Tag Archives: bald eagle

Blustery Fall Winds

Posted on by

Today’s Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, rainy
  • Visibility less than 5 NM
  • Wind 25-30 knots NE
  • Sea state: Swells up to 3-4 ft, fast moving

Visitors: 

  • Greg and contractors have visited a few times this week to complete work on the island.
  • Not many eco-tourism boats at this point in the season. One or two per day on average travelling through the reserve. Yesterday a sizeable group of kayaks passed through, as well as a handful of pleasure crafts.

Ecological Notes: 

  • This week we have been seeing an incredible number of humpback whales in the strait; Yesterday we counted at least six visible at once! We have seen them most often breaching and fishing west/south west of the reserve, although we were surprised by one very close to our jetty just this week. We have observed whale watching boats approaching the whales, and when this occurs their behavior seems to change. Instead of surfacing frequently and in a more leisurely fashion, they dive for long periods of time and cover larger distances during their dives, surfacing further from the boats each time. Consistently observed, if the vessels follow the whales they seem to dive longer and swim further away still.
  • The sea lion population is stable now, with a steady 1000-1200 present in the reserve. They seem to have settled in for the season, each having their favorite spot to rest. We have noticed that the sea lions that we are able to distinguish individually indeed do return to the same spot to rest for typically at least a few consecutive days. Although sea lions ingest upwards of 5% of their mass in fish each day on average, we have noticed that often they do not leave their resting spots for days at a time if they are not disturbed.
  • The bald eagle presence in the reserve has also suddenly jumped over the past week to two weeks, presumably due to spawning salmon returning to estuary’s at this time of year. A few days ago we spotted 8 in the reserve as the sun rose over the horizon. Early mornings are the most active part of the day for wildlife fishing: no human/vessel activity disruptions, but it also seems to be part of their natural routine. As the sun rises each day, the air is filled with the sound of eagles, sea lions, seals, and seagulls all looking for breakfast!
  • No elephant seals in the reserve this week. We hope that we might be joined by more juveniles through this fall season- they are a highlight of our daily routine when they are here.

Storms on the Way

Posted on by

Weather Today: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, intermittent rain
  • Visibility
  • 20-35 knots W- SW throughout the day
  • Sea state: Swells up to 1.5 m, 1-2 foot chop

Visitors: Few boats through the reserve today as the seas have been a bit rough. A few eco-tourism boats in late afternoon watching a humpback whale just outside of the reserve.

Ecological: 

  • Not many unusual bird sightings this week as it has been incredibly windy. Quite a few more cormorants this week!
  • Erica, or GE103 has been enjoying napping around race rocks still this week. Her favorite spot is the jetty, although if there are too many sea lions she will venture higher onto the middle part of the island for some proper rest.

Census: 

  • 69 Harbour seals
  • 23 Glaucous-winged gulls
  • 163 California gulls
  • 43 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 263 Stellar sea lions
  • 695 California sea lions
  • 2 Bald eagles
  • 1 Elephant seall
  • 1 Sea otter
  • 1 Humpback whale (just outside of the reserve)
  • 10 Black turnstones
  • 5 Savannah sparrows

Sunny Fall Days

Posted on by

Weather Today: 

  • Sky clear blue, intermittent thick fog
  • Visibility .5 NM – 15+ NM
  • Wind 5-10 knots W
  • Sea state: calm

Visitors: Jeff and two college contractors visited today. A small handful of eco-tourism boats passed through as well.

Ecological: 

  • The fall weather is setting in and today we saw the first bald eagle that we have spotted in quite a while (since late spring). The sound of the gulls on the island lifting into the air is distinctive enough that we noticed right away!
  • The sea lions have been enjoying lounging in the grassy areas around the low parts of island. They bicker constantly with each other but are just as quick to lay together in large groups when they are in need of a nap.

August 24 – Weekly Census

Posted on by

Wind: W 4-19 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: overcast, then clear from mid morning onwards
Temperature: 13-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.21 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Here are the numbers from today’s census:
30 steller sea lions
121 california sea lions
1 sea otter
167 harbour seals
1 bald eagle
2 pelagic cormorants
742 california gulls
518 glaucous-winged gulls
169 gull chicks
4 black oystercatchers
14 pigeon guillemots
1 black turnstone
2 killdeer

I was excited to see the fluffy head of the sea otter this afternoon. This morning when doing the census count from the top of the tower, I scanned the kelp but couldn’t see the otter.

