Tag Archives: Christmas bird count

Dec 28, Warden’s Report -Race Rocks Ecological Reserve

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I went to Race Rocks today with Val George for the Christmas bird Count.  ( See other reports from  today.) The highlight of course was the discovery of the first record for the Boreal Owl in Southern Vancouver Island . Some other observations from my visit are included here:

2014-12-28gooseexclosure2 2014-12-28gooseexclosure1m
Several 1 metre exclosures for goose grazing have been installed on the grass  areas on Race Rocks. Winter grazing by the Canada geese (introduced to Vancouver Island in the 1980s) has resulted in erosion in some areas of the island, and grass turf cover is prevented.
2014-12-28macrocystislongm 2014-12-28 macrocystis
Drift Macrocystis at the jetty. This Giant Kelp can grow anchored at great depths but winter storms will lift it up and the  main contribution to energy-flow  in the ecosystem comes from decomposition on the shoreline. Macrocystis grows in areas of high salinity, so not in he brackish estuarine conditions of the Strait of Juan de Fuca , but not at Race Rocks  where it ends up only as drift in the strand line.
deadcorm cormfeet
A dead cormorant, (probably Brandt’s ). Interesting webbed foot structure.
2014-12-28thayer1year 2014-12-28deadcormventralm
A 1st year juvenile Thayer’s Gull The breast had a hole and internal organs  were eaten. It was probably from an eagle attack.
2014-12-28energybldg energybuildingpanels
This year, the college has finished tilting the solar panels. Increased energy efficiency has been noted. They were originally installed flat since we were concerned that the strength of the wind may damage them. This hasn’t happened. View of the energy building roof from the top of the tower.
2014-12-28johanplaque ..
This fall a plaque has been installed to honour Johan Ashuvud, who as a student at Pearson College, was instrumental in having Race Rocks designated as an ecological reserve in 1980 ..

Other Ecological reserves wardens reports are available here:

Aegolius funereus: Boreal Owl–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Boreal Owl: A.Fletcher photo

Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus):  for measurement –the pipe is 5 cm (2 inch)  diameter–photo by Alex Fletcher, Ecoguardian at Race Rocks, Dec 28, 2014.

 

December 28, 2014– Val George and myself were picked up at Pedder Bay By Alex Fletcher, (Ecoguardian at Race Rocks) and we went out to Race Rocks for the Sooke area Christmas Bird Count. It was a great day with many high counts , but we were especially surprized to flush a small owl out from under a rock up near the camera 5 pedestal.  At first Val thought it just could be a Boreal owl (Aegolius funereus)  which would be a first for this area. We found it again under the porch of the Ecoguardians house and were able to get some good pictures of it. Then we decided it must be a Saw whet owl as Boreals are just too rare here. When he returned home and started comparing his pictures with other images, Val realized it was indeed the rare ( for this area)  Boreal owl.

Report in Times Colonist : Newcomer thrills watchers at Sooke Christmas Bird Count

(These owls breed in dense coniferous forests across northern North America and Eurasia and in mountain ranges such as the Alps and the Rockies. The subspecies: A.f. richardsoni is the only one that occurs in North America). It lays 3–6 eggs in a tree hole in the forest. The small nocturnal owl eats mainly voles and other mammals but also birds as well as insects and other invertebrates.)--text in brackets adapted from Wikipedia–

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Aegolius
Species: A. funereus
Aegolius funereus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies: A.f. richardsoni (Bonaparte, 1838)
Other owls photographed at Race Rocks.

Link to the call of the Boreal Owl:

From the reference: Rare Birds of Vancouver Island: Compiled by Rick Toochin, Paul Levesque and Jamie Fenneman July1, 2013: The following notation indicates only three other records of the Boreal Owl on Vancouver Island, but there are no records for it on southern Vancouver island.

Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus):
1.(1) adult February 27, 1993: fide Don Cecile (specimen) Tofino (Siddle 1993b)
2.(1) adult October 3, 1994: Marc Winfield, Rick Toochin, Mike Toochin: Triangle Island (Toochin 1995) (Bowling 1995a)
3.(1) adult fall 1996: fide Jamie Fenneman (specimen) Courtenay (Bain and Holder 1996f)

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.
Garry Fletcher, Dec. 2014.

 

Christmas Bird Count at RR 2013

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Also-Warden’s Report for Dec 28, 2013.
Link to the Index for the past records of the Christmas Bird Counts

2013-12-28songsavan

Song Sparow on the left and Savannah Sparrow on the right of this lichen covered log on the West side of Great race Rocks..

Ecoguardian Alex Fletcher picked up Val George and myself from the Pearson College docks mid- morning and we started our count by water in Pedder Bay, then across Rocky Point, through Eemdyck Channel and then across Race Passage to Race Rocks via West Rocks and Middle Rocks. The following includes only the Race Rocks portion of the census:

Observers:  Val George, Garry Fletcher and Alex Fletcher

2013  Christmas Bird Count – Summary      Date ___Dec28___Area or Sub-Area__Race Rocks Ecological Reserve__
Observers (in field)—3 Leader Garry Fletcher
Temp—-6 Wind NE,  3.5km Time Start__10:30___a.m.   Finish___12:00__a.m.
A.M. Clear,calm partly cloudy Moving water open ocean around
for your entire count team # hours (on foot) 1.5 distance (on foot) .35km, and top of tower
Northwestern Crow 2
Common Raven 2
Thayer’s Gull 200
Canada Goose 6
Black Oystercatcher 30
Black Turnstone 14
Harlequin Duck 10
Bufflehead 8
 Song Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 20
 Common Murre 4
Pacific Loon 2
Common Loon 1
Brandt’s Cormorant 80
Double-crested Cormorant 120
Pelagic Cormorant 17
Bald Eagle  (adult) 1
Bald Eagle
(immature		 7
Total Number of Birds 528
Total Number of Species 17

Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks: Dec.29, 2012

Gallery

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This gallery contains 2 photos.

In most years since 1997  we have been able to contribute to the Christmas Bird Count for the Sooke/Victoria area. This website contains all the past records: This year, Garry Fletcher was picked up with the station boat by the … Continue reading →

Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks 2012

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2012  Christmas Bird Count – Summary       Date _Dec 29___Area or Sub-Area______127 Ha___ Leader Garry Fletcher
Temp ______ to ______ Wind NE, 3.5Kn Time Start_10_a.m.   Finish_12noon____p.m.
Snow ________inches A.M. cloudy light rain P.M.   cloudy              light    rain Still Water
Please report totals here
for your entire count team # hours (on foot) 1.5 distance (on foot)
Maximum # of parties________ # hours (by boat) 0.5 distance (by boat)
Greater White-fronted Goose American Kestrel
Snow Goose Merlin
Cackling Goose Gyrfalcon
Canada Goose Peregrine Falcon
Mute Swan Ring-necked Pheasant
Trumpeter Swan Virginia Rail
Tundra Swan American Coot
Wood Duck Sandhill Crane
Gadwall Black-bellied Plover
Eurasian Wigeon Killdeer
American Wigeon Black Oystercatcher  GRR 36
Mallard G RR 1 Greater Yellowlegs
Northern Shoveler Spotted Sandpiper
Northern Pintail Whimbrel
Green-winged Teal Black Turnstone  GRR 10
Canvasback Surfbird  GRR 2
Redhead Sanderling 2
Ring-necked Duck Rock Sandpiper GRR 1
Greater Scaup Dunlin
Lesser Scaup Wilson’s Snipe
Harlequin Duck 3 Bonaparte’s Gull
Surf Scoter *****PedderBay 60 Heermann’s Gull ( * )
White-winged Scoter Mew Gull
Black Scoter Ring-billed Gull ( * )
Long-tailed Duck (Oldsquaw) California Gull
Bufflehead *****PedderBay 95 Herring Gull
Common Goldeneye Thayer’s Gull  GRR 250
Barrow’s Goldeneye Western Gull  GRR1
Hooded Merganser *****PedBay 2 Glaucous-winged Gull  GRR 10
Common Merganser Glaucous Gull
Red-breasted Merganser Common Murre Race Pas 50
Ruddy Duck Pigeon Guillemot.
Ruffed Grouse Marbled Murrelet
Blue Grouse Ancient Murrelet
California Quail Cassin’s Auklet (*)
Red-throated Loon ******PedBay 1 Rhinoceros Auklet
Pacific Loon  *****Pedder Bay 3 Rock Pigeon
Common Loon Band-tailed Pigeon
Pied-billed Grebe Mourning Dove
Horned Grebe Barn Owl
Red-necked Grebe Western Screech-Owl
Eared Grebe Great Horned Owl
Western Grebe Ped Bay 2 Northern Pygmy Owl
Brandt’s Cormorant *****Race Passage 10 Barred Owl
Double-crested Cormoran 240 Short-eared Owl
Pelagic Cormorant Northern Saw-whet Owl
Great blue Heron Anna’s Hummingbird
Turkey Vulture Belted Kingfisher PedBay 1
Bald Eagle  (adult)  RR 2 Red-breasted Sapsucker
(immature) Downy Woodpecker
Northern Harrier Hairy Woodpecker
Sharp-shinned Hawk Northern Flicker
Cooper’s Hawk Pileated Woodpecker
Red-tailed Hawk Northern Shrike
Golden Eagle ( * ) Hutton’s Vireo
 Brown Pelican  GRR2
 Total Number of Birds  784
 Total Species  22
Observer/Phone/Email: Garry Fletcher Location Species Date
Race Rocks 21 December 29, 2012

