Tag Archives: bald eagle

Eagles and Police Boat

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‘Morning’, ‘Clear’, ‘15.0’, ”, ‘4.0’, ‘NE’, ‘Rippled’, ‘Carol + Mike’, ’07:07:58′),

2 black inflatables sped through the reserve at about 15:40. They were going too fast and bouncing in the 3 ft. seas to get the registration numbers but had ”police”in white letters along the sides. People on board had yellow jackets with ”police” on the backs. Called Stefan Beckmann-he will inquiries. ‘, ‘Mike’, ’14:38:11′

(5 immature) Bald Eagles in the reserve first thing this morning but by noon only 3 (1 Mature) remained.Just after 15:00 the adult Eagle flew over-head with what looked like part of a small fish-herring maybe- and was very aggressively pursued by one of the juveniles. The 2 big birds literally did summersaults in the air, one trying to get the fish and the other desperately trying to keep it! This air dance went on for almost ten minutes in a 30 knt. wind. Unfortunately did not see the outcome as the one with the fish finally dropped quite low over the water and flew over towards Rocky Pt.The juvenile followed close behind and they were soon too far away to see even with the telescope.A group of about 150 Pigeon Guillemots arrived this morning.They spread out over the island near their nesting areas,spent about 2 hours and then in a flurry were gone again.’, ‘Mike’, ’14:24:26′),

Eagles Congregate in Winter at Race Rocks

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In January, on a planned dive off West Race Rocks, the divers had to divert to another location because of a large number of eagles on the island. They shot this clip as they went by the island. Carol Slater had counted 43 on the Rocks earlier in the day. This is typical of their peak in numbers every January. The brown juveniles and the white headed adults number fairly equally.


 

Cormorants vs eagle

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ood Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.5 ºC »» Min. 7.8 ºC »» Reset 9.4 ºC »» Rain 6.8 mm
MARINE LIFE: Although the forecasted high winds did not materialize most of the hauled out Sealions along the north shore of Gr. Race have taken to the water or moved farther inland to avoid the high swells coming in from the weather system to the east. This afternoon one mature Bald Eagle spent about an hour on the high point of West Race. The 200 or so Cormorants took to the air as the eagle landed but soon settled back down leaving a good distance between them and the great raptor.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 Ecotour boats and 3 pleasurecraft through today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North East 5 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:25 AM

The eagle was trapped head first in a crevice , unable to take flight.

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Tuesday, July 16, 2002

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.9 �C �� Min. 10.0 �C �� Reset 13.7 �C
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:18 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 23 Knots  Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:05 AM

Monday, 2July 15,2002 Good Evening

TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.0 C  Min. 9.9 C  Reset 13.1 C
MARINE LIFE: Still the main activity centres around adult birds feeding chicks. The gulls announce their arrival and the chicks run from their hideing spots. Getting the food entails somewhat of a ritual, the adult nods it’s head a few times,then pecks at the ground a few times while the chicks gather around and finally the food is regurgitated but the chicks have to be fast because as they are attempting to pick at the food with their bills the adult is also snatching up the goodies.The first time I watched this feeding process I thought the adult was just plain mean to dump the food ,then gobble it up again as the chicks are trying to eat but I see the purpose of the exercise is to teach the chicks to be quick. It would seem the chicks that learn the fastest, grow the fastest! Survival of the fittest.There were three harbour seal pups born on the rocks along the north shore of Gr.Race today.At about 17:00 there was a lot of gull squawking and most of them were diving at an eagle sitting just at the waters edge on the northeast tip of Gr. Race. The gulls kept up a constant barrage on the eagle which ducked and put up it’s wings for protection. The eagle was trapped head first in a crevice , unable to take flight. The assault from above by the gulls continued for about 10 minutes before the eagle managed to manoeuver around enough to take off but even then with the gulls diving at it’s head it could not really fly and was forced down again but this time out of our sight. All but 3 or 4 gulls settled back down but not seeing the eagle fly away I was curious to see what happened so carefully -with sou’wester firmly in place, and not to keep the rain off- I moved slowly along the rocks to have look. The eagle was busy eating the placenta left from one of the seal births earlier in the day.I backed off quickly and left the poor bird to eat in peace which it did and then flew off towards Bentinck Island about 20 minutes later.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 3 pleasure craft in the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis 10 Miles  Wind West 19 Knots  Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:59 AM

There are 6 females with pups in the east bay area, 4 with red umbilical cords so very new but swimming like pros,

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Sunday, July 07, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 20.0 C Min. 10.5 C  Reset 12.0 C  Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: There are 6 females with pups in the east bay area, 4 with red umbilical cords so very new but swimming like pros, they do have some awkwardness while trying to pull themselves up onto the rocks, several tries and they make it to be rewarded with a good feed! The dead pup is still by the boat ramp, the mother has not left it’s side and continues to be very protective.There were three bald eagles this afternoon ( 1 mature ) which managed to land on the southeast rocks in spite of the gulls. The 2 juvenile eagles were fighting over some very bright red matter that looked like seal placenta,the adult raptor watched for about 10 minutes from about 20 metres then made it’s move towards the two juveniles which backed off immediately and surrendered the prize scraps.The gulls were just too bothersome so the big bird took off flying low over the water with the ‘food’ clutched tightly in it’s talons, the gulls did not give up the chase until they were well past North Rocks.
HUMAN INTERACTION: A fairly quiet day considering the water was so calm and a weekend. There were 5 pleasure craft and 9 ecotour boats, 2 dive charters -one that came through at 16:30 full speed and too close, left at about 17:40 again full speed, both times leaving a large wake! Will pass the boat registration number along to fisheries.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:11 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 5 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:09 AM