This afternoon, I gave TLC to the boat house, boat and boat dolly.

There was a steady stream of about two or three eco tour or pleasure boats per hour passing through the ecological reserve.

Here are some sights from around Race Rocks today:

August 18 -More Sea Lions

Posted on by

Wind: W 15-29 knots
Sea State: up to 0.5m chop
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: clear in morning, partly cloudy beginning in early afternoon
Temperature: 14-19 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.58 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The groups of steller and california sea lions around the main island and on Middle Rocks have all increased in number. There were two noteworthy sea lions today. In the afternoon, I noticed a lone steller sea lion near the end of the jetty. It had a white and red flasher (fishing lure) hooked to its mouth. Unfortunately, this is a sight that is occasionally seen here. Just last week there was another steller sea lion with a pink and yellow flasher. That sea lion (branded O-19) has not been spotted since. The flashers could have had a fish hooked on the end, which was eaten by the sea lion, or the lure could have appeared to the sea lion to be a fish. The sea lion this afternoon, left the jetty when a large boat went by. A few minutes later, it appeared on Middle Rock where a group of about thirty sea lions were hauled out. I will keep an eye on this sea lion. If it stays around for a few days, it could be a candidate for a rescue from the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre.

When I spotted the sea lion with the flasher haul out on Middle Rock, I noticed a steller sea lion branded 975R. The R means it was branded at Rogue Reef, in Oregon. This animal has been seen here before. See Ecoguardian Anne Stewart’s post from April 6, 2015. The steller was branded as a pup in 2011.

There were about twenty-five eco tour boats that passed through the Ecological Reserve today, some of them repeats. They appeared to be viewing the hauled out sea lions, harbour seals and the floating in the kelp sea otter.

See the photos below for sights and happenings from today:

August 17 – Weekly Census

Posted on by

Wind: W 19 to 33 knots
Sea State: up to 1m chop
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: clear
Temperature: 15-21 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.54 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Last night after the sunset, a lightning show began. There was at least one flash visible per minute when I was watching from about 21:00 to 22:00.  According to CBC News, there were 1,600 lightning strikes overnight across BC’s South Coast: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/august-lightning-weather-bc-south-coast-1.5689195

Weekly census results observed today:
33 steller sea lions
45 california sea lions
1 sea otter
313 harbour seals
1 adult bald eagle
1 Canada goose
3 pelagic cormorants
1256 gulls (approximately 2/3 glaucous-winged gulls and 1/3 california gulls)
4 black oystercatchers
53 pigeon guillemots
42 black turnstones
1 american pipit

There were many ecotour boats passing through the Ecological Reserve today and only a few fishing boats visible in the distance.

 

Census and a Beautiful Day

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Visibility 0-10 NM (some intermittent morning/evening fog)
  • Sky clear
  • wind 25-30 knots W
  • Sea state: rippled, whitecaps
  • A steep decline in humidity today helped dry out the island after a bit of rainfall

Neat Fact: The body temperature of seals is very similar to our own! Endothermic like us, they maintain an internal temperature of 36.5-37.5 degrees Celsius.

Marine Traffic/Visitors: 

  • Greg visited today to top up island supplies before the college vessel goes for regular maintenance
  • Not many boats today- around 5 eco-tourism vessels.

Ecological Observations:

  • Elephant seal V173 was not here today. We wonder if she was just stopping for a rest or if she will be back soon.
  • There have been very large groups gulls and also black turnstones migrating through, intermingled with a few surfbirds. There were so many today that we took a photo from the lighthouse in order to count them!
  • The pigeon guillemots seem to be nesting in full force. We have spotted many carrying fish into crevices on the west side of the island near camera five and also the rock walls on the east side.
  • The seagull takeover has seemingly started to ease and moving around the island is becoming easier day by day. The chicks are beginning to be able to escape the attacks of the rival adult gulls by flapping their wings and flying/hopping away.
  • On a slightly…mushier note (stop reading if you get queasy!): Yesterday we removed the gull that was eviscerated on our back porch. We let it sit for a few days to see if an otter would come back for it or if the gulls might take a nibble (neither occurred). We were surprised by the amount of maggots that had grown in only a couple of days, presumably due to the warm and humid weather recently.
  • The sea lion population is increasing every day and they are started to climb onto the main rock. It’s almost time to put up the electric fence or we will have unwelcome house guests!
  • The geese have suddenly left this week (all but 4). Interestingly, earlier in the week we saw a flock of 17.

Census: 

  • 4 Canada geese
  • 985 Seagulls (does not include chicks)
  • 84 Harbour seals
  • 1 Male elephant seal
  • 25 Stellar sea lions
  • 19 California sea lions
  • 88 Pigeon guillemots
  • 2 Bald eagles
  • 1 Humpback whale (in the straight)
  • 1 Brandt’s cormorant
  • 12 Black oystercatchers
  • 143 Black Turnstones
  • 1 Sandpiper ((?) will update with confirmed id!)

 

 

 

Sunny Monday, Census

Posted on by

Today’s Weather Conditions:

  • Sky clear
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled
  • Temperature today

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • Today Greg delivered water
  • There was one pleasure craft fishing within the reserve this morning.
  • One whale watching boat today. They came very close to the jetty where there was an elephant seal soaking in the water to relieve his molting discomfort. The elephant seals visibly react to the disturbance with vocalization similar to when they are threatened by other male seals.
  • One large private vessel passed through on Saturday evening with roughly 15 people on board

Ecological Observations:

  • The goslings are doing well and have been moving around the island. The parents seem very alert and keep them close. It is quite impressive given how limited fresh water can be.
  • There have been quite a few young (still have grey plumage) seagulls passing through. They don’t integrate with the other seagulls, but rather stay on the more exposed areas of rock.
  • The nesting seagull population seems to have stabilized, and there are roughly 300 seagulls consistently on the island. When Daniel was here he counted around 80 nests, but there seem to be more appearing daily.

Census:

  • 294 Seagulls
  • 12 Adult black oystercatchers
  • 2 Black oystercatcher chicks
  • 117 Harbour seals
  • 1 Juvenile bald eagle
  • 6 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 59 Pigeon guillemots
  • 2 Male elephant seals
  • 1 Young stellar sea lion
  • 16 Adult Canadian geese
  • 4 Canadian goose goslings

 

Biodiversity Aplenty + Sunday Census

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Sky overcast
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea state: chop, whitecaps breaking at .5 m

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • On Thursday an electrician came to work and Greg brought us some supplies- Thanks Greg!
  • Also on Thursday, Daniel came to do a bird count and take recordings of bird calls. He was able to spot and identify many more species than we are able to, and it was fantastic to learn more about what is here! He also found owl pellets near where we heard an owl in April, and we are excited to see what information can be concluded from them.
  • On Friday Greg delivered water
  • Also on Friday, there were many RCMP boats just outside of the reserve.
  • There have been a few pleasure crafts, some fishing within the reserve boundaries.
  • One whale watching vessel today, which approached the animals and the jetty very closely

Ecological: 

  • Daniel also spotted two new observations: a fern growing out of a crack on the lighthouse, and some beautiful harvest brodiaea.
  • There is now only one elephant seal, the large male.
  • There is one goose still sitting on a nest underneath camera 5. She’s been there for a long time and we are wondering if the eggs will still hatch since it is so late in the season. There are no goslings currently, but still a constant 16 adult geese total.
  • In the past two weeks we have been observing many jellyfish in the water, including sea nettles, fried egg jellyfish, and the occasional water jelly still.
  • On Thursday morning we watched as two eagles chased one seagull into the water and continuously took turns diving at it. They dove at it until it was completely wet and unable to fly away. At this point, one of the eagles swooped down and carried the seagull away by its neck.

Census: 

  • 280 Seagulls
  • 12 Adult oystercatchers
  • 2 Oystercatcher chicks
  • 157 Harbor seals
  • 1 Adult male elephant seal
  • 16 Adult Canada geese
  • 11 California sealions
  • 3 Stellar sealions
  • 9 Pigeon Guillemots
  • 2 Adult bald eagles
  • 1 Barn swallow

Returning Sun, Census

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Visibility 15-20 NM
  • Sky partly cloudy clearing to blue sky
  • Wind 15-20 Knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • No visitors
  • Yesterday we spotted a group of kayakers who had emailed to let us know they were coming: We tried to wave, but you were too far away to see us- hope you had a good paddle!

Ecological: 

  • The seagull population has skyrocketed this week, but still no fully constructed nests
  • The elephant seals have left now, aside from one. We anticipate that we may see a few large males in a month or so.

Census: 

  • 16 Geese
  • 8 Oystercatchers
  • 39 Sea Lions
  • 40 Harbor Seals
  • 1 Elephant Seal
  • 1 Bald Eagle
  • 580 Seagulls
  • 42 Pigeon Guillemots