Tag Archives: nesting

Otter Observations, Seagull Takeover!

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Today’s Weather:

  • Sky Clear, blue (very foggy in morning and evening)
  • Visibility 10+ NM (less than 1 during fog)
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, slightly rippled

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • Yesterday Greg visited to drop off some supplies, as well as on Thursday
  • Less than 10 whale watching boats per day recently
  • Minimal pleasure craft activity and the regular stream of fishing vessels, and larger ships

Ecological Observations: 

Due to amount of nesting birds and chicks, we’ve been going outside only when necessary as our presence seems to bother them quite a bit. Some of the windows facing the action have been getting, ahm… ‘fogged’ despite our efforts to collect rain water and scrub them when we can!

  • One of the two elephant seals molting has left the island, and the last pieces of skin are falling off in big dry pieces for the one remaining.
  • Seagull season is getting a bit violent: there are many deceased and dismembered seagull chicks around the island. We don’t usually see it happen, but we think that they are being killed by other adult seagulls protecting their territory and chicks.
  • While walking over the rocky area near the jetty to recover a significant amount of plastic that floated in, we noticed some pigeon guillemot eggs hidden in a rocky crevice! This is the first time that we have spotted a confirmed nest, although we had suspicions as we have been seeing them with fish and waiting for us to leave (before they carry it into their nest).
  • We found a pigeon guillemot near the jetty under camera five- it appeared to have been eaten by a bird of prey or perhaps an otter. It had been partially plucked of its feathers and eviscerated.
  • We’ve been noticing more harbour seal pups! We’re not sure if this is due to there being a increase in the total pups around, or we are seeing them closer than usual due to the low tides this week. We spot the pups with their mothers taking shelter from heavy currents in the more sheltered area between us and rosedale rock.
  • Yesterday we noticed that there were quite a few dead seagull chicks dragged underneath a diesel tank waiting for removal near the jetty/crane shed. We looked under the walkway where we often see the river otter duck through the rocks, and there were quite a few there as well. This explains the cacophony we sometimes hear at night!
  • We were contacted by an eco-tourism company who shared with us that they had spotted “ollie” the sea otter holding the body of a river otter. It sounds like he has been noted as particularly territorial before, so this is not a surprise, although this is the first time we have heard this during our time on Race Rocks.

We’ve been saving the fresh water that drains from the firehoses after pumping from Second Nature’s tank, and using it to fill the pressure washer tank. We can use this to mist the panels and scrub them by hand to remove the seagull waste that builds up so quickly this time of year. Every little bit of sun counts!

Neat Intertidal Finds

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Weather:

  • Visibility 6 NM
  • Sky overcast
  • Wind 5-10 knots W
  • Sea state: Calm

Marine Traffic/Island Visitors:

  • Greg visited with supplies on Friday
  • There have been a steady trickle of eco-tourism boats, 5-10 per day.
  • On Thursday DFO and Marine Mammal rescue visited the reserve (more on this below).

Ecological Observations: 

  • There has been a young sea lion in the reserve that appeared to be very underweight and weak. It was first spotted in the reserve on July 1st, and a few more times following. Marine mammal rescue notified us of the sightings earlier this week, and we were able to find the animal where it had originally been reported by a local eco-tourism company. With the assistance of DFO, they were able to make the journey from Vancouver to RR on Thursday July 9th, but unfortunately they weren’t able to spot the sea lion, and we have not seen it in the reserve since July 8th.
  • The seagull hatching is in full swing! There are now many chicks in various stages of development.
  • The goslings and their parents left for their first swim on the ocean yesterday at slack tide, but we haven’t seen them return. We wonder if they got caught in the stronger currents or perhaps made the journey to shore.
  • There are a few more sea lions in the reserve this week, roughly ten stellar sea lions on middle rocks.
  • We have had some low tides this week in the middle of the day, making for a great opportunity to explore the intertidal- photos below!

Secret Island Residents

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Today’s Weather: 

  • Sky overcast with light fog
  • Visibility 10 NM
  • Wind 5-10 knots SE
  • Calm sea for the most part

Marine Traffic/Visitors: 

  • Whale watching vessels over the past week: As Covid19 restriction ease, we’re seeing an gradual increase in commercial traffic through the area, the highest volume being 10 vessels counted in one day.
  • We have noticed once every couple of days, low flying planes that look to be Coast Guard or perhaps military.
  • A handful of private vessels/pleasure craft: Pleasure craft presence in the reserve has been sparse, 1-3 boats daily.
  • Greg visited today with water.

