Tag Archives: pigeon

J-pod Orcas and the return of the haze

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Weather

  • Visibility: 5-10 miles
  • Wind: 10-20 knts W
  • Sky: Hazy
  • Water: Calm
  • After the strong winds cleared the haze day-before yesterday, the smoke has set in again since the winds died down

Boats/Visitors/Sightings

  • An average number of whale watching boats in the area
  • Quite a few private boats over the last couple of days trying to get a glimpse of the hauled-out sea lions

Bird notes

  • Spotted a lone pigeon on the island
  • The flock of geese are back on the island in search of food – about 9 of them
  • The juvenile seagulls have started to take flight – the highest I’ve seen one go is about 12 feet in the air, hanging in there for about a minute.

Marine mammals

  • The J-pod of orcas swam past late in the afternoon, going through Race Passage and slowly making their way towards victoria. See here for more details on the j-pod: https://orcaspirit.com/2012/05/the-resident-orcas-of-j-pod/
  • Sea lion numbers have started to stabilize over the last few days, but still growing slowly. Will get an accurate count in tomorrow’s census.

Back Online

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Saturday evening as the storm was subsiding, the communication lines went dead out here at Race Rocks. After trying all the normal fixes on my side, I was informed via cellphone that the problem lay at Pearson College. The College had lost power from some internal breakdown, and so no internet or phone line was being sent my way over the air. Once things were up and running again this morning, I was able to reestablish connection to the internet and phone lines.

Rather than submitting a log entry for each missed day, I will simply provide a summary of each day’s main events. And pictures as always!

Saturday 15 October 2016-Fierce Storm

  • Day began at 7:00 with winds of 15-20 knots NE.
  • 9:45 30 knots East
  • 13:00 35 knots East
  • 13:30 45 knots East
  • 14:30 50~ knots East!
  • 15:20 45 knots East, communications down.
  • 16:50 communications returned.
  • 17:00 30 knots East
  • Around 18:30 communications down for good.
  • 19:00 15 knots West
  • 20:30 30 knots South-West
  • One month remaining in my shift.

Sunday 16 October 2016-Pelican

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Saw a single brown pelican today!
  • Failed to get a picture though.
  • Branded California sea lion 8465.
  • 8 elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • A small group of California sea lions began sleeping on top of the e-seals.
  • To my surprise the elephant seals don’t seem to mind.

Monday 17 October 2016-Peregrine Falcon!

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 5 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm
  • In the early evening a pigeon flew into a window, presumably breaking its neck.
  • Immediately a Peregrine falcon swooped down to inspect its prey.
  • I assume the falcon was the reason the pigeon hit the window at such a speed.
  • The falcon then flew way up into the sky, before returning to make off with the meal.

Tuesday 18 October 2016-Bio-mimicry Visitors (and Alex!)

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0 knots
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm
  • A rainstorm appeared from about 10:00-12:00.
  • A rather sunny afternoon!
  • Kyle came out with Alex Fletcher and a biology group.
  • The 6 visitors were studying bio-mimicry.
  • How can humans improve our technology by copying successful animals?
  • The organization that they are involved with is one of our donors.
  • They were very interested in the sea lions, seals, and birds.
  • 11 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • Saw 3 brown pelicans; this time got a photo!

Columba livia: Rock Dove–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Columba livia at Race Rocks
Surprisingly this is the first pigeon we have seen at Race Rocks The week this photo was taken on the remote camera by Pam Birley, it has been non-stop winds from the West over 25km/hr. Perhaps it was just blown away from its normal flock.

Note: Moisture and heat retention by breathing under the wings. This pigeon It appeared on June 15,2009.Most of the pigeons we see around Victoria are the typical grey body with dark bands

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
SubphylumVertebrata
Class Aves
Order Columbiformes
Family Columbinae
SubfamilyColumbinae
Genus Columba
Species livia
Linnaeus, 1758
Common Name: Rock Dove, Rock Pigeon

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.

Pam Birley