Category Archives: Bird Notes

Animal Census April14

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by Eco-guardians Allen ilka Olsen MONDAY 15 April
Still windy. What a difference a day makes! At 7.15 only a single sealion on jetty (mature male
Cal); only 11 sealions on rocks near jetty/nine relocated to Middle Rocks. The ‘Two Sisters’
moulting Elephant seals separate but reunited and tucked into vegetation for wind protection.
Single moulting Elephant seal inactive most of day. The seal reported by Joan last week to Van
Aquarium not seen again.
Lots of freighter traffic—7 at once. Now watching for HMCS Max Bernays, new arctic patrol
vessel, to arrive at Esquimalt @1030. Failed to see its arrival, however a navy frigate was
observed. As well, US Coast Guard. Only one private vessel came in the turbulent seas.
Maximum flood today extremely dramatic with standing waves.

Cormorants and guillemots feeding in north water. Immature eagle on rocks next to jetty
keeping 50 guillemots from favourite, sunny east-facing perch. 20 Oystercatcher on seal rock
this morning; 10 surfbird; 6 Harlequin
Spent windy day (41 W/62 gusts) observing animal behaviour (and later in week):
1. Sealion— 18 mostly Cals have remained on rocks near jetty. 25 mostly Stellers have
relocated to Middle Rocks. On Saturday observed 18-20 sealions in water west & near
South Islands all day simply floating; occasionally one would swim staying nearby. They
remained there until dark but were gone Sunday morning. Observed this behaviour with
8 on Wed; group would occasionally go into herding mode.
2. Elephant seal—Moulting large females (?) very attached to each other; one observed
grooming/rubbing itself on the one less advanced in its moult. One quite vocal when
separated from the other. Youngster stays completely away from The Sisters (so
named by Joan).
3. Stellers roar; Cals bark; E seals honk/snore/growl/trumpet (played poorly).
4. Oystercatcher—single bathing in inter-tidal pool.
5. Surfbird—10 bathing in inter-tidal pool.
6. Eagles—three immature perched shoulder to shoulder on Turbine Rock; three more
immatures shoulder to shoulder on West Rock. Odd behaviour. A single elsewhere.
7. Cormorants leave the Rock each evening to roost (on DND land?) and return in droves in
early morning.

Census April 13/2024

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Eco-guardians Allen & ilka Olsen

SATURDAY 13 April
Weather: Warm; sunny; slight breeze
Birds: 100 guillemot, 52 cormorant (1 injured,) 4 harlequin, 4 oystercatcher, 6 Canada goose, 6
turnstone, 6 surfbird, 1 Golden-crown kinglet
Mammals: 4 Elephant seal, 17 sealion
Maintenance: Internet down from 30 pm until noon Sunday; many trips to gen
building/eventually told to wait for IT help on Sunday morning.
Cleaned hand railing & molding in stairwell/some cabinet doors

Welcome to Race Rocks

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Friday April 5

Arrived at Race Rocks to take the baton from Jeremais. I was here just short of a year ago but this is my 4th or 5th time arriving in April. The house looks remarkable with new windows and new paint. The pathways are all clean and Jeremias has done work everywhere I look. I am thankful for all his endeavours. I come to the island recovering from a back problem and although I know I can do the necessary work it is the first time I will not be able to chop wood, move the concrete posts around and generally I need to sit around more than usual. Lots of time for observations!

As soon as the boat pulled away I went to look for a tagged gull I have documented in 2023 and 2022. And it was there! Same spot. This gives me a moment of reflection, last year I wrote about it too, how most of these animals are likely the same ones which return each year. It also makes me relieved because this bird has survived with 4 tags on its legs. Although we know how light they are I still require reassurance that they do not harm the bird (The birds are tagged elsewhere, at Race Rocks we do not having a tagging program). Here is another bird returned from last year I am even more surprised to see. With this one legged bird there is less certainty that it is the same individual but a remarkable coincidence if not, same month and same spot. If you search my previous blog entries you will find their pictures.

 

 

 

Race Rocks ER Gull Survey April 3 2024

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Race Rocks Gull Survey April 3 2024
Andrew Jacobs  5 April 2024 at 21:35
Hello everyone here’s our survey results from this week out at Race Rocks.
Thanks to everyone for setting this up and Greg for getting us out there for the survey.
Checklist with photos here.
RPBO / BC Nature Gull survey.
Survey conducted by Andrew Jacobs and James Kennerley.
Survey conducted from Great Race Rock while tides allowed.Surveying adults setting up territory for the breeding season and lingering migrants.
Colour morphs for the resident population of Western x Glaucous-winged hybrids setting up territories recorded. Only one pair was displaying at this time although there were multiple probable pairs present in the area. The Western Gulls were not obviously paired up at this time. One of the Glaucous-winged Gulls was likely paired with a light morph Western x Glaucous-winged hybrid.
The gulls on the high cliff and grassy areas tended to be more positioned as if on territories and the gulls on the lower rocks formed more standard congregation flocks. The adult gulls are in breeding plumage at this date.

