On Sunday, which was a sunny but windy day, we found one dead chick, the first one and beyond the student house on the rocks we discovered some newcomers, two beautiful little birds. By deduction and with the pictures sent to Garry, we came to the conclusion that they were 2 Western Sandpipers. A change from gulls!
On the 13th when we went to clean the solar panels we discovered the fresh, bloody, half eaten body of a pigeon – guillemot. We think that it was a Sea otter’s job because of the hidden place where we found it. Busy night!
Tag Archives: pigeon guillemot
ANIMAL CENSUS
July 9th Thursday: Animal census
The fog was still there pretty thick but around 11:30 it cleared up and we could go up the tower to do the census. We had a west wind and the forecast was a gale warning for the end of the afternoon.The wind at noon was from West at 24 knots and could go to 35 in the late afternoon. We saw a few Whale watchers boats around noon and we had no visitors. Water is getting colder under 12 degrees Celsius. Guy put a new VHF on the whaler.
The estimation of the population is:
Elephant seals: 3
Sea Lions: 180
Pigeon–guillemots: 80
Gulls: 450 (yesterday we could see a group of gulls with black winged maybe some west gulls)
Pelagic cormorants: 3
Geese: 11 (Today the smallest one of the family of 5 was not in the water swimming but looked lost alone in the island hanging around). They spend more and more time in the water.
Black oystercatchers :0
Bald eagle: 1 (they attack the colony almost every day once in the morning)
National Aboriginal Day at Race Rocks Heritage Site
The wind was slow and relaxed most of today at Race Rocks. In the morning, it blew 5 – 10 knots east and in the afternoon it turned to south/southeast and blew just enough to make the flag look good. The outflow wind pushed out the fog that had formed early to the west. Eventually the wind backed around through south, southwest and over to west. At the end of the day it was blowing west 20 to 25 knots and a strong wind warning is part of the forecast along with a mix of sun and cloud, mostly cloudy with fog banks in the morning.
The sky was clear all day today and with the clarity, cloud formation on the Cascade and Olympic Mountains ranges was visible. Mount Baker stood like an eastern sentinel and Bahokas Peak was visible, low, like a distant lookout, at the far southwestern entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Mt. Baker to the east.
Today, the barometer continued the slide it started on Friday and ended up just above 1010 hPA. in the late afternoon. With the still wind and intense sunshine came higher temperatures. The high today of 18o C is a big jump up from the week’s average of 13.9 o C to Saturday and from the overnight low of 10.5 o C. That was sea surface temperature yesterday 10.5 o C.
Outside air temperature at Race Rocks for last week.
There was very little whale watching activity today with only one vessel observed working in the Ecological Reserve. There were quite a few sports fishing vessels in reserve including rentals, charters and individual fishers. Two boats were observed fishing for rockfish in the closed Rockfish Conservation Area, within in the Ecological Reserve. Most people respect the closure and this is how the area has a chance to rebuild and start to contribute juvenile fish to adjacent areas.
Today is national aboriginal day and I would like to honour the First Nations within whose territories Race Rocks lies today. I would also like to draw attention to the stone cairns on the island, which date back to ~500AD. These cairns are a testament to a long and storied history that has been too often down-played or downright ignored, by Euro-Canadian historians. https://www.racerocks.ca/history-of-race-rocks/first-nations-burial-cairns-at-great-race-rocks/
Ecologically we are moving into summer and these lovely long days are important markers of biological activity. Most of nesting gulls are incubating and almost all the nests I have had a peek at, have three eggs. This island is an ideal location for nesting studies as the light tower offers an incomparable 360-degree view. Observational activity from that height does not disturb the nesting birds.
Seasonal timing is important and gull and oystercatcher chicks should start hatching out in a couple of weeks. It is trickiernow to pinpoint what is going on with the Pigeon Guillemots and easier later, once they start to carry fish to their chicks. The early nesters (Canada Geese) have young almost full size now and their numbers have dropped again. There are only two pairs of adults left; one pair with five goslings and the other with three. An adult Bald Eagle was hunting here today.
