Tag Archives: barred owl

Underwater Scenes

Posted on by

Ecological Notes:

  • Sea Lion numbers range up and down daily. Have notice more smaller sea lions this year, and can hear the higher squawks of younger ones. Unlike last year, I haven’t found any nursing pups yet.
  • Barred Owl is still here. For a couple days, there were zero other birds on the top area of the main island (Canada Geese, Turnstones, Gulls, or Dunlins)….. but they are gradually returning now. I suspect maybe the Owl hunted extensively one night and scared them all away(?)
  • Humpback whales still visible daily
  • On one day, in addition to the Humpbacks, Southern Resident Orca passed south of the reserve heading west, and Bigg’s (Transient) Orca passed heading East. While they were too far to get photographs, both groups were visible by eye (once I located them with binoculars)

Visitors:

  • Group of students and instructor from Pearson College visited for the weekend. They were primarily interested in mapping the kelp forests and how they are affected by Urchins and Sea Otters. They helped with other projects and used the ROV to view the underwater area off the jetty.

Siri, Finn, Maria, Annabelle, and Edgar

Always curious!

Sea Urchins

Young Bull Kelp

  • Contractors to work on the main house windows

Facility Work:

  • Now able to start bucking logs from the ramp area and moving to the full bucking area for firewood.
  • Cleaned and prepped the science house for the students visit
  • Did another full sweep of the main island to remove dead gull carcasses
  • Contractors continue the finishing work on the newly installed windows, moving primarily to the sills and finish on the inside.

  • Communicating with DFO in regards to the salinity measurements. They seem high, even though the meter was recently replaced. Tested with a meter owned by Pearson College and that meter showed numbers I would be expecting.
  • Ongoing spray down of walkways and decks to reduce slim and algae, but wondering if the cooler weather is reducing the effectiveness of the spray(?)

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Continued visits by Eco- Tourism vessels
  • Some private vessels transiting, some pausing to enjoy the nature in the reserve.

 Noted Infractions:

  • No attempted fishing detected
  • Transit and departure speeds all good

Weather Events:

  • Winds pretty consistent NNE 10-15 Kts
  • Mixes of partial cloudy, and some fog at night
  • Temperatures ranging 4 to 7 degrees

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Waiting on the storm(s)

Posted on by

Ecological Notes:

  • All Elephant Seals have moved along, I imagine they will return in December or January and stay for the moult season
  • Although I thought it was a random event, there has been a Barred Owl roosting under the tank shed deck for 3 days now

  • Sea lion numbers are down, and many moved to the southern rocks after heavy blasting at the DND site

Visitors:

  • Ongoing visits by contractors working on main house windows

Facility Work:

  • Working on gradual trimming and removal of plants from the walkways. the root systems can be destructive to the concrete and brick, as well as encouraging water leak into the buildings…. will scrub down the  paths with the next heavy rains
  • Diesel Generator oil change

  • Weekly battery electrolyte top up and check
  • Continuing to collect logs for firewood
  • Even in the less messy months, cleaning the solar panels every now and then helps

DND events:

  • Several very loud blasts during the week, noted more than average disturbance with the birds and sea lions. (maybe coincidental but it was the day of the loudest that the 3 elephant seals left)

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism and education vessels in the reserve, most following guidelines well.
  • Several private vessels in the reserve. None were observed fishing, but they commonly exit the reserve at high speed.

Weather Events:

  • Friday, November 17:
    • Sky: Mostly sunny and clear, with slight haze and overcast far south in the strait
    • Wind: NE winds 10-15 kts shifting to ENE later in the afternoon
    • Sea: rippled to with minimal chop
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 9oC
  • Saturday, November 18:
    • Sky: clear until mid-afternoon, with clouds and haze on the south side of the strait.clouds gradually increased in the late afternoon
    • Wind: early morning rising to NE 15 kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 8oC

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Barred Owl Sighting

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Sky: Overcast, a bit of sun midday
  • Visibility: 10-15+ miles
  • Wind: 5-20 knots NE
  • Water: swells less than a metre

Boats/Visitors: 

    • A few boats cruising by today, mostly tour boats
    • Greg came by today with a group of visitors

