Tag Archives: harlequin duck

Animal Census

Posted on by

West winds around 10 knots for most of the day. Fog this morning and this evening. Barometric pressure has steadily decreased all day. Strong wind warning in effect for tonight and fog is forecasted to persist until late tomorrow morning.

No whale watching boats today. 2 recreational halibut fishing boats along the SE and SW borders of the reserve.

Animal Census
Elephant Seal: 3
Harbour Seal: 191
Bald Eagle: 1
Gull: 323
Pigeon Guillemot: 83
Black Oystercatcher: 10
Double-crested cormorant: 4
Stellar sea lion: 5
Harlequin duck: 4

Two of the large elephant seals were sparring in the shallow water by the jetty this morning around 1100h. I noticed a younger pup that has been here for the past week has small, fresh wounds on its backside that I think are from two days ago when I saw the second largest male attack the pup near the launch pad. Also, a lone stellar sea lion has been resting on the a small rock off the south islands for two days now. He has flesh wounds but they do not look recent as far as I can tell.

-Secured deck boards on winch loading pad.                                                                       -Chopped fire wood.

Six visitors from the college came today from 1200h-1500h.

 

 

Spring Equinox

Posted on by

Clear skies. Variable North-East to South-East winds.
Waning gibbous moon, only one low day-time tide (~1m), and 4 to 5 kt currents.

I’m a day late, but Spring has officially arrived as determined by the sun crossing over the celestial equator.
There was a lot of Harbour seals out on Middle and Turbine rocks today. The Elephant seals are on the West Rocks. The Sea lions are still out on South Rocks. There was a large group of Harlequin ducks (14) in the water off the East beach. Cormorants were arriving in the reserve all day so assume my count dramatically under-estimates their numbers. The Canada geese with the nest next to the Keeper’s house have two eggs now. None of the other pairs of Geese seem to have settled enough to have eggs. The gulls are starting to pair up and settle into nesting spots. Amazingly, there were 7 Bald Eagles in the Reserve this morning. Most of them were sitting in pairs on the tops of various rocks. They were a fairly even mix of juveniles and adults. I saw a few sandpiper-like birds, but they were too fast for me to photograph or properly identify. Judging by the smell coming from the tank shed walkway, there is still a River otter living out here. And I saw some Scoters in the mouth of Pedder Bay on my way into the college this morning.

2 Tour boats

First Day of Spring Animal Census

Steller Sea lion: 31
California Sea lion: 6
Elephant seal: 3
Harbour seal: 144
Cormorant: 54
Gull: 133
Canada Goose: 15
Harlequin duck: 17
Black turnstone: 5
Unidentified sandpiper: 3
Oyster catcher: 6
Bald eagle: 7
Savannah sparrow:4
Pigeon Guillemots: 25
River otter: 1

Off station today from 0830 to 1030 to get keys and dive gear.
-fixed sagging corner on crane deck/walkway
-checked/cleaned Science House propane cleanout

eagle

Posted on by

Moderate NE winds all day. 3 ft wind chop. Cloudy but no rain.
The students left yesterday, and some volunteers from the college made a brief photo stop when Chris came to pick them up.

There was a boat fishing illegally in the reserve this morning. It left before I could try to make radio contact.

mammal count

Posted on by

10kts NE wind. Cloudy, but still no rain.
Tour boats: 5
Dive boats: 2

Marine Mammal Count
Stellar Sea lion: 272
California Sea lion: 396
Harbour seal: 78
Elephant seal: 8

Harlequin Duck: 4
Sanderling: 1

P1010064

Sanderling (Calidris alba) and a Black Turnstone

P1010046

Another breakfast eagle sighting this morning.

P1010048

Sea lions on the North-Eastern flats of Greater Race Rock

-tidied boat shed

 

Animal Notes and Census

Posted on by

A few days ago we had two unusual visitors to our waters. Two Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) spent several days on Great Race and North Rocks. Brown Pelicans, though the smalles of pelicans, are enormous birds weighing up to 6 kilos and measuring up to 135 cms with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters.

A visitor from warmer climes….

Northern vacation to Race Rocks….

We have had two other unusual visitors in the last week. I discovered a Barred Owl in the boathouse attacking a Starling (another recent arrival), and Pam our avid photographer friend from England got several pictures of Peregrine Falcons that came through hunting sparrows and starlings. Pam’s pictures can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/sets/72157628747376295/

Another tagged e-seal showed up in the boathouse yesterday.

