Tag Archives: juvenile bald eagle

Sunday Update

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This morning’s sunrise made up for yesterday’s gloom. All 3 elephant seals are still on the island. I’ve nicknamed the smaller female “Petal” because every time I find her she is squashing a different bed of flowers. Tonight she settled on the largest patch of grape hyacinth behind the house, but not before flattening the majority of the remaining daffodils. 

The darker of the new sea otters spent the morning around the South Island snacking on bright red urchins. It amazes me how they can make their way through the sharp spines and remain completely un-phased. I have not seen the little blonde one or Ollie this week. 

This afternoon I counted 26 California sea lions on the rocks near the jetty. I know this number may seem low for anyone whose here at busier times of the year but until today the most I’ve seen is 10! There was also one large Steller who snuggled himself in amongst the significantly smaller California boys. 

Lots of eagles around lately too!

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

 

Animal Census and Blog

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The great weather had to come to an end eventually! Despite being a dark and cloudy day we lucked out with no rain and no wind.

I had 9 extra helpers for the animal census today, the Pearson students are extra observant so this may be the most accurate count yet!

No sea otters were seen today but the two new ones have been around the past few days. Still no additional elephant seals on the main island, just our solo male! A couple of females have been hauled out on the various surrounding rocks but none of come ashore here.

March 20th Animal Census:

Birds:

Oyster catcher: 15
Harlequin duck: 12
Gulls: 261
Cormorant: 62
Pigeon guillemot: 149
Juvenile eagle: 3
Adult eagle: 4
Canadian geese: 9
Shore birds: 10
Turnstones: 28
Savannah sparrow: 1

Marine Mammals:

Steller sea lions: 17
Harbour seal: 64
Male Elephant seal: 1
Female elephant seal : 2 (north rocks)
California sea lion: 20

Injuries:
Harbour seal with facial injury


DND Activity:

  • 2 blasts at 12:55 and 13:00. They did startle the harbour seals and the second blast sent a California sea lion fleeing into the water.
  • 3rd blast at 14:15 no obvious disturbance noted. 
  • 4th blast at 15:05 no obvious disturbance noted.
  • 5th blast at 15:08 no obvious disturbance noted.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • One ecotourism vessel
  • One Coast Guard vessel
  • Three RCMP vessels

 

 

Weather Events:

  • Wednesday, March 20:
    • Sky: Cloudy all day
    • Wind: High of WNW 13 knots, Low of  SW 4 knots
    • Sea: Calm
    • Temperature: Low 8oC, High  10oC

** 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?

Growing sea lion numbers…

July 11, 12, 13, and Weekly Census

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Weather for July 11:
Wind: W 11 to 27 knots
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 12-14 C

Weather for July 12:
Wind: W 18 to 35 knots
Visibility: 10 to 15 NM
Sky: Cloudy in morning, partly cloudy in afternoon
Sea: 1’ chop in morning, up to 4′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 11-15 C

Weather for July 13:
Wind: W 16 to 33 knots
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 11-15 C

DND Blasting:
There was one DND blast at 14:05 on July 12 at nearby Rocky Point.

Visitors:
Greg and Bruce visited this afternoon to deliver 1,400 L of freshwater and a new first aid kit.

Maintenance:
I did the routine tasks of cleaning the solar panels and house windows, topping up the water in the 24 deep cycle batteries, fixing the electric fence, tidying, and maintaining the freshwater system.

Ecological notes:
There have been a lot of humpback whale activity over the past few days to the west, south, and east of Race Rocks. The whale watching boats have been active in the area. From what I hear on the VHF radio, they have been very pleased with the humpback viewing. I have not seen any whales swim through the ecological reserve.

I heard back about the tagged elephant seal, from the researcher at Año Nuevo Natural Reserve, in California. The juvenile seal, tagged H999 and K646, is a male who was born in January 2022. He was previously observed here and reported to the researchers on April 1, 2023. He has been moulting here for at least the past several weeks. He appears to be almost complete the moulting process, so he might be moving on soon to feed in the deep waters.

