Pleasant return trip… This time with all our stuff…(Thanks to Chris), ready for the 2 months ahead. We spot right away our first 1st gull chick actually pretty big and this time a very small oystercatcher baby, close to the jetty. It was easy enough the parents were so loud and the nest has just vanished.
Tag Archives: Black Oystercatcher
Small Seal Hauls On Bull Kelp
The wind blew steadily 25 to 30 knots from the west today, all day. The morning was relatively calm on the lee side but by early evening it was really rough all around Race Rocks. Cloudy morning skies gave way to a sun-dominated mix, of sun and clouds in the afternoon. There was no precipitation in spite of the clouds. Remarkably, the total annual rainfall here to date is ~22 cm, not much. The barometer climbed back up to 1016 hPA., before starting another little slide. The forecast is calling for sunshine with increasing cloud and continuing strong westerlies.
No vessels were observed in the Ecological Reserve during the day today. One whale watching vessel was observed working in the Reserve just at sunset.
Ecological happenings are all in motion and continue on the path that has been described over the last few days. The bull kelp growth may be slowing as evidenced by some epiphytic growth showing on a very small percentage of the “plants”.
These algae are super carbon fixers and not only crank out food, they also grow so thickly that they shelter the Sea Otter and today I saw a small Harbour Seal actually climbing out of the water onto the bull kelp. It is slippery stuff so I was surprised when I looked a few hours later: it was still there and had managed to dry off the upper part of its body while hauling on bull kelp.
Bull kelp is still actively growing.
I realized today that the Harbour Seals, of which there are a lot more (225 to 250) than Northern Elephant Seals (maximum count 35), may have had the short end of the stick when it comes to mentions in the Log entries. Maybe it is because the elephant seals are up close and personal and not bothered by our presence. Maybe it is because it has been such an priviledge to get to know the elephant seals and their diverse personalities and behaviours. The Harbour Seals are further away and hard to tell apart as individuals. An adult Bald Eagle was very interested in the Harbour Seals today and although it is early for inside waters, I thought that there might be some pupping activity soon.
Adult Bald Eagle on watch near hauled out Harbour Seals on Turbine Rock.
Chunk and Floyd often sleep together behind the science house. Floyd’s moult is more than two thirds done while Chunk has not even reached a third yet.
Chunk (closest) and Floyd stretched out behind the science house. Chunk is stretching his right fore flipper.
Chunk and Floyd also have their battles and tonight they chose to fight in amongst the nesting gulls, crushing at least one nest and killing an adult that was trying to defend its nest.
Chunk and Floyd go at each other in among the nesting gulls.
Gull versus adult bull elephant seal: seal 1; gull 0.
My favorite bird here continues to be the Black Oystercatcher, there is something about their very spartan nests and their willingness to take on adult Bald Eagles and Ravens that makes me cheer them on. Their looks are pretty great too. The newly hatched chicks are very precocious and can follow parental commands almost immediately. They are so good at remaining perfectly still when “told to” that they are almost impossible to see. Thank goodness for telephoto lenses. I will try to get a photo of the chicks from a distance tomorrow.
Black Oystercatchers are fiercely brave little birds and willing to chase off Ravens and even Bald Eagles. Their nests are entirely comfortless with only pebbles and shells for decoration.
There were no visitors today and chores were routine as I wrap up the last few days of my shift.
National Aboriginal Day at Race Rocks Heritage Site
The wind was slow and relaxed most of today at Race Rocks. In the morning, it blew 5 – 10 knots east and in the afternoon it turned to south/southeast and blew just enough to make the flag look good. The outflow wind pushed out the fog that had formed early to the west. Eventually the wind backed around through south, southwest and over to west. At the end of the day it was blowing west 20 to 25 knots and a strong wind warning is part of the forecast along with a mix of sun and cloud, mostly cloudy with fog banks in the morning.
The sky was clear all day today and with the clarity, cloud formation on the Cascade and Olympic Mountains ranges was visible. Mount Baker stood like an eastern sentinel and Bahokas Peak was visible, low, like a distant lookout, at the far southwestern entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Mt. Baker to the east.
