Tag Archives: bald eagle

one nest of Black Oyster Catcher eggs.

Posted on by
Thursday, April 25, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.9 ºC »» Min. 4.7 ºC »» Reset 9.0 ºC
MARINE LIFE: 3 Bald Eagles -1 juvenile.The eagles left the reserve just after 17:00. We are back to 3 geese again,I’m surprised they haven’t all left for ‘greener pastures’ now that the puddles they enjoyed so much have dried up but for a few slimy inches.Still only the one nest of Black Oyster Catcher eggs.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 Ecotour boats, 4 Pleasure craft. 2 of the pleasure craft were fishing in the reserve just after 13:00 but moved on with apologies after being advised of the MPA status. Picked up a drifting commercial crab trap off the east shore of Gr. Race and brought it in for disposal. This afternoon 2 College boats were in with Garry,Laura and students for a dive also Angus with Guests.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:22 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North 3 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:26 AM

2 Black Oyster Catcher nests,

Posted on by
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.0 ºC »» Min. 7.1 ºC »» Reset 8.8 ºC »» Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature Bald Eagle. The gulls kept the big bird moving from rock to rock. Every time the eagle settled down the gulls, in groups of 5 or 6 heckled it until it flew off to another spot.Finally just after 14:00 the eagle took off towards Whirl Bay. Still 3 Geese, the loner follows the pair all around the island but if he gets any closer than 5 metres or so is driven back with much honking and neck waving.Checking the area just above the high tide line turned up 2 Black Oyster Catcher nests, which are really just depressions lined with pebbles and bits of shells and are about 20 cm across. The nest by the East Bay has 3 eggs but the nest on the north side just east of the winch house is empty -will check again tomorrow.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 Ecotour boats and 1 Pleasure craft through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:15 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind West 9 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:21 AM

7 pairs of Black Oyster Catchers

Posted on by
Sunday, April 21, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.1 ºC »» in. 7.3 ºC »» Reset 8.7 ºC
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature bald eagles today that spent most of the time on the southeast rocks making several flights around Gr. Race at twilight.Still 3 geese. Observed 7 pairs of Black Oyster Catchers spending considerable time in and around nesting areas but no eggs found as of yet.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 3 Ecotour boats and 5 pleasure craft through the reserve. 1 boat with divers off West Race and just off the north shore of Gr. Race. The weather deteriorated in the afternoon with the wind increasing to 30 knts. from the west,so far it has been a cool windy spring.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER:Sky Cloudy »»Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind West 19 Knots »» Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:45 AM

(eagle) eating the catch of the day (salmon).

Posted on by
Saturday, April 20, 2002
Good evening from Chris and Jane.
We arrived this morning at 11:45 am and took over for Mike and Carol today. As we approached Race Rocks, we both commented on the flag being at half mast. Even on this small island, as on parliament hill and across the country, the symbol of loss was displayed for the four soldiers and their families. Our thoughts were with them.WEATHER: Winds were at 10-15 knots, seas were rippled. Visibility was 10 miles. Clear skies.

MARINE LIFE: 3 bald eagles, two jeuveniles were seen on the south tip of Great Race. One adult on the cliff by the helipad. An adult was seen later in the day at the southern tip of great race, eating the catch of the day (salmon). Three Canada Geese were seen… two were a pair and located on the north eastern area of the island. The other was near the lighthouse. Some of the seagulls are starting to practice and display nesting behaviours. It looks like pairs are starting to form and courtship rituals are taking place. Two pairs of oyster catchers were seen. One on the north eastern side of the island and the other on the docks.

HUMAN INTERACTION: Six boats were fishing off of Rosedale Reef this morning. These were later seen further to the west of Rosedale Reef in the afternoon. They were checked on by a vessel from Fisheries and Oceans early in the afternoon. In the midafternoon, we observed one disabled vessel being towed back to Pedder Bay. One ecotour boat visited the area today and a few fishing vessels stopped on their way in and out to have a visit with the sea lions.

