Tag Archives: brown pelican

Sun Before the Storm

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Sky clear, blue
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 0-15 knots W, NW
  • Sea state: calm
  • We are preparing for a large amount of rain over the next few days. Every year the “first big rain” on the west coast is quite an event!

Visitors: 

  • Today Greg visited with supplies for the island and contractors
  • Few whale watching boats now that school in Canada is back in session.

Ecological Observations: 

  • There have been quite a few more stellar sea lions this week. We will be completing our census tomorrow, weather permitting- we’ll see what the numbers show! (last week the fog delayed our census significantly)
  • The bird life has continued to change daily, with many sparrows and gulls migrating with the seasons. The pelican spotted previously stayed in the reserve for a couple of days but we did not see it today.
  • We observed a small pod of orcas passing outside of reserve yesterday evening. We have been seeing fewer humpback whales in the strait this week.
  • Elephant seal E103, or “Erica” has been enjoying the jetty with the sea lions. When we fence the island to prevent damage due to the sealions arriving we are mindful to leave space for the elephant seals to move through the island freely (the fence is high enough for them to pass underneath). Notably, Erica has chosen to remain with the sea lions nearer the jetty, as opposed to her preferred grassy areas at other times of the year. We wonder if she like the company, or if there may be a more survival based explanation for this behavior.

Other notes: 

  • As wet winter weather approaches we have been mindful to collect firewood and store it in the dry areas available to ensure dry heat throughout the winter. It is still necessary to use the diesel furnace as it distributes heat to all areas of the residence but the dry heat from the woodstove just can’t be beat! This wood is collected from the ocean as winds in the winter season push logs fallen from barges into the jetty waters.

 

Break in Foggy Weather: Census + Pelican!

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, some sun and blue sky
  • Visibility 10-12 NM
  • Wind 20-15 knots W
  • Sea state: fast moving currents, still fairly flat despite wind

The fog horn continued for 20+ hrs each day until today. For most of this week we have had less than 100m visibility, making it impossible to see even a boat passing through race passage or the end of the jetty. At some points, we could barely see the guest house from the main residence! It can be difficult to focus and/or work productively during these long periods of fog, as the fog horn sounds three long high-pitched “beeps” every 45 seconds. More info on the history of Race Rocks foghorns Here!

Visitors: 

  • There have not been any visitors to race rocks since Monday when Greg and a contractor stopped in briefly.
  • There have been 1-2 tour boats in the reserve daily, but we can often hear them before we see them in the fog. The sea lions are easily startled by them because of the limited visibility, and sometimes when the boats emerge from the fog the sea lions run into the water.

Ecological Observations: 

  • The sea lions have officially taken over the island! We have been dutifully repairing the electric fences daily to keep them from damaging the buildings and especially from disrupting the burial cairns.
  • There have been an incredible amount of interesting birds to observe this week, despite the weather. Today we saw a pelican while enjoying the sunshine right from our back porch! This is a new sighting for us at Race Rocks and we were quite ecstatic.
  • On the note of bird sightings, we are hopeful for the installation of a new bird tracking device on Race Rocks sometime soon which will allow us to view migratory birds passing through the reserve as it detects their tracking bands.
  • One of our favorite elephant seals, E103 or “Erica” has returned again. We were happy to see her looking healthy yesterday- she had been hiding behind the piles of sea lions, and we only saw her once we had shooed them to install more electric fencing.
  • Identifying gulls is incredibly difficult. Some of them look the same aside from a slight wing color difference or color of feet determining them as a separate species! We are wondering if the gulls we have been assuming to be non-breeding california gulls are actually thayer’s gulls. Back to the id books!

Census:

  • 96 Stellar sea lions
  • 383 California sea lions
  • 88 Harbour seals
  • 1 Elephant seal
  • 1 Sea otter
  • 52 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 1 Brown Pelican
  • 1 Oregon junco
  • 2 Fox sparrows
  • 15 Savannah sparrows
  • 1 Yellow-rumped warbler
  • 1 Short billed dowitcher
  • 14 Black turnstones
  • 8 Canada geese
  • 320 Glaucous winged gulls
  • 113 California gulls
  • 20 Heerman’s gulls

Back Online

Posted on by

Saturday evening as the storm was subsiding, the communication lines went dead out here at Race Rocks. After trying all the normal fixes on my side, I was informed via cellphone that the problem lay at Pearson College. The College had lost power from some internal breakdown, and so no internet or phone line was being sent my way over the air. Once things were up and running again this morning, I was able to reestablish connection to the internet and phone lines.

