Tag Archives: bald eagle

census, banded cormorant

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Atmospheric pressure rose to a high of over 1020 h Pa today.  The NE wind has started to return, 10 to 20 knots most of the day.

One whale watching boat and one dive boat in reserve today.

Thursday the weather/visibility was pretty bad for a census and on Friday I went off island so I did a makeup census on Saturday.

Notably: there was a high count of cormorants, 520, compared to last week as well a yellow banded individual (KCO)- details documented on next post. There was a high number of bald eagles (20) in reserve, and a lone kingfisher and pelican again in the reserve.  While there have been over 40 black oyster catchers here this week there were none observed today.

Harvested driftwood including a good size fir log I tied up at high tide and bucked and chopped once the tide had fallen.  Worked on toilet install and hammer drilling for plaque install.

Census:

California Sea lions: 38
Northern Sea Lions: 222
Harbour Seals: 5
Elephant Seals: 6
Cormorants: 520
Canada Geese: 2
Gulls: 680  mostly Thayer’s)
Bald Eagle: 20
Harlequin Ducks: 5
Black Turnstone: 2
Dunlin: 3
Sparrow: 0
Kingfisher: 1

Pelican:1

Humpback

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Barometer continued to drop during the day to below 1005 hPa by nighttime. The wind was10 knots N in the morning and picked up to gusts over 30 knots in the evening.  There have been growing swells coming in from the North East.

Observed two river otters around the boardwalk in the morning and several eagles hunting and feeding in the reserve today.  Before dusk there was a lone humpback whale between West rock and Church rock.  Also around dusk I saw a sea otter off the south end of the island swimming on its back eating something off its chest.

Cleared the boat ramp twice of debris, harvested driftwood, cut and stacked firewood.

Snow Day!

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The wind was howling up to 38 knots from the north northeast last night, bringing with it a low of -2oC and a couple centimetres of snow.  The temperature stayed just below 0oC for the rest of the day.  The barometer rose from 999 hPa to 1022 hPa throughout the day, making for a bluebird sky.  During the daylight hours, the wind continued to blow from the north northeast between 10 and 20 knots.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve in the mid afternoon.  Six divers from Ogden Point were exploring the undersea world of the reserve in the late morning.

The snow didn’t seem to faze the animals.  The sea lions barked just as loud and the bald eagles tormented the gulls just as much.  Some of the snow melted from the sun.  There is still ice on some of the paths and rocks, as well as a light dusting of snow on the grass and in the places that were shaded by buildings and rocks.

Other than taking photos of snow, the tasks of the day included: running the desalinator, topping up the batteries with the generator, deconstructing the old washroom in the basement of the Marine Science Centre to accommodate the new composting toilet (it’s almost finished), fixing the wheelbarrow, testing the salinity and temperature of the water, and doing a load of laundry.

Peregrine, Eagles and Wind

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The wind gusts reached 39 knots from the west this morning.  The general wind trend throughout the day was between 11 and 32 knots from the west, with slight fluctuations to the north and south.  The barometer generally went down from 1001 hPa to 997 hPa, with a few dips upwards as the sun broke through the clouds.

The approaching Arctic blast of cold weather will bring a chance that the thermometer might drop from 7oC to below 0oC tonight for the first time in a while.  Heating coils and warm thoughts have been deployed around the buildings to prevent pipes from freezing.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve at 12:30.  A couple boats gathered to view humpback whales to the east of the reserve in the mid afternoon.

There were a couple of bald eagles around for most of the day, one adult and one juvenile. At 10:00 in the morning, a peregrine falcon was chasing after the juvenile eagle over the north of Great Race and Middle Channel.  The size difference of the eagle and peregrine took me by surprise.  I had never seen the much smaller peregrine next to a bald eagle. This might be the same peregrine that Pam Birley has seen over the past week.  It had dark chest feathers, which indicates it is a juvenile peregrine falcon.

The desalinator worked hard today to make about 800 litres of fresh water.  With a maximum output of 1.5 litres per minute, the desalinator is a very energy intensive way to create water.  Although, when the water is heated and added to a mix of leaves, spices and herbs, it makes great tea.  A necessity for Race Rocks.

Weekly Census

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The wind varied in velocity and direction throughout the day.  Fog settled in overnight as the wind blew between 15-25 knots from the southwest.  In the daylight hours, the wind blew from the south and west between 7-32 knots.  The barometer dropped slightly from 1008 hPa to 1004 hPa.  It was overcast with patches of sun and rain throughout the day. The temperature reached a high of 12.8oC at noon.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve, in the mid afternoon.

I saw humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) twice today, both times from the kitchen window.  The whales were surfacing just south of Great Race Rocks, within the boundaries of the Ecological Reserve.  At 9:30am, I saw two humpbacks blow, surface and dive westward.  At 3:20pm, I saw one humpback surface and dive eastward.  I am not positive if they were different whales, so I counted them as two in the census.

Two branded steller sea lions were seen seen today.  76Y was a pup in 2002 when it was branded in St. George Reef, California.  443Y was branded in 2013, when it was a pup at Rogue Reef, Oregon.

