Tag Archives: song sparrow

August 31 – Weekly Census and Shift Change

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Wind: W 2-15 knots
Sea State: calm
Visibility: 5-15 NM
Sky: partly cloudy in early morning, then clear
Temperature: 11-17 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.90 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results recorded this morning at low tide for the mammals and throughout the day for the birds:
26 steller sea lions
110 california sea lions
1 sea otter
290 harbour seals
1 Canada goose
7 pelagic cormorants
1,232 california gulls
251 glaucous-winged gulls
98 gull chicks
2 black oystercatchers
7 black turnstones
1 song sparrow

There were a lot of eco tourism boats passing through the ecological reserve today. An outrigger canoeist paddled through the main channel in the mid morning and again in the early afternoon.

Tomorrow is my last day as the Ecoguardian. Mara and Kai are returning for a few months. I have enjoyed being back on this wonderful island for the past 17 days, learning on the edge where the land meets the sea meets sky. Race Rocks is a unique place that couldn’t exist without the work of Pearson students, staff, faculty, alumni and volunteers.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

 

 

 

 

Census Friday

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Wind: yesterday mostly from W 4-22 knots, today N-NE 2-9 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm in morning 0.5m chop in afternoon, today calm
Visibility: both days 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast with patches of rain and sun, today partly cloudy
Temperature: both days 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.43 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results from today:
6 elephant seals (2 female pups, 1 female juvenile, 3 female adults)
21 steller sea lions
62 california sea lions
1 sea otter
91 harbour seals
3 bald eagles (1 juvenile, 2 adults)
12 Canada geese
6 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
10 pelagic cormorants
59 thayer’s gulls
12 black oystercatchers
14 harlequin ducks
108 pigeon guillemots
56 surfbirds
26 black turnstones
1 killdeer
1 song sparrow

There were no boats in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

 

Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday variable 4-22 knots, today NE-N 1-36 knots
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today chop up to 1 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days partly cloudy
Temperature: yesterday 5-7 °C, today 4-5 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.11 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Here are the weekly census results observed today:
4 elephant seals (1 female adult, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
24 steller sea lions
33 california sea lions
58 harbour seals
7  bald eagles (2 adults, 5 juveniles)
13 Canada geese
7 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
29 pelagic cormorants
48 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
24 black oystercatchers
29 harlequin ducks
3 surfbirds
12 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow

Yesterday, there was one tour boat, one pleasure craft and the Pearson College boat Second Nature in the ecological reserve. Greg and Silke, dropped off some supplies from Pearson College. No boats were around today.

The elephant seal pups lounging on the boardwalk by the jetty. They all still have patches of their pup fur. The two month old female pup is on the left. The two and a half month old male pup is in the middle. The youngest female pup, almost two months old, is on the right.

 

Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday 0-19 knots from W then E, today 2-19 knots from N then W
Sea State: yesterday calm, today calm in am and rippled in pm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: both days clear with cloudy patches throughout day
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 4-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.23 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Six visitors briefly came to the island yesterday morning. Lawrence installed the new deck hatch he made for the station boat. Everyone helped transport and load eight of the old batteries onto the college boat to be taken back to the shore for recycling.

I ran the water pump for five hours to fill up the cistern with cleaner seawater.

Three tour boats were in the ecological reserve yesterday. Today, a dive boat had several divers in the water just north of North Rocks at slack tide in the mid morning.

There was a lot biodiversity in the ecological reserve today. Here are the results from the weekly census:
6 elephant seals (1 adult female, 2 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
57 steller sea lions (all on Middle Rock)
50 california sea lions (19 on Great Race, 31 on Middle Rock)
52 harbour seals
1 sea otter
6 bald eagles (4 juveniles, 2 adults)
8 Canada geese
18 brandt’s cormorants
16 double-crested cormorants
35 pelagic cormorants
2 ravens
141 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
14 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
86 pigeon guillemots
16 harlequin ducks
10 surfbirds
28 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow

Varied Thrush and River Otter

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Wind: yesterday 2-27 knots from NE to W, today 2-27 knots from W to E
Sea State: yesterday rippled in am and calm in pm, today rippled then calm in evening
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday clear, today partly cloudy with sunny patches
Temperature: yesterday 4-8 °C, today 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.36 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

A varied thrush was seen on Race Rocks today. The bird that has similarities in size and colouring to an American Robin, hasn’t been seen this winter and possibly never before on Race Rocks. There is no mention of other sightings on this website. According to the Audubon field guide, varied thrushes like dense forests with lots of water. That’s about as different as you can get from Race Rocks, where there are no trees or fresh water. Perhaps this bird was flying over the Strait and stopped for a rest.

