Tag Archives: bald eagle

Eagle chase

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Rare summertime north-easterlies today, increasing from 0-35 knots throughout the day. Barometric pressure dipped to a weekly low this morning but is on the rise now. There has been some rain and the sky has been mostly cloudy. Showers are forecasted for tomorrow.

tour boats: 2

Several times a day a bald eagle or juvenile will come and cause a raucous for all the gulls who all lift into the air and chase the predator from their nests. For the past few days, the oystercatchers have been doing their part and one or two will chase the eagle out of their territory. (The oystercatcher eggs near the jetty have yet to hatch.) More often than not, the eagle leaves empty handed but occasionally it will grab a gull or a chic.

There was a female elephant seal on the jetty this morning but this evening only the two larger males remain on the island.

The sea lion is still in the same spot on the south islands, although he has moved into the water at least twice since yesterday.

Went off the island today (from 1130h-1600h) to collect a ladder from Wayne and do errands.

Did the monthly check on the derrick today.

Animal Census

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West winds around 10 knots for most of the day. Fog this morning and this evening. Barometric pressure has steadily decreased all day. Strong wind warning in effect for tonight and fog is forecasted to persist until late tomorrow morning.

No whale watching boats today. 2 recreational halibut fishing boats along the SE and SW borders of the reserve.

Animal Census
Elephant Seal: 3
Harbour Seal: 191
Bald Eagle: 1
Gull: 323
Pigeon Guillemot: 83
Black Oystercatcher: 10
Double-crested cormorant: 4
Stellar sea lion: 5
Harlequin duck: 4

Two of the large elephant seals were sparring in the shallow water by the jetty this morning around 1100h. I noticed a younger pup that has been here for the past week has small, fresh wounds on its backside that I think are from two days ago when I saw the second largest male attack the pup near the launch pad. Also, a lone stellar sea lion has been resting on the a small rock off the south islands for two days now. He has flesh wounds but they do not look recent as far as I can tell.

-Secured deck boards on winch loading pad.                                                                       -Chopped fire wood.

Six visitors from the college came today from 1200h-1500h.

 

 

River Otter visit this morning

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Clear day (despite forecast for a thunderstorm). Low winds below 15 knots today, dropping to zero midday. Strong wind warning in effect for tomorrow.

Several cargo ships passed through the strait today, a well as a few military ships.

Left the island this afternoon to pick up groceries and a visitor (which is why there are not exact numbers for passing watercraft).

This morning a river otter was running along the deck from the crane to the jetty. A juvenile bald eagle was sitting on the west side of the main island for a few hours this morning.

Summer Solstice

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It’s 2200h as I’m writing and the sky is still brightly lit.

Clear day. Winds 10-20 knots for most of the day.

A recreational fishing boat tied up to the jetty today to settle some engine troubles. Two different fishing boats were anchored on the edge of the south boundary of the reserve.

A boat of divers were in the reserve for about an hour this morning along the east side of the island.

2 float planes crossed overhead.

A bald eagle made his regular visit for lunch in the afternoon and captured a gull.

 

 

Eagles

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[Log entry from Max]

Overcast
Visibility 15 miles
Wind 20 kts
Four eagles were flying around the west side of the main island this morning at 0530. Either baby eagles, or golden eagles. I don’t know if there are Golden Eagles here, but it seemed odd that there would be four immature bald eagles flying together, and no adults to be seen.
The large male elephant seal has relocated to near the engine room.
No Whale watching boats today.

Pictures

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Clear skies. Moderate West in the am, Force 3. Strong West this evening, Force 6.
Barometer rose until 1600, then dropped. The daily West wind cycle continues, light in the am and picking up in the pm.

3 tour boats

The Race Rocks website says that there are typically 6 Oystercatcher nests on Great Race, I have only found two. Tomorrow I will see if I can find more. The Oystercatcher nest next to the jetty no longer has eggs in it. A bird was sitting on the nest yesterday when I showed the nest to my Mom. If I had to guess, I would say that the River otter ate the eggs because it lives under the walkway very close to the nest. I am curious to see if the pair tries another nesting site. I saw two Oystercatchers poking around the rocks on the West side of the jetty so maybe they will try again. There has been a lot of Eagles around lately. Juveniles and adults. My Mom saw one empty the eggs out of a Gull’s nest. Apparently Glaucous winged Gulls can learn to recognize particular people, to a point where they will allow familiar researchers right up to their nests. My new plan is to befriend the Gulls that are nesting next to the tank shed and maybe they will stop flying at my head whenever I walk past.

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Submarine

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Strong West winds. Clouds. Steady Force 6.
The barometer is on the rise. The forecast is for it to be light-15W tomorrow.

No tour boats today. Strange.
2 halibut boats

All of the Canada Geese have abandoned their nests now. But they are starting their annual feather moult, so they’ll be around for a while yet. Garry says they leave in June when all the fresh water puddles dry out. I found another Oyster catcher nest on the bluff between the jetty and the tank shed. Probably the most stressful place the pair could have chosen to nest, but apparently they nest there every year, so it must work for them. Still plenty of Elephant seals in the reserve. I watched them playing in the rapids this morning at low tide. A lot of them are in the water first thing in the morning and they wrestle on the seaweed covered rocks and eventually come back up the boat ramp for a busy day of laying around on Great Race. The large adult male has finally started to moult; It was hard to take him seriously before, but now with his moulty nose he looks even more ridiculous. No sign of the White Fronted Goose.

-Keeper’s house water heater kicked the bucket today :(
-Collected data for intertidal transect 5

Calm

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Clear skies. Light NE in the am, glassy calm by evening. Force 0.
Barometer dropped a little, but levelled off this evening at 1024 hPa. Forecast is for moderate Easterlies tomorrow.

4 tour boats in the afternoon.

5 bald eagles this morning. The Elephant seals were in the water again first thing this morning. They came back up onto the island around 0900, and then went back for a late afternoon cool down. A new juvenile came ashore today with some very uncomfortable looking scabby-molt. The large male is next to the diesel bunker. Many of the seal are fully moulted now and look sleek and healthy. I’m curious to see how long they stick around. Many of the Steller Sea lions were not in the reserve this afternoon when I came back on the boat. No sign of Guillemot nesting on the bluff yet.

Off station for most of today for groceries and errands.
Took in garbage and recycling.
Took hedge trimmer into maintenance for servicing.
Traded broken VHF antenna for a working antenna.

Elephant seal tag: green 7688

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Clear skies.  Light Easterly wind all day. Beaufort Force 2-3
A beautiful day in the Reserve, but the barometer is falling and there is a front forecasted for tomorrow.
[I’m trying to learn the Beaufort wind scale off the top of my head, and get into the habit of checking the barometric tendency so that will be part of my weather log from now on]

I was sitting on the South edge of Great Race when an Elephant seal popped up to look at me and had what appeared to be a radio transmitter on its back. It promptly disappeared, but came up the boat ramp an hour later. I’m keen to find out if the researchers retrieved the transmitter and have the track of this seal. I am really curious about where these Northern-living Northern Elephant seals go when they are not in the reserve.

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