Weather:
- Wind: 10-15 knots
- Sky: Early morning thick fog, clearing mid morning to blue sky
- Visibility: less than .5 mile this morning due to fog. Clearing to 15 miles.
- Water: Calm, slightly rippled.
Boats/Visitors:
Today there were many whale watching vessels, presumably since it is a long weekend. This afternoon we saw over 20 boats between 12pm and 5pm, sometimes more than 6 in the main passage at a time. We also observed a handful of pleasure craft throughout the day, who were very respectful of the reserve.
Ecological:
- The seagull eggs have started hatching! We have spotted 5+ hatched nests today. The chicks are hard to spot in the dry grassy areas as they are a similar colour and blend right in!
- We have also spotted two more oyster catcher chicks, which makes a total of 5 so far.
Census:
- Approx. 200 seagulls, chicks beginning to hatch
- 4 large male elephant seals moulting
- Approx. 30 harbour seals on surrounding rocks
- 2 families of geese, and one additional adult pair
- 2 barn swallows nesting in our rafters
- Approx. 8 adult oyster catchers, 5 chicks so far
- Approx. 20 pigeon guillemots
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- Two seagulls protecting their new chick hidden in the grass.
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- A closer look at the chick.
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- One of the male elephant seals wiggling back onto land from taking a nice bath in the jetty.
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- A seagull that seems to have an issue with its eye.
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- Harbour seals soaking up the sun on the rocks that surround us.
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- An oyster catcher helping its two chicks catch and eat a crab.
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- Three seagull chicks staying out of the wind.
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- A closer view.
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- The two families of geese snacking on grass and enjoying the last of today’s sunshine.
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- Seagulls protecting their nests and keeping and eye on us.
