Tag Archives: census

Sea Lions and Saturday Census

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Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, some intermittent rain
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 0-10 knots W-SW
  • Sea state: calm, fast moving currents this week

Ecological: 

  • We were excited to see not one but two brown pelicans during our census today!
  • A pod of orcas passed by near Bentick I. in late afternoon.
  • The sea lion population has exploded over this week. We counted a total 1050 today, compared to only 480 one week ago.

Census: 

  • 46 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 3 Double crested cormorants
  • 32 Black oyster catchers
  • 19 Surfbirds
  • 40 Black turnstones
  • 2 Savannah sparrows
  • 5-10 Song sparrows
  • 277 Stellar sea lions
  • 773 California sea lions
  • 21 Canada geese
  • 2 Brown pelicans
  • 4 orcas (just outside of the reserve)
  • 1 Elephants seal (E103)
  • 71 Harbour seals
  • 230 Misc. Seagulls
  • 1 Sea otter (Ollie)

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:

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

Bird observations and census

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Weather:

  • Visibility 8 NM
  • Sky clear changing to some cloud cover later in the day
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Sea state: waves up to .5 m
  • We had an interesting ‘burst’ of fog around 1700hrs: while outside we noticed the wind picking up quickly and a fog front moved over us such that we could see the edge of it pass overhead – the fog horn went off for maybe 5 minutes, and then the fog disappeared as fast as it came!

Marine Traffic/Island Visitors:

  • Greg visited today
  • There have been some eco-tourism boats, about 5 so far day.
  • Some private vessels: mostly staying outside of the area and fishing, a couple of them came through and looked around.

Ecological Observations: 

  • We noticed a pair of pigeon guillemots mating on the rocks above the jetty today, this is the first time we have observed this.
  • Also near the jetty, the oyster catcher chick living in and above the intertidal area is growing quickly – it moves fast and sometimes strays away from its parents but cannot fly yet. It is still relying on the adults for food.

Census:

  • 13 geese
  • 12 oyster catchers
  • 3 oyster catcher chicks
  • 142 harbour seals
  • 2 elephant seals
  • 442 seagulls
  • 2 sea lions
  • Roughly 40-50 pigeon guillemots – these are hard to count!

Busy Bird Life, Census

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Today’s Weather: 

  • Partially overcast
  • Visibility 10 -15NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Waves up to 0.5 metres

Marine Traffic/Visitors: 

  • We’ve had a variety of vessels in the reserve over the past few days; we’ve seen a jet ski, large whale watching catamarans and RIBs, all the way to old wooden cabin cruisers.
  • Greg delivered water today

Ecological Observations:

  • As we sat to watch fourth of July fireworks in Port Angeles we observed a humpback whale pass outside of the reserve around 11 pm and spray a few times before moving on.
  • This morning there were 5 bald eagles in the reserve! There were a few young ones that looked to be practicing hunting for food. They aren’t much of a match for the seagull, who chase them and sometimes strand them on the ground.
  • We have been seeing the otters under our fuel shed running across the jetty
  • The seagull chicks are getting bigger already! They are almost too big to stay in the nest under their moms

Census:

  • 515 seagulls
  • 2 male elephant seals
  • 3 bald eagles
  • 1 ruddy turnstone
  • 1 cormorant
  • 12 oyster catchers
  • 3 oyster catcher chicks
  • 16 geese
  • 3 goslings
  • 25 pigeon guillemots

What a Windy Weekend! (seagull chicks, census)

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Today’s Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy (thick fog until late afternoon)
  • Visibility 10 NM (less than 200 m until late afternoon)
  • Wind 30-35 knots W
  • Sea state: swells up to .5 m, whitecaps

Marine Traffic/Visitors: 

  • Not many pleasure crafts this weekend as it was very windy (up to 40 knots!).
  • Greg visited today to deliver supplies
  • More whale watching boats this weekend than we have been seeing, around 5 per day.

Ecological Observations:

  • The seagull chicks have started hatching! Only a few nests have hatched so far. We have observed the chicks asking for food and the parent not feeding them. We wonder if there is enough food available to support them all through this nesting season.
  • One of the first nests to hatch had 3 chicks, but now they are nowhere to be seen. We are observing with an investigative eye as nesting season progresses, as we observed many instances of adult birds cannibalizing each other’s chicks last year.
  • One of the four goslings was eaten by seagulls on Saturday afternoon. The remaining three seem healthy and strong.
  • Not many visiting birds this past few days, perhaps due to the high winds.
  • Many harbour seals hauled out on outcroppings during the notably low tides over the past couple of weeks. The young seal pups are still keeping close to their mothers but we have not seen any still nursing.
  • The oyster catcher chicks are growing at an impressive rate! They seem to be doubling in size almost every week. They are now old enough to venture away from the protection of the rocky areas and explore the intertidal with their parents.

Census: 

  • 2 Male elephant seals moulting
  • 500 Seagulls, handful of chicks
  • 16 Adult geese
  • 3 Goslings
  • 10 Adult black oystercatchers
  • 3 Black oystercatcher chicks
  • 56 Harbour seals

Throughout the week we also observed pigeon guillemots, eagles, and a pair of swallows. The sea lion who was here alone over the past weeks seems to have moved along.

Sunday Census

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Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Visibility 10 NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea State: white caps, chop less than 1/2 m

Visitors/Marine Traffic: No visitors

Ecological: 

  • The last elephant seal seems to have departed since yesterday.

Census: 

  • 46 Sea lions
  • 8 Oystercatchers
  • 16 Canada Geese
  • 116 Harbor Seals
  • 1 Bald Eagle
  • 1 Elephant Seal
  • 470 Seagulls

Returning Sun, Census

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Weather: 

  • Visibility 15-20 NM
  • Sky partly cloudy clearing to blue sky
  • Wind 15-20 Knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • No visitors
  • Yesterday we spotted a group of kayakers who had emailed to let us know they were coming: We tried to wave, but you were too far away to see us- hope you had a good paddle!

Ecological: 

  • The seagull population has skyrocketed this week, but still no fully constructed nests
  • The elephant seals have left now, aside from one. We anticipate that we may see a few large males in a month or so.

Census: 

  • 16 Geese
  • 8 Oystercatchers
  • 39 Sea Lions
  • 40 Harbor Seals
  • 1 Elephant Seal
  • 1 Bald Eagle
  • 580 Seagulls
  • 42 Pigeon Guillemots

Many Seals, Census

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Weather:

  • Visibility 10 + NM
  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Wind 15-20 Knots SE
  • Sea state: calm, rippled

Marine Traffic/Visitors: One pleasure craft drifted through in the early afternoon. They did an amazing job of drifting with the current so the animals would not be disturbed, and were very careful of the kelp and shallow areas. Well done!

Ecological: 

  • The animals have been keeping to themselves and trying to stay out of the elements as yesterday there was quite a bit of rain and wind. When the weather is harsh, the elephant seals typically try to lay behind a rock or outbuilding to avoid the wind. The seagulls point themselves into the wind and sit close to the ground. The sea lions don’t seem to mind at all, but the geese love the rainy days! They like to drink from puddles and clean their feathers in the fresh water.
  • Yesterday we were visited by a flock of pigeon guillemots, who prefer the jetty or rocks immediately surrounding.
  • Comments in photos refer to pineapple weed..check it out here in the Taxonomy File

Census:

  • 7 Elephant Seals
  • 8 Oyster Catchers
  • 32 Sea Lions
  • 101 Harbor Seals
  • 22 Geese (one active nest)
  • 285 Seagulls