Tag Archives: black-turnstone

A Whale of a Day

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The sunsets here at Race Rocks are amazing, but the sunrises are pretty spectacular as well. This morning the roving mass of California Gulls were hanging out among the kelp on the southeast side of the island. Hundreds of gulls all looking for breakfast!  The krill is still around, at least early in the day, but you can tell that it’s moving around because the flock of birds will be here one minute and gone the next.

Sunrise at Race Rocks with Mt Baker in the background

While I’m not seeing a lot of bird diversity during my stay here, I have been given the chance to study the behaviours of the gulls. With all the krill in the area, there is no shortage of food, and the young Glaucous-winged Gulls know that.  Depending on their age and whether or not there are siblings, the adults may regurgitate directly into the chick’s mouth, or onto the ground so the young can fight over it.

Single chick gets special delivery of food

Triplets fighting for the goodies the adult brought from the sea.

One of the most interesting behaviours I’ve seen has been that of a young gull that has figured out that even though it can’t fly, it can swim!  For three days now, I’ve seen this single chick in the channel to the east of the island. I suspect that it accidentally ended up in the water one day and survived to tell the tale. It certainly is more mobile than the other youngsters on the island.

Meandering along like this is normal

Completely able to come ashore when it wants to

And speaking of flying, it’s incredibly amusing to watch the antics of the youngsters trying to make their wings work.

Today I saw the first Orcas of my visit here. The marine radio is a constant companion, and while most of the chatter is about where the best fishing is, tonight a call came in about Orcas just off Bentinck Island. A pod of 5 put on an incredible show for the whale-watching boats and private vessels.  They moved from Bentinck to the mouth of Pedder Bay and continued the action for more than half an hour.

Surprise! The pod surrounded this small boat.

Earlier in the day, Daniel Donnecke was at Rocky Point and spotted Humpback Whales to the east of Race Rocks. I managed to get on them thanks to his sighting. Two whale species day!

Ecological Notes:

Mammals

2 Humpback Whale

5 Orca

2 Harbour Porpoise

1 male Elephant Seal (went to the water early today–around 10 am–and spent the whole day there. Still on the ramp at dark)

California Sea Lion

Steller’s Sea Lion

Good contrast between male Steller’s in the rear and male California in front of him

Harbour Seal

Mom and nursing pup

Birds

5 Canada Geese

1 Killdeer

8 Black Oystercatcher

14 Black Turnstone

This Black Turnstone hasn’t yet moulted all of its breeding plumage. Note the white speckles on the chest and pale eyebrow.

This one is a little closer to the birds we typically see here in the winter.

3 Surfbird

6 Common Murre

60 Pigeon Guillemot

3 Heermann’s Gull

700 California Gull

Little white specks of a massive flock of (mostly) California Gulls

600 Glaucous-winged Gull

3 Pelagic Cormorant

5 Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorants with Pelagic Cormorant and Pigeon Guillemots

1 Brown-headed Cowbird

Facility Work: Cleaned solar panels and continued fly-busting in the houses

Vessel Traffic: Late start for the eco-tourism vessels. Saw very few before 11, then they were steady the rest of the day until dusk. Very large container vessel heading west.

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

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

First Fog and Census

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Fog rolled in on Monday night, activating the signal from the beacon. It’s a piercing set of three tones every minute, and a sound that I am very familiar with from hearing it often while at Rocky Point. I had been warned to bring earplugs, which I did, but I didn’t need them.

Fog roll

I was actually welcoming the fog for several reasons. Recent Eco-guardian Joan Rosenberg shared a tip about cleaning the solar panels when they were still wet with fog. Great idea! That made things go much quicker. There were also some things I really needed to get to on the computer, but when the weather is good, I want to be out looking around. The panels got cleaned, but the fog cleared fairly early, so things that should be done are still waiting.

The fog clearing definitely made my planned census today possible. Here is my report:

Census

Mammals

Humpback Whale: 1

Elephant Seal: 1 male

Returning from his daily swim.

Harbour Seal: 191 including several pups

Steller’s Sea Lion: 27

Steller’s and California Sea Lions

California Sea Lion 23

California Sea Lions

Birds

Black Oystercatcher: 8

Killdeer: 2

Black Turnstone: 21

Surfbird: 1

Rhinoceros Auklet: 5

Common Murre: 1

Heermann’s Gull: 1

California Gull: 700 (mostly early morning, although some lingered through the day)

Glaucous winged Gull: 655 (by clicker–highest count for me so far)

Pelagic Cormorant: 5

Double-crested Cormorant: 4

Bald Eagle: 1

Song Sparrow: 1

Brown-headed Cowbird: 1

Unidentified passerine: 1 (right as the sun set, the bird flew in east of the lighthouse, but I couldn’t relocate it. I’ll be checking the area in the morning!

Facility Work: Solar panels and windows cleaned. Greg came by with a load of diesel. Arriving California Sea Lions prompted check and minor fixes to the fencing.  We also topped up all of the batteries with distilled water.

Battery bank. 24 needing juice!

Vessel Traffic: Ecotourism was big today with as many as five vessels in the reserve at once. Estimate more than 20 came through today. No private vessels noted.