Weekly Census observed on July 13:
elephant seal: 1 juvenile (tagged H999, K646)
Steller sea lion: 3
harbour seal: 79
bald eagle: 2 adults, 1 juvenile
raven: 1
cormorant: 7
black oystercatcher: 6 adults, 1 chick (that I could spot today)
pigeon guillemot: 148
glaucous-winged gull: 387 adults, 120 chicks
surfbird: 12
killdeer: 4
western sandpiper: 3
barn swallow: 3

Photo highlights from the past three days:

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?

July 15 and 16 – A Scoop of Pelicans

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Ecological Notes:

  • 12 brown pelicans flew around the island at 12:30 yesterday. They returned just before 14:00, flew by the South Islands, and landed on the South Seal Rocks. They moved to the east side of Race Rocks, where they remained for at least a couple hours. A group of pelicans is known as either a pod, pouch, scoop, squadron, or fleet.
  • The glaucous-winged gull chicks are growing quickly, with many meal deliveries happening throughout the day by their parents.
  • See the photo gallery below for more ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 15):
    • Sky: Part Cloudy
    • Wind: mostly W, 0-28 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 2′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 16oC
  • Today (July 16):
    • Sky: Overcast
    • Wind: W 15-25 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then 1′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 13oC, High 15oC

Visitors:

  • No visitors

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.

 DND Events:

  • Between 10:00 and 14:00 yesterday, there were five detonations on the nearby DND (Department of National Defence) training area on Bentinck Island, about 2km or 1NM from Great Race Rocks. The sudden explosions sent many birds into the air, as well as seals and sea lions into the water.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

July 13 and 14 – Weekly Census

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Ecological Notes:

  • The sea lion population is growing. For the past few days there have been 18 Steller sea lions hauled out on Middle Rocks. That is up from four sea lions one week ago. One of the sea lions has a brand. It appears to say 620R, although the researcher I contacted in Oregon mentioned it is what they call a bad brand and he was unable to determine the brand from the photos I sent. I will keep a look out for the sea lion and see if I can get a better view. The researcher will check his records to see if he can identify the sea lion and be able to record the resighting.
  • The super moon on Wednesday night rose in the southeast at 10:00pm. It was a big bright orange orb that looked more like the rising sun, than the moon.
  • Today’s extremely low tide of -0.2m or -0.7′ was at 10:13am. The overnight high tide at 00:55am was 3.0m or 9.8′. It is apparently the lowest tide in a decade. I was fascinated to see the extended edge of the water all around the many islands. I looked at the exposed intertidal zone from a distance and up on the jetty, so as not to disturb the many delicate species.
  • See the photo gallery below for more ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weekly Census Results from July 13:

  • Steller/Northern sea lions: 18
  • Sea otter: 1
  • Harbour seals: 133
  • Bald eagles: 2 (1 juvenile and 1 adult)
  • Canada geese: 9 (5 adults, 4 goslings)
  • Black oystercatchers: 11 (8 adults, 3 chicks)
  • Cormorant: 4
  • Glaucous-winged gulls nesting on the main island: 247
  • Glaucous-winged gull chicks: approximately 200 (it is hard to get an exact number due to their camouflage in the grass and hiding under their parents)
  • Gulls not nesting (some glaucous-winged and some other species) on the south end of the main island and outer islands: 96
  • Pigeon guillemots: 142
  • Black turnstones: 2
  • Western sandpiper: 2

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 13):
    • Sky: Part Cloudy
    • Wind: W 12-32 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 3′ waves in afternoon and evening
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 16oC
  • Today (July 14):
    • Sky: Part Cloudy
    • Wind: W 15-27 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 2′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 11oC, High 13oC

Visitors:

  • No visitors

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Census July 6

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Ecological Notes:

  • I am seeing more gull chicks everyday. Many gull parents are frequently feeding their two or three chicks.
  • I seem to have come to an understanding with some gulls. If I approach near them on the path at a slow speed, we both ignore each other. There are other gulls who freak out if I even look in their direction. As I do necessary work, I limit my movements around the island and avoid certain paths that have nearby nests and chicks.
  • See photo gallery and captions for more details on the ecological happenings over the past two days.