Other species
At this time a small number of shorebirds are foraging around the timelines and the Black Oystercatchers appear to not currently be on territory. The Rock Sandpipers and Dunlin are going into breeding plumage. Pigeon Guillemot were absent from the site at this time. Two active Canada Goose nests were present. Only 3 Brandt’s Cormorants were spotted as offshore birds however with time restraints we focused on nearshore surveying.

Western x Glaucous-winged Gull Hybrid (Olympic Gull) Colour Morph abundance results of 215 individuals.
202 adults 13 immatures, light morph (Glaucous-winged trending hybrids) 132 adults and 7 immatures, intermediate morph (Intermediate trending hybrids) 58 adults and 2 immatures, dark morph (Western trending hybrids) 12 adults and 4 immatures. There was a pair of intermediate trending birds courting with synchronized dance displays. One Western-trending adult had a very Western-trending voice.
Avian Species List:
7 Canada Goose
19 Harlequin Duck
4 Black Oystercatcher
17 Black Turnstone
13 Surfbird
5 Dunlin
3 Rock Sandpiper
5 Short-billed Gull (1 immature 4 adults)
3 Western Gull (1 immature 2 adults)
6 California Gull (1 immature 5 adults)
11 Glaucous-winged Gull (5 immature 6 adults)
215 Western x Glaucous-winged Gull hybrid (Olympic Gull) (13 immature 202 adults)
1 American Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull hybrid (Cook Inlet Gull) (1 immature)
3 Iceland Gull (Thayer’s subspecies) (3 immature)
43 Brandt’s Cormorant
11 Pelagic Cormorant
7 Double-crested Cormorant
2 Bald Eagle (2 adults)
Pinnipeds
24 California Sealion
4 Steller’s Sealion
1 Northern Elephant Seal
17 Harbour Seal
If there are any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
250-507-5360, meowker use the at sign hotmail.com /
Cheers,
Andrew Jacobs

The Weekly Animal Census

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Today, it was time for the weekly animal census on Race Rocks – a longstanding tradition (see the full archive, here) that allows us to keep track of an ever-fluctuating population of birds and marine mammals. The morning weather wasn’t particularly promising, with wind, rain, and dark overcast skies.

Combined with high tides and a rough sea state, perhaps it wasn’t entirely surprising that the numbers seemed a bit lower than usual – with the harbour seals in particular mostly hiding out in the waves surrounding the South Rocks, and thus rather tricky to count. Alas – who was about?

Census equipment – species list, binoculars, and a clicker to keep track of everyone

 

March 27th Animal Census

Birds:

Oyster catcher: 22
Harlequin duck: 15
Gulls: 195
Cormorant: 73
Pigeon guillemot: 101
Juvenile eagle: 1
Adult eagle: 1
Canadian geese: 9
Shore / Surf birds: 15
Turnstones: 10

Marine Mammals:

Steller sea lions: 14
Harbour seal: 21
Male Elephant seal: 1 (back on land after a lengthy morning expedition)
Female elephant seal : 0
California sea lion: 24

The weather did eventually start to calm down a bit – still hopeful to catch my first RR sunset of the trip later tonight!

 

Facility Work:

  • Weekly Animal Census
  • Continued algae clean-up on Generator Roof
  • Chopped Firewood
  • Prepared new Water Filters for both the Keeper’s Residence and the Marine Science Building
  • Early AM generator run to top up batteries, PM solar enough to reach charge status of 100%

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 1 ecotourism vessel, passing between the South Islands and Rosedale Reef

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Animal Census

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Census done by Students of WestCoast Adventure College during their stay here for classes

 

Birds

  • Harlequin duck                         12
  • Bald eagle adult                        5
  • Bald eagle juvenile                    2
  • Golden Eagle juvenile               1
  • Turnstones                                 10
  • Gulls                                            323
  • Cormorants                                243
  • Pigeon Guillemots                      18
  • Oyster catcher                            6
  • Canadian goose                         10
  • Surf Birds                                    2
  • Dunlin                                          4
  • Savannah Sparrow                     1

