last day

Clear skies. Strong NE winds. Cold

Despite the winter weather, it is still a busy place out here in the reserve. The female elephant seals are hauled out on Middle Rock. The male Elephant seal is next to the Science House. There were lot’s of Oyster catchers, and way more Cormorants then I was expecting. There are also still quite a few Sea lions (~470) in the reserve; mostly on the South side of Great Race and South Rocks. I finally got a decent picture of a Savannah Sparrow today; and the Sandpiper stopped long enough to get a good photo so I could finally ID it.

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Passerculus sandwichensis: Savannah Sparrow–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

A Savannah sparrow shows up well against the guano-covered rock.These photos in the slide show were taken by PB Sept 3, 2007

Savannah Sparrow. photo by Jillian Brown April 2023

Pam Birley took a series of photos which I have made into a slide show here

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Passerifomes
Family Passeridae
Genus Passerculus
Species sandwichensis
Common Name: Savannah Sparrow

Savannah sparrows often show up in the Christmas Bird Count

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.

Garry Fletcher

Hummingbirds and Black Brants

Saturday, May 11, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.0 C  Min. 7.3 C Reset 10.1 C
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today, still the 3 geese.There is a lot of bird activity and it is never quiet.Today we saw the usual gulls,oyster catchers,eagles,pigeon guillemots, geese, starlings, crows and savannah sparrows. An added bonus were the 2 humming birds that buzzed around for 20 minutes or so, always amazed to see them so far from the mainland but do see a few every year especially if the winds are light. A couple of black brant geese landed in the small bay on the east side of Gr. Race but did not stay long.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 pleasure craft and 13 ecotour boats, the last two enjoyed a beautiful sunset as they left the reserve.The D.N.D. did some blasting on the beach on Bentinck Island between 17:30 and 22:00 but only two blasts about 20:20 and 20:25 were big enough to have any noticeable impact here.The birds took flight en masse each time and took 10-15 minutes to settle down,it was getting too dark to see much beyond Gr. Race.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy Vis 15 Miles  Wind West 19 Knots  Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:49 AM