Ecological

  • I saw a barred owl last night around 7pm when I went to turn off the generator but it was too dark to get a photo, here is a link to our taxonomy page on the barred owl and the last time it was sighted in November 2010,
  • There was also a greater yellow legs running around which flew off before I get a photo of it
  • The elephant seal has been hanging out around the jetty for a few days but took off yesterday and I don’t expect to see her returning anytime soon
  • plenty of sea lions around and I’m having a difficult time keeping them away from the lighthouse, they come back as soon as I am out of their line of sight, would like to extend the fence to protect the burial cairns and lighthouse but we just don’t have all the material we need, we’ll see about that next season though

Visit from a Predator

Posted on by

Ecological Happenings

  • Barred Owl in the reserve today. Its’ prey were found (one small bird near the lighthouse and a gull near the student house). Gulls and smaller birds were much fewer today.
  • Juvenile elephant seal and accompanying adult seal returned today.
  • South Seal Rocks is particularly crowded with the Stellers that have moved from other surrounding rocks.
  • California Sea lion brand 8456 spotted

Marine Vessels

  • Two tour boats
  • One pleasure vessel
  • 10 Canoers
  • A helicopter flying in good range of RR

Maintenance

  • Continuing to experience challenges with the water system. Next steps are to check the pumps and piping.
  • Boat maintenance and clean out.

No visitors today.

Animal Notes and Census

Posted on by

A few days ago we had two unusual visitors to our waters. Two Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) spent several days on Great Race and North Rocks. Brown Pelicans, though the smalles of pelicans, are enormous birds weighing up to 6 kilos and measuring up to 135 cms with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters.

A visitor from warmer climes….

Northern vacation to Race Rocks….

We have had two other unusual visitors in the last week. I discovered a Barred Owl in the boathouse attacking a Starling (another recent arrival), and Pam our avid photographer friend from England got several pictures of Peregrine Falcons that came through hunting sparrows and starlings. Pam’s pictures can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/sets/72157628747376295/

Another tagged e-seal showed up in the boathouse yesterday.

Might as well hang out somewhere cozy…

Tagged 7225

 Animal Census Nov 8 2012

Species Current Population (Est)
Stellar/Northern Sea Lion  30
Elephant Seal  7
Harbour Seal  200
California Sea Lion  50
Glaucous-winged Gull  150
Herring Gull  300
California Gull  30
Heerman’s Gull  80
Black Turnstones  100
Surfbird  6
Pelagic Cormorants  40
Brandt’s Cormorant  30
Killdeer   6
Dunlin  16
Harlequin Ducks  20
Canada Goose  14
Bald Eagle  3
Black Oyster-catcher  40
Sanderlings  8
Starlings  8
Race Rocks Eco-Guardian  1
Rhinoceros Auklet  100
Common Murre  100
Sparrows  20
Brown Pelican  2
Barred Owl  1
Peregrine Falcon  2

 

Strix varia: Barred owl–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Posted on by
raisanov210owl1

Barred Owl at Race Rocks , November 2010. Images by Raisa Mirza

Raisa Mirza (Ecoguardian) took these photos of the first Barred Owl to be photographed at Race Rocks on November 2, 2010. Raisa notes: ” When I woke up this morning, Virginie said that she had seen an owl and taken a picture which was pretty awesome. Lo and behold when I went outside half an hour later, I spotted this Barred Owl behind the boat house. He was covered in mist. This picture was taken later in the day when the sun had come out. My first owl sighting in the wild ever! I’m pretty excited to share the other shots of him. Couldn’t wait to put this one up. Another first sighting at Race Rocks! Its pretty awesome to know that my photography is contributing to building a cool record.”

The barred owl is a permanent resident of nearby Southern Vancouver Island, It is frequently heard at night in the farms and wooded areas of Metchosin.

raisanov210owl2

In this photo by Raisa, the barred owl has its head turned 180 degrees and it is looking to the left on this photo.  The wind pushes up the feathers on the back of the head giving it a very weird appearance!

 

 

 

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Sub-Phylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Strix
Species: varia
Common Name: Barred Owl, (Barton,1799)
Other owls photographed at Race Rock

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Raisa Mirza, Nov. 2 2010.