Tag Archives: glaucous-winged-gull

A Whale of a Day

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The sunsets here at Race Rocks are amazing, but the sunrises are pretty spectacular as well. This morning the roving mass of California Gulls were hanging out among the kelp on the southeast side of the island. Hundreds of gulls all looking for breakfast!  The krill is still around, at least early in the day, but you can tell that it’s moving around because the flock of birds will be here one minute and gone the next.

Sunrise at Race Rocks with Mt Baker in the background

While I’m not seeing a lot of bird diversity during my stay here, I have been given the chance to study the behaviours of the gulls. With all the krill in the area, there is no shortage of food, and the young Glaucous-winged Gulls know that.  Depending on their age and whether or not there are siblings, the adults may regurgitate directly into the chick’s mouth, or onto the ground so the young can fight over it.

Single chick gets special delivery of food

Triplets fighting for the goodies the adult brought from the sea.

One of the most interesting behaviours I’ve seen has been that of a young gull that has figured out that even though it can’t fly, it can swim!  For three days now, I’ve seen this single chick in the channel to the east of the island. I suspect that it accidentally ended up in the water one day and survived to tell the tale. It certainly is more mobile than the other youngsters on the island.

Meandering along like this is normal

Completely able to come ashore when it wants to

And speaking of flying, it’s incredibly amusing to watch the antics of the youngsters trying to make their wings work.

Today I saw the first Orcas of my visit here. The marine radio is a constant companion, and while most of the chatter is about where the best fishing is, tonight a call came in about Orcas just off Bentinck Island. A pod of 5 put on an incredible show for the whale-watching boats and private vessels.  They moved from Bentinck to the mouth of Pedder Bay and continued the action for more than half an hour.

Surprise! The pod surrounded this small boat.

Earlier in the day, Daniel Donnecke was at Rocky Point and spotted Humpback Whales to the east of Race Rocks. I managed to get on them thanks to his sighting. Two whale species day!

Ecological Notes:

Mammals

2 Humpback Whale

5 Orca

2 Harbour Porpoise

1 male Elephant Seal (went to the water early today–around 10 am–and spent the whole day there. Still on the ramp at dark)

California Sea Lion

Steller’s Sea Lion

Good contrast between male Steller’s in the rear and male California in front of him

Harbour Seal

Mom and nursing pup

Birds

5 Canada Geese

1 Killdeer

8 Black Oystercatcher

14 Black Turnstone

This Black Turnstone hasn’t yet moulted all of its breeding plumage. Note the white speckles on the chest and pale eyebrow.

This one is a little closer to the birds we typically see here in the winter.

3 Surfbird

6 Common Murre

60 Pigeon Guillemot

3 Heermann’s Gull

700 California Gull

Little white specks of a massive flock of (mostly) California Gulls

600 Glaucous-winged Gull

3 Pelagic Cormorant

5 Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorants with Pelagic Cormorant and Pigeon Guillemots

1 Brown-headed Cowbird

Facility Work: Cleaned solar panels and continued fly-busting in the houses

Vessel Traffic: Late start for the eco-tourism vessels. Saw very few before 11, then they were steady the rest of the day until dusk. Very large container vessel heading west.

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

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

First Fog and Census

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Fog rolled in on Monday night, activating the signal from the beacon. It’s a piercing set of three tones every minute, and a sound that I am very familiar with from hearing it often while at Rocky Point. I had been warned to bring earplugs, which I did, but I didn’t need them.

Fog roll

I was actually welcoming the fog for several reasons. Recent Eco-guardian Joan Rosenberg shared a tip about cleaning the solar panels when they were still wet with fog. Great idea! That made things go much quicker. There were also some things I really needed to get to on the computer, but when the weather is good, I want to be out looking around. The panels got cleaned, but the fog cleared fairly early, so things that should be done are still waiting.

The fog clearing definitely made my planned census today possible. Here is my report:

Census

Mammals

Humpback Whale: 1

Elephant Seal: 1 male

Returning from his daily swim.

Harbour Seal: 191 including several pups

Steller’s Sea Lion: 27

Steller’s and California Sea Lions

California Sea Lion 23

California Sea Lions

Birds

Black Oystercatcher: 8

Killdeer: 2

Black Turnstone: 21

Surfbird: 1

Rhinoceros Auklet: 5

Common Murre: 1

Heermann’s Gull: 1

California Gull: 700 (mostly early morning, although some lingered through the day)

Glaucous winged Gull: 655 (by clicker–highest count for me so far)

Pelagic Cormorant: 5

Double-crested Cormorant: 4

Bald Eagle: 1

Song Sparrow: 1

Brown-headed Cowbird: 1

Unidentified passerine: 1 (right as the sun set, the bird flew in east of the lighthouse, but I couldn’t relocate it. I’ll be checking the area in the morning!