There were 20 pigeon guillemots near the jetty yesterday. They swam around, perched on rocks and the edges of the jetty. None were seen today.

The elusive river otter was seen today. It was sunning itself on a log on the rocks below camera 5. When it saw me taking photos from about 30 m away, it went around the corner and continued to soak up the sun.

Over the past few days, I have been trying to tidy up the human items left on the ground, before the grass and other plants grow up around them. There are many old hoses in various places that were at one time used for gardening and washing buildings. I have collected all the old hoses so they don’t interfere with the animals. Black plastic sheets that were used for landscaping at the base of the tower and around the main residence were becoming exposed. I removed all the pieces of plastic that have worked their way to the surface.

There were seven visitors to the island yesterday from Ocean Networks Canada. They spent several hours calibrating the CODAR equipment that measures near-surface ocean currents for the central portion of the Juan de Fuca Strait.

Yesterday, other than the Pearson College boat, Second Nature, there were two tour boats in the ecological reserve. Today, four tour boats, one sailboat and two pleasure boats were around Race Rocks.

Below are the results of the weekly census observed on Saturday, February 22. The numbers are substantially lower for almost every species regularly seen over the winter. Perhaps the relatively clear and calm conditions of this past week have encouraged the birds and marine mammals to venture further from their winter retreat on Race Rocks.
6 elephant seals (3 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
8 steller sea lions
60 california sea lions
30 harbour seals
1 river otter
6 bald eagles (3 adults, 3 juveniles)
2 Canada geese
1 raven
20 brandt’s cormorants
10 double-crested cormorants
62 pelagic cormorants
101 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
6 black oystercatchers
10 harlequin ducks
30 surfbirds
10 black turnstones
1 varied thrush
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow

UPDATED February 26: Photos have been uploaded now that the website is fixed.

Sunday Census

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Wind: yesterday 3-34 knots from N to W, today 19-33 knots from W
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today chop up to 1 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy with rain in evening, today overcast then heavy rain late morning clearing in afternoon
Temperature: yesterday 6-9 °C, today 6-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.05 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results from Sunday, February 16:
7 elephant seals (4 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
68 california sea lions
21 steller sea lions
40 harbour seals
9 bald eagles (8 adults, 1 juvenile)
2 Canada geese
19 brandt’s cormorants
16 double-crested cormorants
30 pelagic cormorants
547 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
2 black oystercatchers
8 harlequin ducks
10 black turnstones
1 song sparrow
1 snow bunting

Yesterday, I used the leaf blower in the boat house to clean out the thousands of dead flies left over from last summer. I laid out 76 m (250′) of fire hose to pump water from the jetty to the cistern. The fire pump ran for a couple hours to top up the seawater cistern used for the desalinator.

For the first time this winter, I saw about 20 pigeon guillemots in the water just north of the jetty yesterday morning. I haven’t seen any since.

There were 3 tour boats in the ecological reserve yesterday and no visitors on the island this weekend.

Photos from the past two days:

Bald Eagle Convocation

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Wind: yesterday 5-33 knots SE to N, today 8-20 knots NNE
Sea State: yesterday up to 2 m swell, today rippled
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: both days mixture of sun and clouds
Temperature: yesterday 5 to 8 °C, today 7 to 8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.39 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

For the past two mornings, there were many bald eagles in the ecological reserve. Today, 34 were seen perched on the West Rocks. Many more were catching fish and perched around the other islands. There appeared to be a lot of fish in the water, based on the swarms of gulls, cormorants and the feasting bald eagles.

This afternoon, two whale watching boats toured around the islands after watching the orcas in J pod, which were a few kilometres to the east and south of Race Rocks. Two other eco tour boats were seen in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

See the photos below for some sights from the past two days:

Bird List and Census by D.Donnecke

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Daniel Donnecke has contributed his images and counts from a visit to race Rocks on October 30 to ebird.org

https://ebird.org/checklist/S61055064

 

Unsafe Snorkeling, Fall Changes, Census

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Weather: 

  • Visibility 15+ NE
  • Sky overcast, cloudy
  • Wind 15-25 kn N
  • Water moderate waves, white caps.

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Around 15 whale watching boats yesterday
  • Corey, Guy, and a student with their visiting grandparents visited yesterday, and delivered water- the desalinator is on the horizon!
  • We are ending our term on Race Rocks tomorrow, so Greg and Guy will come for a debrief before the next eco-guardian takes over.

