Tag Archives: seagull

Sunday Census

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Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Visibility 10 NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea State: white caps, chop less than 1/2 m

Visitors/Marine Traffic: No visitors

Ecological: 

  • The last elephant seal seems to have departed since yesterday.

Census: 

  • 46 Sea lions
  • 8 Oystercatchers
  • 16 Canada Geese
  • 116 Harbor Seals
  • 1 Bald Eagle
  • 1 Elephant Seal
  • 470 Seagulls

Stunning Weather, Spring at Full Force!

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 5-10 knots SW
  • Sea State: calm

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • 2 jet skis yesterday evening, 1 kayak this morning, 1 eco-tourism vessel yesterday
  • Greg today with supplies (thanks Greg!)
  • 1 boat inside the reserve fishing this morning- Greg stopped to remind them that they were within the boundary on his way
  • Many pleasure crafts just outside of the reserve boundary

Ecological: 

  • Consistent eagle presence as the seagulls continue to return, and food is plentiful in the water
  • The geese seem to be getting pushed out of their territory by the seagulls. The seagulls have continued to steal goose eggs when they get an opportunity, thus there are only 2 remaining nests with eggs. The geese have started to spend more time on the water, and often leave during the day.
  • The pineapple weed has been growing at an impressive rate! Most of the grassier areas on the island are covered by the fluffy foliage.

 

Eagle Visit, Watching For Injured Sea Lions

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Weather:

  • Visibility 10 NM
  • Sky overcast
  • Wind 5-10 knots SW
  • Sea state: calm
  • Temperature 21°C

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • Today Laura visited to do some surveying of intertidal species
  • Greg did not come to land, as the tide was very low (jetty not accessible)
  • Today we saw one whale watching vessel pass through very respectfully with the current. No animals were disrupted- well done!

Ecological:

  • The goose nests continue to change- a few new ones this week, and a few have been ransacked by seagulls.
  • No significant seagull changes- a few new nests scattered around the island.
  • This morning a juvenile eagle landed on the lawn! It had been chased out of the air by seagulls, and they continued to swoop overhead until the eagle managed to find an opening and fly away.
  • We have been contacted by a few different folks regarding a sea lion that was spotted in the San Juan Island area with a cross bow bolt in his face. We haven’t spotted this animal but there’s a chance that we may over the next few days. We have also been asked to keep an eye out for another sea lion with fishing gear entangled in his face.

Notes:

  • This afternoon there was blasting/ammunition detonation on the Department of National Defense land. There were only 3 blasts but the birds all lifted into the air, or in the case of the sea lions, fled into the water.

Blooming Biodiversity

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 15-20 NE diminishing to 5-10 SE
  • Sea state: calm
  • Temperature 22.5°C

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • A trickle of pleasure crafts outside of the reserve, 4 inside of the reserve
  • Yesterday a very small vessel came to the reserve with 3 people aboard. They approached each outcropping very closely, scaring the animals into the water.
  • This evening a boat with 6 passengers sped through the reserve. They passed the resting sea lions very closely, and sped through the passage where many were swimming and fishing.
  • On Friday Greg visited to work on the generator, and Nick came too
  • There have been large commercial barges steadily passing through the straight. Since the weather has been so calm we can hear them inside the house, even though they are nearly 8 km away.

Ecological:

  • The elephant seals have been taking daily soaks in the shallow water surrounding the jetty in this warm weather.
  • In the shallow and warm waters this week we have been spotting schools of small fish. The larger animals in the water seem to ignore them completely.
  • There have been blooms of jellyfish passing by in the currents, mostly water jellies and the small “sea gooseberries” which seem to glitter in the light due to the the tiny hairs (cilia) that pulsate to move them through the water.
  • A few harlequin ducks spent the evening in the reserve on Friday

Census: 

  • 16 Canada Geese
  • 8 Oyster Catchers
  • 4 Crows
  • 8 Elephant Seals
  • 300 Seagulls
  • 2 Cormorants
  • 2 Bald Eagles
  • 48 Sea Lions
  • 9 Harbour Seals

Coralline Algae Discoveries, Impossible Invasive Plants

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 5-10 knots SE
  • Sea state: calm

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • One medium sized catamaran passed through race passage this morning drifting on the current
  • This afternoon we were joined by Guy and Christine, who brought us some generator hardware and spent a bit of time enjoying the beautiful weather.
  • Quite a bit of commercial traffic outside the reserve today including barges of logs and shipping containers.

Ecological: 

  • There are quite a few beginnings of seagull nests now. They have become more aggressive, and now fight each other over space. We have seen some pairs mating.
  • We have been finding coral-like white fragments in the intertidal since last year, but until now have not been able to identify what they could be. Today we found some that were not white, but red! This insight has led us to believe that this is coralline algae. Amazingly, this article states that these unassuming structures can continue to grow forever (!) if left undisturbed and have growth rings that be counted, just like trees!
  • As Gary Fletcher mentions in this post, prostrate knot weed is one of the invasive species here on Race Rocks. We noticed that it is particularly efficient at growing in places where no other plants are able, therefore it’s beginning to spread in rocky areas. It has notably spread to the rocky areas on the SW side of the island where no other flora nor fauna has managed to establish itself.

