Tag Archives: black-turnstone

Census and 3rd New Weaner

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-30 knots NE, later 15 W
  • Water: 2′ chop
  • Sky: overcast with showers

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles were both on Great Race today, but I saw no interactions.
  • The mother is gone on Middle Rock, making her pup a weaner.
  • Conducted a census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 75
  2. Northern Sea Lions: 32
  3. Harbour Seals: 6
  4. Elephant Seals: 3
  5. Seagulls: 300
  6. Cormorants: 299 (142 on Great Race, of which 87 were Double Crested, 28 Pelagic, 8 male Brandt’s, and 19 unidentifiable to me. 157 on North Rock, too far away to identify.)
  7. Black Turnstones: 39
  8. Surfbirds: 18
  9. Canada Geese: 18
  10. Black Oystercatchers: 13
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 8 (6 male, 2 female)
  12. Bald Eagles: 3 (2 adults, 1 juvenile)
  13. Crows: 3
  14. Ravens: 2
  15. American Pipit: 1

Maintenance

  • Hauled logs off the ramp.
  • Checked the diesel in the tidy tank.

Boats

  • Didn’t see any boats near the reserve today.

 

Census

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Weather

  • Visibility: 5 miles, later 15
  • Wind: 5-10 knots SE, late afternoon up to 33 knots from the West
  • Water: rippled, later wavy
  • Sky: foggy in the morning, overcast in the afternoon

Ecological

  • Chunk spent the day on Middle Rock with the mum and pup.
  • Lady, Grieving mum, mum and pup, were in the same spots on Great Race.
  • Chuckles arrived on Great Race in the late afternoon.
  • Conducted a census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 87
  2. Northern/Stellar Sea Lions: 50
  3. Harbour Seals: 21
  4. Elephant Seals: 8
  5. Cormorants: 742 (of the 742, I think that at least 10 were Male Brandt’s, 131 Double Crested, and 200 Pelagic; my identification is improving, but many were either too far away, or indistinguishable to me.)
  6. Seagulls: 605 (131 had darker plumage and therefore must be immature gulls?)
  7. Pigeon Guillemots: 50
  8. Bald Eagles: 30 (23 juveniles, 7 adults)
  9. Black Oystercatchers: 13
  10. Canada Geese: 10
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 8 (4 male, 4 female)
  12. Black Turnstones: 6
  13. Surfbird: 3 (unless they were Rock Sandpipers?)
  14. Raven: 2
  15. American Pipit: 2

Maintenance

  • Did some more cleaning in the Student’s House.

Boats

  • In the morning, one fishing boat passed through the reserve. The occupants did not fish in the reserve; they were going slow and appeared to be observing.
  • In the afternoon, one large eco-tour boat came through the reserve.

First Official Day On The Job

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After training last weekend, and a general review yesterday, I, Riley Strother, have now taken over as Ecoguardian from Alex Fletcher.

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15-20 knots NE
  • Water: 1’ chop
  • Sky: overcast

Ecological

  • The first female elephant seal to give birth left the island at 7:30 in the morning and did not return. As such the first pup has now become a weaner.
  • Chunk appeared to mate with the female who lost her pup.
  • The newest pup is quite vocal and seems to be doing well. Chunk and the other female went along the path after mating to inspect the new mother and pup.
  • Alex was able to identify the number on the yellow flipper tag attached to the newest mother: 5928
  • There was quite a disturbance of seagulls and cormorants today when a raven with a small fish in its beak was chased all around the island by two eagles. Eventually the raven managed to land and eat the fish.
  • Conducted a census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 88
  2. Northern/Stellar Sea Lions: 53 (many sea lions were swimming in the waves and thus impossible to count)
  3. Elephant Seals: 8 (Chunk, weaner, grieving mother, new mum and pup, Middle Rock: Chuckles, mum and pup.)
  4. River Otter: 1
  5. Cormorants: 615
  6. Seagulls: 512
  7. Bald Eagles: 9 (7 juvenile, 2 adults)
  8. Raven: 1
  9. Crow: 1
  10. Black Oystercatchers: 6
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 4
  12. Canada Geese: 6
  13. Black Turnstones: 29

Maintenance

  • Cleared logs off the ramp two times.
  • Lowered the boat trailer because the cable coil was quite criss crossed. Managed to recoil the cable in a more orderly fashion.
  • Vacuumed up hundreds of fruit flies in the basement near the composting toilet.