 

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                     79, including 1 female nursing a yearling
  • Harbour seal                         25
  • California sea lion                40
  • Sea otter                                1
  • Humpback whale,                 mid strait south of Race
  • Orca                                        2 hunting in the reserve
  •                                                 6 hunting south of the reserve, waiting until the
  •                                                 2 joined them

Detailed Bird Count

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Report by fill-in Eco-Guardian Ann Nightingale, accompanied by James Kennerley
Landed on Great Race Rock to conduct gull survey on behalf of RPBO. Principally observed birds on Great Race Rock and surrounding islands. Didn’t really seawatch from the island.
22 Species observed
+4 other taxa
871 individuals
1 Species with photos

Observations

  1. Harlequin Duck

    Number observed: 16

    Details

    Several groups, largest was eight birds. Many smart drakes. Some males moulting into formative plumage too.

  2. Surf Scoter

    Number observed: 6

  3. White-winged Scoter

    Number observed: 8

    Details

    Single group close to shore of Great Race Rock.

  4. Black Oystercatcher

    Number observed: 4

    Details

    Two pairs flying around on arrival.

  5. Black Turnstone

    Number observed: 12

    Details

    Ones, twos and threes scattered around. A few initially on grassy areas when we arrived before moving towards the shoreline.

  6. Surfbird

    Number observed: 5

    Details

    At least five singles scattered around.

  7. Dunlin

    Number observed: 3

    Details

    Scurrying around grassy area when we arrived then moved towards rocky shoreline. One definitive, two formative.

  8. Rock Sandpiper

    Number observed: 3

    Details

    Two together on south side which I had good views of through my scope for a couple of minutes as they moved in and out of view between rocks. I moved closer for a better look but they vanished either walked around the back of the little island or flew off.

    Later I had superb views of a definitive bird (see definitive wing coverts) on the north shore but only for a couple of minutes before the bird quickly moved west along the shore and around a corner.

    Media

    Rock Sandpiper - James Kennerley
    © James Kennerley Macaulay Library
    Rock Sandpiper - James Kennerley
    © James Kennerley Macaulay Library
    Rock Sandpiper - James Kennerley
    © James Kennerley Macaulay Library
    Rock Sandpiper - James Kennerley
    © James Kennerley Macaulay Library
    Rock Sandpiper - James Kennerley
    © James Kennerley Macaulay Library
    Rock Sandpiper - James Kennerley
    © James Kennerley Macaulay Library

  9. Pigeon Guillemot

    Number observed: 12

    Details

    Most moulting into alternate plumage.

  10. Common Murre

    Number observed: 4

    Details

    One in alternate plumage.

  11. Short-billed Gull

    Number observed: 25

    Details

    All loafing on West Race Rock.

  12. Western Gull

    Number observed: 4

    Details

    Two definitive, two first cycles.

  13. Herring Gull

    Number observed: 7

    Details

    At least a couple of definitive birds, a couple of second cycles and three first cycles (juv).

  14. California Gull

    Number observed: 3

    Details

    Definitive and two first cycles (juv).

  15. Glaucous-winged Gull

    Number observed: 180

    Details

    130 in main flock on Great Race Rock. 10 on West Race Rock. 40 others scattered around. Approximately 95% of adults with primaries darker than mantle to varying degrees so likely this number includes some individuals that may better fall under ‘Olympic Gull’.

  16. Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)

    Number observed: 25

    Details

    Estimate for the number of especially distinctive hybrids.

  17. Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)

    Number observed: 5

    Details

    At least a handful of ‘Cook Inlet Gulls’. Likely were more which I may have overlooked or incorrectly called ‘Olympic’.

  18. Iceland Gull (Thayer’s)

    Number observed: 292

    Details

    240 in main flock on west side. 27 on West Race Rock. 25 on north side. Approximately 90% were definitive birds.

  19. Larus sp.

    Number observed: 60

    Details

    Estimate of the number of indetermined hybrids.

  20. loon sp.

    Number observed: 2

    Details

    Distant on water and another in flight.

  21. Brandt’s Cormorant

    Number observed: 88

    Details

    Majority loafing on north side of Great Race Rock near gull flock.

  22. Pelagic Cormorant

    Number observed: 25

    Details

    Majority loafing on north side of Great Race Rock near gull flock.

  23. Double-crested Cormorant

    Number observed: 61

    Details

    Majority loafing on north side of Great Race Rock near gull flock.

  24. Bald Eagle

    Number observed: 17

    Details

    Spread out loafing on high points of islands.

