Tag Archives: red-footed booby

Oct 17 Census

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How am I already on my third census of the trip? Time is going WAY too fast out here.

Today was very windy, and as a result (I think) animal numbers seem to be down. Except for the cormorants who reached an all time high for my counts.

Mammals:

  • Harbour seal: 40
  • California sea lion: 371
  • Steller sea lion: 448 (there really do seem to be a LOT more Steller sea lions here this year)
  • Sea otter: 1
  • Elephant seal: 1
  • Not seen today, but honourable mention to the one Northern fur seal here this week,

The sea otter and the fur seal were too far for any good photos so massive shout out to Tom from Eagle Wing for sending me these photos and allowing me to post them here. I will also mention that these photos were taken with a long lens and cropped, and the vessel respected all animal space/followed the law for approach distance.

Photo Credit: Tom F

Northern fur seal, Photo Credit: Tom F

 

 

Stellers are taking over!

These photos will also help us continue to ID the sea otter and see if it stays around. I have started calling him Oswald (Ozzie for short). I figured we should stick with O names around here and honour our good buddy Ollie who is no longer around but definitely made a name for himself out here at Race Rocks!

On to the bird count:

  • Gull: 435
  • Cormorant: 1,160 (every rock and island was just peppered with cormorants!)
  • Canada goose: 10
  • Bald eagle: 1
  • Sparrows: many, too fast too count
  • Turnstone: 34
  • Honourable mention for the red-footed booby who I last saw yesterday!

Red-footed booby taking off

A Busy and Beautiful Day!

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Today was the definition of perfect! Not even the smallest amount of wind, clear skies, and animals everywhere!

Tomorrow is supposed to be quite windy so I took full advantage of the good weather and barely spent any time inside.

I also got a visit from the Coast Guard helicopter when they came to check in on a few things, that’s always a fun visit! And because it’s a small world, I just so happened to know the pilot!

Animal Notes:

  • The Red-footed booby is still here! Has most recently decided to hangout on the main island, just in front of the house.
  • I did not see the sea otter or the fur seal today but I did manage to get some better photos of the otter, well…at least photos where you can tell it’s actually an otter!
  • Still plenty of humpbacks around but not as many as I’ve had previously.
  • I saw a heron today, not exactly a rare bird but I haven’t seen them here before, and never standing on a kelp bed! I also saw a kingfisher yesterday but it was much too fast for a photo!

Our recently disentangled sea lion looking GREAT.

 

The new sea otter in town…I’ve been calling him Oswald.

Facility Work:

  • Cleaned main house windows
  • Topped up batteries
  • Cleaned algae off side of main house
  • Fence repair

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 11
  • Private: 3

DND Blasts:

  • 4 throughout the day, animals alert but minimal disturbance

A Blog for the Booby

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The Red-footed booby is still here and the past couple of days it’s done a few close circles around the main rock and house so I’ve been able to get a closer look. Although it’s very difficult to photograph it while it moves so fast!

As they do with most birds, the gulls chase and harass the booby, it’s like they just can help but be menaces to other animals!

I’ve never been a bird person but working at Race Rocks has taught me so much, and now I can add Red-footed booby to my list of bird facts. Here is some of what I’ve learned:

  • They are the smallest of the booby species
  • They nest in trees as opposed to on the ground
  • They live in tropical and sub-tropical areas such as the Galapagos and Hawaii
  • Their diet consists of flying fish and squid, in addition to other smaller schooling fish
  • Their predators include Galapagos hawks and coconut crabs (yes crabs!)
  • The oldest recorded Red-footed booby was over 22 years old
  • This is the second Red-footed booby ever spotted in British Columbia

Now I have something thoughts and questions, and I’m aware they are not rational…

  • What warm tropical island did it come from?
  • Does it know it’s in Canada?
  • Is it cold? Confused?
  • Has it ever seen a harbour seal before now?
  • If a crab is its usual predator, the bald eagles must be TERRIFYING.
  • How long will it stay?
  • Will any of its friends show up?

Anyway, I’m really enjoying trying to find it each day and take somewhat blurry photos of it. Maybe one day before I leave I’ll snap a decent one!

As for the rest of the blog:

Facility work:

  • Painted the new door for the main house
  • Cleaned main house windows
  • Ran the generator

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 15
  • Private: 12
  • Paddle board: 2
  • Jetski: 1

Lonely Little Steller Pup

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The red-footed booby was here bright and early his morning, seems to be going back and forth between the western rocks and the southeast side. It also seems to have quite the fan club of boats coming out to check it out.

Came across another sea lion with an entanglement scar, bringing the total to 5, plus the one that still has an active entanglement.

Active entanglement, unsure what the material is.

Another wildlife note – there is a small Steller sea lion pup that I have yet to see with a mom in the 3 days I’ve been here. He is underweight but not terribly so and is still bright and alert. He spends his time chasing the male California sea lions and today decided to try and eat a small rock. Will see if he sticks around, and hopefully mom comes back for him!

Facility work:

  • Ran generator
  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Cleaned main house windows

Vessels:

  • Paddleboard: 2
  • Private: 4
  • Eco: 12