Tag Archives: firewood

As buck would have it!

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Today we tackled the pile of logs just waiting to be bucked into some grade A firewood. The rock is equipped with a beauty Husqvarna 450 rancher chainsaw that just purrs…those logs didn’t stand a chance. In the words of Buckin’ Billy Ray, ‘She cuts eh!” I think swinging an axe might have legs as the next fitness trend! We also made some minor improvements to the fence and touched up some of the auxiliary buildings.

We reported yesterday’s entanglement and unfortunately saw another one today.

Whale Watching Vessels: 20

Private Vessels: 6

Weather: Clear and Sunny all day. Winds out the SE then switching to West later in the aft. 6-12kts

Early Spring = Cleaning

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Ecological Notes:

  • The birds are starting to pair off …. Geese, Gulls, and Oyster Catchers most notably. Lots of Adult Bald Eagle courtship in the air.

  • Young adult Elephant Seal male arrived a few days ago. After resting a couple days, he has spent most of every night bellowing and calling from a high point on the island.

One of his favourite calling spots is right below the window!

Realizing the female is calling from the other side of the rise

  • One adult Female Elephant Seal has since come to the island. She moves towards the males calls, but retreats when he tries to approach her. I can only speculate that she instinctively wants to haul out for her moult with other seals, but feels he not big enough to breed with(?)

She calls out a lot as well

  • I’m hoping his calls may attract others to the island
  • Normally I just get reports of “Ollie” the Sea Otter, but while I was up by the north camera, I could see him just beyond  helicopter rock.

very far away

  • 4 Transient (Biggs) Orca travel through the northern edge of the reserve without cutting in to hunt. I watched from the north camera rock, to see if they might double back, but they continued east.

T019B “Galliano” … 28 year old male

Visitors:

  • 2 techs from the Coastguard returned to complete repairs to the fog horn.
  • The upcoming Eco-Guardian also visited for an overview of the Ecological Reserve and day to day operations.

Facility Work:

  • Added water to the cistern to allow more desalination to fill the main water tank.
  • Gathered all the  hose on the island to pressure wash the pier.
  • Tackled the rather daunting job of moving and bucking the very large logs collected when I had help to pull them out of the ocean.  Even with a good understanding of leverage and pivot points, these logs were a brute! Most were well over 12-16 inches in diameter, and the bucked sections were 400-500 lbs! Task was cut short by rain (and exhaustion!), but moved the next sections into place for  the first buck. Next will be moving them to the final bucking and splitting area up top.

DND events:

  • some blasting, some fires

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Still occasional Eco-Tourism vessels

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Educational Visit, and Orca

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Ecological Notes:

  • Steller Sea Lion photographed nursing what appears to be a yearling “pup”

photo by Ashley Warwick

  • 2 Orca hunting in the reserve, 6 more hunting south of the reserve. This is not uncommon behaviour, as the 2 inside can panic and scatter the seals and sea lions out into the deeper water
  • Juvenile Golden Eagle present 2 days in the reserve. (there has been one frequently sighted in the Rocky Point area since last fall)
  • Students conducted the animal census

Visitors:

  • In cooperation with Pearson College, 7 Students and 1 chaperone for the WestCoast Adventure College stayed for 4 days. Current Eco-Guardian taught classes in Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea, and did some Heritage Arts projects in the evening. In addition, students learned about Race Rocks, all operations out here, and helped the Eco-Guardian with projects …. especially projects like work on ladders, and moving logs that are difficult to do by himself

Learning how to fill the cistern, photo by Sean Thompson

Facility Work:

  • Gutters cleaned on the Student House/ Science Center
  • Most paths, wooden stairs, roof of desalinator bunker, some exterior walls treated to remove algae
  • Paths pressure washed
  • logs stacked in the ramp area, pre-bucked and moved to the upper bucking area
  • More large logs salvaged and moved onto the ramp area
  • Weekly battery maintenance

DND events:

  • 3 days with occasional blasting, some delays when Orca in the pass

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Eco-tourism vessels
  • Cetacean Research vessel when whales present, and Marine Mammal Observer Vessel present blasting

Research vessel – Mike 1, photo by Ashley Warwick

 

Weather Events:

  • Week ending February 10

    • Sky:Overcast with sunny breaks
    • Wind: 5-15 kts
    • Sea:light swells
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 9oC

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Winter Storms and High Tides

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 small  Elephant Seal out on Helicopter rock (reported to me by an ecotourism vessel)
  • 1 Female Elephant Seal (looked like it was in season to pup), only made it to the boat ramp. When the sea lions above her were startled and stampeded down, she was very vocal and left.
  • Up to 20 eagles here each morning, preying on gulls for the most part
  • Over 300 Steller Sea Lions here….. quite a few very small one, only found 2 actually nursing pups (last year was the first time I had ever personally seen pups nursing here, and have been observing from the water for 20 years)
  • Turnstones and other small birds nave returned now that the Barred Owl has left

Visitors:

  • contractors
  • Cedric brought a few faculty staff out for a quick visit

Facility Work:

  • Continued work by contractors in the main house, some window trim and painting
  • Started cleaning the gutters on the student house, a job that should only be done when there is someone here to hold the ladder!
  • More storm logs are now starting to come in, collecting them when able
  • Now able to start bucking up for firewood
  • Other note: exchanges the ocean temp/salinity device, and obtaining more reasonable numbers now

DND events:

  • Ongoing blasting ….. My opinion! … is the Steller sea lions are far more reactive to the blasts, and after heavy blasts, they seem to move to the southern rocks

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessel, and an educational vessel
  • Some private vessels, no noted infractions or fishing

Weather Events:

    • A full mix of typical fall weather. more and more days of N and NE winds
    • 2 full on storms, accentuating the seasonal high tides

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Underwater Scenes

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Ecological Notes:

  • Sea Lion numbers range up and down daily. Have notice more smaller sea lions this year, and can hear the higher squawks of younger ones. Unlike last year, I haven’t found any nursing pups yet.
  • Barred Owl is still here. For a couple days, there were zero other birds on the top area of the main island (Canada Geese, Turnstones, Gulls, or Dunlins)….. but they are gradually returning now. I suspect maybe the Owl hunted extensively one night and scared them all away(?)
  • Humpback whales still visible daily
  • On one day, in addition to the Humpbacks, Southern Resident Orca passed south of the reserve heading west, and Bigg’s (Transient) Orca passed heading East. While they were too far to get photographs, both groups were visible by eye (once I located them with binoculars)

Visitors:

  • Group of students and instructor from Pearson College visited for the weekend. They were primarily interested in mapping the kelp forests and how they are affected by Urchins and Sea Otters. They helped with other projects and used the ROV to view the underwater area off the jetty.

Siri, Finn, Maria, Annabelle, and Edgar

Always curious!

Sea Urchins

Young Bull Kelp

  • Contractors to work on the main house windows

Facility Work:

  • Now able to start bucking logs from the ramp area and moving to the full bucking area for firewood.
  • Cleaned and prepped the science house for the students visit
  • Did another full sweep of the main island to remove dead gull carcasses
  • Contractors continue the finishing work on the newly installed windows, moving primarily to the sills and finish on the inside.

  • Communicating with DFO in regards to the salinity measurements. They seem high, even though the meter was recently replaced. Tested with a meter owned by Pearson College and that meter showed numbers I would be expecting.
  • Ongoing spray down of walkways and decks to reduce slim and algae, but wondering if the cooler weather is reducing the effectiveness of the spray(?)

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Continued visits by Eco- Tourism vessels
  • Some private vessels transiting, some pausing to enjoy the nature in the reserve.

 Noted Infractions:

  • No attempted fishing detected
  • Transit and departure speeds all good

Weather Events:

  • Winds pretty consistent NNE 10-15 Kts
  • Mixes of partial cloudy, and some fog at night
  • Temperatures ranging 4 to 7 degrees

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Birds and Ellies

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Ecological Notes:

  • 3 Female Elephant Seals, 2 nursing pups, one still expecting
  • 2 Elephant Seal pups, sometimes struggling to move around with mom when she changes terrain
  • Although the Eagles have been actively hunting gulls out here, I was puzzled but the remains of Turnstones as well. This morning I witnessed the successful hunt of a Turnstone by one of the 2 Ravens here

Facility Work:

  • Covered the broken window on the crane shed
  • Collected and bucked more firewood logs

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 3 Ecotourism Vessels

Weather Events:

  • Yesterday (Saturday January 21):
    • Sky: Overcast with very occasional rain sprinkles
    • Wind:NE 15-20 kts
    • Sea: rippled to 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 9oC
  • Today (Sunday January 22):
    • Sky: Overcast with sunny breaks in the morning, light haze by afternoon
    • Wind: N/NE 0-5kts, shifting to SE in the afternoon
    • Sea:  light chop
    • Temperature Low  5oC, High  7oC

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Weather Days

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Ecological Notes:

  • The large Male Elephant Seal has been coming and going from the island, often bellowing for a while each day.
  • During the stormy weather over the last month, I had noticed more than one Sea Lion with what looked like minor injuries. Now that there are less on the island, I can move about into “their” areas. Unfortunately, I have found 2 of what looked like healthy animals that have passed. This is not uncommon, but always sad.

Visitors:

  • The Waterfront Coordinator delivered fuel for the generator, and electric fence parts.

Facility Work:,

  • Cutting salvage wood recovered from the ocean is hard on the saw chain. Add to this that some of  it is hardwood and you find yourself touching up the blade and/or sharpening it very often.

  • The more you cut, the more you get to split!

  • Rain days mean time best spent on indoor projects ….. some are mundane, but still have to be done.

Clean the fridge

Replace furnace filter

 

DND events:

  • Thursday included several blasts  on the west beach.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Several Ecotourism Vessels, including one that paused for all the guests and crew to sing Happy Birthday to the Ecoguardian!

Weather Events:

  • Several days of high, cold Northeasterly winds gave way to Westerlies of 25 – 30 knots on Thursday. Mix of sun, cloud, and rain squalls throughout the day.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Sunny with a chance of Elephant Seal

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Ecological Notes:

  • The Large Male Elephant Seal that has been visiting the water by the jetty decided to come up for a sunbathe and snooze today. He is larger than I originally thought!

  • The Sub-Adult Male Elephant Seal is still hauled out on middle rock.

Facility Work:

  • Although some large drift logs were lost during the last couple weeks, now the tide is lower while it is still daylight, allowing me to tie them off at high tide, and buck them up at low tide.

  • Today though, the large male was in a place that would have put me between him and the water …. not a place I want to be while using a chainsaw and not able to keep a good eye out!

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  •  Just 2 Ecotourism vessels.

Weather Events:

  • Clear and sunny all day, winds primarily westerly 15- 20 knots. Winds shifted to Northwest early evening and dropped to 5 knots. Swells up to 1.5 meters from the west.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Firewood, and Rockfish Conservation Area

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Ecological Notes:

  • Sub-adult Male Elephant Seal appears to have left this island early morning. Will see if he returns tonight

  • For some reason, there are lots of adult and immature Bald Eagles on the rocks today. I have checked for any carcasses or other reasons, but could not find any.

Facility Work:

  • Changed oil and filters on the main generator, checked all connections, and cleaned drops etc.

  • Daily rounds of electric fences.

  • Chopped and stacked more firewood, trying to get ahead of the game for the next Ecoguardians.

  • Diagnosed and fixed problems with some of the newly installed windows. Several of the vertical window spaces had horizontal windows installed on edge. Because of this, they did not drain water as it was accumulating in the lower tracks (that should have been side tracks) Weepholes added to the outside of the windows did not reach said tracks, so I had to add new weepholes from inside the track to reach the outside.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 4 Ecotourism vessels enjoying the  reserve, as well as 5 private vessels.

 Noted Infractions:

  • One private vessel with 5 passengers onboard, spent a considerable time fishing, well within the Rockfish Conservation Area, ignoring warnings via radio and blowhorn. At times, they were within 150 meters of the main Island here. (yes I happen to have a laser rangefinder here with me.)

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds at 15-20 knots, rising to 25-30 knots later in the afternoon, bringing a full mixture from sun and clouds, to intense rain squalls. Slight fog and clouds to the south, but the Olympic Peninsula is still visible at the water level.

Rain squalls moving through

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

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

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Antenna Re-mount

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Ecological Notes:

  • 5 female Elephant Seals, 1 juvenile male (about female size)
  • Elephant Seal pups: 2, 1 is a young male
  • Many big old California Sealions tried to take over the pier today
  • Can see several paired up Black Oyster Catchers, but no “nests” visible from the angles I could view from a distance. Also didn’t note any defensive behavior.

Facility Work:

  • Moving beach wood, cut some to stock up firewood
  • Remounted VHF antenna, ONLY because the deck builders ran out of time. First I tried the hard ways, then just dismantled it on the bench and cut the wood away from the mount.

 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 1 Sailboat, doing it the right way! Motor on, sail in centered position and loose, straight down the center of the channel slowly, without disturbing the wildlife.

 

Feature Event:

  • Learning to use the chainsaw, but having to pause when an elephant seal wanted to pass.

 

Weather Events:

  • Medium Winds from the west, rising in the evening. Clear skies all day, good for Solar Power generation. Light cloud moving in the evening after sunset.

 

** All photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?