Facility Work: Solar panels and windows cleaned. Greg came by with a load of diesel. Arriving California Sea Lions prompted check and minor fixes to the fencing.  We also topped up all of the batteries with distilled water.

Battery bank. 24 needing juice!

Vessel Traffic: Ecotourism was big today with as many as five vessels in the reserve at once. Estimate more than 20 came through today. No private vessels noted.

Another beautiful sunset!

Sunset

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

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Seawatch Part 2

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Since the fog was staying away, Daniel Donnecke and I decided to have another go at a seawatch today, Daniel at Beechey Head and me at Race Rocks.  From my perspective, this one worked out much better, but we still were not seeing many of the same birds.  The exception, though, was a large group of (mostly) California Gulls that lifted off shortly after our start time of 6:30.  Like  yesterday, there were hundreds of gulls feeding just off Race Rocks. Although there was still krill in the area, there were also small fish that you could occasionally see glinting in their bills.  I was also watching a large barge of logs being towed towards Puget Sound.

It wasn’t clear what put them up, or whether there was just a signal that it was time to go.  Some headed to a bait ball to the east while several hundred headed east towards Beechy Head where Daniel saw them coming in.

Ecological Notes:

1 Elephant Seal

80 Harbour Seal

California Sea Lion

Steller’s Sea Lion

Several bird firsts for me for the week.

11 Canada Goose

7 Black Oystercatcher (including one juvenile)

Baby Black Oystercatcher

Still under its parent’s watchful eye

1 Killdeer

45 Black Turnstone

55 Common Murre

80 Pigeon Guillemot – many carrying gunnels

2 Marbled Murrelet

1 Cassin’s Auklet

14 Rhinoceros Auklet

500 California Gull (probably a gross underestimation)

400 Glaucous-winged Gull (not an increase, but a more accurate count today)

1 Herring Gull

4 Heerman’s Gull

1000 more unidentified gull feeding on krill and small fish.

1 Bald Eagle – perched on middle islands. First raptor of the week for me

1 Song Sparrow

1 Brown-headed Cowbird – First passerine I saw during my stay.

Facility Work: cleaned windows and solar panels.

Vessel Traffic: lots of traffic in the shipping lanes including large barge of logs

Barge of logs

Steady stream of ecotourism vehicles starting mid-morning, but fewer than yesterday. 10+

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

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Another Changing of the Guardian

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I have had the privilege of visiting Race Rocks several times over the years, and have boated near the ecological reserve many times while birding with friends. I have to admit that I was very jealous of those who actually spent days, weeks or months here. Thanks to a series of unrelated events, I now find myself here as a relief eco-guardian for a week. It’s a dream come true!

The reports of calm seas this morning turned to more active weather just around the time that Greg Dickinson, Garry Fletcher and I headed out from the Pearson College dock. Pleasure craft were all heading the other way, into the shelter of Pedder Bay.

Approaching Race Rocks, my home for the next week.

As the wind continued to pick up, I was given a whirlwind tour of the facilities, a book of standard operating procedures, and specific instructions on how to operate certain important equipment. Then, before things got too rough, the previous week’s relief eco-guardian and company, Greg, and Garry were headed back to Pearson, leaving me with the gulls and guillemots!

Bye for now!

Ecological Notes:

1 Male Elephant Seal (continuing)

Still molting. Apparently has lost several hundred pounds.

3 Californian Sea Lions on the main island, many more on middle island

Small group of California Sea Lions checking out the island

10+ Steller’s (Northern) Sea Lions on the middle island

This is what attracts the eco-tourism vessels

10 Harbour Seals close in, many more on surrounding islands

Three species of gulls noted today:
Many Glaucous-winged Gulls, including young of various ages. Some were testing their wings in the heavy wind.

Glaucous-winged Gull chicks looking for lunch

The youngest Glaucous-winged Gull I saw today

3 California Gull

California Gulls

2 Heermann’s Gull

Heermann’s Gull

80 Pigeon Guillemot spread over much of the rocky shoreline of the island. Frequent forays into the surrounding waters.

Pigeon Guillemots were still in breeding plumage

4 Black Oystercatcher (although I suspect more out of sight) including the youngster that hatched about a week ago

Black Oystercatcher amongst other shorebirds

74 Black Turnstone

Many nestled in the rocks

Black Turnstones

11 Surfbird

Surfbirds

2 Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpipers foraging in the grass

No raptors or songbirds (passerines)

Vessel Traffic: 4 ecotourism vessels between 1500 and 1600 today.  Most fishing and pleasure craft had retreated as wind and seas increased.

Weather Events:  Wind picked up from the west shortly after noon and continued 30+ km/hour into the night.  Seemed to drop off after 2200, but still gusty.