Might as well hang out somewhere cozy…

Tagged 7225

 Animal Census Nov 8 2012

Species Current Population (Est)
Stellar/Northern Sea Lion  30
Elephant Seal  7
Harbour Seal  200
California Sea Lion  50
Glaucous-winged Gull  150
Herring Gull  300
California Gull  30
Heerman’s Gull  80
Black Turnstones  100
Surfbird  6
Pelagic Cormorants  40
Brandt’s Cormorant  30
Killdeer   6
Dunlin  16
Harlequin Ducks  20
Canada Goose  14
Bald Eagle  3
Black Oyster-catcher  40
Sanderlings  8
Starlings  8
Race Rocks Eco-Guardian  1
Rhinoceros Auklet  100
Common Murre  100
Sparrows  20
Brown Pelican  2
Barred Owl  1
Peregrine Falcon  2

 

Changes in the weather

Posted on by

The first gentle sou’east weather pattern with clouds and rain occurred in the last few days. The rain is most welcome to wash away a summers worth of gull and pinniped excrement. This island can be smelled from a kilometer away!

At the edge of the world…

Surrounded by ankle-biters!

About 2/3s of the sea lions have left since the weather change. We are down to around 140 animals, perhaps 75 are Stellers down from the 175 of 10 days ago. Californians make up the remainder down from 225. Quite a few juveniles have showed up in the last week.

 

More birds are showing up. In the last few days several Harlequin ducks and a few dozen cormorants returned to dot the shoreline with the oystercatchers. Flocks of Bonaparte gulls feed on minnows in the eddies, forced to the surface from the deeper water by murres and rhinoceros auklets. Killdeers are spending the nights here. I hear them when I shut down the generator at night. Close to 30 sparrows are flitting about, and yesterday a few eagles and ravens were hunting and scavenging. Late developing gull chicks are on the menu. The flock of turnstones forages in the sea lion haulout ignored by the sea lions.

Tour boats are becoming less frequent and sport fishermen are waning too… yesterday for example a pod of orca passed with only 2 boats watching them rather than 8-10.

Animal Census Apr 18, 2012

Posted on by

Stellar Sea Lion – 20

Elephant Seal – 12

Harbour Seal – 200

Glaucous-winged Gull – 200

Brandt’s Cormorant – 250

Pelagic Cormorant – 10

Black Turnstones – 30 w/ 2 juveniles

Surfbirds – 10

Raven – 4

Crow – 1

Dunlin – 2

Sparrows – 6

Pigeon Guillemots – 150

Harlequin Ducks – 100

Canada Goose – 20

Bald Eagle (adult) – 4 (juvenile) 8

Black Oyster-catcher – 40

34 people have visited in the least 2 weeks

Moulting Time

Posted on by

There are about 8-10 young and mostly moulting elephant seals in the reserve at this time. Between four and six have been lounging on the pier creating obstacles for the group of 10  students that spent the weekend here. The grumpy infected girl at the end of the dock made all of us clamber around the outside of the rail to get to and from the boat. Today I thought she looked a bit better. There appears to be an object imbedded in her lower palate; perhaps a barb or spine from a fish she was hunting. I hope it works it’s way out in time. Presumably elephant seals are pretty durable creatures… we will keep a close eye on her recuperation.

The students did a great job of weeding the scotch thistles from around the tower.

There are plenty of Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatcher pairs on the island, with a few Harlequin ducks and Rhinoceros Auklets just offshore. The Harbour Seals should start giving birth soon. There is a large pregnant female on the foreshore near the engine room.

3 rental boats entered the reserve and broke all the rules for respectable human decorum here. I called the marina and they quickly responded by phoning the renters to warn them of their infractions. I was happy to see them promptly exit the reserve and head off towards the military ballistics range.

Bird and Mammal Count

Posted on by

At least 8 orcas passed by Race Rocks Sunday morning

For Sunday March 25:

Black Oyster Catcher (Haematopus bachmani): 7 pairs

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis): 3

Surfbirds (Aphriza virgata): 100+

Cormorants (Phalacrocorax penicilatu, P. pelagicus, and/or P.auritas): 200+

Gulls (mostly Larus glaucescens): 230+

Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba): 30+

Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus): 5

Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina) : 30+ S islands

Northern Sea Lions (Eumetopisa jubatus): 14 S islands, 1 Middle Rocks

Elephant Seals (Mirounga angustirostris): 3 Middle Rocks, 1 Great Race

Orcas (Orcinus orca): 8 in the morning going E between S Islands and Rosedale Reef Buoy