Boats

  • Alex and Virginie left in the morning.
  • Surprised to see no eco-tourism boats about on such a nice Sunday.

Godwit and Guillemots

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Marbled Godwit

Marbled Godwit

Ecological Happenings

  • Calm overcast day with light winds and settled seas.
  • Allot of driftwood and deadheads floating past in the current around the rocks from the storms and high tides of late.
  • Marbled Godwit spotted on the main island in the afternoon.
  • Pigeon guillemots and Surf scoters observed around the main island to the North and East.
  • The female Elephant seal remains on middle rocks, while the males and smaller Elephant seal remain on the main island.
  • Pod of Orca seen passing to the south, feeding in the straight. Approximately five in group consisting of males (larger dorsal fins), female and a calf. Group of accompanying birds (gulls and cormorants) circling and highlighting their position.

Marine Vessels

  • One Whale Watching boat through the reserve.
  • Courtney visited on 2nd Nature, from Pearson College, dropping off the winter fuel and a set of repaired steps for the jetty.

Maintenance

  • Steps and fuel unloading from 2nd Nature.
  • General tidying and preparation for end of shift.
Cracking Sunrise

Cracking Sunrise

Cormorants taking a rest on some drift wood

Cormorants taking a rest on some drift wood

Pigeon Guillemots

Pigeon Guillemots

Marbled Godwit and Black Turnstone

Marbled Godwit and Black Turnstone feeding

Immature Bald Eagle landing

Immature Bald Eagle landing. Beautiful plumage.

Double-crested Cormorants

Double-crested Cormorants and Thayer’s Gulls

Courtney prepping 2nd Nature

Courtney prepping 2nd Nature to come into the jetty

Male Orca in strait

Male Orca in strait

Female Orca and calf

Female Orca and calf

Battle of the Bulls

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Female Elephant Seal

Female Elephant Seal

Ecological Happenings

  • Blustery overcast day with periods of rain.
  • The male Elephant seals continued to be vocal, following the arrival of the female, and were issuing challenges in the morning. The males fought in the water later with the victor trumpeting after having beaten his opponent.
  • Injured Black Turnstone seen hopping about as it was missing a leg.

Marine Vessels

  • Coast Guard Helicopter overhead.

Maintenance

  • Spliced new stern line onto the Whaler.
  • Finished heat shrinking electrical connections on the new power/fuse panel to the Whaler.
  • Cleaned U-bend to bathroom sink in main house.
Challange

Challange

Battle wounds

Battle wounds

Trumpeting in the water

Trumpeting in the water

Immature Bald Eagle

Immature Bald Eagle

Dunlin

Dunlin

Canadian Geese

Canadian Geese

Bald Eagle with catch

Bald Eagle with catch

BEagle with fish2BEagle 2

BEagle in flight2

Gift from the storm

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Black Turnstone

Black Turnstone

Ecological Happenings

  • A generally bright day with gentle winds and calm seas.
  • Significant quantities of driftwood have been washed up including large sections of telegraph poles and tree roots.
  • The elephant seals seem to be here for the duration. Though their route off the island (boat ramp) has only just been cleared of driftwood.

Marine Vessels

  • One whale watching tour in looking at the sea lions and birds. Good speed through the reserve, though at times strayed too close to animals.

Maintenance

  • Solar panels cleaned.
  • Maintenance routes of the energy centre roof scrubbed clean of slimy algal build up.
  • Boat ramp and jetty cleared of driftwood washed up in the last few days of strong winds and rough seas. Derik used to lift larger logs up for drying and cutting into firewood.
  • Windows cleaned on the main house.
    Black Oystercatchers

    Black Oystercatchers

    Sealions on South Islands

    Sealions on South Islands

    Harlequin duck

    Harlequin duck

    Hello

    Hello

    Fox Sparrow

    Fox Sparrow

    Black Oystercatcher

    Black Oystercatcher

    Whale watchers

    Whale watchers

A new Ecoguardian arrives

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Ecological Happenings

  • Adult and Immature Bald Eagles on South and West Islands.
  • Harlequin Ducks fishing around the jetty.
  • Lesser spotted Scotsman seen.