Yesterday we saw a pleasure craft enter the reserve and drop snorkelers into the water less than 100 m from our jetty, within 5 m of shore and the hauled out sea lions. The animals were distressed and swam around the snorkelers barking. The current was flooding very quickly (5 knots), which creates dangerous water currents, eddies, and upwellings. We as well as Corey in Second Nature motioned for the boat to move away, but they simply gathered the snorkelers and moved around the corner where they presumably thought we would not see them. An eco-tourism vessel in the reserve also noticed them and contacted us to let us know, out of concern for their safety given the animals present and the currents at the time.

In the past scuba divers and vessels have found themselves capsized or pulled away from their dive site and rescued by helicopter, and in 2015 a diver went missing and was found deceased days after they disappeared by a fisherman after rescue crews were not able to find them. We were especially concerned for this group’s safety due to lack of float marking their position and the frequent boating traffic through the reserve. In the past, seal pups have been decapitated by vessels passing through too quickly and unable to see them. If these snorkelers had been pulled away by the currents, there would have been a high chance of being struck by a vessel unable to see them in the rough water.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions population continues to grow! We are having to repair the fences sometimes twice per day. It seems like a more powerful electric fence energizer could be a good idea.
  • We spotted a little Greylag goose among the Canadian geese yesterday.
  • The sea lion that we spotted on Sept. 12th with an apparent propeller wound to his head is still here. He stays near the jetty and seems to have some behavioural anomalies, presumably due to the head injury. He is not afraid of us like the others, and does not move away into the water with the others when we clear the jetty. We haven’t had any problems but are weary that his behaviour could be unpredictable. Marty (the vet that came to aid in rescuing the entangled sea lion) mentioned that sometimes when this happens a shard of their skull can splinter and cause a brain infection. We hope this little guy is on the mend.
  • There have been many Canadian Geese passing through this week; A few days ago we counted over 20. The geese are not native to the island, but according to Gary Fletcher they arrived somewhere in the 80’s as the population of geese on Vancouver Island were introduced/grew. Addling the eggs began somewhere in the late 90’s. Unfortunately, this year two nests survived and hatched goslings, meaning that 20 geese left the island after 8 nested here in the spring.

Census: 

  • 500 Sea lions
  • 15 harbour seals
  • <20 seagulls
  • Approx. 20 cormorants
  • 3 short billed dowitchers
  • 1 Greylag goose
  • 1 sanderling
  • 1 Savannah sparrow
  • 20-23 Canada geese

Island Invaders (Invasive Thistle Removal)

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Invasive Species: Canada Thistle Removal 

We removed 6 large garbage bags full of invasive “Canada” thistles over the past few days. Considered a “noxious weed” under the BC Weed control act, these perennial (grow back every year) weeds can reproduce through seed and root regeneration. Thought to have been introduced to North America via contaminated crop seed in the 1700’s, this plant is actually native to southeast Europe and Asia. Presumably they were introduced to Race Rocks by a visitor on clothing or equipment, or perhaps by an animal.

They can be a bit laborious to remove, due to their tap root and ability to regenerate through “cloning” (growing back if you leave the root in the ground). Incredibly, the seeds can remain viable for 3-6 years when buried at typical depth, and some up to 21 years (yikes!). Each plant produces an average of 1500 seeds, but can sometimes exceed 5000.

Because of this, we collected them into garbage bags to remove from the island instead of composting them where they would have the opportunity to reproduce. Unfortunately it appeared that these aggressively persistent weeds were whipper snipped in past seasons, allowing the seeds to disperse and roots to regenerate. Hopefully with some attentiveness, they can be eradicated from Race Rocks in the next few years. More information on other introduced plants available in this post from Garry Fletcher, 2006.

Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, some sunshine
  • Visibility 15+ miles (some fog last night)
  • Wind 20-30 knots W
  • Water choppy, whitecaps

Visitors: 

  • Today Laura (Pearson’s marine science teacher), and her class came for a bit for their first trip to Race Rocks! Two more classes will visit in the next couple of days.
  • Less frequent eco-tourism traffic now that the summer tourism has slowed down. They have been getting quite close to the sea lions though, often causing them to climb over each other to get further away from the vessels. Since it has been overcast, we’ve been seeing the use of flash photography much more, which seems to audibly cause quite a stir.

Ecological: 

  • There have been some birds passing through that we don’t often see: western sandpiper, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, and juvenile sandpiper (or possibly sanderling- we have a hard time with bird ID!) Also, we think we spotted a yellow warbler a while back, but it was too speedy for us to snap a photo.
  • The sea lions have continued to haul out- notably, there are typically over 100 animals on the jetty alone.