  25. Barn Swallow

    Number observed: 3

    Details

    Three appeared just as we were leaving hawking low around jetty for insects.

  26. Savannah Sparrow

    Number observed: 1

    Details

    Lurking along edge of rocks. Fairly dark chocolatey and rufous bird. Slim bill. Prominent yellow at base of supercilium.

    https://ebird.org/checklist/S160741512

Animal Census

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This last month, the daily numbers vary dramatically, possibly  due to rapid changes in weather and ultra high tides (?) Still no Elephant Seals hauling out.

 

Birds

  • Harlequin duck              – 6
  • Bald eagle adult            – 4
  • Bald eagle juvenile       – 12
  • Turnstones                    – 18
  • Gulls                               – 43
  • Cormorants                    – 74
  • Oyster catcher               – 6
  • Canadian goose             – 16
  • Dunlin                              – 4

 

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                   – 132
  • Harbour seal                       – 22
  • California sea lion              – 41
  • Sea otter                              – 1     (reported to me by Eco-Tourism vessel)

Holiday Storm

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Best Wishes to you if you celebrate anything special this time of year!

Ecological Notes:

  • Still no Elephant Seals hauling out.
  • 1 yearling(?) came ashore for a couple days. When if first arrived it spent half a day moving around the central area, “calling” loudly (perhaps checking for others to haul out with?)

“You can’t see me here”

  • The Sea Otter – “Ollie” – was reported to be just off Helicopter rock by a photographer out on one of the EcoTourism boats. It’s nice to get updates on this animal, as his teeth are failing, and he is relatively old for a Sea Otter

    “Ollie” the sea Otter Photo submitted by Clint William

  • After dropping to very low numbers, there seems to be another surge of both Steller and California Sea Lions to the haul outs
  • There have been 2 or 3 small wrens in the flower beds, with help from Ann Nightingale, we believe these to be Pacific Wrens … too fast for me to get my own photo ….

photo by Mason Maron

Visitors:

  • 2 contractors from Viriidian Energy came and serviced the generator and upgraded the control system with an Auto Start/Stop system
  • Park Warden Garry Fletcher visited, and in addition to gaining an overview of the park and facilities, spent time with the Eco-Guardian providing interesting stories and history around the facility

Facility Work:

  • Spent some time analyzing and making adjustments to the new control system for the generator system
  • Initial setting on the Auto system proved to be problematic in that they resulted in very extended runs times(up to twice as long = twice the fuel burn and fuel transport!) Discussed with the programmer and they remotely adjusted the unit  to more appropriate times. Also, found out how to properly override the system for a manual run,  to ensure once a week full charges can still be done.
  • Will re-visit with the technician after the holidays
  • After help to secure some more logs … ongoing bucking and splitting to build up firewood stocks for the winter.
  • Did full maintenance on the chainsaw
  • Now running both the old, and the new Seawater data units, to give both readings to adjust  older incorrect readings

  • Proof on Concept: As the damp wood produces less heat in the woodstove, I decided to try to curtain off some areas, such as the front doorway and the kitchen. Using found materials , the main curtain is very thin, and does not cover the top very well, but it still produces a very noticeable temperature difference on either side

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ongoing Eco-Tourism vessels in the park
  • Several private vessels visiting, no noted infractions

Weather Events:

Ongoing winter weather, unseasonably warm, winds direction shifting daily, very little rain

  • Monday, December 25::
    • Sky: Dense, High overcast, very light sprinkles threatening rain, but none occurred
    • Wind: ENE 5-15 kts during the day, rising to nighttime winds gusting to 35 kts
    • Sea:1 meter swells from the East
    • Temperature Low 8.5oC, High 11oC
  • Tuesday, December 26:
    • Sky: Bright overcast sky
    • Wind: ENE, calm in the morning, expected to rise to 25kts during the day and up to 45kts by evening
    • Sea: Large rolling swells from the east
    • Temperature Low 9oC, High 11.5oC

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Animal Census

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  • Bald eagle adult                          2
  • Bald eagle juvenile                     4
  • Barred Owl                                  1
  • Black Turnstones                      10
  • Black Oyster Catchers                6
  • Gulls                                           148
  • Cormorants  mostly Brandt’s    87
  • Canadian goose                          22
  • Ravens                                          2
  • Surf Scoters                                 12
  • Dunlin                                            8

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                          590
  • Harbour seal                                42
  • California sea lion                     380
  • Sea Otter                                      1

Several Humpback Whales visible from the reserve