Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Notes
Census
Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Notes
Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Notes
Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Notes
Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Notes
Census
Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Notes
Census
Boats/Visitors
Ecological
Notes
The wind was howling up to 38 knots from the north northeast last night, bringing with it a low of -2oC and a couple centimetres of snow. The temperature stayed just below 0oC for the rest of the day. The barometer rose from 999 hPa to 1022 hPa throughout the day, making for a bluebird sky. During the daylight hours, the wind continued to blow from the north northeast between 10 and 20 knots.
There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve in the mid afternoon. Six divers from Ogden Point were exploring the undersea world of the reserve in the late morning.
The snow didn’t seem to faze the animals. The sea lions barked just as loud and the bald eagles tormented the gulls just as much. Some of the snow melted from the sun. There is still ice on some of the paths and rocks, as well as a light dusting of snow on the grass and in the places that were shaded by buildings and rocks.
Other than taking photos of snow, the tasks of the day included: running the desalinator, topping up the batteries with the generator, deconstructing the old washroom in the basement of the Marine Science Centre to accommodate the new composting toilet (it’s almost finished), fixing the wheelbarrow, testing the salinity and temperature of the water, and doing a load of laundry.
The wind gusts reached 39 knots from the west this morning. The general wind trend throughout the day was between 11 and 32 knots from the west, with slight fluctuations to the north and south. The barometer generally went down from 1001 hPa to 997 hPa, with a few dips upwards as the sun broke through the clouds.
The approaching Arctic blast of cold weather will bring a chance that the thermometer might drop from 7oC to below 0oC tonight for the first time in a while. Heating coils and warm thoughts have been deployed around the buildings to prevent pipes from freezing.
There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve at 12:30. A couple boats gathered to view humpback whales to the east of the reserve in the mid afternoon.
There were a couple of bald eagles around for most of the day, one adult and one juvenile. At 10:00 in the morning, a peregrine falcon was chasing after the juvenile eagle over the north of Great Race and Middle Channel. The size difference of the eagle and peregrine took me by surprise. I had never seen the much smaller peregrine next to a bald eagle. This might be the same peregrine that Pam Birley has seen over the past week. It had dark chest feathers, which indicates it is a juvenile peregrine falcon.
The desalinator worked hard today to make about 800 litres of fresh water. With a maximum output of 1.5 litres per minute, the desalinator is a very energy intensive way to create water. Although, when the water is heated and added to a mix of leaves, spices and herbs, it makes great tea. A necessity for Race Rocks.
