August 2

Posted on Friday,August 2, 2024 by Nick Townley

: Clean solar panels

: Despite some clouds, there was still a lot of power pumping into the batteries from the solar panels.

: These little fellows are five weeks old today! Christine pointed them out to me on Wednesday, as she had been watching them grow from the day they hatched. They live on the northeast corner of the ecoguardian’s house.

: A parcel of 20 black oystercatchers in the early afternoon on the west side of the island. They were not this congregated and easy to count yesterday on census day.

: Steller sea lion in the south channel

: Bald eagle on Turbine Rock

: Ruddy turnstone being watched by a gull (and an ecoguardian)

: The ramps are the elephant seal’s preferred ocean egress. Can you spot the elephant seal slug trail leading up the boat ramp?

: Post swim nap for the elephant seals

: Black oystercatchers on an evening fly by the island

: Resting male California sea lion with orange flipper tag 13-2.

: Zoomed in view of the tag on the sea lion’s front left flipper.

: I think the sea lion could tell from afar that I was interested in their tag, so he showed the underside of their flipper.

I will contact NOAA and DFO to report the resighting of the California sea lion with the tag 13-2. The orange tags mean the sea lion was rehabilitated. The tag on the left flipper means the sea lion is a male. I will update the log when I hear back about his history. The rest of the California and Steller sea lions are currently hauled out on Middle Rocks. Perhaps this guy needs a break from the frat party.

Facility work:

Clean solar panels
Check guest house for supplies and cleanliness

Vessels:

Ecotourism: 12
Private: 3

Weather:

Sea: rippled in morning, up to 3′ chop in afternoon/evening
Sky: Partly cloudy
Wind: variable light winds overnight; from 07:00-12:00 westerlies 8-20 knots; afternoon/evening westerlies 20-31 knots
Air temperature: low 12°C, high 21°C
Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.0°C

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

August 1 Census

Posted on Thursday,August 1, 2024 by Nick Townley

Census Results:

Mammals:

Elephant seal: 2 (female and male)
Steller sea lion: 34
California sea lion: 11
Sea otter: 1
Harbour seal: 78

Birds:

Bald eagle: 1
Canada goose: 3
Cormorant: 33
Gull: 584
Black oystercatcher: 20
Pigeon guillemot: 131
Whimbrel: 1
Surfbird: 28
Black turnstone: 137
Song sparrow: 2
Least sandpiper: 1

: Female elephant seal in the jetty bay

: Male elephant seal on the left and female on the right

: Female elephant seal blowing bubbles in the jetty bay

: Elephant seals beside the jetty while I was collecting the seawater sample

: A bazaar of pigeon guillemots

: Least sandpiper

: Gull chicks panting on a hot 23°C afternoon

: Canada geese mowing the grass

: Harbour seals on South Seal Rocks

: A pair of nursing harbour seal mothers and pups on south seal rocks

: Three young gull chicks on a very empty corner of the helicopter pad

: Steller and California sea lions on Middle Rocks

: Black turnstones, surfbirds, and one whimbrel gathering during the evening in the East Bay

: Sea otter in the kelp bed near the South Islands

: Bald eagle landing on South Island after flying over Great Race Rocks and freaking out the rest of the bird population

: Four black oystercatchers on South Seal Rocks

Facility work:

Reacquaint myself with the standard operating procedures and various systems on the island
Check boat electronics, safety equipment, and winch
Clean solar panels
Sample seawater

Vessels:

Ecotourism: 23
Private: 5

Weather:

Sea: Rippled
Sky: Clear in morning, then partly cloudy
Wind: Variable light winds overnight until sunrise ~06:00, when wind switched to easterlies varying from 3-14 knots throughout the rest of the day
Daytime air temperature: low 13 C, high 24 C
Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.6 C

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

Clouds

Posted on Saturday,June 22, 2024 by Christine Chourmouzis

Since June 11 this is the first time I have run the generator. It was only at 80% capacity by 2:30pm. On a sunny day it would be close to 90% by this time. The generator ran for 4 hours and brought the batter from 80% to 99% – shame, something the sun could do without the use of fuel.

Wildlife notes:

The black oyster catchers near the house have moved their two chicks closer to the water on the north east shore. The chicks appear to have almost doubled in size in a week. They are exploring the rocks but quickly respond to their parents peeps and take cover when instructed.

A California and a Stellar sealion were spotted in the early evening on the south east shore. The Stellar has an injury at the base of its flippers.

Injured Stellar sealion

Facility work:

cleaned solar panels
thistles
split rounds of wood

Vessels:

17 Ecotourism boats, 1 private vessel

Weather:

Cloudy for parts of the day. Winds steady ranging from 11-22 knots and WSW to WNW.

