Tag Archives: snow bunting

Killer whales!

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-15 NE
  • Sky: Sunny
  • Water: Flat

Boats/Visitors

  • quite a few ecotours out there today

Maintenance

  • firewood has been stacked, now just need to fill the water tank and maybe do some pressure washing

Ecological

  • So nice to see a few killer whales out there today
  • the male pup has started making his way to the water but hasn’t gone in yet, the female pup hasn’t moved from beside the house
  • the alpha is the only male I see on the island at the moment but I think there are two more around
  • the lonely snow bunting is still around

Sooke Christmas Bird Count

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Weather:  Continued west wind up to 30 knots in the morning and some lingering swell, sunshine for a change.

Ecological:

Guy brought Kim and Jim out in the morning for the annual “Sooke Christmas Bird Count”.  They surveyed the island and surrounding waters from the top of the tower and walked around the island. Guy took them around the reserve in the boat on the way back to get a better view of the pelagic zone.  Apparently the Snow Bunting they saw here was one of the highlights of the Sooke count this year.

12 Canada Goose
10 Harlequin Duck
4 Surf Scoter
3 White-winged Scoter
2 Red-breasted Merganser
24 Black Oystercatcher
38 Black Turnstone
3500 Common Murre
90 Ancient Murrelet
4 Rhinoceros Auklet
800 Mew Gull
150 Iceland Gull (Thayer’s)
250 Glaucous-winged Gull
1 Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) — 95% Western
1 Red-throated Loon
40 Pacific Loon
1 Common Loon
50 Brandt’s Cormorant
75 Pelagic Cormorant
20 Double-crested Cormorant
10 Bald Eagle
2 Common Raven
1 Snow Bunting — Photos taken
1 Song Sparrow

Number of Taxa: 24

See this index of past years Bird Counts. https://www.racerocks.ca/race-rocks-animals-plants/bird-observations-at-race-rocks-3/christmas-bird-counts-starting-in-1997/

-4 tankers passed by today: The STI Battery, and oil/chemical tanker on its way to Quintero, Chile; The Florida, an oil/chemical tanker heading to Anacortes from Nikiski (USA); The Unique Developer, and oil products tanker coming from Topolobampo (Mex) en route to Port Angeles; and the Valrossa, from Cherry Point to Manzanillo (Mex)

Vessels:

-Second Nature

-one private/sports fishing

-3 tour boats

-1 little red zodiac going over the requested speed limit.

Maintenance:

-fixed firewood cutting jig

-sharpened chainsaw

-cut firewood

-Tidying in tank room

Census, eagles, storms and elephants

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Final exams are over so I will be posting more until I am out for winter break December 20th to January 3rd

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: From 0 – 40 SE over the last few days
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: from calm to huge waves during that last storm

Boats/Visitors

  • Not a lot of visitors lately
  • There were a couple of sailboats yesterday and a few ecotours, but not many

Maintenance

  • Running the generator more lately as is there is less sunlight
  • Still haven’t been able to pressure wash but the parts should be in when I get back from break and I can try to make the buildings white again

Ecological

  • Fewer sea lions than last week
  • Chunk is still the alpha but there are 3 other males on the island of varying sizes smaller than Chunk
  • There is currently 1 female elephant seal
  • a few green wing teal ducks took shelter here when it was storming
  • have spotted a neck banded sea lion, but no way to tell if he will still be here by the time I can people out here to help him

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 213
  • Steller Sea Lions – 192
  • Harbour Seal – 35
  • Elephant Seal – 4 male, 1 female
  • Cormorants – 207
  • Gulls – 233
  • Fox Sparrows – 12
  • Canada Geese – 21
  • Black Turnstones – 38
  • Eagle – 8
  • Raven – 1
  • Snow Bunting – 1
  • Oyster Catchers – 12
  • Harlequin Ducks – 10
  • Green Wing Teal – 6

A little busy lately

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 15-25 NE
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Choppy under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • Not a lot of visitors lately, the ecotours are still going by but not as frequently
  • I did have to leave for a few nights so that is why the posts have been lacking a bit lately, I had to go into town to do my final exams

Maintenance

  • Running the generator more lately as is there is less sunlight

Ecological

  • Fewer sea lions than last week
  • Chunk, as he was identified by the scars on his back, is the current alpha and there is one more male who is much smaller
  • No female elephant seals yet
  • 34 Geese, I have never seen that many here before
  • in one of the photos, you will see a pretty young steller too
  • haven’t seen any neckbanded sea lions lately, too bad we weren’t able to help them before they left

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 273
  • Steller Sea Lions – 291
  • Harbour Seal – 25
  • Elephant Seal – 2 male
  • Cormorants – 140
  • Gulls – 233
  • Fox Sparrows – 12
  • Canada Geese – 34
  • Black Turnstones – 41
  • Eagle – 6
  • Raven – 1
  • Snow Bunting – 1
  • Oyster Catchers – 12
  • Harlequin Ducks – 10

Census

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-20 NW
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Choppy under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • Not a lot of visitors lately, the ecotours are still going by but not as frequently

Maintenance

  • Running the generator more lately as is there is less sunlight

Ecological

  • Slightly less sea lions than last week
  • 1 large male elephant seal, I’m hoping its the same one as last year because that one was very protective over the pups, and 1 much smaller male, no females that I can see but there have been a couple small ones coming and going
  • The large male does seem to have a gash in his back and many scars as well
  • haven’t really seen any neck banded sea lions lately, they might have left by now but I’m still keeping an eye out for them

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 431
  • Stellar Sea Lions – 356
  • Harbour Seal – 38
  • Elephant Seal – 2 male
  • Cormorants – 140
  • Gulls – 360
  • Fox Sparrows – 12
  • Canada Geese – 18
  • Black Turnstones – 33
  • Eagle – 4
  • Raven – 1
  • Snow Bunting – 1
  • Oyster Catchers – 12
  • Harlequin Ducks – 8

Birds and Rescue Efforts

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-15 NE
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Some swells this morning, now its more choppy but under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • A team from DFO and the aquarium came out yesterday to try help out a couple of the neckbanded sea lions, the sea lions were uncooperative and left before the team got here, so hopefully next week the sea lions will be where we want them to be there is one here with fishing line around his head and it looks awful, i hope we can help him soon
  • An advisee group is here for the night with their advisor Clint
  • also the electrician came today, hopefully get that automatic start on the generator soon

Maintenance

  • Ran the desalinator a bit but its still not operating very well, makes less water in a longer amount of time
  • would like to do more pressure washing but need to be able to replace the water being used

Ecological

  • Sea lions are still slowly making their way out
  • There were quite a few oyster catchers around today
  • Ravens and eagles around as well
  • Also a single snow bunting has been hanging around

Plectrophenax nivalis: Snow Bunting –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Laas Parnell took these pictures of Snow Buntings on November 9, 2017. Pam Birley had been the only one to take pictures of them previously in 2005 and 2007 on the remote cameras at Race Rocks.

This is a very pale Snow Bunting . Snow Buntings are uncommon around Victoria and best seen in late fall-early winter, so any bunting in February is unusual. This is only the fourth Snow Bunting record for the Rocky Point Bird Observatory checklist. The last picture is a poor image through a blurry remote camera 5 housing,but the only one we have so far of a male snow bunting which was taken by Pam in March 2007.
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Passerifomes
Family Emberizidae
Genus Plectrophenax
Species nivalis
Common Name: Snow Bunting
Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.


Images of Snow buntings by Laas Parnell–Ecoguardian 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

Very Windy

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind:  20-30 NE throughout the day
  • Sky: cloudy all day
  • Water: very wavy at least a metre waves

Boats/Visitors

  • Saw one ecotour boat braving the elements today

Ecological

Last days of November, and my shift…

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Well my 3 month shift is almost over and plans are being made for Alex’s arrival for the winter. The station is looking pretty good and all systems are working well. The time of the Sea Lion fades and the time of the Elephant Seal begins…

A few pelicans remain including this second banded individual, R41. You can learn more about pelican conservation at: http://blog.bird-rescue.org/ (and many other birds…)

King Misery is quietly staking his territory, going back and forth between here and Middle Rocks. The young male Chunk is about, and being cautious, but Misery hasn’t pummelled him yet as far as I can tell… there are about 8 E-seals in the Reserve.

We have had beautiful and oft-changing weather over this last week. I caught this double-rainbow the other day… Note pelicans on rocks beneath…

Double Rainbow over Pelicans and Gulls

What is your best guess?

Bunting perhaps?

And finally these sparrow-sized birds were about for a few days, feeding voraciously. These are snow buntings, down from their summer range in the Arctic.

 

 

 

 

 

Plectrophenax nivalis: Snow Bunting –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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snobuntA355

Snow Bunting from the remote cam 5 Pam Birley photo

Domain:Eukarya
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Sub-Phylum:Vertebrata
Class:Aves
Order:Passerifomes
Family:Emberizidae
Genus :Plectrophenax
Species::nivalis
Common Name: Snow Bunting

c747.jpg
 snow bunting snow bunting

This is a very pale Snow Bunting . Snow Buntings are uncommon around Victoria and best seen in late fall-early winter, so any bunting in February is unusual. This is only the fourth Snow Bunting record for the Rocky Point Bird Observatory checklist. The first three images were taken in February 2005 using the remote camera 5.  The last picture is a poor image through a blurry remote camera 5 housing, but the only one we have so far of a male snow bunting which was taken by PB in March 2007.

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students,faculty and volunteers of
Lester B. Pearson College 		Date:Feb 2006 Pam Birley