Another beautiful sunset!

Sunset

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

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Seawatch Part 2

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Since the fog was staying away, Daniel Donnecke and I decided to have another go at a seawatch today, Daniel at Beechey Head and me at Race Rocks.  From my perspective, this one worked out much better, but we still were not seeing many of the same birds.  The exception, though, was a large group of (mostly) California Gulls that lifted off shortly after our start time of 6:30.  Like  yesterday, there were hundreds of gulls feeding just off Race Rocks. Although there was still krill in the area, there were also small fish that you could occasionally see glinting in their bills.  I was also watching a large barge of logs being towed towards Puget Sound.

It wasn’t clear what put them up, or whether there was just a signal that it was time to go.  Some headed to a bait ball to the east while several hundred headed east towards Beechy Head where Daniel saw them coming in.

Ecological Notes:

1 Elephant Seal

80 Harbour Seal

California Sea Lion

Steller’s Sea Lion

Several bird firsts for me for the week.

11 Canada Goose

7 Black Oystercatcher (including one juvenile)

Baby Black Oystercatcher

Still under its parent’s watchful eye

1 Killdeer

45 Black Turnstone

55 Common Murre

80 Pigeon Guillemot – many carrying gunnels

2 Marbled Murrelet

1 Cassin’s Auklet

14 Rhinoceros Auklet

500 California Gull (probably a gross underestimation)

400 Glaucous-winged Gull (not an increase, but a more accurate count today)

1 Herring Gull

4 Heerman’s Gull

1000 more unidentified gull feeding on krill and small fish.

1 Bald Eagle – perched on middle islands. First raptor of the week for me

1 Song Sparrow

1 Brown-headed Cowbird – First passerine I saw during my stay.

Facility Work: cleaned windows and solar panels.

Vessel Traffic: lots of traffic in the shipping lanes including large barge of logs

Barge of logs

Steady stream of ecotourism vehicles starting mid-morning, but fewer than yesterday. 10+

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

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Census and Orcas.

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Animal Census: Feb 17 2021
Gulls 68
Cormorants 738
Pigeon Guillemots 54
Eagles 12
Black Turnstones 28
Harlequin ducks 7
Steller sea lions 77
California sea lions 39
Pacific Harbour seal 62
elephant seal male 2
elephant seal female 2 pups
orca 4
Biggs orcas 7 East bound Southern Resident Lpod J, k pod west bound.

Weather– Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather–Past:  http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72

wind west 20 knots sky over cast and rain visibility 10 nm sea state 3 foot chop. 

April 11 and 12 – Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday W-S 0-32 knots, today W-SE 2-17 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy then clear from mid morning, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-14 °C, today 7-14 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 416.33 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The lawn in front of the house got busier this morning with nine elephant seals, two more than yesterday. A tenth seal, the pup, was near the jetty. The two new arrivals have green tags on their tail flippers. One is a male tagged C887. The other is a juvenile tagged G512 on the right flipper and E779 on the right. I will update the information on age and past sightings when I hear back from the researchers. The green tags signify the elephant seals were tagged at Año Nuevo, south of San Francisco.

[UPDATED April 13: I heard back from Dr. Patrick Robinson, the researcher from Año Nuevo Reserve. The elephant seal with green tags E779 and G512 was tagged as a pup in February 2019, where he was born at Año Nuevo. This is the first time the male juvenile has been spotted outside of Año Nuevo, where he was last seen as a weaner in March, 2019. The elephant seal with the green tag C887 is a juvenile male that was born at Año Nuevo in February 2017. He has been seen at Race Rocks in the month of December in 2017, 2018 and 2019.]

There was one boat seen in the ecological reserve on each of the past two days, a pleasure boat yesterday and a sailboat today.

Census results observed this afternoon at low tide:
10 elephant seals (1 female pup, 1 female juvenile, 1 juvenile, 2 sub adult males, 5 female adults)
16 steller sea lions
91 california sea lions
1 sea otter
72 harbour seals
5 bald eagles (2 juveniles, 3 adults)
16 Canada geese
1 black brant goose
99 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
17 pelagic cormorants
4 brandt’s cormorants
5 double-crested cormorants
6 black oystercatchers
24 pigeon guillemots
7 harlequin ducks
2 surfbirds
5 black turnstones

  • Two eagles on Turbine Rock and a colourful sailboat passing through Race Passage.
  • Newly arrived juvenile elephant seal tagged G512 and E779
  • Green tags G512 and E779 on the juvenile elephant seal.
  • Newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal tagged C887
  • Green tag C887 on the sub adult male elephant seal
  • Black brant goose
  • Four elephant seals waiting for the water to come to them
  • Newly arrived juvenile seal exploring the boardwalk
  • A view from the top of the lighthouse this afternoon of the clear water of the east bay. A group of sea lions can be seen on the rocks.
  • These lucky gulls won of the goose egg hunt

April 3 and 4 – Weekly Census

Gallery

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This gallery contains 6 photos.

