Tag Archives: pigeon guillemot

August 23 Weekly Census

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First things first! Time to check out the solar panels, while at the same time, keeping track of what animals and birds are being seen. Census is usually conducted on Friday, but since I didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon, I opted to do it today.

The solar panels were in better shape than I expected given the look of the Science Building windows. I remembered all of the valves that needed to be opened to provide water on the generator building roof, so a single trip up the ladder was all that was needed. Once those were taken care of, it was off to tackle the Science Building. There are some great new tools available for reaching the second story windows, but they are quite unwieldy, especially for someone who is just a little over 5 feet tall! As I feared, the gull artwork was baked on, so although there was improvement, the windows were not fully clean when I was done.

Next, a trip up the tower to count marine mammals and gulls. I found a key outside the door as I entered. The fob looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. I thought one of the guests might have dropped it yesterday, so left it at the bottom of the stairs. A hundred steps up, I remembered why it looked familiar–it was the key to the hatch to the outside of the light. Down 100 steps and back up 100 steps. A double workout for today!

While at the top, I called my friends at Rocky Point Bird Observatory just the other side of Bentinck Island and arranged a neighbourly wave. There is a gap in Bentinck that provides a great view of Race Rocks from the other side.

Census complete, I headed back to ground level. Hmmm..Where are my glasses? You got it–back up at the light! Another trip to the top!  Although I had done a count of gulls from the top, I decided to count the young birds again. They are difficult to see from the light. At ground level, I found about three times as many as I had counted from the birds’ eye view.

The sea lions had dumped most of the posts and their concrete blocks off the jetty again. I managed to get them back up before the tide rolled in and repaired the fence–again. I have to say, I felt that I’d put in a full-day’s labour before noon!

Weekly Census
Observed today because of arrival too late on Friday for a fair census

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 327 (including entangled female detected yesterday)
  • California sea lion: 142
  • Harbour seal: 64

Birds:

  • Canada Goose: 7
  • Black Oystercatcher: 5
  • Pigeon Guillemot: 34
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 1
  • Black Turnstone: 15
  • Brandt’s Cormorant 2
  • Pelagic Cormorant 30
  • Western Gull 2
  • California Gull 270
  • Glaucous-winged Gull 1042 (including about 300 young)
  • Brown Pelican

Facility work:

  • Clean the solar panels
  • Cleaned windows on the north and west side of Science Building
  • Returned posts and concrete blocks to the jetty and repaired the fence
  • Topped up batteries

Weather:

  • Sky: sunny and clear all day
  • Wind: variable 0 – 18 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 15 °C, high 26 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6 °C

Photos from today:

Entangled Sea Lion still being seen near the jetty.

Mom and pup Harbour Seal exuding cuteness

Jetty stripped almost clean of all the fencing posts

Young Glaucous-winged Gull in the early morning sunlight

One of several private vessels seen near the rocks today.

Looks familiar!

 

August 18

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Wildlife Notes:

  • This morning, I enjoyed watching from the top of the lighthouse as a Steller sea lion feasted on a salmon. See the photos below.
  • I caught a glimpse of four brown pelicans flying through the ecological reserve and stopping in the kelp bed near Turbine Rock. I did see one close up this afternoon. They are my favourite bird I get to see here due to their size and rarity in these waters.
  • With the permission of DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans), the dead Steller sea lion was towed away. The Race Rocks team did not want the carcass to rot in the jetty bay where it hauled out and died on Thursday. The plan was for the dead sea lion to be towed back to Pearson College, so it could be dissected by the Marine Science students. Due to the decomposition, the tow did not work and the carcass was cut loose in deeper water on the east side of the ecological reserve. Now that it has sunk, it is part of the food web.

Facility work:

  • Due to rust, the jetty railing at the top of the built in ladder was removed. A new one will be manufactured and brought out soon. I reconfigured the electric fence at the end of the jetty to ward off the sea lions. After all, they do have so many rocks they can use.
  • This afternoon, I took the Race Rocks station boat out for a leisurely tour around the ecological reserve. The boat ran well. I tested everything a couple weeks ago and was waiting for a good tide and current combination to take it out beyond the jetty. My attempt on Thursday was thwarted when the dead sea lion was blocking the boat ramp. Today, I enjoyed seeing the various smaller islands around the ecological reserve and vantages that I do not often see from Great Race Rocks.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 18
  •  Private: 8

Weather:

  • Sky: partly cloudy
  • Wind: west and southwest 5-15 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 19 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.7°C

Photos from today:

Photos from this afternoon’s trip in the Race Rocks station boat:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 16 Weekly Census

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Weekly Census
Observed today because of yesterday’s poor visibility from heavy fog.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 229 (way up from 41 on August 9)
  • California sea lion: 211 (way up from 35 on August 9)
  • Harbour seal: 125

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 2
  • Canada goose: 2
  • Cormorant: 37
  • Gull: 464
  • Black oystercatcher: 6 (including 2 chicks)
  • Pigeon guillemot: 92
  • Surfbird: 25
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 2
  • Black turnstone: 99

Facility work:

  • Checked the water levels in the batteries and topped up.
  • Fixed parts of the electric fence to deter the sea lions from plopping themselves onto the paths and other human built areas of Race Rocks.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 10
  •  Private: 6

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: west 3-25 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 14 °C, high 17 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6°C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 14

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Wildlife Notes:

  • A couple of humpback whales passed through the northern and eastern side of the ecological reserve this afternoon. At 14:30, I saw a spout just beyond the North Rocks and watched as the whales swam south. I heard over the radio from the ecotour boats that there appeared to be a mother and calf. I was surprised to see several sea lions swimming around the humpbacks. Most likely the sea lions were feeding on the fish that were being stirred up by the big whales.
  • Early this afternoon, I noticed a Steller sea lion that had hauled out on the boat ramp beside the jetty. The sea lion did not move when I walked near it several times to fix the electric fence at the end of the jetty. It also wasn’t breathing, so I suspected it had died at some point overnight or this morning. I checked on it at this evening’s high tide at 19:30, by which point the sea lion’s mouth and nose were just under the water, but there didn’t appear to be enough tide to take it out. I reported it to the DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) BC Marine Mammal Response Network, in case they want to check it out. Fortunately, I did not notice any signs of trauma on the animal from what I could see on the top. It had some battle scars on its back like most of the male sea lions and elephant seals I see. I am fairly sure it’s a male that is not mature, based on the thicker neck but not bulk of the fully mature males.

Facility work:

  • Fix parts of the electric fence that were breached by party animal California sea lions. One made a foul mess at the end of the jetty that I washed away with many buckets of sea water. Any excuse to use a bucket on a rope to pull up seawater.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 13
  •  Private: 2

Weather:

  • Sky: partly cloudy
  • Wind: variable directions 0-30 knots
  • Sea: riippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 15 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11/2°C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 12

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Wildlife Notes:

  • I don’t need an alarm clock here because my neighbours get excited when the sun rises. Eagles do a few passes of the island and freak out the gulls. The growing concentration by the jetty of sea lions bark and bellow ever so slightly louder in the daylight.
  • This afternoon, I got word from an ecotour boat that a northern fur seal was spotted several nautical miles west of the ecological reserve. Hopefully the seal stops by here like one did in December and April. Before that, a fur seal had not been spotted at Race Rocks in over four decades!

Facility work:

  • Clean the 44 solar panels first thing this morning before the guano got baked on by the sun
  • Clean the windows of the main house
  • Laundry load of sheets and towels used before I got here in July. There was plenty of solar power to accommodate the extra power load of the washer and dryer. While the dryer is heated with propane, the motor still draws a few hundred watts of power.
  • Remade some of the depth sounding charts around the island that are getting hard to read. We used these charts to see how many litres of diesel are in the tanks by dipping a ruler into the tank to measure the level.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 22
  •  Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: variable directions 3-25 knots
  • Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in the afternoon
  • Air temperature: low 18 °C, high 26 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6°C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 11

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Wildlife Notes:

The sea lions are spreading out more on the main island. So far they are resting on the shoreline rocks and staying off the jetty and paths. If only the gulls would be as open to sharing the space. There are a few gulls that are for some reason getting even more territorial near the intersection of the paths in the centre of the island. Maybe they are getting tired of protecting their chicks for so long. Unlike the eagles that fly over the island and cause panic, I come in peace. I am still holding a broomstick over my head as I walk on the paths, so the gulls have a harder time dive bombing me. Perhaps the broomstick does not show peace to them.

Facility work:

  • Swept the rest of the stairs in the lighthouse. The thick stone walls make it a cool place to be in the afternoon heat.
  • Maintained the electric fence around the jetty to dissuade the California sea lions from taking it over.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 15
  •  Private: 7 (including 3 sea kayakers)

Weather:

  • Sky: clear
  • Wind: variable 4-15 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 14 °C, high 30 °C (And I thought yesterday’s monthly high of 21 °C was hot!)
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.9 °C

Photos from today:

t*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 9

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Weekly Census
Observed today in between fog patches.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 41
  • California sea lion: 35
  • Harbour seal: 105

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 1
  • Canada goose: 4
  • Cormorant: 37
  • Gull: 495
  • Black oystercatcher: 16 (including 3 chicks)
  • Pigeon guillemot: 112
  • Harlequin duck: 2
  • Surfbird: 34
  • Black turnstone: 68

Facility work:

  • Check and top up battery water
  • Weed whacking paths

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 21

Weather:

  • Sky: fog with occasional patches of visibility up to 2 km
  • Wind: west 12-26  knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 15 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7°C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 6

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Wildlife Notes:

  • A scoop of brown pelicans stopped by the ecological reserve this afternoon. They rested and preened on the South Islands before taking off a couple hours later. A group of pelicans can go by many names: brief, fleet, pod, pouch, scoop, and squadron.
  • Many of the gull chicks are practicing their take offs and landings. Some are getting about 30 cm or higher off the ground during their wing strengthening exercises. Soon they will all take flight! Then I can stop walking around with a broom over my head to prevent the gull parents from attacking me.

Facility work:

  • The generator ran automatically this morning when the battery voltage dipped down to 47.8V just before 07:00am. The batteries did not fully charge from solar power yesterday due to the clouds. The generator ran for almost seven hours today, using about 30 L of diesel. The battery state of charge went from 65% to 100%, with only some assistance from solar energy since it was cloudy this morning.
  • Changed the relatively much smaller 12V battery in station boat after charging it for a couple days.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 17
  •  Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy this morning, partly cloudy this afternoon, fog patches in the evening
  • Wind: variable early this morning, west 4-30 knots from mid morning onwards
  • Sea: rippled for most of the day, then up to 3′ chop in the evening
  • Air temperature: low 13 °C, high 18 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7°C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 3

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Wildlife Notes:

There were many humpback whales seen throughout the day to the south of the ecological reserve. They did not come close enough to this rock for any great photos. Although that did not stop me from trying. Many ecotourism boats spent time out there observing and must have got excellent photos from their vantage.

Three California sea lions have landed on the main island. This advanced team marks the beginning of the takeover that will last into the fall and winter, when several hundred of them will sleep, bark, and attempt to occupy any surface. The Californians have not always been the best neighbours at Race Rocks when it comes to the human built infrastructure. So far these three have been respectful and keeping to the perimeter.

A few times today, I saw a very small and fast bird flying around the middle of the tower. I wonder if it is living in the currently malfunctioning foghorn sensor nearby where I caught glimpses of the quick bird. Coast Guard technicians are planning to visit next week to do maintenance on their equipment like the foghorn. I will keep looking out with binoculars for the fast flyer. Hopefully the bird is actually living in the recently installed nesting boxes attached to a post above the ecoguardian’s back porch.

Facility work:

  • Run generator in the evening to top up the batteries after not getting enough solar energy on the mostly cloudy day
  • Clean windows in the lantern room so I can better spy on marine mammals
  • Clean ecoguardian’s house windows so I do not have to look out through guano

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 20
  •  Private: 1

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy in morning with some sunny patches in the afternoon and evening
  • Wind: west 16-29 knots
  • Sea: 1′ to 2′ chop
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 16 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.5 °C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.

August 2

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Wildlife Notes:

  • The loud barks of a few California sea lions echoed across the island this afternoon. Perhaps they are calling out for other pals to stop off here or just being loud California sea lions.

Facility work:

  • Clean windows
  • Tidy boat ramp of weeds and accumulated small pieces of wood
  • Top up water in the 24 batteries in the Energy Building

Vessels:

  • 14 ecotourism boats passed through the reserve today. Many more motored through the channel to the north on their way to see humpback whales and other sites further to the west. 

Weather:

  • Sky: partly cloudy, fog throughout the morning with a distant fog bank to the south persisting into the evening
  • Wind: west 23-35 knots
  • Sea: 2-3′ chop
  • Air temperature: low 11 °C, 16 high  °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.3 °C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.