In the water around Race Rocks, at least three species of salmon are passing by (Chinook, Coho and Sockeye) and halibut have moved into the relatively shallow waters outside the reserve. At the surface, mixed species, feeding flocks are starting to form, driven from below by diving birds such as Rhinoceros Auklets. That is where the juvenile gulls seem to be feeding. The sea lions have all gone now and pregnant Harbour Seals are starting to look very round. Just Chunk and Floyd remain in the elephant seal department and they were both sleeping up against the back of the science house most of the day.
I went ashore briefly today and was back by breakfast. There were no visitors and chores were routine today.
Chunk Chilling
The morning was relatively calm with west winds of 5 to 10 knots. As the day progressed wind speed picked up gradually. When the fog rolled in, early afternoon, the wind rose more and by 18:00, it was blowing the more usual, 25 – 30 knots. By sunset it had calmed right down to 10 -1 5 again. The sky was clear all day and the blue was even visible, looking straight up through the fog. The barometer dropped very slowly all-day and ended up at ~ 1014HPA. in the early evening. The forecast calls for continuing west winds increasing to 15-20 knots (strong wind warning) Sunday afternoon, with a mix of sun and cloud.
The fog rolling in past Church and Swordfish Islands (obscured).
It was another busy whale-watching day at Race Rocks and 18 whale watching visits to the Ecological Reserve were noted. There were many more vessels that passed just outside the Reserve following pods of Southern Resident pods of Killer Whales. The usual Saturday dive charter operator also worked in the Ecological Reserve. Three sports fishing vessels came through as well and they mostly respected the speed restriction (7 knots) in the Ecological Reserve boundary.
Race Rocks was again at the centre of whale activity today. A large Humpback was feeding to the east early and then headed west through Race Passage and then off to the south. Several groups of Southern Resident Killer Whales passed through the Ecological Reserve, through Race Passage and over Rosedale Reef, with the afternoon/evening flooding tide. One group of three to four individuals came right through middle passage passing within meters of the end of the Jetty. According to the whale-watching fleet there were animals from both J and K pods going through Race Rocks at the same time. Biggs’ Killer Whales also passed by Race Rocks through Race Passage also heading east with the flooding tide.
Chainsaw is the nickname for this big, male Killer Whale. Chainsaw is what we used to call a transient or T -killer whale. The Ts are now known as Biggs’ Killer Whales named after the late Mike Biggs who did ground-breaking, pioneering work on Killer Whale identification and social systems on the west coast. Photo thanks to Paul Pudwell.
The same three Northern Elephant Seals continue their moults on Great Race. There are no elephant seals left on Middle Rocks. The little, two-year-old, Stellers Sealion was joined by the one and only Californian, on South Islands and it was just as well they were hauled out with the Biggs Killer Whales around. The usual spots were filled with Harbour Seals at low tide.
Chunk chilling.
Lots of Glaucous-winged Gulls were seen mouth open and panting, to cool their eggs today during the intense sunshine. The Black Oyster catchers continue to incubate as well and Pigeon Guillemots continue to mate. The main nesting sites for the Guillemots seem to be in the rock piles just west of the jetty, west of camera five and in the surge channel southwest of the science house. There is also scattered guillemot activity around the perimeter of the island especially in boulder and crevice areas. The ten Canada Goose goslings left are at different stages of development but quite a few of them are getting flight feathers now and the black and white colouration on the head and tail (like the adults) is starting to fill in.
An interesting sighting today was an Anna’s Hummingbird, spotted by Alex near the Science House. Missing in action was the Sea otter, which was nowhere to be seen today. There was quite a bit of Bald Eagle activity early on and that might have an effect but I was also thinking of the parade of 25 whale watching boats that all made up-close and personal connections with the sea otter a few days ago and wondering if it was just too much.
The sunshine continues to provide almost all of the electrical power requirements for the island. There were no visitors today and chores were routine.
A Tale of T-Whales
Today the wind continued its westerly path, bringing fresh ocean air in through the central Strait of Juan de Fuca at 20 to 35 knots. The sky was mostly clear, with clouds forming in the distance, along the tops of the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges. The barometer continued the climb it started yesterday until late afternoon, reaching almost 1020 hPa., before starting to gradually drop as the sun descended toward the horizon. Gale warnings continue to be in effect and the forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud tomorrow.
Five whale watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve today in spite of adverse weather conditions. They all moved carefully and at a respectful speed being mindful of the marine mammals (Elephant Seal, Harbour Seals, Sea Lions, Sea Otter) and nesting seabirds in the Reserve. The only other vessel observed transiting the Ecological Reserve today was the Fisheries and Oceans vessel, Cape Kuper travelling at a discreet 25 knots towards Victoria, in the go slow zone.
Ecological happenings described in some detail in my earlier logs continue. (Elephant Seals haul out, socialize, sleep and moult. Other pinnipeds haul-out socially. Glaucous-winged Gulls, Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatchers mate, nest, lay, incubate and get territorial. Mixed species feeding flocks (fish balls) attract gulls on the water and kelp is still growing.)
Glaucous-winged Gull incubating three eggs.
Of note was the sighting of Biggs’ Killer Whales (Transients) in the evening. I counted six individuals including a large bull with a very triangular fin. The two whale watching boats closer to them reported seven or eight individuals including a young calf. As often happens with T’s, as they used to be known, we spotted them a couple of times and then they totally disappeared. They showed up again, with the whale watching boats “in tow” a mile or so to the east.
Orca Spirit runs upstream through Middle Channel.
Here are the results of the weekly animal census.
Northern Elephant Seals 3 (Chunk, Floyd and young female) only on Great Race, none on Middle Rocks)
Harbour Seals 221
California Sealions 1
Northern or Stellers Sealions 1 (juvenile (Could be the two year old that was still with its mother earlier in the season (that size).)
River Otter (not seen but probably still here, fresh feathers in boat house)
Sea Otter 1
Biggs’ Killer Whales 6 (Transients) (Just north, outside of Ecological Reserve in Middle Channel near North Rock.)
Humpback Whale 1 (“Big Mama”) (Just outside of Ecological Reserve to the south of Rosedale Reef.)
Canada Geese 16 (= 10 goslings + 6 adults) (most have left)
Pelagic Cormorants 3
Double Crested Cormorants 5
Bald Eagles 1 sub-adult (no adults seen)
Black Oystercatchers 8 (4 nesting pairs)
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots ~100
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 457 (385 adults in nesting areas; 72 roosting/resting on Middle Island including 14 juveniles). Large majority of gulls are incubating now, although some are still getting started. No chicks observed yet
Alex and I came out on Second Nature last night with Chris. Christine and Guy returned to shore the same way. A big shout out to Chris for all his support.
There were no visitors and chores were routine, but more fun with company.
Double-Billing (Thursday-Friday)
Thursday was a howler. The wind started early and blew ferociously all day. Although it developed into a classic westerly, it actually started out from the west-northwest, which is closer to the direction running down the outside coast of Vancouver Island (NW). Most of the day, it was westerly from 30 – 40 knots and late in the afternoon there gusts over 40 knots. The fog that formed early on the Port Angeles side of the Strait was blown away early and the sky stayed clear until just after sunset when clouds became visible in the west. The barometer has been rising since Wednesday and the forecast is for continued gale warnings and mix of sun and cloud.
It really calmed down on Friday. The westerlies with a touch of southwest, continued but at moderate speeds of 15 -25 knots. Although there were clouds to the west early in the morning, they evaporated quickly and it was full on sunshine all day. The barometer is dropping from a high of 1020 hPa and the forecast is for strong winds and mostly clear skies.
There were no whale-watching boats, or sport fishers on Thursday, as the weather and sea conditions were just too wild. Friday was a totally different story with 16 whale-watching vessels observed, visiting the Ecological Reserve. Some vessels made multiple visits.
There was a lot of whale activity within and around the Ecological Reserve. Both a Minke Whale and a large Humpback were feeding just to the southeast and south respectively and three different pods of Killer Whales moved through the area in the afternoon and evening, including small group of Bigg’s Killer Whales (Transients), two pods of southern residents ( J-pod and L-pod according to the whale-watching boats). One of the SRKW pods came right into the Reserve within fifty meters of South Rock, heading east. There were two large adult males, one small calf and about 15 individuals all together. Another ~ 20 individuals were travelling in the same direction about one mile to south, at the same time. It appeared as though the two groups met up and mingled to the east of Race Rocks. Time for the sockeye to be running.
Other ecological happenings are progressing as has been reported on for the past few weeks. I started a Glaucous-winged Gull nest survey Thursday and finished surveying about one third of the island. On Friday the female Northern Elephant Seal # 5866’s tags were noted. Chunk and Floyd have been peacefully moulting, sleeping and travelling up and down the ramp for several swims a day (more like lolly-gagging in the water).
Thursdays are animal census day. It is worth noting that the winter resident bird species such as Black Turnstone, Harlequin Duck and many species of gulls that nest elsewhere are gone now and so are the transitory migrant shorebirds and other migrants that stop off briefly or for a while. The sealions are at their lowest number which is expected since they too should be on or heading towards their breeding grounds. Census results follow.
Northern Elephant Seals 10 (including 5 on Great Race)
Harbour Seals 218
California Sealions 5
Northern or Stellers Sealions 2
River Otter 1
Sea Otter 1
Canada Geese 24 (= 10 goslings + 14 adults) (many appear to have swum away)
Pelagic Cormorants 3
Double Crested Cormorants 5
Bald Eagles 2 (1 adult, 1 sub-adult)
Black Oystercatchers 10 (5 nesting pairs all incubating)
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 110
Caspian Terns 2
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 424 (402 adults in nesting areas; 22 sub-adults in roosting/resting area). Most gulls are incubating now, although some are still getting started.
There were no visitors on Thursday and two visitors Friday, who did a retreat in the science house. They came and went in Second Nature with Chris.
Chores and maintenance were routine today and I am glad to report that I am able to wash windows again.
Ghosting through the Kelp Forest.
I had trouble with a temprarily unavailable log-in page when I went to to post my log blog last night, so am posting the two days together now.
The westerly blew throughout both days and fog obstructed the views. Yesterday it cleared after 4 PM and by 6 PM, thick fog had moved back in and visibility was back down to several hundred meters. Today it cleared earlier and stayed clear until sunset (at least). Wind speed both days varied between 10 and 25 knots over the course of the day and in varied direction from west-southwest to west. Yesterday the barometer went up to 1015 hPa from 1014 and then started dropping. Today, it was steady until noon and then it started dropping going as far as 1010hPA by 8 PM. The forecast for today was correct: strong westerly wind warnings, fog “patches” and sunshine. Tomorrow the wind warning has been upgraded to a gales and the rest remains the same.
Six whale watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve yesterday and today I saw three. They all abided by the rules and regulations more or less. Some boats/skippers may be used to pushing the distance limits but I did not observe negative impacts.
I was lucky enough to see Chunk ghosting around the island from the top of the light tower and it was a surreal sight. He started out in the surge channel in front of the science house and swam around anti-clockwise. If it wasn’t for his white scar, I might have missed him, as it was a bit foggy. He only came up to look around and make a right angle turn to avoid a reef, once. He moved elegantly with hind flippers sweeping side to side, ever so slightly and propelling his huge mass along at a good speed. He seemed to purposefully seek out the kelp and sweep through it. The pale grey, submarine shape shifted in and out of the kelp, hugging the coastline, in shallow water. How different this must be from his normal habitat offshore and in the deep. If that is what our Canadian elephant actually does. It would be nice to know where they go when they are not here.
Floyd as water watchdog.
I was glad that I topped up the freshwater the day before yesterday as Floyd decided to sleep right up against the freshwater tank-house yesterday and today. It would have been a challenge to get in and out to check water-levels with his head jammed in between the Diefenbunker and the tank-house.
The two-year-old northern elephant seals that looked so bad before moulting are now starting to look much better as their moult progresses. This one still looks a bit scabby but no more oozing and bleeding sores.
According to my favorite vet, Marty Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium (Who else knows about such things?), “when there are deep cracks, bleeding and large ulcers it becomes part of a syndrome known as northern elephant sealskin diseases (NESSD) and that syndrome is not well understood though it is likely a combination of secondary bacterial infection, immune-mediated disease, and endocrine problems. It is most likely to occur in yearlings during their first or second major moult. If minor they can survive” Thanks Marty for letting me know.
These two have been moulting, losing weight and sleeping more and more since they arrived a couple of months ago.
Thursday was census day and here are the results.
Northern Elephant Seals 22 (including 16 on Great Race)
Harbour Seals 110
California Sea lions 19
Northern or Stellers Sea lions 25 (One male with a neck ring, one female with a two year old, is branded but could not see brand.)
River Otter 1
Sea Otter 1
Canada Geese 23 (+ 26 goslings, one gosling missing) (note one adult (non-breeding) taken by eagles)
Harlequin Ducks 0 (left last week)
Pelagic Cormorants 16
Double Crested Cormorants 3
Bald Eagle 1 adults, 2 sub-adults
Black Oystercatchers 10
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 211
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 444 (436 adults in nesting areas; 8 sub-adults in roosting/resting area) Some gulls starting laying and incubating.
There were no visitors either day and chores were routine. I leave for Portugal tomorrow Christine will be doing the blog. Back June 7th.
Well Timed with the Race
Winds were calmer today and came from the same general direction, ranging from west to southwest, at a respectable 10 to 20 knots for most of the day. The speed picked up at bit in the evening, pushing behind the first Swiftsure sailboat back with 25 to 30 knots. The sky was partially overcast for much of the day but it was bright and sunlight levels were energetic. The barometer continued its climb started late Thursday, peaked late in the afternoon, and started the inevitable slide back down. The forecast is calling for more wind this evening and more of the same tomorrow.
Stellers Sealions craning their necks to see the sailboats racing by Race Rocks.
There were a lot of vessels, all around Race Rocks today as the Swiftsure Sailing Race passed by, mid-morning and began returning in the evening. None of the sailboats in the race were observed within the Ecological Reserve although a few were drawn close to North Rocks by the currents. Six whale watching boats were noted working in the Ecological Reserve in the morning and one in the afternoon. The usual Saturday dive charter tended a group of divers off South Islands.
Divers enjoy the incredible biodiversity underwater at Race Rocks. The Ecological Reserve includes the creatures on the bottom, so it is a sustainable diver destination with responsible operators like Ogden Point Diving gate-keeping.
The Northern Elephant Seal moult continues, as does mating, nest building, laying and incubating by Black Oystercatchers. The Pigeon Guillemots and Glaucous-winged Gulls are not far behind and the Canada Geese are way out ahead with some gaggles of goslings already larger than chickens.
This female Northern Elephant Seals contributed a skin sample without knowing it.
Skin samples and vibrissae were collected today, from the ground where moulting animals had been lying. Luckily they leave and go for a swim once and a while, so this is a non-invasive way to take a sample. The hope is that funds for isotopic analyses can be found. Information generated by these analyses will give information about diet and trophic level and could be particularly meaningful for tagged animals, for which there is already baseline data. Some of these animals, such as 5850, also had a satellite tag earlier in its life. There is very little information published on the only Northern Elephant Seal colony in Canada.
A single Brant visited today, stopping off on the helicopter-pad to have a rest and preen. Oddly enough the gulls were not that welcoming. It didn’t stay long enough for the Canada Geese to notice.
Black brant goose makes a landing on the heli-pad. It has a long way to fly before it nests in the tundra of the high arctic.
There were no visitors today and chores were routine, of the entropy defying type. Solar power was used to run the desalinator and make lots of fresh water today in spite of clouds.
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Again it was a day dominated by the west and west-southwest winds. It was blowing 30 to 35 knots at dawn but the velocity subsided and most of the day it blew 20 to 25 knots. Skies were partially overcast and as predicted there were a few showers. Air temperature remains low, and is not much different than flooding sea surface temperature at ~ 9.7 oC. ranging between 10 oC and 12 oC .The wind is also chilling and today had the highest wind speeds of the week. The barometer rose today from 1008 to 1013 hPa and is dropping now while the forecast calls for gales and a gale warning has been issued. Saturday is supposed to be mainly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers.
