Tag Archives: peregrine falcon

15 Elephant Seals

Posted on by

West Rock, 10 elephant seals Dec 8.

 

Male elephant seal younger than Misery with deep scars and a female elephant seal on main island Dec 8

On Dec 8 I counted 15 elephant seals in the reserve: 3 female and 2 male elephant seals hauled out on Great Race as well as 10  female elephant seals on West Rock.  I think this is the most i have ever counter here.

mouth or throat injury

Unfortunately one of the females on Great Race is injured in her mouth or throat and has been bleeding quite a lot.  We have notified the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about her.  There was an elephant seal in the spring that had a mouth injury as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second male elephant seal is brave  to venture onto great race while Misery, Alpha male, is about.  This same elephant seal was here earlier this year, Mike posted about “chunk” at the end of May: https://www.racerocks.ca/2012/05/31/end-of-may/

And i think that it is the same one that had been around earlier that we were calling “Zeke”. I reported him injured here by Misery in February: https://www.racerocks.ca/2012/02/09/zeke-is-wounded/

The scars look similar, including a scar to his right eyelid.  Misery does not seem to be very bothered by the other male being on the main island.  The younger male has kept his distance though.

There has been a Peregrine hunting in the reserve the past three days, this picture taken Dec 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One tagged Pelican Dec 8 but not able to make out the ID #.

Pelicans and a Peregine

Posted on by

Since the last post there have been several visits of Pelicans to the reserve.  My first sighting of 3 of them was on Saturday afternoon just before dark.

Dec 2-Pelicans on North East side

On Sunday evening a flock of around 20 pelicans landed on the West rock, joining the elephant seals that were there.  The light was really poor so I couldn’t get a very good quality image.   There has recently been a sighting of a similar size group close to Victoria, likely the same ones.

Dec 2-Pelicans on West Rock

Dec 3-Brown Pelican

 

 

 

 

On Dec 3 there were 4 Pelicans sighted in the reserve as well as a Peregrine Falcon.

Misery has been on the main island   up near the South side of the tower for several days. I have seen up to 8 other elephant seals on West Rock including a male that looks nearly as big as Misery.

Peregrine Falcon at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve

On Tuesday morning and again in the evening the wind picked up to 40 knots from the West.

Dec 4-West Rock elephant seals (not Misery)

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Animal Census Jan 2012

Posted on by

Air Breathing Animal Census of Race Rocks Jan 2012

Stellar Sea Lions: 30

Elephant Seals: 6-7

Harbour Seals: 50

Bald Eagles: 5-15

Brandt’s Cormorants: 50

Glaucous-Winged Gull: 100

Herring Gull: 30

Black Turnstones: 50

Song Sparrow: 6

Peregrine Flacon: 1

Killdeer: 4

Dunlin: 2

Sandpiper: 6

Harlequin Ducks: 20

Human: 1

 

Peregrine observed

Posted on by

‘Two peregrine falcons were observed at the reserve today. One had taken position near on the lighthouse itself and its territorial calls first alerted me to its presence. Another bird had perched on the rocks to the SE of Great Race Island. No hunting was observed.’Ryan’, ’15:52:00 ,
‘Slash has been making short trips into the water and over to Middle Rocks but remains mostly hauled out here at Great Race Island. Two adult cow elephant seals are on Middle Rocks today, and a third female is here on the E side of the main island.’, ‘Ryan’, ’15:53:05 ,

Peregrine Falcon at Race Rocks

Posted on by

Pam Birley took several images of a falcon with the remote camera today. See her images on her Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/sets/72157622734684234/

See other images and notations about Peregrine Falcons at Race Rocks Ecological reserve.

It also appears in Pams picture file of Nov 27, 2009

pnperegrine09:11:09

Also she took some interesting pictures of A juvenile bald eagle:
pb-eagle-nictitate

Falco peregrinus: Peregrine falcon –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Posted on by
ryanperegrine

This photo was taken on Race Rocks by Ryan Murphy in December of 2008.

See all the posts on this website with observations of Peregrines

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Genus: Falco
Species: peregrinus
Common Name: Peregrine falcon

Unusual footage taken by Pam Birley using the remote camera 5 of a falcon eating a seabird. Also see similar sequence on right below..

 

The Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, is a bird of prey (or raptor) which has captured the attention and imagination of ornithologists and bird-watchers alike for several thousand years. With a body length of 15-20 inches and a body weight of 1.25-3.75 lbs, the falcon is built specifically for travelling at high speeds (up to 180 m.p.h.) in order to catch its prey. The name Falco peregrinus is derived from the Latin falx, or sickle-shaped, and peregrinus, meaning wandering. It is unclear whether the former is derived from the shape of the bird’s silhouette in the sky or from the shape of its beak, but the latter name comes undoubtedly from its propensity to migrate great distances.In the picture of a Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle from his Flickr site, Ryan Murphy said
“This was amazing to witness in person, I regret not having been able to capture it better than this! Just before this the eagle rolled backwards towards the chasing falcon… awesome aerial battle!”
Predation
Two sequences of pictures from Race Rocks below have been taken by Pam Birley showing the peregrine eating a shorebird.and a sea gull. Though peregrine falcons, like other birds of prey, are considered to be near the top of the food web, they are not completely free from predators. Great horned owls and golden eagles have been known to attack them. Humans have also been known to take their eggs in hopes to raise the falcons for hunting purposes.
As top predators, peregrine falcons play an important ecosystem role in regulating the populations of their prey.
Habitat
Peregrine Falcons prefer open habitats such as grasslands, tundra, and meadows. They nest on cliff faces and crevices. They have recently begun to colonize urban areas because tall buildings are suitable for nesting in this species, and because of the abundance of pigeons as prey items.
Peregrine falcons prey almost exclusively on birds, including mourning doves, pigeons, shorebirds, (see slide shows above) waterfowl, and smaller songbirds. They will also eat small reptiles and mammals. Although peregrine falcons capture their prey with their claws, they generally kill prey with their beak.The photos for this slide show and video were taken on the remote camera 5 at Race Rocks, by Pam Birley operating the camera from Great Britain. Pam had observed the peregrine falcon on various perches around the island in the mornings for several weeks in October and November. Her persistence paid off on November 17, 2005. Pam wrote in her e-mail ….”Today we had just returned home .. I just came up to the computer, switched it on and there was Perry with his breakfast….I really caught him in the act of devouring his prey today! “You may see other pictures that Pam has taken using the remote camera at Race Rocks by clicking here to go to her photo album .
CLICK ON THE BLANK SPACE

PEREGRINE FALCONS AT RACEROCKS: OCTOBER, 2004

Pam Birley of Leicester England captured some of the pictures remotely on robotic camera 5 and Mike Slater, our reserve guardian took the pictures of the antenna perch on the towerPam was interviewed recently about her wildlife viewing on racerocks.com
ref: Anderson, Charlie, “Live Wildlife for your Living Room “,
The Province (newspaper) , Vancouver, B.C. ( Sunday, Nov.21, 2004)

Conservation Status
Peregrine falcons have suffered due to their dangerous position atop the food chain. Pesticides accumulate in small (not lethal) quantities in the tissues of small birds and mammals, but become concentrated enough in predatory birds, such as falcons, to kill them or render them incapable of producing offspring. Organochlorine pesticides (DDT and dieldrin) have been proven to reduce the birds’ ability to produce eggshells with sufficient calcium content, making the egg shells thin and more likely to break. Peregrine falcon populations dropped greatly in the middle of the 20th century, they were threatened worldwide by the increasing use of pesticides. All breeding pairs vanished in the Eastern United States. A successful captive breeding/reintroduction program, combined with restrictions in pesticide use, has been the basis of an amazing recovery by peregrine falcons. Now the use of many of the chemicals most harmful to these birds is restricted. It is not yet restricted in the areas of Central and South American where many subspecies spend the winter. After having been on the endangered list since 1969, the incredible recovery of Peregrine Falcons has become a perfect example of how effective human conservation can be. In the 1990’s they were taken off the lists of endangered species in the United States.

Jan 25, 2010 Brian Mury sent this link to a set of images he took from Camera 1 on the top of the tower. The falcon is perched on the FM antenna which is used by Environment Canada to transmit anemometer readings from the top of the tower.

 

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Chiara Ravetti PC yr 31

 

Out of the dark days

Posted on by

-2002-01-02′, ’15:45:15′, ‘It was sooo nice to see the sun after so many dark, windy days! It was such a pleasure to do the morning walk without getting chilled to the bone with the north wind and drenched in spray.We had 7 -2 mature) Bald Eagles and 1 immature Peregrine Falcon today.The Eagles spent several hours on the Southeast rocks then moved over to West Race.The crows and starlings were nowhere to be seen while the Peregrine Falcon was around but soon reappeared after it flew off towards the north.The gulls and cormorants seemed more alerted to the Falcon than the Eagles.The eagles are impressive in their size but the Falcon is incredibly fast. A group of 22 Black Oyster Catchers spent a good part of the day along the south shore of Gr. race. The 7 harlequins were also back today in the east bay.The big job tomorrow will be clearing the boat ramp of all the driftwood that has piled up over the past week. ‘, ‘Carol or Mike S’, ’15:46:06 ,

Peregrine falcon visits

Posted on by

Wednesday, January 02, 2002

 Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.5C — Min. 7.9C — Reset 9.0C — Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: It  was sooo nice to see the sun after so many dark, windy days! It was such a pleasure to do the morning walk without getting chilled to the bone with the north wind and drenched in spray.We had 7(2 mature) Bald Eagles and 1 immature Peregrine Falcon today.The Eagles spent several hours on the Southeast rocks then moved over to West Race.The crows and starlings were nowhere to be seen while the Peregrine Falcon was around but soon reappeared after it flew off towards the north.The gulls and cormorants seemed more alerted to the Falcon than the Eagles.The eagles are impressive in their size but the Falcon is incredibly fast.A group of 22 Black Oyster Catchers spent a good part of the day along the south shore of Gr. race. The 7 harlequins were also back today in the east bay.The big job tomorrow will be clearing the boat ramp of all the driftwood that has piled up over the past week.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis 12 Miles — Light Rain — Wind North 9 Knots — Sea 1 Foot Chop Low East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:45 AM