Here are the results of the weekly census:

Humpback Whale: 2
Steller Sea Lion: 244
California Sea Lion: 216
Harbour Seal: 39
Northern Elephant Seal: 4
Bald Eagle: 5 (2 adults, 3 juveniles)
Canada Goose: 18
Crow: 2
Harlequin Duck: 4
Double Crested Cormorant: 61
Pelagic Cormorant: 142
Black Oystercatcher: 25
Gull: 411
Black Turnstone: 8
Rock Sandpiper: 6
Surfbird: 11
Savannah Sparrow: 2
Fox Sparrow: 2

Birds and Sea Lion Brands

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The wind was calm, not rising above 10 knots.  It blew from the northeast, swinging around to the south in the middle of the day, and settling on the east at night.  The barometer dropped from 1020 hPa to 1009 hPa, with a few short rises throughout the day.  The temperature reached a high of 10.8oC, at the ground station.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve, just before sunset.

Pam Birley, the dedicated webcam viewer from the UK, spotted a peregrine falcon again this morning.  She was able to capture a photo of the peregrine from Camera 1, see below.  Pam thinks it’s a young one, because it has dark brown chest feathers.

I wasn’t able to spot the peregrine, but I saw two branded steller sea lions.  See the photos below of brands 205Y and 405Y.  The steller sea lion branded 405Y was born in 2013, at Rogue Reef, Oregon.  The steller sea lion branded 205Y is a female born in 2004 at St. George’s Reef, California.   The sea lion is well known to Pat Gearin, from the NOAA. Pat emailed me with some details about the sea lion: “She is an unusual animal because she has not returned to CA to have her pups but instead has settled at Carroll Island, WA where she has had at least two pups over the last 4 years.  I think the animal next to her in your first photo may be her juvenile which is still nursing.  Steller’s sometimes nurse their pups for over 2 years.”

Bald Eagles and Sea Lion Bones

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The wind blew from the south, switching around to the east and north, by the mid afternoon.  The velocity of the wind hovered between 9 to 15 knots, during the daylight hours.  The barometer dropped from 1027 hPa to 1018 hPa.  The sky was overcast, with rain in the afternoon.  The temperature was 8oC for most of the day, dropping from 10oC yesterday.

There were no boats seen in the reserve today.

This morning, nine bald eagles were in reserve at one time:  four adults and five juvenile. They made at least one kill of a gull, just below the high point of the island, northwest of camera 5.

During a beachcombing exploration this afternoon, I found a partially decomposed sea lion carcass.  It appeared to be a steller sea lion, based on the appearance of the fur and flippers.  It was near where I had found other sea lion bones a few weeks ago.  The bones had been mostly cleaned by gulls and insects.  It looked fairly recent, because the fur was still intact and attached to several parts of the skeleton.

Eagles, waves and engine troubles

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The barometer continued to rise today, from 1019 hPa to 1024 hPa.  The wind blew from the west and southwest between 14 and 34 knots.  The sky was mostly clear, with occasional brief showers and rainbows.  There was a large swell coming in from the west.

There were no boats seen in the reserve today.

There were four bald eagles seen in the reserve this morning.  Large groups of gulls got to practice their evasive manoeuvres as the eagles flew overhead.  Our UK camera viewer, Pam Birley, spotted a peregrine falcon on the helicopter pad at 15:20.

I was unsuccessful in running the monthly check on the fire pump and refill of the salt water cistern, but not for lack of trying.  I strung all the hoses from the jetty to the underground cistern, only to find that neither engine was willing to start and pump.  I will continue to tinker with those engines.  On the up side, I got to practice unrolling and rolling all the hoses.

Weekly Census of Race Rock’s Megafauna

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The wind blew about 10 knots from the north.  The barometer rose overnight from 1009 hPa to 1013 hPa as the sun set at 16:29, beginning to drop in the evening.  The sea was rippled.  The sky was mostly overcast with some breaks of sun and occasional light rain showers.  It hasn’t rained here during the day (possibly at all) in about two weeks.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve today.  It spent a lot of time near the southern side Race Rocks, where the whale watching boats don’t usually go. Three small grey inflatable military boats sped around the edge of the reserve at 15:00, coming within less than a hundred meters of the islands.  After their circuit, they headed back towards the navy base.

Here are the results of the weekly census:

Steller Sea Lion: 263
California Sea Lion: 208
Harbour Seal: 7
Northern Elephant Seal: 5
Bald Eagle: 4 (2 adults, 2 juveniles)
Canada Goose: 9
Harlequin Duck: 3
Double Crested Cormorant: 44
Pelagic Cormorant: 147
Black Oystercatcher: 10
Gull: 396
Black Turnstone: 20
Rock Sandpiper: 3
Surfbird: 17
Fox Sparrow: 1

As always, there were variations in the numbers seen since last week.  There were fewer harbour seals.  I checked them throughout the day, the most I was able to see at one time were seven, scattered around the many small islands.  The tide was fairly high during the daylight hours, which tends to not be good hauling out conditions for the seals.  There were more smaller birds seen this week.  It was easier to spot smaller birds this week because of the lower wind speed.  I had a tough time distinguishing the rock sandpipers amongst the surfbirds.  While they look very similar, the surfbirds are a bit larger and have shorter bills.  See if you can tell the difference in the photos below.