Today, the barometer continued the slide it started on Friday and ended up just above 1010 hPA. in the late afternoon. With the still wind and intense sunshine came higher temperatures. The high today of 18o C is a big jump up from the week’s average of 13.9 o C to Saturday and from the overnight low of 10.5 o C. That was sea surface temperature yesterday 10.5 o C.
Outside air temperature at Race Rocks for last week.
There was very little whale watching activity today with only one vessel observed working in the Ecological Reserve. There were quite a few sports fishing vessels in reserve including rentals, charters and individual fishers. Two boats were observed fishing for rockfish in the closed Rockfish Conservation Area, within in the Ecological Reserve. Most people respect the closure and this is how the area has a chance to rebuild and start to contribute juvenile fish to adjacent areas.
Today is national aboriginal day and I would like to honour the First Nations within whose territories Race Rocks lies today. I would also like to draw attention to the stone cairns on the island, which date back to ~500AD. These cairns are a testament to a long and storied history that has been too often down-played or downright ignored, by Euro-Canadian historians. https://www.racerocks.ca/history-of-race-rocks/first-nations-burial-cairns-at-great-race-rocks/
Ecologically we are moving into summer and these lovely long days are important markers of biological activity. Most of nesting gulls are incubating and almost all the nests I have had a peek at, have three eggs. This island is an ideal location for nesting studies as the light tower offers an incomparable 360-degree view. Observational activity from that height does not disturb the nesting birds.
Seasonal timing is important and gull and oystercatcher chicks should start hatching out in a couple of weeks. It is trickiernow to pinpoint what is going on with the Pigeon Guillemots and easier later, once they start to carry fish to their chicks. The early nesters (Canada Geese) have young almost full size now and their numbers have dropped again. There are only two pairs of adults left; one pair with five goslings and the other with three. An adult Bald Eagle was hunting here today.
In the water around Race Rocks, at least three species of salmon are passing by (Chinook, Coho and Sockeye) and halibut have moved into the relatively shallow waters outside the reserve. At the surface, mixed species, feeding flocks are starting to form, driven from below by diving birds such as Rhinoceros Auklets. That is where the juvenile gulls seem to be feeding. The sea lions have all gone now and pregnant Harbour Seals are starting to look very round. Just Chunk and Floyd remain in the elephant seal department and they were both sleeping up against the back of the science house most of the day.
I went ashore briefly today and was back by breakfast. There were no visitors and chores were routine today.
A Tale of T-Whales
Today the wind continued its westerly path, bringing fresh ocean air in through the central Strait of Juan de Fuca at 20 to 35 knots. The sky was mostly clear, with clouds forming in the distance, along the tops of the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges. The barometer continued the climb it started yesterday until late afternoon, reaching almost 1020 hPa., before starting to gradually drop as the sun descended toward the horizon. Gale warnings continue to be in effect and the forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud tomorrow.
Five whale watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve today in spite of adverse weather conditions. They all moved carefully and at a respectful speed being mindful of the marine mammals (Elephant Seal, Harbour Seals, Sea Lions, Sea Otter) and nesting seabirds in the Reserve. The only other vessel observed transiting the Ecological Reserve today was the Fisheries and Oceans vessel, Cape Kuper travelling at a discreet 25 knots towards Victoria, in the go slow zone.
Ecological happenings described in some detail in my earlier logs continue. (Elephant Seals haul out, socialize, sleep and moult. Other pinnipeds haul-out socially. Glaucous-winged Gulls, Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatchers mate, nest, lay, incubate and get territorial. Mixed species feeding flocks (fish balls) attract gulls on the water and kelp is still growing.)
Glaucous-winged Gull incubating three eggs.
Of note was the sighting of Biggs’ Killer Whales (Transients) in the evening. I counted six individuals including a large bull with a very triangular fin. The two whale watching boats closer to them reported seven or eight individuals including a young calf. As often happens with T’s, as they used to be known, we spotted them a couple of times and then they totally disappeared. They showed up again, with the whale watching boats “in tow” a mile or so to the east.
Orca Spirit runs upstream through Middle Channel.
Here are the results of the weekly animal census.
Northern Elephant Seals 3 (Chunk, Floyd and young female) only on Great Race, none on Middle Rocks)
Harbour Seals 221
California Sealions 1
Northern or Stellers Sealions 1 (juvenile (Could be the two year old that was still with its mother earlier in the season (that size).)