Aug 2 – Census surprises

Posted on Wednesday,August 2, 2023 by Ann Nightingale

One of the reasons for doing a weekly census is to put down in writing the numbers of mammals and birds that are actually in the reserve. This gives us the opportunity to compare the results, not simply rely on memory. And that’s a good thing! My impression on my return to Race Rocks is that there were a lot fewer gulls here than last year. A check of a census at a similar date in 2022 shows that not to be true. The numbers are actually very similar, but down about 15% from the same period in 2021. Census records the high counts of each species observed during the day. The marine mammals, for instance are best counted at low tide when most are hauled out. The adult gulls are at their highest numbers first thing in the morning and shorebirds gather on the east beach in late afternoon. Gull chicks can be counted anytime, but are usually undercounted because of their great hiding skills. In between, the census person watches for any other birds and animals that might show themselves.

Gull chick hidden in the marigolds.

Today’s census had several surprises apart from the number of gulls. While on the jetty, I thought I caught the flash of a bird in the corner of my eye. It was more than one. At least 3 swallows were feeding on insects in the small bay beside the jetty. I managed to get some bad photos, but good enough to identify two different Barn Swallows and one Violet-green Swallow. Later in the day, a Lesser Yellowlegs was resting with the other shorebirds, and a Parasitic Jaeger (also identified by bad photos) headed west not far off Great Race. An adult and juvenile Glaucous-winged Gull were out for a little swim. It always amazes me to see these youngsters in the water!

Lesser Yellowlegs, possibly the first documented for Race Rocks. First on eBird for the Race Rocks hotspot.

Out for a swim

Among the sea lions today, I found one entangled with a fishing lure. This poor animal has been her for several weeks. Another had been branded for a research study. I’ll report this number to get its history.

tagged 746R

Sea lion entangled with sports fishing tackle.

More photos below!

Census, 2 August 2023

Birds

Harlequin Duck 1
Black Oystercatcher 23
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Black Turnstone 93
Surfbird 24
Western Sandpiper 2
Short-billed Dowitcher 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Pigeon Guillemot 83
Heermann’s Gull 2
Western Gull 1
California Gull 120
Glaucous winged Gulls 332 adults, 237 juvenile
“Olympic” Gull 3 adults 3 juvenile
Brandt’s Cormorant 7
Pelagic Cormorant 2
Violet-green Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 2

Mammals

Harbour seal 195
Northern (Steller’s) sea lion 79
California sea lion 7
Sea otter 1

Visitors:

No visitors
Ecotourism traffic has been slow. Several boats a day, but rarely more than one in the area at a time

Facility Work:

Cleaned windows and solar panels
Replaced batteries in smoke, CO alarm in Student House

More photos:

: Barn Swallow feeding at the jetty

: Western Sandpipers

: Ruddy Turnstone

: Parasitic Jaeger

: Ollie at his station

: The youngest gull on the island

: Brandt’s Cormorant

: Harbour seal and pup

: Feed me. Now. Glaucous-winged Gull chick

: Black Oystercatchers

: Young Black Oystercatcher

: Oystercatchers at dusk

: Sea lion haulout

: More Glaucous-winged Gulls

** All wildlife photos taken at safe distances with high-powered zoom, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

What a difference a couple of months makes!

Posted on Tuesday,August 1, 2023 by Ann Nightingale

Just two months ago, my arrival was met with uncountable numbers of flies and hundreds of Glaucous-winged Gulls building and tending to their nests, many with eggs. While there are still a few nests, most of the gulls are now divided into territories with adults and associated young. It seems to me that there are fewer pairs here now than there were in June, and considerably fewer than there were a year ago at this time. The census on Wednesday should tell an interesting story.

Overall, my impression is fewer gulls, fewer guillemots, fewer mammals (no elephant seals) and many, many fewer flies than the last two Augusts. Fewer gulls means bigger territories, less bickering and fewer mortalities. I have been here two full days and have only seen one dead young gull. This contrasts sharply from the last two summers when there were many remains in the colony — a perfectly normal state of affairs. Perhaps lower productivity has meant an increase in chick survival this year.

Young Glaucous-winged Gulls enjoying some sunshine

The Western Gull I mentioned in an earlier post has produced three young. The adult pair consists of the Western and an “Olympic” gull. Olympic Gulls are a blend of Western and Glaucous-winged Gulls. I believe the Western of this pair is the female, but since both parents provide egg incubation and chick care, I am not certain.

Western Gull keeping an eye on the three chicks.