Weekly Census Results:

  • Elephant seal (juvenile male): 1
  • Steller/Northern sea lions: 4
  • Harbour seals: 113
  • Bald eagles: 6 (4 juveniles and 2 adults)
  • Canada geese: 11 (7 adults, 4 goslings)
  • Black oystercatchers: 10 (8 adults, 2 chicks – probably more that are camouflaged)
  • Cormorant: 2
  • Glaucous-winged gulls nesting: 172
  • Glaucous-winged gull chicks: approximately 50 (also hard to spot in the grass and under their parents)
  • Gulls not nesting (some glaucous-winged and some other species) on the south end of the island and outer islands: 97
  • Pigeon guillemots: 123
  • Surfbirds: 3
  • Killdeers: 2
  • Western sandpiper: 1

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 5):
    • Sky: Fog in morning, Part Cloudy in afternoon
    • Wind: W 0-12 kts
    • Sea: calm
    • Temperature Low 11oC, High 17oC
  • Today (July 6):
    • Sky: Overcast in morning, Part Cloudy in afternoon
    • Wind: W 8-22 kts
    • Sea: rippled in morning, 1′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 15oC

Visitors:

  • No visitors over the past two days

Facility Work:

  • Installed bird deterrents on new solar panels, scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, emptied composting toilet, fixed screen door at basement entrance.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Eagle Eye

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Ecological Notes:

  • As the California Sealion numbers decrease, I’m noting more Steller Sealions on the main island. They are a lot more skittish to my movements around though.

    Wary of any movement on land …

    Keeping an eye on me

  • Still lots of juvenile Bald Eagles on the island, primarily in the mornings.

Juvenile Bald Eagle, scanning the water from a good perch

More Gull remains

  • At least 3 Humpback whales seen to the southwest of race about 2 miles out, more blows in the distance.

Facility Work:

  • Temporary fix to the generator room door, awaiting new handle to install.

  • Repaired and re-installed the top of the VHF antennae on the main house.

  • Repaired and re-attached the vent hose on the Natures Head in the main house.
  • Hauled out more drifting wood and serviced the chainsaw after cutting through some hardwood logs.
  • Rebuilt and reinforced some old sawhorses to use when cutting smaller firewood.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 2 private vessels and 4 Ecotourism vessels enjoying the sights and sounds of the ecological reserve.

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds of 5 – 10 knots. did a quick rotation around past north, becoming easterly for a brief period before noon, but returned to westerly after that. Clear skies in the morning gave way to overcast by mid afternoon. Seas were flat calm all 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?

Fall Day

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Ecological Notes:

  • Sub-adult Male elephant seal has taken a couple days off island now.
  • Several adult and juvenile Bald Eagles present and hunting gulls on the island. Appeared to be teaching young, as sometimes adults were swooping without attempting to grab prey, followed closely but juvenile who was attempting to grab prey. Each time a juvenile did grab a gull, there was a frenzy of the other juveniles swooping in to try to take the prey.

Facility Work:

  • Serviced Battery system and checked solar panels.
  • Chopped firewood previously salvaged and bucked up.
  • Serviced chainsaw.
  • Troubleshooting on hard-line (voip) phone system. Checked routers and reset each phone. Passed onto the IT department for further input.
  • Has been near impossible to maintain the pier electric fence! High winds and swells continuously wash the pier, and the posts, breaking wires and losing posts into the water. Had to go down late at night when the tide was low enough to recover post and concrete blocks. Hopefully overall weather will subside a bit soon.

In a subdued state

 

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds, dropping from 20knots early morning to  5 knots mid day. Raising over the afternoon to 30 knots by early evening. Overcast, with occasional rain squalls in the strait. Clear visibility.

 

** 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?