Ecological Observations:

  • The seagull chicks are growing quickly, the adult birds fight among themselves frequently and continue to become more aggressive towards human presence.
  • The goslings are growing quickly: ‘fluff and all’, they are closing in on a small seagull size! The three continue to stay close to their parents and spend dawn to dusk foraging in the plants and grasses. We noticed that all of the geese seem to be surviving by drinking the non-salty ‘grey water’ that comes from our house and filters through a septic field.
  • We discovered river otters with young living under our fuel shed yesterday evening, just next to the jetty. We noticed an adult running under the connecting boardwalk/pathway, and discovered that they have gotten under the building by pushing past some plywood that should close off access. They smell bad, but sure are cute! We’ll wait for them to leave on their own time, and then make sure they can’t get back in and cause damage. We suspect that they are the reason for the nightly seagull disturbances we have been hearing.
  • Many small birds present in the reserve this week: sandpipers, turnstones, and the barn swallows have been flying around frequently.

What a Windy Weekend! (seagull chicks, census)

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Today’s Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy (thick fog until late afternoon)
  • Visibility 10 NM (less than 200 m until late afternoon)
  • Wind 30-35 knots W
  • Sea state: swells up to .5 m, whitecaps

Marine Traffic/Visitors: 

  • Not many pleasure crafts this weekend as it was very windy (up to 40 knots!).
  • Greg visited today to deliver supplies
  • More whale watching boats this weekend than we have been seeing, around 5 per day.

Ecological Observations:

  • The seagull chicks have started hatching! Only a few nests have hatched so far. We have observed the chicks asking for food and the parent not feeding them. We wonder if there is enough food available to support them all through this nesting season.
  • One of the first nests to hatch had 3 chicks, but now they are nowhere to be seen. We are observing with an investigative eye as nesting season progresses, as we observed many instances of adult birds cannibalizing each other’s chicks last year.
  • One of the four goslings was eaten by seagulls on Saturday afternoon. The remaining three seem healthy and strong.
  • Not many visiting birds this past few days, perhaps due to the high winds.
  • Many harbour seals hauled out on outcroppings during the notably low tides over the past couple of weeks. The young seal pups are still keeping close to their mothers but we have not seen any still nursing.
  • The oyster catcher chicks are growing at an impressive rate! They seem to be doubling in size almost every week. They are now old enough to venture away from the protection of the rocky areas and explore the intertidal with their parents.

Census: 

  • 2 Male elephant seals moulting
  • 500 Seagulls, handful of chicks
  • 16 Adult geese
  • 3 Goslings
  • 10 Adult black oystercatchers
  • 3 Black oystercatcher chicks
  • 56 Harbour seals

Throughout the week we also observed pigeon guillemots, eagles, and a pair of swallows. The sea lion who was here alone over the past weeks seems to have moved along.

Beautiful Spring Day

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Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 10-15 knots SW
  • Sea state: calm, rippled

Visitors/Marine Traffic: One pleasure craft within the reserve yesterday

Ecological: 

  • There are now 5 goslings between 2 nests
  • There are 2 oyster catcher chicks (nest on E side of island). They are too elusive for our camera for now!
  • The garbage brought to the island by seagulls is increasing now that they are nesting and laying eggs
  • Yesterday we spotted a patch of broken seagull eggshells near the guest house. Our best guess: the gulls are already looting neighboring nests for food

 

Spring Showers Brought New Critters!

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast
  • Visibility 10 NM
  • Wind 10-15 knots W
  • Sea state: calm

Boats/Visitors: 

  • One pleasure craft fishing within the reserve today. They did not have a visible number so we were unable to report to DFO.
  • Yesterday Greg brought water which we pumped into our storage tank

Ecological: 

  • Today a large male elephant seal arrived! He is huge!
  • The smaller female elephant seal has returned for a bit more R&R
  • There are now goslings! There was one nest behind the boat shed which we did not see before. This morning we noticed two little fluffy goslings peeking out. Adorable!
  • The oyster catchers have begun to lay eggs
  • The seagulls are also laying eggs in full force. The nests are becoming fully established all over the island. They have become more defensive of their areas, which means we need to cover up! One of their favorite defense tactics is flying above us and trying to hit us with their droppings.

Lovely Weather + Plenty To Observe

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Weather:

  • Visibility
  • Sky clear, a few fluffy clouds
  • Wind 5-10 knots SW
  • Sea state: calm

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • Yesterday we saw the HMCS Calgary and HMCS Regina (both Halifax-Class frigate vessels). They passed by in the early evening.
  • One or two fishing vessels hanging around the border of the reserve

Ecological: 

  • Today we found three newly established goose nests. So far they each have 2-3 eggs.
  • The young seal pup has officially flown the coop! We haven’t seen her in a few days.
  • There are quite a few seagull nests beginning to take form. They are becoming more defensive of their established areas and make quite a ruckus when we walk through.