One of the Western Gull’s chicks. This one will be an “Olympic” Gull due to its mixed heritage.

The Barn Swallows that arrived on Race Rocks this spring definitely built a nest. With them gone now, I crept into the space where they had been going and located it. It’s a wonderful nest, but there are considerably fewer droppings beneath it than I expected. I think that it may have failed. It should be left in place, though, as swallows usually return to their nests and get a head start in subsequent years. A single nest can take 600 mouthfuls of mud to create. That’s a lot of work for small birds.

This nice nest looks a little too pristine to have been used.

Passerine numbers are small as usual. The only songbird species I have seen so far this week is Brown-headed Cowbird, with up to five gathering in a small flock. The fact that they find each other still amazes me. How do they know they are cowbirds? As a brood parasite, all Brown-headed Cowbirds are raised by other species.

Brown-headed Cowbirds

Perhaps the biggest news of the week happened before I arrived. Derek Sterling, a Race Rocks ecoguardian spending his summer guiding on Eagle Wing boats which frequently come out to Race Rocks called last weekend with the news that there was a mother sea otter with a pup just off the islands. This is fantastic, possibly a first for the area in more than 100 years! I haven’t managed to see them, but Ollie is perched in his usual spot in the kelp.

The shorebird beach in the East Bay is active in the late afternoons, with many Black Turnstones and Surfbirds, the resident Oystercatchers and a few special guests. Since my arrival, I have seen up to four Short-billed Dowitchers, one Ruddy Turnstone, one Western Sandpiper, and one non-shorebird, a Harlequin Duck, hunkered down out of the wind there.

Four species of shorebirds: Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Western Sandpiper, and Short-billed Dowitcher

Western Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Short-billed Dowitcher

Harlequin Duck

And speaking of the wind—could someone please turn it down? Although the mornings have started out with moderate winds, by early afternoon they have increased to the level of unpleasantness, and by evenings, I feel like I am getting a taste of what winter must be like out here!

I’m here earlier in August than I have been the last couple of years, so things are understandably a little different. Wednesday’s census should tell a more complete story.

Maintenance:

Daily maintenance includes washing all the solar panels and the windows that have taken the brunt of gulls flying by. With the winds this week, this is a considerable task!

Weather – Current:

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

Weather – Past:

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

July 17-21 and Weekly Census

Posted on Friday,July 21, 2023 by Nick Townley

Weather for July 17:
Wind: W 14 to 34 knots
Visibility: <1-15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 3′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 13-17 C

Weather for July 18:
Wind: W 9 to 25 knots
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 11-14 C

Weather for July 19:
Wind: W 6 to 27 knots
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 1′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 12-17 C

Weather for July 20:
Wind: W 21 to 40 knots
Visibility: <1-15 NM
Sky: Foggy in early morning, Partly Cloudy after 10:00
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 4′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 12-20 C

Weather for July 21:
Wind: W 19 to 40 knots
Visibility: 5-15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 3′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 12-14 C

Maintenance:
I did the routine tasks of cleaning the solar panels and house windows, topping up the water in the 24 deep cycle batteries, fixing the electric fence, tidying, testing the salinity and temperature of the seawater, maintaining the freshwater system, and running the desalinator with solar power to produce fresh water.

Visitors:
I drove the Race Rocks station boat to pick up a friend, who came for the night of July 18. Brad had visited Race Rocks before when we both worked for many summers on campus as coordinators for PSYL (Pearson Seminar on Youth Leadership).

Weekly Census observed on July 20:
Steller sea lion: 14
California sea lion: 1
harbour seal: 124
cormorant: 5
black oystercatcher: 24 adults, 2 chicks
pigeon guillemot: 162
glaucous-winged gull: 396 adults, 147 chicks
surfbird: 30
black turnstones: 87
western sandpiper: 4

Photo highlights from the past five days:

: Periwinkle shells piled up in the Jetty Bay

: View of Race Rocks from the station boat approaching on the return trip from Pedder Bay

: View of Race Rocks from the station boat approaching on the return trip from Pedder Bay

: Pigeon guillemot with a freshly caught eel meal

: Another pigeon guillemot with a freshly caught sculpin fish meal

: A Canadian Navy warship heads south towards Puget Sound, with the volcano Komo Kushan (Mt Baker) in the background.

: A lone California sea lion hauled out on the south side of the island

: Male Steller sea lions gather on Middle Rock

Foggy day for an Animal Census

Posted on Wednesday,May 17, 2023 by Jillian Brown

The first foggy day in a couple weeks today!

With 6 new solar panels installed along with replacements to wiring that had corroded with the salty air this week, it seems the fog is barely affected our power supply which is amazing!