There were four whale-watching boats observed, working in the Ecological Reserve today. No other vessels were observed in reserve.
Female Northern Elephant Seal # 5086 is on day seven of her moult now and has made great strides in losing skin during the last 24 hours. She has achieved the two thirds moulted milestone and is still grouchy.
Black Oystercatchers are without a doubt nesting now and there are eggs in their terribly spartan nests, which have none of the comforts of home like soft vegetation or down.
Some of the goslings are getting quite large and although they may be considered pesty, they are still fascinating to watch.
The California Sealions are moving back onto Great Race and I awoke to a chorus of them doing a call and response outside my bedroom window this morning.
Thanks go out to Don Stewart for spotting and identifying an Anna’s Hummingbird on Great Race today, I believe this is a new addition to the species list here.
Another thank you to Rocky Point Bird Observatory for identifying a Yellow-headed Blackbird, another possibly new bird to the island. It has been hiding in the long grass and thistles near the base of the Light Tower and it has been difficult to get a photo fast enough. Today it flew to the roof of the Energy Building which made a photo much easier.
Yesterday was census day but it was too foggy much of the day to do a good census. Here are the results from today’s census.
Northern Elephant Seals 26 (18 on Great Race, 8 on Middle Rock)
Harbour Seals 228
California Sealions 14
Northern (Stellers) Sealions 26
Canada Geese 24 (+ 21 goslings)
Harlequin Ducks 6
Pelagic Cormorants 8
Double Crested Cormorants 13
Bald Eagle total 3; 1 adult, 2 sub-adults
Black Oystercatchers 14
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 230
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 564 (556 adults in nesting areas; 8 sub-adults in roosting/resting area)
California Gulls 6
Common Raven 1
Northwestern Crow 1
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Chores were routine today. Courtney came out with the new switch box for Camera 2 and installed it. Camera 2 is working again now but a close-up study on diatom film. Don left on Second Nature.
Strong Wind Warning Continued.
The west-southwest wind continued unabated, varying only in speed, which ranged from 15 to 35 knots and favoured the high end. Race Rocks was shrouded in thick fog until late afternoon and when it cleared, the fog retreated past Beechey Head, west towards Sooke. The air temperature hovered at 10oC after it cleared; just a fraction of a degree above sea surface temperature and 12 oC colder than Pedder Bay. The barometer was fairly steady at ~ 1008-1009 dropping towards the end of the day to 1007 hPa. A strong wind warning remains in effect and the forecast calls for a 30% chance of showers tomorrow.
Nine whale watching boats were observed working in the Ecological Reserve today. We could hear them well before we could see them due to the fog. After the fog lifted several more vessels arrived.
One of the two Orca Spirit whale watching vessels approaches Middle Channel slowly and cautiously.
Military blasting mid-day was large and shook the houses knocking things off of shelves in the science house. The Northern Elephant Seals did not even open their eyes or roll over while the Steller’s and California Sealions put their heads-up and a few of the larger individuals went into the water. The loud noises did not seem to ‘phase’ the other animals.
The ecological happenings include synchronized nuptial flights and dives by Pigeon Guillemots, mating and nest building by the gulls, Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatchers. The Canada Goose goslings are putting on an incredible growth spurt, not surprising, I suppose as they eat all day. In the opposite extreme the Northern Elephant Seals are losing mass and girth as their moult continues and some of the smaller ones especially, are starting to look like they need to eat. Fourteen elephant seals graced the garden today. Tagged female #5086 is six days into her moult and is still less than one third moulted.
This female (tag # 5086) is on the sixth day of her moult.
Most of these young animals, with the exception of the second from left, are almost finished their moults. Occasionally they wake up rearranged themselves do a bit of jousting and then go back to sleep.
Thursday is usually census day but the fog was too thick to do the counts at the optimal times, so it is postponed until tomorrow.
Don came back to the island with me yesterday evening to help out and have a visit. This afternoon Courtney brought Guy & Christine out in Second Nature to finish training on the generator and desalinator. Emil, a PC student, his brother and parents came along as well for a bit of an island tour and had a chance to observe the Northern Elephant Seals.
Chores were of the mundane and routine variety.