Marine Vessels

  • 2nd Nature from Pearson College dropping of the new eco-guardian. Me! (Ecoguardians past and present)
  • No other vessels or aircraft seen in the reserve.

Maintenance

  • System run through and training with Courtney.

Other

  • Investigating and settling in.
    Black Turnstone

    Black Turnstone

    Harlequin Ducks

    Harlequin Ducks

    Juvenile Gull

    Juvenile Gull

    Immature Bald Eagle

    Immature Bald Eagle

I Dream of Electric Fences

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Weather

Foggy morning, building throughout the day with poor visibility in parts (the fog horn sounded). Winds from the NNE to 15kts. The barometer climbed to 101.8 kPa. Forecast for light winds overnight and into the morning.

Boat activity

  • Fishing vessel spotted with lines in the water within the reserve.
  • Four tour boats, after the fog faded.

Ecological happenings

  • There appeared to be more Sea Lions today, or they are just more rowdy.
  • Continued looking for tangled Sea Lions in preparation for DFO visit on Oct 28th.
  • Spotted a flock of fifteen Black Turnstones.

Maintenance

  • Once again, Sea Lions continue to make their way onto the jetty by knocking the electric fence over. This time they have actually broken it, too. A daily battle

Fog horn drum

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Weather

Light fog early morning, building to thicker fog throughout the day with poor visibility (the fog horn sounded for a few hours). Winds were generally <5kts. The barometer was at 101.6 for most of the day dropping to 101.5. The marine forecast shows winds picking up to 10-15kts and rain for Monday.

Boat activity

  • Not so many fishing vessels on the water this Sunday with all the fog (total count of 4)
  • 7 tour boats, mostly in the afternoon as the fog faded

Ecological happenings

  • Two Californians spotted with relatively fresh gashes
  • Californian seal lion brand 8329 and 9776 spotted (need to verify whether this record has been collected)
  • Commenced looking for tangled sea lions in preparation for detanglment on Oct 28th
  • 3 Dunlins spotted

Maintenance

  • Cheeky sea lions continue to dismantle the electric fence and drop equipment into the water, so we’ve been on top of mending it.
(possible) Sandpiper and Black Turnstone

Dunlin and Black Turnstone

New Eco-guardians.

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Sea lions visit Pearson College Divers Photo by Jasper Rea.

Sea lions visit Pearson College Divers Photo by Jasper Rea.

It was a beautiful day at Race Rocks, with light southeast winds and a mostly clear sky. The barometer fell a little today to ~1013hPA and the forecast for tomorrow is for sunny skies. There is a strong wind warning in effect for overnight with diminishing southeast winds Friday. Rain is forecast for Saturday.

Only four whale-watching vessels were noted in the protected area today and three pleasure craft passed through going slowly. The people on one of those vessels, the Kaos were observed feeding rockfish to sea lions in the Ecological Reserve. It is illegal to feed wildlife and if it happens they will be reported.

Today was animal census day and here are the results.

Animal Census

Steller Sea Lion 321

California Sea Lion 637

Harbour Seal 77

Northern Elephant Seal 9

Sea Otter 0

Humpback Whale (1 observed within one mile of ER southeast of

Great Race)

Canada Goose 23

Harlequin Duck 5

Surf Scoters 11 (flying through to east)

Common Murre 5

Rhinoceros Auklet 4

Double-crested Cormorant 73

Brandt’s Cormorants 25

Pelagic Cormorant 9

Unidentified Cormorants 20

Bald Eagle 1 adult

Black Oystercatcher 11

Black Turnstone 7

Kildeer 2

Glaucous-winged Gull 248

California Gull 3

Thayer’s Gulls 707

Herring Gull 0

Ring-billed Gull 1

Western Gull 2

Heerman’s Gull 14

Mew Gull 0

Unidentified gulls 53

Total gull count 1028

Common Raven 2

Red-winged Blackbird 7 (during count week)

Savannah Sparrow 12

Song Sparrow 2

American Goldfinch 1

American Pipet 1

Don and Nina, the new eco-guardians in-training arrived today. They worked hard all day, after getting up very early to catch the morning slack and are progressing really well in learning some of the idiosyncrasies of Race Rocks operations.