Tag Archives: Black Oystercatcher

Nesting Everywhere

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Ecological Notes:

  • Looking like just 5 Elephant Seals left in the main area. (although I like to give it a couple days to confirm)
  • This group is now 3 Adult Females, 1 Juvenile Male, and 1 male “pup”. Both males are really gaining strength and I give them an extra wide margin when moving around.
  • 9 Oyster Catcher nests mapped. Lots of Pigeon Guillemots darting in and out of the rock crevices, assuming they are nesting now as well.  So many Glaucous Wing Gull nests it’s hard to keep count. Many of them now have 3 eggs, so they are starting to incubate now.

Hard to not take all the Black Oyster Catcher pictures I can!

Variations in Gull egg colouring

  • Large group of yearling Glaucous Wing Gulls on one of the rocks, looking very much like a different species until their mature plumage comes in.

Facility Work:

  • As mentioned, everything takes longer when the paths and doorways are blocked!

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 1 large Government vessel through the main channel, with a small vessel in tow.

 Noted Infractions:

  • The above mentioned vessel went through very close to the pier, at very high speed! Documented and reported to superiors at Pearson College, and they are following up with those involved.

Weather Events:

  • Westerly 10 knot winds most of the day, easing to 3 knots in the evening. Mostly cloudy skies and calm seas.

 

** All 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?

Oyster Catcher Nest Sites

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Ecological Notes:

  • 7 Elephant seals between the grass and the boat ramp. It appears another female may have left the reserve. Still 2 “pups” here. (included in the 7 total)
  • The pups are definitely using up their baby fat, and showing lots of wrinkles. The male is still molting though.

    When he finishes molting, he can head off to feed.

  • Have now verified 4 Black Oyster Catcher nests (able to view the nest from good vantage points in the distance). Quite confident in at least 2 more from the bird behavior, but no good distant vantage point to confirm, and don’t want to disturb the birds.

Visitors:

  • EagleWing Tours provided  Pearson College Students with 1 hour tour of the reserve and surrounding area (water based only). Total of 34 Students.
  • Between student tours, 2 employees of EagleWing Tours were brought to the main island by the waterfront coordinator for a visit.
  • The Waterfront Coordinator also delivered groceries, drinking water and electric fence supplies

 Facility Work:

  • Repairs and alterations to the electric fence on the main pier. This is important not only for the safety of the facility and the heritage sites, but also for the safety of the Sealions themselves. If they come up the top of the pier and are startled from their sleep (by land, or boats in the water), they run the risk of jumping over the side from a high height, into shallow water. Generally, on a natural rock face, steeper slopes continue into deeper water.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  •  2 Ecotourism vessels, 1 commercial Dive Tour operator. All with proper viewing and usage procedures.

Good behavior in the reserve! (some compression from the distance and my lens, NOT as close to the rock as it may appear!

  • 3 Private vessels, all with good approach and viewing.

 Noted Infractions:

  • The most common error, generally speaking, is that private vessels tend to power up too early on departure from the reserve.

Again, some compression effect from my lens, but this private boat had come up to speed even earlier than this, well within the reserve.

Weather Events:

  • Mostly clear with westerly winds at 15 knots most of the day. Westerly winds increased to 25 – 30 knots in the evening, bringing in some haze and clouds.

 

** All 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?

Cleaning and Maintenance

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Ecological Notes:

  • 7 Elephant Seals, including 2 “pups” still using the grass areas
  • Monday saw a dramatic reduction of animals and birds in the reserve (almost no guillemots or Sealions, and about half the number of gulls) but they are gradually returning.
  • An anecdotal possibility is that Sunday night had a 50+ knot storm, lining up with a high tide and lots of big ocean swells, making the reserve a very nasty place to be!
  • Noticing more Black Oyster Catcher nests. These are more just an indentation in the gravel, and the birds rely a lot on the camouflage of the eggs. Due to high egg loss rates (here, primarily gulls snatching them), Oyster catchers can lay up to 3 or 4 replacement clutches in a season.

Very distant photo

Visitors:

  • Guests left Sunday
  • 4 Pearson College students on Monday, for an informal visit, with some discussions on marine mammal adaptations life in the ocean.
  • Was also nice to re-instate the visitor log in the newly painted and repaired Visitor Welcome Box

Facility Work:

  • Trouble shooting power interruptions originating from the Student Building
  • Cleaning and minor repair to the housing on the Camera 5 unit.
  • There’s an old prairie saying “Make hay while the sun shines” …… out here, the addendum could be “Clean stuff while the rain falls!” Rain makes it much easier to clean paths and windows, and through the rain collection, provides water for the pressure cleaner.