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

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Animal Census-July 28, 2021

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Weather: west wind 15 knots, fog cleared by 8 a.m. visibility good

Tide .8 m at 12 noon

Elephant Seal 1 male, 1 female
Orcas 4
Seals 68 (13 pups?) on south and south seal rocks
Sea Lions both Stellar and California 60 on middle and west rocks
Gulls

While I was counting these gulls there were 2 “feeding flocks” just off the island with about 1000 gulls so there may have been fewer gulls on the islands than usual
660 on rocks below generator shed western and glaucous winged gulllls
110 on island “nesting” mostly glaucous winged gulls but several western/hybrid gullls nesting as well
estimate of between 80 and 150 chicks

Cormorants 14
Pigeon Guillemots 56
Surfbirds 8
Black turnstones 58
Black Oystercatcher 18? they are hard to count as they move around so much 1 new chick!

Bald Eagle 1

Western sand piper 4

can you identify this bird? red knot ?

Protective Gulls

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Male Elephant seal, and 1 young Female Elephant seal on the island
  • Single young Steller Sealion near the pier.
  • The more the Gull chicks stretch their legs and explore, the more protective the adult gulls get. It’s hard to work outside without a heavy hat to protect from hits, not to mention, easy to wash outerwear!

Facility Work:

  • Applying preservative to wooden stairs at the student house. Tough work with a brush, going to try a small sprayer for the next decks.

***Even though the product is listed as non-toxic, I sat until it soaked in well to prevent birds from landing on it while still wet.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 9 Ecotourism vessels, 3 private vessels in the reserve sightseeing. All correct procedures followed

 Noted Infractions:

  • Only one private vessel fishing just inside the park boundary, moved outside as soon as I radioed them.

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds all day, dropping from 25 knots to 20 knots gradually. Winds rose to 30 knots in the evening. Fog in the morning, giving way to clear skies in the afternoon. Seas relatively calm during the day, rising to  less than 1 meter chop in the evening.

 

** 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?

Beautiful Gull Eyes

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Male Elephant Seal, and 1 young Female elephant Seal on the island.
  • A very young Male Steller Sealion has been making a regular stop to haul out to the area next to the pier. Although it has no distinguishing marks, I think this is the small one that was here earlier in the spring with the rest of the males. Sometimes, the younger (and oldest) ones are the last to leave and the first to return, suggesting they might not actually do the full migration to the breeding areas.
  • When I took this photograph (long lens and then a tight crop), I wasn’t sure if this bird was ok. A little online research showed me this is how they look when the molt around the eyes. A close examination shows some of the bumps are showing the emergence of pin feathers. Many Gulls molt around the time of nesting, most likely as this is a good food abundance time for them.

    The “eyes” have it……

Facility Work:

  • Although Solar panels are cleaned on a regular basis, these lower ones get particularly dirty! The rocks just off from these is a major roosting area for gulls not on nests. Every time an eagle flies by, they get all flustered, and “dump” on takeoff …. just upwind of the panels.
  • Prepping the first set of stairs for preservative treatment. Cleaner, brush scrub, and then pressure wash

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • A few Ecotour vessels, and a couple private vessels checking out the reserve today. Good behavior all round!

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds, 15 – 20 knots all day, raising in the early evening to 30 knots. mostly calm seas, until the wind rose and brought with it 1 meter chop. On and off fog in the morning, gave way to mostly clear skies, with only a slight haze in the distance.

 

** 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?

Nature Continues On

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Male Elephant Seal, and 1 young Female elephant Seal on the island.
  • When they meet on the boat ramp, one of two things normally happen. If the female is above, she holds her ground and makes the male go around. But if the male comes from above, the female will rush down to the water to get out of the way. She barely goes above the 2 lowest buildings (the tank room and the boathouse), even though she was more comfortable up in the grass area when she was here before.

Picture angle is deceiving, the female is much smaller than the male. I would guess 350 Kilos compared to maybe 1600 kilos.

  • After the heatwave that did unfortunately cost some chicks lives, it’s nice to be reminded that life goes on. Fresh eggs hatching, and “families” out going about their business.

Newly hatching

Family stretching their legs

 

Visitors:

  • Waterfront Coordinator delivered groceries, fresh water for the tank, and a new fire pump yesterday.

Facility Work:

  • Fire pump allowed filling the salt water cistern so we could start up the desalinator. It appear to run well and produce nice clean water, but one of the gauges was running very high. We decided to wait and have it checked by the contractor Monday, as we couldn’t solve it over the phone.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Eco Tourism boats and private boat touring the reserve. No fishing in the reserve like was prevalent last weekend.

Weather Events:

  • Fog off and on most of the day, leaving light haze in the evening. Westerly winds all day near to 15 knots, calm seas.

 

** 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?