We are going to be returning back to Pearson College Campus at 20:00 hr after another great day on the rock!
Until next time,
Chris and Jane
posted by Chris Blondeau at 6:55 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind 13 South West »» Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:39 AM

pigeon guillemots took to the water with the first blast and did not return

Posted on by
Friday, April 19, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.3 ºC »» Min. 6.1 ºC »» Reset 9.0 ºC
MARINE LIFE:2 mature bald eagles again today, one arrived after 14:00. Still 3 geese, the one, is definitely an un-welcomed interloper as far as the pair are concerned. There have been several noisey,feather ruffling encounters but no injuries and the ‘loner’ is very persistent!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 pleasure craft and 2 ecotour boats today. 2nd Nature – student class about 2 hours. Another day of D.N.D. blasting and again most affected were the birds.The pigeon Guillemots took to the water with the first blast and did not return for the rest of the day.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:04 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy »» Vis 12 Miles »» Wind West 17Knots »» Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:30 AM

chasing the eagle first en masse

Posted on by
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Good Evening
WEATHER: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 4.9 ºC »» Reset 6.1 ºC »» Rain 4.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature bald eagle, 2 pair geese. The eagle spent most of the day on the southeast rocks then near sunset flew over to the high point on the northwest ridge of Gr. Race.Every 15 minutes or so the eagle circled Gr. Race. The gulls and Oyster catchers all took to the air noisily, chasing the eagle first en masse, then breaking off into smaller groups of 7-8 gulls. The eagle returned to the ridge,but the gulls took 5 minutes or so to settle back down then all was quiet again for about 10 minutes until the eagle took flight again.This activity went on until it was almost dark and the eagle headed off towards Bentinck Island.The gulls have quite a number of distinctive calls that are associated with everything from courting to reacting to danger. It does not take long to recognize these various calls.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 4 ecotour boats and 1 pleasure craft through the reserve today.posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:07 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis. 12 Miles »» Light Rain »» Wind North 11 Knots »» Sea 2 Foot Chop »» Low West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:35 AM

The eagles kept the gulls on alert most of the day

Posted on by
Monday, April 08, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.3 ºC »» Min. 3.1 ºC »» Reset 9.3 ºC »» Rain 0.4
MARINE LIFE: 3 Bald Eagles,2 mature. The eagles kept the gulls on alert most of the day flying back and forth over head. Usually the eagles will sit for hours at a time in one spot but today they were very active. The gulls are busy with their courtship displays -sometimes you can see them on camera 1 or check out the video clips in the archives -they are fun to watch except when they grab each other by the wing or tail for a drag along the ground.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 4 pleasure craft, 2 ecotour boats through the MPA today
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:37 PM
Good Morning
WEATER: Sky Part Cloudy »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North 7 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:32 AM

Eagle harassment

Posted on by
Sunday, March 31, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1 C  Min. 6.5 C Reset 8.5 C
TOTAL PRECIPITATION: Rain 92.5 mm Snow 20.2 cm Total 112.7 mm For the Month.
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature Bald Eagle today, it spent most of the day atop the ridge on the southeast rocks then late in the afternoon, much to the consternation of the gulls and Oyster Catchers, landed on a high point along the east of Gr. Race. There was a lot of noise as the gulls and Oyster Catchers tried to drive the eagle away, at times diving within inches of the eagle’s head.Finally after about 5 minutes the big bird flew off towards Whirl Bay and everything was quiet again.The Juvenile elephant seal has company now, about 17:00 another juvenile elephant seal, just a little larger, hauled out alongside on the ramp.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats through the M.P.A. The college boat picked up the students about 14:30 to return to campus( hope they did not get too wet in the flying spray from the 30+ knt westerly)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind West 21 Knots �� Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:50 AM

Early stages of Gull nest building

Posted on by
Friday, March 29, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.7 C  Min. 5.9 C  Reset 7.0 C Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 Bald Eagles – 1 mature -1 pair Geese. The day started out quite promising however by 13:00 the westerly picked up to 23knts and gusting 30. The small elephant seal is still nosed up to the boat house door and shows no signs of leaving. Enjoy watching the geese which find the activities of the gulls worth investigating up close- as some of the gulls wander about doing what I call ‘ the best methods of nest materials gathering practice’ the geese waddle along behind and follow the gulls right into what will soon be a danger zone -the nesting area. The gulls tolerate the geese now but once they start constructing nests they will become very territorial and will drive off any threat including another gull. Poor friendly geese!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats and 1 small sailboat through the M.P.A. today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:39 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 11 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:26 AM

3 Bald Eagles – 1 mature, 2 pair Geese.

Posted on by
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.1 C  Min. 6.0 C  Reset 7.0 C  Rain 2.8mm
MARINE LIFE: 3 Bald Eagles – 1 mature, 2 pair Geese. Only the small juvenile Elephant seal hauled out today – 1 of the large bulls floated around at the end of the dock most of the morning but never came ashore. Another wet and windy day but at least the temperatures were fairly moderate,spring rain is good but some sunshine would be sooo welcome.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 25 – 30 Knots  Sea 4 -5 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:49 AM