Christmas Bird Count 2001

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2001-12-24′, ’16:00:20′, ‘Yesterday Angus Matthews took Alan MacLeod, Andrew Harcombe, and Ron Satterfield out in the Pearson College boat, 2nd Nature for the annual Sooke Christmas bird count. The trip was postponed from the 22nd because of the 40knt. north winds. Following is a list of the birds seen between the Pearson College dock and Race Rocks- most of the sightings were in the area around Race Rocks. The highlight was the lone Iceland Gull, a very rare bird in this area! The first sighting of this bird for the trio of bird counters! Pacific Loon 14 Common Loon 1 Horned Grebe 1 Double Crested Cormorant 80 Brandt”s Cormorant 60 Pelagic Cormorant 12 Harlequin Duck 2 Surf Scoter 30 Bufflehead 60 Hooded Merganser 5 Bald Eagle 4 adult,2 immature Black Oyster Catcher 16 Black Turnstone 6 Surfbird 6 Rock Sandpiper 9 Mew Gull 15 Herring Gull 8 Thayers Gull 530 Western Gull 1 Glaucous Winged Gull 720 Common Murre 40 Pigeon Guillemot 8 Marbled Murrelet 6 Belted Kingfisher 1 Eurasian Starling 8 Common Flicker 1 You may check out the file on the Christmas Count with pictures at: http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/seabirds/xmascount/xmascount2001.htm Thank you Angus,Alan,Ron and Andrew, maybe it wasn”t blowing 40knots from the north but it was still a cold bumpy trip with 20 knots from the north east!’, ‘Carol or Mike S’, ’16:00:54 ,

Rare Iceland Gull recorded in Christmas Bird Count, 2001

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See the Index of the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to Angus Matthews and the Pearson College boat, Andrew Harcombe, Ron Satterfield and I were able to get to Race Rocks this morning to count birds. Forty-knot northerlies prevented us from getting out there yesterday for the Sooke Christmas Bird Count. We had 9 ROSA and 6 SURF this morning but the highlight bird was an adult Iceland gull among a group of 1,200 gulls (mostly GWGU and THGU) at the west side of the main island. Here are the totals observed from Pearson College’s boat dock to Race Rocks and the Rocky Point headlands. The vast majority of these birds were at Race Rocks and vicinity.  —Alan McLeod 

Pacific loon 14 common loon 1 horned grebe 1 double-crested cormorant 80 Brandt’s cormorant 60 pelagic cormorant 12 harlequin duck 2 surf scoter 30 bufflehead 60 hooded merganser 3 bald eagle 4 ad, 2 im black oystercatcher 16 black turnstone 6 surfbird 6 rock sandpiper 9 mew gull 15 herring gull 8 Thayer’s gull 530 Iceland gull 1 western gull 1 glaucous-winged gull 720 common murre 40 pigeon guillemot 8 marbled murrelet 6 belted kingfisher 1 common flicker 1 Eurasian starling 8

icegull2-1

The rare Iceland gull Larus glaucoides (centre)

See the Index of the Christmas Bird Count.

Christmas Bird Count

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Monday, December 24, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 8.0C — Min 4.9C — Reset 6.7C — Rain 0.0
Merry Christmas To One And All!!!
MARINE LIFE: Yesterday Angus Matthews took Alan MacLeod, Andrew Harcombe, and Ron Satterfield out in the Pearson College boat, 2nd Nature for the annual Sooke Christmas bird count. The trip was postponed from the 22nd because of the 40 knt. north winds. Following is a list of the birds seen between the Pearson College dock and Race Rocks- most of the sightings were in the area around Race Rocks. The highlight was the lone Iceland Gull, a very rare bird in this area! The first sighting of this bird for the trio of bird counters!
Pacific Loon 14
Common Loon 1
Horned Greb 1
Double Crested Cormorant 80
Brandt’s Cormorant 60
Pelagic Cormorant 12
Harlequin Duck 2
Surf Scoter 30
Bufflehead 60
Hooded Merganser 5
Bald Eagle 4 adult,2 immature
Black Oyster Catcher 16
Black Turnstone 6
Surfbird 6
Rock Sandpiper 9
Mew Gull 15
Herring Gull 8
Thayers Gull 530
Western Gull 1
Glaucous Winged Gull 720
Common Murre 40
Pigeon Guillemot 8
Marbled Murrelet 6
Belted Kingfisher 1
Eurasian Starling 8
Common Flicker 1
You may check out the file on the Christmas Count with pictures at:https://www.racerocks.ca/2001/12/24/9651/
Thank you Angus, Alan, Ron and Andrew, maybe it wasn’t blowing 40knots from the north but it was still a cold bumpy trip with 20 knots from the north east!
HUMAN INTERACTION:11:30 am 1 Whale Watcher Boat
12:15 1 Rib with 2 divers (burrrr)
14:30 Discovery Launch (2 passengers)
Thank You Jane and Chris for holding the ‘fort’ so we could visit with family and restock the pantry.posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:11 PM