River Otter (not seen but probably still here, fresh feathers in boat house)
Sea Otter 1
Biggs’ Killer Whales 6 (Transients) (Just north, outside of Ecological Reserve in Middle Channel near North Rock.)
Humpback Whale 1 (“Big Mama”) (Just outside of Ecological Reserve to the south of Rosedale Reef.)
Canada Geese 16 (= 10 goslings + 6 adults) (most have left)
Pelagic Cormorants 3
Double Crested Cormorants 5
Bald Eagles 1 sub-adult (no adults seen)
Black Oystercatchers 8 (4 nesting pairs)
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots ~100
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 457 (385 adults in nesting areas; 72 roosting/resting on Middle Island including 14 juveniles). Large majority of gulls are incubating now, although some are still getting started. No chicks observed yet
Alex and I came out on Second Nature last night with Chris. Christine and Guy returned to shore the same way. A big shout out to Chris for all his support.
There were no visitors and chores were routine, but more fun with company.
Ghosting through the Kelp Forest.
I had trouble with a temprarily unavailable log-in page when I went to to post my log blog last night, so am posting the two days together now.
The westerly blew throughout both days and fog obstructed the views. Yesterday it cleared after 4 PM and by 6 PM, thick fog had moved back in and visibility was back down to several hundred meters. Today it cleared earlier and stayed clear until sunset (at least). Wind speed both days varied between 10 and 25 knots over the course of the day and in varied direction from west-southwest to west. Yesterday the barometer went up to 1015 hPa from 1014 and then started dropping. Today, it was steady until noon and then it started dropping going as far as 1010hPA by 8 PM. The forecast for today was correct: strong westerly wind warnings, fog “patches” and sunshine. Tomorrow the wind warning has been upgraded to a gales and the rest remains the same.
Six whale watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve yesterday and today I saw three. They all abided by the rules and regulations more or less. Some boats/skippers may be used to pushing the distance limits but I did not observe negative impacts.
I was lucky enough to see Chunk ghosting around the island from the top of the light tower and it was a surreal sight. He started out in the surge channel in front of the science house and swam around anti-clockwise. If it wasn’t for his white scar, I might have missed him, as it was a bit foggy. He only came up to look around and make a right angle turn to avoid a reef, once. He moved elegantly with hind flippers sweeping side to side, ever so slightly and propelling his huge mass along at a good speed. He seemed to purposefully seek out the kelp and sweep through it. The pale grey, submarine shape shifted in and out of the kelp, hugging the coastline, in shallow water. How different this must be from his normal habitat offshore and in the deep. If that is what our Canadian elephant actually does. It would be nice to know where they go when they are not here.
Floyd as water watchdog.
I was glad that I topped up the freshwater the day before yesterday as Floyd decided to sleep right up against the freshwater tank-house yesterday and today. It would have been a challenge to get in and out to check water-levels with his head jammed in between the Diefenbunker and the tank-house.
The two-year-old northern elephant seals that looked so bad before moulting are now starting to look much better as their moult progresses. This one still looks a bit scabby but no more oozing and bleeding sores.
According to my favorite vet, Marty Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium (Who else knows about such things?), “when there are deep cracks, bleeding and large ulcers it becomes part of a syndrome known as northern elephant sealskin diseases (NESSD) and that syndrome is not well understood though it is likely a combination of secondary bacterial infection, immune-mediated disease, and endocrine problems. It is most likely to occur in yearlings during their first or second major moult. If minor they can survive” Thanks Marty for letting me know.
These two have been moulting, losing weight and sleeping more and more since they arrived a couple of months ago.
Thursday was census day and here are the results.
Northern Elephant Seals 22 (including 16 on Great Race)
Harbour Seals 110
California Sea lions 19
Northern or Stellers Sea lions 25 (One male with a neck ring, one female with a two year old, is branded but could not see brand.)
River Otter 1
Sea Otter 1
Canada Geese 23 (+ 26 goslings, one gosling missing) (note one adult (non-breeding) taken by eagles)
Harlequin Ducks 0 (left last week)
Pelagic Cormorants 16
Double Crested Cormorants 3
Bald Eagle 1 adults, 2 sub-adults
Black Oystercatchers 10
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 211
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 444 (436 adults in nesting areas; 8 sub-adults in roosting/resting area) Some gulls starting laying and incubating.
There were no visitors either day and chores were routine. I leave for Portugal tomorrow Christine will be doing the blog. Back June 7th.
May 26
It was another steady, west by southwest day, blowing 15 to 20 knots, from morning to night and clearing out the clouds for a glorious afternoon and evening. There was just enough marine haze on the horizon to make a great sunset. This morning barometer gradually rose to 1016 hPA and then started a slow decline after noon ending up at 1014hPA just before 8:00 PM. The forecast is calling for strong westerlies to continue with a mix of sun and cloud.
Only four whale watching boats were observed in the Ecological Reserve today and everyone was on their best behaviour.
Ecological happenings were subtle today. More sealions are hauling out on Great Race including a few very chunky Stellers bulls. The California Sealions seem to putting the call out for others within hearing range to come and bark in concert. There are more birds mating wherever you look, the Canada Geese goslings are growing incredibly fast and the bull kelp is now forming a broad canopy even on the high tide. The gull bolus contents are shifting to more ‘forage fish’ bone content from the earlier strong bias toward chiton plates and the adults are feeding each other in practice for parenthood?
The Bald Eagles continue to fly in and scare all the gulls, geese and oystercatchers and it looked like they caught something today, but I am not sure what..
Chris and Courtney brought Second Nature out in the afternoon with two visitors from Scotland, (an alumna and her husband), and the two relief eco-guardians Guy and Christine who will be here for the summer. Chris, Courtney and Guy delivered diesel for the generator, using the derrick, barrels, a drum dolly and a fair bit of sweat. It looked scary to me but they pulled it off with aplomb and Chris said it is easier, safer and less risky than the old method, so that is really great.
My chores today were routine. I am going to post this now and update it with photos later in case the Internet goes down again in between. Must run and shut down the generator.
Well Timed with the Race
Winds were calmer today and came from the same general direction, ranging from west to southwest, at a respectable 10 to 20 knots for most of the day. The speed picked up at bit in the evening, pushing behind the first Swiftsure sailboat back with 25 to 30 knots. The sky was partially overcast for much of the day but it was bright and sunlight levels were energetic. The barometer continued its climb started late Thursday, peaked late in the afternoon, and started the inevitable slide back down. The forecast is calling for more wind this evening and more of the same tomorrow.
Stellers Sealions craning their necks to see the sailboats racing by Race Rocks.
There were a lot of vessels, all around Race Rocks today as the Swiftsure Sailing Race passed by, mid-morning and began returning in the evening. None of the sailboats in the race were observed within the Ecological Reserve although a few were drawn close to North Rocks by the currents. Six whale watching boats were noted working in the Ecological Reserve in the morning and one in the afternoon. The usual Saturday dive charter tended a group of divers off South Islands.
Divers enjoy the incredible biodiversity underwater at Race Rocks. The Ecological Reserve includes the creatures on the bottom, so it is a sustainable diver destination with responsible operators like Ogden Point Diving gate-keeping.
The Northern Elephant Seal moult continues, as does mating, nest building, laying and incubating by Black Oystercatchers. The Pigeon Guillemots and Glaucous-winged Gulls are not far behind and the Canada Geese are way out ahead with some gaggles of goslings already larger than chickens.
This female Northern Elephant Seals contributed a skin sample without knowing it.
Skin samples and vibrissae were collected today, from the ground where moulting animals had been lying. Luckily they leave and go for a swim once and a while, so this is a non-invasive way to take a sample. The hope is that funds for isotopic analyses can be found. Information generated by these analyses will give information about diet and trophic level and could be particularly meaningful for tagged animals, for which there is already baseline data. Some of these animals, such as 5850, also had a satellite tag earlier in its life. There is very little information published on the only Northern Elephant Seal colony in Canada.
A single Brant visited today, stopping off on the helicopter-pad to have a rest and preen. Oddly enough the gulls were not that welcoming. It didn’t stay long enough for the Canada Geese to notice.
Black brant goose makes a landing on the heli-pad. It has a long way to fly before it nests in the tundra of the high arctic.
There were no visitors today and chores were routine, of the entropy defying type. Solar power was used to run the desalinator and make lots of fresh water today in spite of clouds.
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Again it was a day dominated by the west and west-southwest winds. It was blowing 30 to 35 knots at dawn but the velocity subsided and most of the day it blew 20 to 25 knots. Skies were partially overcast and as predicted there were a few showers. Air temperature remains low, and is not much different than flooding sea surface temperature at ~ 9.7 oC. ranging between 10 oC and 12 oC .The wind is also chilling and today had the highest wind speeds of the week. The barometer rose today from 1008 to 1013 hPa and is dropping now while the forecast calls for gales and a gale warning has been issued. Saturday is supposed to be mainly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers.
There were four whale-watching boats observed, working in the Ecological Reserve today. No other vessels were observed in reserve.
Female Northern Elephant Seal # 5086 is on day seven of her moult now and has made great strides in losing skin during the last 24 hours. She has achieved the two thirds moulted milestone and is still grouchy.
Black Oystercatchers are without a doubt nesting now and there are eggs in their terribly spartan nests, which have none of the comforts of home like soft vegetation or down.
Some of the goslings are getting quite large and although they may be considered pesty, they are still fascinating to watch.
The California Sealions are moving back onto Great Race and I awoke to a chorus of them doing a call and response outside my bedroom window this morning.
Thanks go out to Don Stewart for spotting and identifying an Anna’s Hummingbird on Great Race today, I believe this is a new addition to the species list here.
Another thank you to Rocky Point Bird Observatory for identifying a Yellow-headed Blackbird, another possibly new bird to the island. It has been hiding in the long grass and thistles near the base of the Light Tower and it has been difficult to get a photo fast enough. Today it flew to the roof of the Energy Building which made a photo much easier.
Yesterday was census day but it was too foggy much of the day to do a good census. Here are the results from today’s census.
Northern Elephant Seals 26 (18 on Great Race, 8 on Middle Rock)
Harbour Seals 228
California Sealions 14
Northern (Stellers) Sealions 26
Canada Geese 24 (+ 21 goslings)
Harlequin Ducks 6
Pelagic Cormorants 8
Double Crested Cormorants 13
Bald Eagle total 3; 1 adult, 2 sub-adults
Black Oystercatchers 14
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 230
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 564 (556 adults in nesting areas; 8 sub-adults in roosting/resting area)
California Gulls 6
Common Raven 1
Northwestern Crow 1
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Chores were routine today. Courtney came out with the new switch box for Camera 2 and installed it. Camera 2 is working again now but a close-up study on diatom film. Don left on Second Nature.
Strong Wind Warning Continued.
The west-southwest wind continued unabated, varying only in speed, which ranged from 15 to 35 knots and favoured the high end. Race Rocks was shrouded in thick fog until late afternoon and when it cleared, the fog retreated past Beechey Head, west towards Sooke. The air temperature hovered at 10oC after it cleared; just a fraction of a degree above sea surface temperature and 12 oC colder than Pedder Bay. The barometer was fairly steady at ~ 1008-1009 dropping towards the end of the day to 1007 hPa. A strong wind warning remains in effect and the forecast calls for a 30% chance of showers tomorrow.
Nine whale watching boats were observed working in the Ecological Reserve today. We could hear them well before we could see them due to the fog. After the fog lifted several more vessels arrived.
One of the two Orca Spirit whale watching vessels approaches Middle Channel slowly and cautiously.
Military blasting mid-day was large and shook the houses knocking things off of shelves in the science house. The Northern Elephant Seals did not even open their eyes or roll over while the Steller’s and California Sealions put their heads-up and a few of the larger individuals went into the water. The loud noises did not seem to ‘phase’ the other animals.
The ecological happenings include synchronized nuptial flights and dives by Pigeon Guillemots, mating and nest building by the gulls, Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatchers. The Canada Goose goslings are putting on an incredible growth spurt, not surprising, I suppose as they eat all day. In the opposite extreme the Northern Elephant Seals are losing mass and girth as their moult continues and some of the smaller ones especially, are starting to look like they need to eat. Fourteen elephant seals graced the garden today. Tagged female #5086 is six days into her moult and is still less than one third moulted.
This female (tag # 5086) is on the sixth day of her moult.
Most of these young animals, with the exception of the second from left, are almost finished their moults. Occasionally they wake up rearranged themselves do a bit of jousting and then go back to sleep.
Thursday is usually census day but the fog was too thick to do the counts at the optimal times, so it is postponed until tomorrow.
Don came back to the island with me yesterday evening to help out and have a visit. This afternoon Courtney brought Guy & Christine out in Second Nature to finish training on the generator and desalinator. Emil, a PC student, his brother and parents came along as well for a bit of an island tour and had a chance to observe the Northern Elephant Seals.
Chores were of the mundane and routine variety.
How Low Can It Go?
Thick fog met me at dawn, not the sleepy kind that coffee cuts through, but dripping wet, zero visibility, fog created through the convergence of cold ocean water and warm air. The fog retreated and advanced repeatedly before it was beaten back by high wattage sunshine. The westerly wind blew throughout, at 5 – 15 knots only rising near sunset to closer to 20. The barometer started a gradual drop in pressure late morning yet the forecast is for sunshine and continuing westerlies.
There were a few whale watching boats in the area mid-morning with two observed in the Ecological Reserve. Sports fishing boats were seen in the general area but outside the Reserve.
The elephant seals found the trek to seawater quite an effort today and some of them gave up for a few hours on the way to have a swim. Getting back up the hill was even more of an effort.
The tide is a long way out.
Observational efforts were focused in the inter-tidal and on the mega-fauna census today. Another really good tide (0.5m) allowed me to do a large algal survey and find more marine invertebrate species. I will share some of the invertebrates here and come back to the seaweeds tomorrow. In each photo, if you look closely you will notice smaller and smaller animals in a wall to wall competition for space or is it sharing of space.
Both the natural and human history at Race Rocks are profound.
California Mussel beds are ‘old growth’ and substantial on Great Race. The large area provides important habitat creating significant diversity.
Extensive mussel beds on the south side of Great Race.
A brooding sea anemone (Epiactus prolifera) with numerous offspring attached low on the column near the pedal disc.
The mottled sea anemone (Urticina crassicornis) is quite common in the low inter-tidal on the south side of Great Race.
This species of tubeworm, named after Vancouver (Eudistylia vancouverensis) is usually more abundant sub-tidally. Here in the high current area between Great Race and South Islands, it is common in the low inter-tidal.
There is a lot of gigantism on the Pacific coast but here at Race Rocks even the giant species seem even more abundant and bigger than I have seen them elsewhere.
The gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) is an important grazer in the inter-tidal. They are very abundant here.
The Black Leather Chiton (Katharina tunicata) is another grazer and like the gumboot chiton grows both very large and is super abundant here.
Orange sea cucumbers (Cucumaria miniata) are really abundant both in tide pools and under the edges of boulders and there a lot of boulders on the south side.
Three species of sea urchin were observed today, adding the green urchin (Stronglyocentrotus drobachiensis) to the list. The green and purple both like to “dress-up” aka cover themselves, with shells, seaweeds and even bits of wood. Here they were using empty limpet shells in an area frequented by oystercatchers.
Green and purple sea urchins with a small orange nudibranch to their left (Rostanga pulchra) that usually lives on the red sponge Ophlitasponge.
Today was large animal census day and the results are as follows:
Humpback Whale (young (small) animal) 1
Northern Elephant Seals 34 (including 15 on Great Race)
Harbour Seals 179
California Sea lions 17 (includes brand U792)
Northern Sea lions 20 (mostly old males)
Sea Otter 1
Canada Geese 36 (includes 18 goslings)
Harlequin Ducks 8
Pelagic Cormorants 0
Double Crested Cormorants 6
Bald Eagle 2 adults, 3 sub-adults
Black Oystercatchers 10
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Black Turnstones 0 (none seen in spite of searching)
Western Sandpipers 2
Least Sandpiper 2
Pigeon Guillemots 148
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 607 (458 adults in nesting areas; 60 adults in roosting/resting area; 79 sub-adults in roosting/resting area)
Western Gull (hybrid?) 1
Herring Gull 2 (Juv.)
Common Raven 1
Northwestern Crows 2
Barn Swallows 2
Savannah Sparrow 6
There were no visitors today. Chores were routine.