Wind: yesterday W 15-40 knots, today variable 2-17 knotsSea State: yesterday up to 0.5m chop, today up to 1 m chopVisibility: both days 10-15 NMSky: both days partly cloudyTemperature: both days 4-7 °CAtmospheric CO2: 415.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii) … Continue reading →

Census Friday

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Wind: yesterday mostly from W 4-22 knots, today N-NE 2-9 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm in morning 0.5m chop in afternoon, today calm
Visibility: both days 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast with patches of rain and sun, today partly cloudy
Temperature: both days 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.43 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results from today:
6 elephant seals (2 female pups, 1 female juvenile, 3 female adults)
21 steller sea lions
62 california sea lions
1 sea otter
91 harbour seals
3 bald eagles (1 juvenile, 2 adults)
12 Canada geese
6 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
10 pelagic cormorants
59 thayer’s gulls
12 black oystercatchers
14 harlequin ducks
108 pigeon guillemots
56 surfbirds
26 black turnstones
1 killdeer
1 song sparrow

There were no boats in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

 

Spring Census and Swimming Seal Pups

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Wind: yesterday W 0-30 knots, today mostly W, SE in early afternoon 1-28 knots
Sea State: both days calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 6-8 °C, today 6-11 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.34 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

All three elephant seal pups were swimming near the boat ramp both yesterday and this morning. The middle aged pup has taken to a napping spot on the concrete between the boat ramp and the rocks.

When I did the census observations today, I was surprised there were only 84 pigeon guillemots. I counted twice to make sure. The little black and white birds with bright red feet appear to be everywhere around the shoreline and in the water around the main island. They are constantly moving about and making their high-pitched whistling call.

I had a great view of a sea otter this afternoon. While out in the boat taking a photo of the main island, I heard what sounded like a slapping sound on the water. I turned around to see the sea otter about 20 m from the boat crack open clamshells on its chest. The otter had a few clams lined up. I turned off the engine and watched the otter quickly eat a few clams, then repeatedly dive down and eat more.

Today, there were nine pleasure crafts, one sailboat and the Race Rocks station boat in the ecological reserve, the most boats of any day this year. A pleasure boat with five people stopped at the jetty this evening. Three people walked along the jetty to get a closer look at the elephant seal pup napping beside the boat ramp. I approached and drew their attention to the large sign that explains the purpose of the ecological reserve and that permission is needed to come ashore. They were very nice and asked a few questions about the marine mammals before they left. No boats were in the ecological reserve yesterday.

Census results from today:
4 elephant seals (1 adult female, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
10 steller sea lions
82 california sea lions
1 sea otter
50 harbour seals
8 bald eagles (3 adults, 5 juveniles)
11 brandt’s cormorants
6 double-crested cormorants
19 pelagic cormorants
9 Canada geese
251 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
8 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
26 harlequin ducks
84 pigeon guillemots
4 surfbirds
12 black turnstones

Here are some photos from the past two days:

Two short videos of the youngest elephant seal pup learning to swim in the shallow water. In the first clip, she appears to be playing with a little bull kelp. In the second clip, she is blowing bubbles. The sounds of many species can be heard: california sea lions, thayer’s gulls, black turnstones and pigeon guillemots.

Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday variable 4-22 knots, today NE-N 1-36 knots
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today chop up to 1 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days partly cloudy
Temperature: yesterday 5-7 °C, today 4-5 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.11 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Here are the weekly census results observed today:
4 elephant seals (1 female adult, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
24 steller sea lions
33 california sea lions
58 harbour seals
7  bald eagles (2 adults, 5 juveniles)
13 Canada geese
7 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
29 pelagic cormorants
48 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
24 black oystercatchers
29 harlequin ducks
3 surfbirds
12 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow

Yesterday, there was one tour boat, one pleasure craft and the Pearson College boat Second Nature in the ecological reserve. Greg and Silke, dropped off some supplies from Pearson College. No boats were around today.

The elephant seal pups lounging on the boardwalk by the jetty. They all still have patches of their pup fur. The two month old female pup is on the left. The two and a half month old male pup is in the middle. The youngest female pup, almost two months old, is on the right.

 

Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday 0-19 knots from W then E, today 2-19 knots from N then W
Sea State: yesterday calm, today calm in am and rippled in pm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: both days clear with cloudy patches throughout day
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 4-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.23 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Six visitors briefly came to the island yesterday morning. Lawrence installed the new deck hatch he made for the station boat. Everyone helped transport and load eight of the old batteries onto the college boat to be taken back to the shore for recycling.

I ran the water pump for five hours to fill up the cistern with cleaner seawater.

Three tour boats were in the ecological reserve yesterday. Today, a dive boat had several divers in the water just north of North Rocks at slack tide in the mid morning.

There was a lot biodiversity in the ecological reserve today. Here are the results from the weekly census:
6 elephant seals (1 adult female, 2 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
57 steller sea lions (all on Middle Rock)
50 california sea lions (19 on Great Race, 31 on Middle Rock)
52 harbour seals
1 sea otter
6 bald eagles (4 juveniles, 2 adults)
8 Canada geese
18 brandt’s cormorants
16 double-crested cormorants
35 pelagic cormorants
2 ravens
141 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
14 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
86 pigeon guillemots
16 harlequin ducks
10 surfbirds
28 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow