Tag Archives: black turnstone

Wildlife Changing with the Seasons

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Weather: 

  • Sky: clear and blue
  • Visibility 10-15 NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea state: .5 m chop

Visitors: 

  • No island visitors
  • A small number of eco-tourism vessels (only one today).
  • We were saddened to hear this week that a fishing boat we have often seen pass by, Arctic Fox II, sank in rough seas on Tuesday, claiming 2 lives. An article Here.

Ecological Observations: 

  • The seagull chicks continue to practice using their wings, hopping and flapping in the wind. It can be quite comical to hear them “peeping” as they did when they were just hatched- they are nearly the size of their parents now!
  • The harbour seal pups get cuter by the day. We were lucky to catch one nursing this week from the lighthouse (photo below).
  • The sea lions population continues to grow, with a notable increase this week on Main Race Rock. We will need to put the electric fence back soon to prevent them damaging infrastructure.
  • We have been enjoying bird watching this week as migrations continue and the pigeon guillemots are raising their young. There have continued to be very large numbers of black turnstones on the E shore.
  • This week we have also been visited by a handful of ruddy turnstones, and one whimbrel (thank you Daniel for the ID help!)
  • The one male elephant seal is still here. He doesn’t seem to be actively moulting anymore, aside from a tiny bit of remaining skin around his neck. He spent the entire day yesterday drifting and napping in the peaceful and sheltered jetty waters. We have not seen V173 in quite some time.
  • We find a lot of joy in watching the elephant seals move from higher ground down the jetty ramp and into the water. If you are not familiar with their undulating movements, this video is an excellent example. It’s a lot of blubber to get off the ground!
  • We spotted one sea lion with a fishing flasher hooked onto his face a few days ago. We haven’t seen him since but we are hoping that we will, so a rescue attempt can be made to remove it.
  • We also saw a sea lion with what we thought could be an infected brand. We sent a photo to a wildlife officer in Oregon who tracks these branded sea lions and he shared with us that it is likely a shark bite!

 

Census and a Beautiful Day

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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

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Today’s Weather:

  • Sky clear, blue
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: rippled, whitecaps

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • Today Greg visited for maintenance tasks
  • Quite a few pleasure crafts out today, but only a few passing through the reserve with no issues.
  • A steady trickle of whale watching boats today, especially just outside of the reserve where we spotted a humpback whale midday. We have been observing quite a few vessels cutting the paths of whales moving through the area, or driving over the location where the whales last surfaced.

Ecological Observations: 

  • Many shorebirds migrating this week. Today we counted 150 black turnstones! There are a handful of surfbirds mixed into the flock, which has been resting on the rocky beach area on the east side of the island.
  • The seagull chicks are growing quickly! They are starting to develop flight feathers and strengthening their wings by flapping them as if they are trying to fly. The last of the eggs seem to have hatched now. We noticed that one egg did not hatch in a nest where the eggs were stolen and the seagull had to re-lay later than usual. As the little ones become more adventurous their parents become more protective, diving at our heads and sometimes attacking each other if another gull gets too close.
  • We have been observing the pigeon guillemots pairing behaviors and wondering if they will nest here this year. We have spotted them carrying fish into crevices in the rocks, but we haven’t seen any nests inside the rocky areas (yet!).

Census:

  • 150 Black turnstones
  • 50 Pigeon guillemots
  • 10 surfbirds
  • 1 Bald eagle
  • 1 Cormorant
  • 11 Stellar sea lions
  • 760 Adult gulls
  • 56 Harbour seals
  • 2 Male elephant seals
  • 12 Canadian geese

The Animals Have Been Busy

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Weather:

  • Sky clear, blue
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea state: rippled, whitecaps, small waves breaking at .5 m

A fun link! Our weather station data can be publicly viewed Here.

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • On Friday Greg and a plumber visited
  • It has been quite windy but we have continued to see 5-10 whale watching boats per day on average
  • Quite a few fishing pleasure crafts outside of the reserve closer to Pedder bay, but no issues with fishing in the reserve this week so far.

Ecological Observations: 

  • This week we noticed a pigeon guillemot carry fish into a crevice in the rock wall outside our back door. We are excited to keep an eye on it and see if it is nesting! We have continued to notice breeding pairs copulating and flying into/out of crevices around the island.
  • This week there are large amounts of shorebirds visiting.We have seen ruddy and black turnstones daily as well as the occasional sandpiper. The turnstones are particularly elusive and fly away before we notice them quite often.
  • An appreciated bird ID correction from Daniel: The bird which we photographed on June 20 was in fact a whimbrel and not a short billed dowitcher.
  • This week we have seen quite a few harbor seals with their pups swimming or resting on rocks. We haven’t seen any nursing, but they are still quite small (and cute!).
  • The goslings and two parents haven’t returned since we saw them leave by water last Thursday. There seem to be two more adult geese gone today. We wonder if the goose family left for the main island, as the seagulls have become very territorial and aggressive, or perhaps the geese are naturally beginning to leave as they do seasonally.
  • A steady increase of sea lions in the reserve this week. There are now both california and stellar sea lions, and a few younger ones mixed in with the huge stellars that appeared last week.