 

Lovely Weather + Plenty To Observe

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Weather:

  • Visibility
  • Sky clear, a few fluffy clouds
  • Wind 5-10 knots SW
  • Sea state: calm

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • Yesterday we saw the HMCS Calgary and HMCS Regina (both Halifax-Class frigate vessels). They passed by in the early evening.
  • One or two fishing vessels hanging around the border of the reserve

Ecological: 

  • Today we found three newly established goose nests. So far they each have 2-3 eggs.
  • The young seal pup has officially flown the coop! We haven’t seen her in a few days.
  • There are quite a few seagull nests beginning to take form. They are becoming more defensive of their established areas and make quite a ruckus when we walk through.

Bustling Wildlife

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Weather:

  • Visibility 10 NM this morning, 15+ NM this afternoon
  • Sky overcast in morning but clear this afternoon
  • Wind 20-30 knots NW-NE
  • Sea state: white caps (.25m), fast moving ripples

Visitors/Boats:

  • Greg and Nick on Monday
  • Greg and Nick on Tuesday
  • Greg and a technician for generator maintenance on Wednesday
  • Greg and Nick this afternoon (Thursday) 

Aside from this there have been very few vessels aside from commercial/shipping traffic. Today a couple of sailboats passed by despite the astounding wind gusts (all a fair distance away).

Ecological:

  • There have been 4 eagles in the reserve daily on average, both juvenile and adult. They typically perch on Rosedale Rock to our SE, but we have been spotting them on the webcam tower, crane, and diesel tank near the power building. The juvenile eagles seem to be more interested in Great Race Rock, while the adults tend to stick to the outcroppings. Occasionally they swoop over the reserve, prompting the seagulls to rise into the air to avoid becoming lunch!
  • The geese continue to protect their nests but no new eggs have been observed.
  • The elephant seals have settled to complete their moult, all in various stages. The remaining pup is still here, and spends most of its time on the jetty away from the others.
  • There is a sea lion with a significant head/neck wound that we have been seeing daily. It looks like it has been tagged by the Vancouver Aquarium, so we are wondering if it has been disentangled and tagged at the same time.
  • Yesterday we spotted a killdeer, a type of plover. We’ve never seen one here before!

Repairs/Maintenance:

  • We filled the underground cistern with sea water to be desalinated (pumped using the fire pump and fire hoses).
  • To maximize our solar intake we have been keeping the solar panels as clean as possible (when they are covered in bird waste they create much less power). 
  • Juvenile eagle on diesel tank
  • Juvenile eagle on power building
  • The gang
  • Moulting elephant seal skin and fur
  • The gulls continue to arrive for nesting…
  • … and defend their territory fiercely!
  • a breeding pair of geese resting
  • This one has a sore leg from a fight!
  • The youngest nest
  • Tag of the latest arrived elephant seal
  • Pigeon Guillemot
  • Sea lion with healing entanglement wound
  • Killdeer (adorable!)
  • Juvenile bald eagle perched on the crane

Whales! (and census)

Gallery

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This gallery contains 4 photos.

Weather:  Visibility: Very clear, 15 miles Wind: 15-25 knots Sky: Mostly clear, some clouds Water: Choppy, white caps Boats/Visitors:  Today a contractor visited to fix our internet/ phone cable in the main residence. At the same time Corey, two BC … Continue reading →

Big Seals, Many Seagulls

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Weather:

  • Visibility: 50m, very heavy fog
  • Wind: 20-25kn
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Choppy

Boats/Visitors:

We have had no visitors over the last few days.

Ecological:

A large male elephant seal has been resting on land for the last day and a half. This morning we noticed another, larger in size, has joined him.

The two moulting females are still here. We’ve been noticing a few harbour seals every day. Yesterday afternoon, we were able to get a picture of a sea lion with an interesting color.

The seagull activity has increased. They remain protective of their nests, and as they continue to lay eggs and establish nests it’s becoming harder to freely move around the island.

 

Spotted: Turkish Marsh Gladiolus!

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Weather:

  • Visibility: 5 miles
  • Wind: 12 knots
  • Sky: Overcast in the morning, clearer skies in the second half of the day
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors:

Greg came again on Tuesday to bring us more water, we get a few hundred litres per load so our main water tank is over half full again. There has been a steady trickle of tour/whale watching boats, approximately 10-15 per day.

Ecological:

The two moulting elephant seals are still here, and they appear to be in less pain and are doing well.

The seagulls continue to get more and more aggressive, we’ve noticed that their eggs go missing. Yesterday, near the main path to the jetty there was a nest containing one egg and a territorial pair of gulls. Today, they are off the nest and the egg is missing.

Near desalination building we found a great example of what appears to be Gladiolus Imbricatus in bloom. According to a previous log post by Garry Fletcher: “Originally from south-eastern Europe/Turkey, it was introduced in the garden of an early lightkeeper and has been growing unattended here for over 50 years.”

While doing our daily seawater salinity and temperature sample, we were able to get a great picture of two sea lions on the jetty that were basking in the evening sun.