A couple DND blasts at Noon through the fog made even fewer animals around the reserve today.

Birds

Harlequin duck 5
Bald eagle adult 2
Glaucous winged Gulls 527
Cormorants 31
Pigeon Guillemots 176
Oyster catcher 10
- Oyster catcher eggs 7 (3 in two nests and 1 in a third)
Savannah Sparrow 1
Canada Goose 14
Barn Swallow 1
Crow 3

Mammals

Steller sea lion 10
Harbour seal 63
California sea lion 17
Elephant seal sub adult male 2
Elephant seal adult female 2
Elephant seal pups 3

: Three elephant seals snuggled up

: Glaucous winged gulls on the tank shed

: Canada goose washing at sunrise

: Oyster catcher at sunrise in the fog

: Harbour Seals in the fog

: Glaucous winged gulls

: California sea lions on the rocks by the jetty.

: A couple playing elephant seals

: Yawning elephant seal

: Glaucous winged gull

: Small vessel going by in the fog

: Pigeon Guillemots

: A pair of Oyster Catchers by their nest on the Northern point.

: Stellar sea lions out on middle rock before the DND blasting.

: 2 of the 3 crows that landed on the helicopter pad.

: 2 female and a male California sea lion.

: Canada Goose.

: Playing California sea lions

: Swimming steller sea lion

: The two largest of the steller sea lions having a territory dispute.

: Oyster catcher

: Spill response vessel going by to the north in the fog.

: young Elephant seal

: sub adult elephant seal

: Sunrise through the fog.

: Elephant Seals playing

: Female california sea lion

: Elephant seals playing

: sleepy oyster catcher

: Elephant seals in the front yard

: Oyster Catcher eggs.

: Fog rainbow and gulls.

: Harbor seal and a canada goose

: Female

Visitors:

Race Rocks Challenge participants
3 contractors installing and maintaining solar panels
44 Marine Science students visited to write their exam
4 Pearson College Second year students came for a visit before the school year ends.

Facility Work:

Fixed Compost
Taped off Oyster Catcher nests and made map
Cleaned house
Filled water in batteries
Emptied and cleaned composting toilet
Cleaned windows and solar panels
Mopped basement
Organized and cleaned tool drawers
Fixed and rebuilt sections of Electric fence
Cleaned lighthouse

** 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?

Animal Census with a couple quick Terns

Posted on Wednesday,May 10, 2023 by Jillian Brown

Birds

Harlequin duck 5
Bald eagle adult 2
Bald eagle juvenile 1
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Glaucous winged Gulls 685
Cormorants 72
Pigeon Guillemots 327
Oyster catcher 10
Savannah Sparrow 6
Canada Goose 14
Raven 2
Caspian Tern 2
Barn Swallow 2

Mammals

Steller sea lion 16
Harbour seal 79
California sea lion 32
Elephant seal sub adult male 2
Elephant seal adult female 3
Elephant seal pups 3

: 2 Caspian Terns

: Sub – adult elephant seals

: Sub- adult elephant seals

: young elephant seal in the water next to jeetty.

: Mix of california sea lions and steller sea lions in the morning light.

: Juvenile bald ealge

: oyster catcher

: savannah sparrow

: barn swallow

: barn swallow

: Canada Goose

: California sea lion

: Glaucous winged gull in front of the moon

: one of the many large flocks of Pigeon guillemots

: more pigeon guillemots

: Ruddy turnstone

: Harbor seals in the bull kelp

: Another of the large flocks of pigeon guillemots

: pigeon guillemots

: 2 adult bald eagles on the south rocks

: female harlequin duck

: male harlequin duck

: Glaucous winged gulls

: young elephant seal conversing

Visitors:

Mollie – future Ecoguardian

Facility Work:

Chopped and stacked remaining fire wood
Deep Cleaning of Kitchen and sorting through house hold items
3 coats Stained Kitchen table
Sharpened Axe
Mounted 2 large Elephant Seal winter coat sheds for future visitors and students to touch and see.
Set up Hose system from Science house up to solar panels so we no longer have to haul a 5 gallon bucket up a ladder
Cleaned solar panels
Addled Canada Goose Eggs and mapped out nests
Cleaned windows

** 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?

Peregrine Falcon During Animal Census

Posted on Thursday,May 4, 2023 by Jillian Brown

It was a very quick moment but a peregrine falcon flew by, low along the rocks of the east shore and swooped across the north by the crane and jetty. I lost sight of it quick and was unable to snap a photo, but I was a beautiful moment to witness.

Adult Bald Eagles were catching fish today and fighting over them in the sky.