Rather than submitting a log entry for each missed day, I will simply provide a summary of each day’s main events. And pictures as always!

Saturday 15 October 2016-Fierce Storm

  • Day began at 7:00 with winds of 15-20 knots NE.
  • 9:45 30 knots East
  • 13:00 35 knots East
  • 13:30 45 knots East
  • 14:30 50~ knots East!
  • 15:20 45 knots East, communications down.
  • 16:50 communications returned.
  • 17:00 30 knots East
  • Around 18:30 communications down for good.
  • 19:00 15 knots West
  • 20:30 30 knots South-West
  • One month remaining in my shift.

Sunday 16 October 2016-Pelican

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Saw a single brown pelican today!
  • Failed to get a picture though.
  • Branded California sea lion 8465.
  • 8 elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • A small group of California sea lions began sleeping on top of the e-seals.
  • To my surprise the elephant seals don’t seem to mind.

Monday 17 October 2016-Peregrine Falcon!

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 5 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm
  • In the early evening a pigeon flew into a window, presumably breaking its neck.
  • Immediately a Peregrine falcon swooped down to inspect its prey.
  • I assume the falcon was the reason the pigeon hit the window at such a speed.
  • The falcon then flew way up into the sky, before returning to make off with the meal.

Tuesday 18 October 2016-Bio-mimicry Visitors (and Alex!)

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0 knots
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm
  • A rainstorm appeared from about 10:00-12:00.
  • A rather sunny afternoon!
  • Kyle came out with Alex Fletcher and a biology group.
  • The 6 visitors were studying bio-mimicry.
  • How can humans improve our technology by copying successful animals?
  • The organization that they are involved with is one of our donors.
  • They were very interested in the sea lions, seals, and birds.
  • 11 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • Saw 3 brown pelicans; this time got a photo!

Pelicans again at Race Rocks

Posted on by

Thanks to Rick Page, a Board Member of Friends of Ecological Reserves for forwarding  these images of Brown Pelicans taken at Race Rocks today. He says ” I was in the bow of the boat and noticed the profile of the pelicans from a long way out as they stood on the peak of West Rocks.”

rickpage191014pelican_1668

 

 

Census Jan 8

Posted on by

Black Oystercatchers (over 100–a record for RR)  and gulls with westerly swells.

Green Winged Teals

The SGBs (Small Grey Birds). Not only do they all look very similar but they hide their beaks! There was a mix of Black Turnstone, Surfbirds and Rock Sandpipers in the NE bay.

On January 7 an 8th there was a W wind 30-35 knots.  The Green Winged Teals returned to the island with slightly higher numbers than last time, they spent their time in the pools on the NE side and picking through the mud with their beaks.  I  have not seen any Pelicans in about a week and there have not been any Canada Geese here for about two weeks.  Karen Benzel from International Bird Rescue contacted us recently to report that Pelican R36 that was seen here in November has been taken in for rehabilitation at Wild Arc in Metchosin.

Census January 8, 2013:

75 Cormorants

7 Harlequin ducks

4 Bald Eagles

1 Mallard

81 Black Oyster Catchers

120 Gulls

17 Green Winged Teals

20 Black Turnstone

10 Surfbirds

10 Rock Sandpipers

1 Kildeer

1 River Otter

20 Harbour Seals

100 Northern sea lions

10 Elephant Seals: 8 female, 2 male

Weather past week

Posted on by

On Dec 25th Easterly winds were gusting over 40 knots pushing swells into and over the jetty.  Zeke is seen below just above the jetty near the crane pad. The Pelicans pictured below were hovering in winds around 30 knots.

Since Dec 25th atmospheric pressure has climbed steadily reaching a high point of 1030 hPa yesterday, Jan 1.  For the past several days we have had sustained NE winds between 10 and 20 knots which demonstrates the potential for harnessing wind energy at Race Rocks, particularly in the winter months when there is less solar radiation to charge the batteries.  Pearson College is in the process of sourcing a wind generator for the island with the goal of further reducing and eventually eliminating dependance on fossil fuel electric generation in the Ecological Reserve.