young Northern Sealions hauled out on the southwestern slope

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Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.5 C Min. 9.5 C Reset 12.5 C  Rain 0.8 mm
THE DAY: Part Cloudy  Vis 15 miles  Wind West 15 Till 9:00 then 20 Gusting 33 Knots Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop until 10:15 Then 3 to 5 Foot Moderate
MARINE LIFE: The birds continue to sit on nests and when alerted take to the air to ward off the one mature Bald Eagle that made several unsuccessful hunting flights over Gr. Race. The Eagle left the area just after noon,then again just after sunset a lone mature eagle made one last flight along the shoreline before heading across Race Passage towards Bentinck Island.3 young Northern Sealions hauled out on the southwestern slope of the southeast rocks along with approx. 13 Harbour seals.Counted 7 small to medium size elephant seals on middle rock,did hear loud bellows and snorting near the dock last night that could be the larger bull elephant seals but have not seen them hauled out for a few days.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Chris and Ryan delivered 2 loads of diesel fuel with the Second Nature in the morning and 1 tour boat was through the reserve today.
posted by at 6:06 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 17 Knots  Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop
posted by at 6:03 AM

The whales were ‘accompanied’ by a flotilla of 17-23 tour boats

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Monday, June 17, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.1 C  Min. 9.3 C  Reset 13.2 C  Rain 2.8 mm
THE DAY: Overcast  Vis 15 Miles  Winds Light South West  Sea Rippled  Rain Showers through-out the Day.
MARINE LIFE: Most of the Gulls are incubating eggs now although there are the ‘late bloomers’ still gathering nesting material and engaging in the usual turf wars. The 5 goslings are looking more like geese every day,all have the distinctive tail markings but their wings are still very small their down is rapidly giving way to feathers.With the Eagles hunting every day, I’m surprised all the chicks have survived. Three gulls were not so lucky,the first one was taken by a juvenile Bald Eagle just after 11:00 in front of the Science centre. Two mature Eagles hunted the area most of the afternoon and had successful kills at 13:55 and 16:20.The highlight of the day — a group of 12-15 Orca came through the reserve, five of them were in the kelp just off the end of the dock.One orca looked to be a fairly small calf traveling close to 4 or 5 larger animals. We knew they were headed this way from the west by the ‘chatter’ on the VHF radios about 10:30.The whales were ‘accompanied’ by a flotilla of 17-23 tour boats until they were too far east to see with the telescope -7 hours at least. As the orcas approached the MPA one of the boat operators reminded the other boats about not following the whales through the reserve as per the guidelines. No one did, however the Flotilla was waiting on the other side of Gr. Race! The whales put on a great show, breaching, spy hopping, and rolling in the kelp just off the east shore.They spent about 40 minutes in the reserve.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Chris in with Second Nature this morning to pick up tank for fueling tomorrow, also Ryan returned to civilization? in the zodiac- strange to see no lights in the science centre -just the two of us again! 2 pleasure craft and 17 tour boats through the reserve today.
posted by at 6:34 PM

Eagles harassing gulls in early morning

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Friday, June 07, 2002
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.8 C  Min. 7.4 C Reset 9.8
MARINE LIFE: Some interesting bird life today. What we believe was an Arctic Tern hovered for a few minutes over the Gull colony late this afternoon. We also spotted a pair of Cormorants (probably Pelagic) on the cliff behind the heli-pad, perhaps the pair are checking out what used to be a common nesting site. The Gulls were frightened during the four visits by the Bald Eagles today, however some of the nesting pairs with two or more eggs refused to lift off from their nests. Indeed the eagles were quite a harassment early morning, with two landing within the middle of the nesting sites, only 15m from the house. One Sea Lion appeared on the boat ramp this morning, perhaps with some sort of eye problem.
HUMAN IMPACT: Hyaku and Second Nature docked early this morning, spending nearly two hours docked. The divers made some underwater repairs to the conduit, just off the docks. No eco-tourism or other boat activity within the reserve.
posted by at 11:02 PM
WEATHER UPDATE: Large Storm Front Moving North West South of Race Rocks
posted by at 10:11 AM

the whales look even more beautiful in the straits without an entourage of power boats.

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Wednesday, June 05, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.4 C  Min. 9.8 C  Reset 11.1
MARINE LIFE: We have been gifted over the last few days with many Orca visits. Again, early this morning, a large pod of 9 or 10 Orcas moved past south Race Rocks. It was nice to see them without the whale watching boats for once, the whales look even more beautiful in the straits without an entourage of power boats. We have sited several Gull eggs over the last couple of days, hopefully we get some chics soon. The Bald Eagle was back again this afternoon, sending the Gulls up in a cloud of wings and deafening squawks It appears that the eagle only attempts to make a surprise kill and if unsuccessful leaves the harrassement of the other birds quickly.
Human Impact: The whale watching boats appeared quickly after the Orca sitings, probably from radio information of their presence. There was a total of 12 whale watching boats today, the majority arriving between 9am-11am. One fishing vessel was filmed during our live web cast speeding well within the reserve. The name and number of the boat was taken for further action. Second Nature was docked from 9am-Midday, it provided support for the live webcast to World Wildlife Fund Canada. The divers again entered the water around the docks, spending just over half an hour in the water.
posted by at 9:39 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 12miles Wind South East 5knots  Sea 1 foot chop
posted by at 5:19 AM