Windy Weekend

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Weather:

  • Visibility 10 NM
  • Sky mostly clear, some clouds in late afternoon
  • Wind 15-25 knots N
  • Sea state: white caps, waves breaking at 1 m

Boats/Visitors: None

Ecological:

  • Things have remained uneventful over the weekend. The elephant seals have been settling in for windy weather and bickering quite a bit.
  • There have been two crows visiting off and on this week. They don’t usually stay very long and the other animals don’t seem to mind.
  • The youngest goose nest has two eggs today.
  • This nest has two eggs- the geese cover them when they leave the nest
  • Periwinkles in the intertidal
  • Remaining pup in her favorite spot
  • Stormy clouds moving in from the west
  • Today’s intertidal find: Abalone!

Business As Usual

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15 NM
  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Wind 30-40 knots N
  • Sea state: white caps, fast moving water, waves and swells up to 1 m

Visitors/Boats:

  • There have been no visitors to the island and no boats within the reserve

Ecological:

  • There is a new goose nest with one egg so far established in the middle of the island where the footpaths intersect
  • The young pup has seemed particularly inactive recently, and we have not seen her in the water for some time. Nick mentioned to us when he visited that she seems to have gained weight so we are not overly concerned. She spends most of her time near the jetty behind her favorite fence post.
  • The goose with an injured leg continues to limp around the island, but seems to be making do and there are no signs of deteriorating condition.
  • The eagle activity has been steady, aside from today with these strong winds
  • The seagulls are beginning to pull the grass and collect other debris for nesting, but no established nests so far.

Maintenance:

  • The generator is still out of commission, but we have been taking in a substantial amount of solar energy. Combined with the smaller generator contributing, our batteries have remained healthy. We are conserving water heavily until the new part arrives, as the desalination process requires a sizable amount of electricity.
  • Felted sea lion fur
  • Goose down clinging to rocks
  • Abandoned goose nest behind fuel shed
  • E103, “Erica” enjoying the sprinkle from a punctured fire hose
  • Keeping the solar panels clean

Bustling Wildlife

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Weather:

  • Visibility 10 NM this morning, 15+ NM this afternoon
  • Sky overcast in morning but clear this afternoon
  • Wind 20-30 knots NW-NE
  • Sea state: white caps (.25m), fast moving ripples

Visitors/Boats:

  • Greg and Nick on Monday
  • Greg and Nick on Tuesday
  • Greg and a technician for generator maintenance on Wednesday
  • Greg and Nick this afternoon (Thursday) 

Aside from this there have been very few vessels aside from commercial/shipping traffic. Today a couple of sailboats passed by despite the astounding wind gusts (all a fair distance away).

Ecological:

  • There have been 4 eagles in the reserve daily on average, both juvenile and adult. They typically perch on Rosedale Rock to our SE, but we have been spotting them on the webcam tower, crane, and diesel tank near the power building. The juvenile eagles seem to be more interested in Great Race Rock, while the adults tend to stick to the outcroppings. Occasionally they swoop over the reserve, prompting the seagulls to rise into the air to avoid becoming lunch!
  • The geese continue to protect their nests but no new eggs have been observed.
  • The elephant seals have settled to complete their moult, all in various stages. The remaining pup is still here, and spends most of its time on the jetty away from the others.
  • There is a sea lion with a significant head/neck wound that we have been seeing daily. It looks like it has been tagged by the Vancouver Aquarium, so we are wondering if it has been disentangled and tagged at the same time.
  • Yesterday we spotted a killdeer, a type of plover. We’ve never seen one here before!

Repairs/Maintenance:

  • We filled the underground cistern with sea water to be desalinated (pumped using the fire pump and fire hoses).
  • To maximize our solar intake we have been keeping the solar panels as clean as possible (when they are covered in bird waste they create much less power). 
  • Juvenile eagle on diesel tank
  • Juvenile eagle on power building
  • The gang
  • Moulting elephant seal skin and fur
  • The gulls continue to arrive for nesting…
  • … and defend their territory fiercely!
  • a breeding pair of geese resting
  • This one has a sore leg from a fight!
  • The youngest nest
  • Tag of the latest arrived elephant seal
  • Pigeon Guillemot
  • Sea lion with healing entanglement wound
  • Killdeer (adorable!)
  • Juvenile bald eagle perched on the crane