

  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Settled back in to the house for my short stay.

Boats

  • As befits a beautiful statutory holiday, there were many boats about today.
  • Anne dropped me off in the Whaler in the morning.
  • Five eco-tours came through the reserve to look at the sea lions.
  • The Prince of Whales came by two times. The first time they appeared to be speeding through the SW part of the reserve to join up with the catamaran.
  • The large Eagle Wings catamaran came by twice.
  • An unidentified black eco-tour came by in the late afternoon.
  • One pleasure craft with a family on board passed through the South Channel, which is definitely too close to the sea lions.
  • Two fishing boats came by. The first one seemed too close to the sea lions. The second one appeared to be going too fast.
  • The Pacific Scout pilot vessel passed to the north of the reserve.
  • The Sir Wilfred Laurier patrol vessel passed to the south of the reserve.

Other

  • Got a phone call from a wrong number; someone asking for Mike. That seems rather unusual.

Nothing Subdued About a Westerly Gale

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The west wind came up sometime after midnight and was already blowing 25 to 30 knots at 04:00 in the morning. The wind rose more with the sun and blew 35 gusting to 40 most of the morning and early afternoon. Late afternoon it dropped to 25 – 30 knots. Although there were showers and some very dramatic looking thunderheads, west wind also tends to bring good weather and the barometer which had taken a dive overnight, spent the day climbing out of its hole. The forecast calls for the wind to drop to light after midnight.

Except for large sea-going vessels, sea conditions around Race Rocks and the central Juan de Fuca Strait area were unsuitable for safe boating. No small vessels were observed in or out of the Ecological Reserve today.

There were eight or nine Bald Eagles here today and as usual the gulls would all lift off when the eagles they passed over the flock. A smaller, more compact bird of prey that flew and behaved like a Peregrine Falcon but had a reddish tail like a Red-tailed Hawk made the gulls extra nervous this evening as the sun was setting. The light was not good enough to get a good look at it except to note that it was an exceptionally agile flyer in the heavy winds and from top view it had reddish, burnt sienna-coloured tail. It would swoop through the vegetated area about a half-meter off of the grass; pick up speed and then wheel up into the flock of gulls. The hawk (?) falcon landed on the rock beside camera five, a vantage point, then peeled off backwards with the wind as an eagle approached. It was almost half the size of the eagle.

It was a day dominated by wind and that is perhaps why the big female Northern Elephant Seal left early this morning. Other pinnipeds continued to haul-out as usual.

Sunshine powered the desalinator again today. The system’s media filter was back-flushed, rinsed and refilled and the 20-micron cartridge filter, replaced with a clean one. Other chores were more routine, such as fighting entropy. There were no visitors.

 

 

 

 

 

Big Beulah Back

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Today’s winds were light, southwest in the morning and west with showers in the  afternoon. Peak force was during the sombre sunset at 22 knots from the west. The UV index was less than 2.5 even during the greatest period of sunshine mid-day. The barometric pressure rose steadily all day and had levelled off at 1017 hPa as dusk settled down.

Four whale watching vessels were observed operating in the Protected Area today. Three out four travelled slowly and respected the regulations; the fourth sped leaving the Reserve by traversing half of its length at top speed. I am curious if it is the same person every day. It is the same company but they have multiple zodiacs that look the same from a distance. I don’t want to think it is an engrained part of the culture in that company to operate in an irresponsible way. It is certainly not sustainable.

A large, female Northern Elephant Seal came ashore. She was dry at dawn and there was no wet trail on the path leading to her napping spot, so I assumed she came ashore early last night. She is the first back since Chunk, (the pup killer) left a few weeks ago. She seems to be in fine form with no wounds, only old scars. Her girth is magnificent and she has an organically hydrodynamic shape. What an amazing creature of the deep.

The gulls on the island are taking advantage of big boils of forage fish coming up with the turbulent currents. This morning as I was cleaning the solar panels on the energy building roof, most of the  500+ gulls gave the call for food, vacated the island and high-tailed it directly to a mixed species, feeding flock frenzy. This evening, fish bone remains can be seen around the island in fresh bolus balls left by the gulls.

The Bald Eagles continue to fish during the day and make the gulls nervous at dawn and dusk. I wish they had that effect on Canada Geese.

The River Otter showed itself today, waddling up past the derrick and heading in under the old platform which is where I am sure they have a den.

Sunlight levels were higher than they have been for the last few days. Insolation peaked at over 650 W/m2, enough sunshine to run the de-salinator for three hours, using only solar power.

Chores were routine and there were no visitors.

 

 

More Visitors

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Light northeast winds continued this morning under high cloud. Light winds, combined with an extended high tide and a long period of fairly slack current made for a peaceful morning and calm waters. The wind direction started to shift eastward in the early afternoon and by dark it was coming from the west. The barometer was more or less steady today and the UV index stayed below 2, so weather-wise things were quite benign. Showers are expected for the next few days and winds are forecast to be variable 5 – 15 knots until late Sunday.

Whale watchers were out and about today and five vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve. There were quite a few sports fishing vessels as well but most of them stayed outside the Protected Area. One sports fisher ran through between Great Race and South Rock.

The gulls are getting closer to nesting daily. For the first time this season I observed a pair mating. It is quite a balancing act. The seals and sea lions seem to spending the whole day sleeping right now while the eagles are busy fishing and hunting cormorants and gulls.

Chris brought out the rest of the Jeanne Sauvé scholars who have been working at Pearson College for the last few weeks. It was really a treat to meet with them and learn a little about the great things they do to make the world a better place.

They reminded me of a Margaret Meade quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Jeanne Sauvé scholars from around the world working together to solve issues.

Jeanne Sauvé scholars from around the world working together to solve tricky issues.