 

Pelicans

Posted on by

A couple of California sea lions (dark) and Northern sea lions with 3 pelicans and an elephant seal in the background on west rock Dec 13

Pelicans have been in the reserve again Dec 13 and 14th.  There were up to 5 individuals, I was not able to see tags on any of them.

It is impressive to watch these birds, especially in flight.  They apparently have a wingspan of 6 to 8.5 feet.  They glide within what looks like a couple of feet of the water so when they flap their wings the tips will often touch the surface. 

touching the surface while flying low

Pelicans and a Peregine

Posted on by

Since the last post there have been several visits of Pelicans to the reserve.  My first sighting of 3 of them was on Saturday afternoon just before dark.

Dec 2-Pelicans on North East side

On Sunday evening a flock of around 20 pelicans landed on the West rock, joining the elephant seals that were there.  The light was really poor so I couldn’t get a very good quality image.   There has recently been a sighting of a similar size group close to Victoria, likely the same ones.

Dec 2-Pelicans on West Rock

Dec 3-Brown Pelican

 

 

 

 

On Dec 3 there were 4 Pelicans sighted in the reserve as well as a Peregrine Falcon.

Misery has been on the main island   up near the South side of the tower for several days. I have seen up to 8 other elephant seals on West Rock including a male that looks nearly as big as Misery.

Peregrine Falcon at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve

On Tuesday morning and again in the evening the wind picked up to 40 knots from the West.

Dec 4-West Rock elephant seals (not Misery)

 

 

 

 

 

Change of Guardian

Posted on by

Wednesday morning we switched guardians, Mike has finished a 3 month shift and I will be here for the next 4 months. It has been 8 months since i was last out here, nice to see that Mike and Julie have done a great job out here and that the place is in good shape.

I have been on the lookout for the pelicans that Mike has observed out here and was thinking they were gone. But this morning, while photographing a sealion taking down a fish I noticed a large bird in the frame.  The pelican must have been on the east face of the Eastern rocks which is out of sight from the main island.

On Wednesday the winds picked up to over 25 knots.  Misery hauled out on the main island that night and stayed here until yesterday.  After making his way down the ramp and through the debris he stayed at least an hour amongst the logs, floating and making bubbles.


This morning Misery was out on West rock with at least 3 female elephant seals.


Not a lot of traffic in the reserve the past days.  On Wednesday two whale watching boats toured around the elephant seals on West rock and today there is a dive boat off the west side.

 

Oystercatcher’s territory

Posted on by

‘Elephant Seal’, 5, ‘Fewer females are visible on Middle Rocks. The tagged female has returned to Great Race Island despite having completed her moult. The larger females on Middle Rocks are in various stages of their moults.’, ‘Ryan’, ’20:56:43 ,
-93, ‘2010-05-12’,

“Brown Pelicans are becoming a common sight at Race Rocks. See the log of May 12, 2010: Ryan Murphy

‘The diversity of bird life continues to increase with the appearance of
Dunlins, Brandts and Pacific Loons today.
Small groups of Brandts flew West throughout the day, followed by several large flocks numbering up to 100 birds in the evening.
A mature Brown pelican roosted here for the night, much to the gulls ” dissatisfaction.
There are still 2 pairs of Harlequin ducks spending their days around Great Race Island, plus
4 Whimbrels were again seen on the SW corner of the island where up to
3 Black Oystercatcher pairs have staked nesting territories. There are a total of
7 pairs of Oystercatchers with territories on the island, but only 2 confirmed nests so far, and of those only one nest with 2 eggs at the moment. Could be a bumper year as a maximum of 5 breeding Oystercatcher pairs have been recorded in the past. ‘,
‘Northern Sea Lion’, 10, ‘The numbers of Northern Sea Lions have been down the past several days, however they are still finding food in the reserve. A commotion right above the tidal turbine today attracted a number of gulls, and I could soon see a Northern sea lion was thrashing a large fish on the surface. Reviewing my photos it turns out the sea lion had captured a wolf eel! Long tasty filets on those protected fish, I can ”t say I ”m not envious!’,

‘Ryan’, ’21:10:38 ,