DND events:

  • 6 or 7 loud blasts today, all sealions left the rocks again

 

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds, 15-20 knots brought rain showers in the morning. Mostly sunny with cloudy periods in the afternoon. Calm seas. Clear skies and 20 knot westerly winds in the evening

 

** All 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?

Oyster Catcher nest

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Ecological Notes:

  • 7 Elephant seal on the grass, including 2 pups. 4 have moved the furthest away from the ramp as I have seen them (towards the southern side of the island, but still up in the grass)

By the solar building

  • Knowing the extra importance of staying off the rocky/gravel areas this time of year, I did my normal perimeter check from the grass, and solid rock areas. I noticed a Black Oyster Catcher doing more of a distraction behavior rather then their normal “go away” squeals.
  • I immediately left the area and searched from a distance with the spotting scope. It took a while, but sure enough I found the nest!!!! (my first ever sighting)
  • Although always true, I CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH – photos shot from as far away as possible, with a 600mm equivalent, then cropped to show better detail! (please read the captions)

Facility Work:

  • More waste wood stacking ……. Due to the obvious fire ban in the reserve, and to the unknown paint content, all waste wood has to be removed from the island and processed properly. Making it easier and safer for the recovery team just makes sense.

DND events:

  • 6 detonations during the day

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • none (DND vessels kept area clear)

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds during the day at 10 – 15 knots, increasing to 25 knots early evening.
  • Fog in the morning, followed by mainly clear skies, then fog returning in the evening. Low fog throughout the day to the west and south.

All day distant fog

Evening fog, can’t see the mid channel rocks

** All 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?

Antenna Re-mount

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Ecological Notes:

  • 5 female Elephant Seals, 1 juvenile male (about female size)
  • Elephant Seal pups: 2, 1 is a young male
  • Many big old California Sealions tried to take over the pier today
  • Can see several paired up Black Oyster Catchers, but no “nests” visible from the angles I could view from a distance. Also didn’t note any defensive behavior.

Facility Work:

  • Moving beach wood, cut some to stock up firewood
  • Remounted VHF antenna, ONLY because the deck builders ran out of time. First I tried the hard ways, then just dismantled it on the bench and cut the wood away from the mount.

 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 1 Sailboat, doing it the right way! Motor on, sail in centered position and loose, straight down the center of the channel slowly, without disturbing the wildlife.

 

Feature Event:

  • Learning to use the chainsaw, but having to pause when an elephant seal wanted to pass.

 

Weather Events:

  • Medium Winds from the west, rising in the evening. Clear skies all day, good for Solar Power generation. Light cloud moving in the evening after sunset.

 

** All 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?

Surface Temperature and Salinity

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Ecological Notes:

  • 6 female Elephant Seals
  • Elephant Seal pups: Only 2 pups on land

Packing tight to preserve heat!

  • lots of nest building by the Gulls and Oyster Catchers

Checking out a good spot

Bringing the goods!

 

Black Oyster Catcher

Facility Work:

  • Continuing the fine work done by the previous Eco Guardians, more scrubbing and pressure washing

Feature event:

  • Daily Water Sampling – Taken each day and reported monthly to The Institute of Ocean Sciences

Waiting for the pier to clear ….

The peanut gallery …

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

 

Weather Events:

  • Cloud coverage, light drizzle, and Calm Seas

 

Weather – Current:

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

Weather – Past:

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

Black Oystercatcher

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Ecological Notes: Today, a Black Oystercatcher is walking the main island and looking to make a nest. Two breeds of gull on the island including the Glaucous Gull and Western Gull. Pigeon Guillemot are making their nest on the edge of the helicopter pad and north wall below the camera.Spring is here!
Animal Tracking and Injuries: California Sea Lion injured shoulder.
Elephant seal pups: 4
Elephant seal female: 3
Visitors: 1
Facility Work. More cleaning inside and out.
Vessel Traffic:  2 Eco tour boats
 
Weather– Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather–Past:  http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72
 

August 31 – Weekly Census and Shift Change

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Wind: W 2-15 knots
Sea State: calm
Visibility: 5-15 NM
Sky: partly cloudy in early morning, then clear
Temperature: 11-17 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.90 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results recorded this morning at low tide for the mammals and throughout the day for the birds:
26 steller sea lions
110 california sea lions
1 sea otter
290 harbour seals
1 Canada goose
7 pelagic cormorants
1,232 california gulls
251 glaucous-winged gulls
98 gull chicks
2 black oystercatchers
7 black turnstones
1 song sparrow

There were a lot of eco tourism boats passing through the ecological reserve today. An outrigger canoeist paddled through the main channel in the mid morning and again in the early afternoon.

Tomorrow is my last day as the Ecoguardian. Mara and Kai are returning for a few months. I have enjoyed being back on this wonderful island for the past 17 days, learning on the edge where the land meets the sea meets sky. Race Rocks is a unique place that couldn’t exist without the work of Pearson students, staff, faculty, alumni and volunteers.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

 

 

 

 

August 28

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Wind: W 16-37 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, up to 1m waves in afternoon and evening
Visibility: 0-15 NM
Sky: fog in morning and evening, clear in middle of day
Temperature: 11-16 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There were two visitors mid afternoon from Pearson College to drop off supplies.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

August 24 – Weekly Census

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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: