Tag Archives: nesting season

Solar Panels

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Ecological Notes:

  • Brief view of an adult Elephant Seal
  • Elephant Seal pup is still wandering around a bit
  • Gulls still mostly paired off, no nesting behaviour yet
  • Most Oyster Catchers also paired off
  • Separately, orca and a Humpback Whale have passed, but outside the reserve

Visitors:

  • Greg Dropped off some supplies, and service the student house toilet

Facility Work:

  • Toilet service
  • Desalinator runs
  • Fuel Transfers
  • Solar panel cleaning…….. I know I’ve pasted photos like this before, but it’s one of my favorite views out here ...

The daylight, storing power for the nightlight

DND events:

  • Several loud blasts, (seemed louder than other recent blasts) … noted some bird disturbance 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Occasional Eco-Tourism vessels

Weather Events:

  • Wednesday, April 08:
    • Sky: Basically clear, with slight haze up high
    • Wind: E 5-10kts, shifting to SE about noon and dropping to no wind late afternoon, rising again slightly in the evening
    • Sea: rippled 
    • Temperature: Low 5.8oC, High 11.8oC
  • Thursday, April 09:
    • Sky: Clear, slight haze
    • Wind: E 5-10 kts, riding to ESE 10-15kts in the afternoon and dropping during the evening
    • Sea:  light chop 
    • Temperature: Low 5.8oC, High 11.8oC
  •  Friday, April 10:
    • Sky: High overcast
    • Wind: 
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature: Low 5.8oC, High 11.8oC 

      ** Any wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! ** Weather – Current:https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/ 

      Weather – Past:

      https://tempestwx.com/history/190757

 

 

 

Big Winds, Monday’s Census

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Weather:

  • Visibility: 15-40 NM
  • Today we discovered that on the foghorn sensor there is a visibility reading display. Normally we base this off of which landmarks we are able to see (Victoria is around 10 NM, North rock is 1 NM, Port Angeles is roughly 15 NM).
  • Sky clear and blue, a few white clouds
  • Wind 25-30 knots W
  • Sea state: Rough. Waves up to .5 m, white caps
  • A climb in humidity today after a relatively calm and dry weekend

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • No visitors to the island since Saturday (Greg)
  • Only a few eco-tourism boats today (very windy), but a steady trickle over the nice weekend. We have been seeing an average of 7 boats every day, not including pleasure crafts.

Ecological Observations: 

  • We noticed yesterday that the goose with a limp (affectionately dubbed “limpy”) is no longer here. We aren’t sure if it was attacked by an eagle or decided to move along (the 13 remaining adult geese are here).
  • We were happy to see an adult otter run across the jetty boardwalk yesterday, raising our hopes that the dead river otter seen with “Ollie” the sea otter last week may not have been one from under our shed (creating the possibility of abandoned young if this were the case).
  • The seagulls seem to have gotten even more aggressive as their young begin to venture away from the nest: attacking young of other gulls, diving at our heads, and attacking each other if their individual “territory” (the area around their nests) is invaded. We have to be extremely careful with our movements around the island to avoid scaring chicks into the open where they can be attacked.
  • Many small harbour seal pups today! They are particularly playful at this time of year as they learn to swim and fish with their mothers. We have been enjoying observing their movements from the top of the lighthouse where our presence doesn’t bother them and we can see directly downwards into the water around the island.

Monday’s Census:

  • 515 Adult seagulls (this doesn’t include chicks- they camouflage too well!)
  • 1 male elephant seal
  • 2 Adult bald eagles
  • 13 Canada geese
  • 33 Stellar sea lions
  • 72 Harbour seals (moms and pups)
  • 1 Black turnstone