Tag Archives: Canada goose

August 16 Weekly Census

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Weekly Census
Observed today because of yesterday’s poor visibility from heavy fog.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 229 (way up from 41 on August 9)
  • California sea lion: 211 (way up from 35 on August 9)
  • Harbour seal: 125

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 2
  • Canada goose: 2
  • Cormorant: 37
  • Gull: 464
  • Black oystercatcher: 6 (including 2 chicks)
  • Pigeon guillemot: 92
  • Surfbird: 25
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 2
  • Black turnstone: 99

Facility work:

  • Checked the water levels in the batteries and topped up.
  • Fixed parts of the electric fence to deter the sea lions from plopping themselves onto the paths and other human built areas of Race Rocks.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 10
  •  Private: 6

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: west 3-25 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 14 °C, high 17 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6°C

Photos from today:

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

August 9

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Weekly Census
Observed today in between fog patches.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 41
  • California sea lion: 35
  • Harbour seal: 105

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 1
  • Canada goose: 4
  • Cormorant: 37
  • Gull: 495
  • Black oystercatcher: 16 (including 3 chicks)
  • Pigeon guillemot: 112
  • Harlequin duck: 2
  • Surfbird: 34
  • Black turnstone: 68

Facility work:

  • Check and top up battery water
  • Weed whacking paths

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 21

Weather:

  • Sky: fog with occasional patches of visibility up to 2 km
  • Wind: west 12-26  knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 15 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7°C

Photos from today:

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

August 1 Census

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Weekly Census:

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 36
  • California sea lion: 4
  • Harbour seal: 129

Birds:

  • Canada goose: 9
  • Cormorant: 19
  • Gull: 556
  • Black oystercatcher: 10
  • Pigeon guillemot: 102
  • Short-billed dowitcher: 1
  • Surfbird: 22
  • Black turnstone: 52

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels and windows
  • Tidy up the boat house

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 21

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy, fog in evening
  • Wind: west 22-41 knots
  • Sea: 3-4′ chop
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 17 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.3°C

Photos from today:

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

Wildlife Census

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Woa, last week on Race Rocks. 3 months has FLOWN by, marked with very few intense winter storms and no resident Elephant Seals over the breeding season. We had a big female come ashore and do a bunch of feeding over the last month, and then a new (smaller) seal showed up on March 31st. She looks like a survivor of ‘scabby moult’ and she’s tagged! It’s a green tag (L334) meaning she was tagged in Año Nuevo, and probably 3-4 years old. We were so excited to have more than 1 Elephant Seal around we were very suprised to wake up this monring to another small Elephant Seal female! Could this be the begining of the moutling season for Race Rocks? Stay tuned to find out!

We figured if it’s the end of our time here, better try and leave the place better off than we found it. We installed Greg’s new electric fence concept on the jetty, and re-habed the N fence perimeter. Cleaned up a bunch of the scrap materials from previous infrastructure projects, and put the ladders away. We’re very fancy like that.

The Canada Geese have begun the laying season, which means a marked increase in their aggression as they start to defend their nests. It’s a battle between the Geese and the gulls (who are also getting ready to start laying), and we often wake up to a freshly cracked egg on the main walkway.

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea lions: 12
  • California Sea lion: 14
  • Harbour Seal: 30
  • Northern Elephant Seal: 3

Birds

  • Gulls: 122
  • Cormorants: 68
  • Eagle: 8 Adult, 6 Juvenile
  • Turnstones: 20
  • Canada Geese: 7 – 3 breeding pairs
  • Oystercatcher: 18

It has been a LOVELY time on Race Rocks, and we’re always so grateful to get to spend time here. It’s such a beautiful spot with so much history, and it has Elephant Seals some of the time! We look forward to seeing a new Beachmaster take charge of the island, and for the opportunity to return.

 

Tristan & Courtney

Elephant Seals LOVE the smell of sawdust.

 

 

Wildlife Census

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We’ve been hearing Elephant Seal vocalizations at night, but haven’t seen anyone lurking around on the boat ramp. After taking the Race Rocks boat ‘Neighbor’ for a rip we spotted this cutie hiding at the summit of Middle Rock. Courtney used the ‘socketed’ pectoral flipper to differentiate the elephant seal from the surrounding sea lions. After that she started making visits to the boat ramp first thing in the morning. Not pregnant, didn’t give birth, just hanging around.

Female Elephant Seal wallowing at the jetty.

Female Elephant Seal complaining about the noise at Middle Rocks to the NW.

We also got a California Sea Lion hanging out next to the crane with a red flipper tag on his right flipper. We haven’t been able to figure out what this tag identifies yet.

California Sea Lion with a red tag in his ‘flipper-pit’.

 

No number or identification, just a red clip.

 

The coveted ‘end of the jetty’ position is all about leverage, and not letting anyone new join the party.

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea lions: 126
  • California Sea lion: 153
  • Harbour Seal: 48
  • Northern Elephant Seal: 1

Birds

  • Gulls: 45
  • Cormorants: 38
  • Eagle: 1 Adult, 2 Juvenile
  • Turnstones: 14
  • Canada Geese: 5 – 2 breeding pairs
  • Oystercatcher: 22
  • Pigeon Guillemots: 26

Boats

  • Recreation Salmon Fishing: 18
  • Tourism: 4
  • Sailboats: 4

Weather must be improving as we’re seeing more sailboats cruising around the Juan de Fuca.

The Stellers diminished this week and started using the fringes after the sea lion pileup from last week.

I try to remember to include the Bald Eagles, they’ve been pretty lazy these days.

Kayaking the rapids at Race Rocks looks pretty fun.

A log kept bumping into her butt and making her angry. Hard life of an Elephant Seal.

 

Wildlife Census

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BOOM! With the nice weather improving, a huge cohort of Steller Sea Lions showed up, and took over South Islands. This is a change from the typical South Seal Rocks haul-out next to the generator shed. I’ve attached a Reserve Map for those interested.

South Islands got COVERED in Steller Sea Lions this week.

Race Rocks Reserve Map

 

Bull Stellers had to figure out the pecking order for the summit.

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea lions: 250
  • California Sea lion: 150
  • Harbour Seal: 22
  • Sea Otter: 1 (Ollie?)

Birds

  • Gulls: 50
  • Cormorants: 55
  • Eagle: 4 Adult, 6 Juvenile
  • Turnstones: 30
  • Canada Geese: 7 – 3 breeding pairs
  • Oystercatcher: 44
  • Pigeon Guillemots: 73
  • Harlequin Ducks: 4

Pigeon Guillemots taking over the NW bluffs of Race Rocks.

Harlequin Ducks on South Seal Rocks

Double-crested Cormorant

Harbour Seals love that low-low tide.

I was recently reminded that Trans-Mountain is now operational, and we’re seeing an increase in tanker traffic in the Juan-de Fuca Straight.

PIGU!!! On a good day the Pigeon Guillemots can almost drown out the sea lion barking.

Black Oystercatchers are used as an indicator of good coastal ecosystem health.

Probably Ollie, lurking on the edge of South Islands for a few days.

I was trying to decide if Ollie was carrying around an old River Otter again. Your guess is as good as mine here.

Black Turnstone love foraging around the edges of the footpath and outcropping rocks.

 

Census + Spring has sprung!

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Pearson Students coming out to see the wildlife!

This week Second Nature made a trip out with some students to see the Sea Lions! It’s always great to see just how excited students are to see Race Rocks!

California Sea Lion loving that cozy sunshine.

Canada Geese can eat up to up to 2kg of grass a day. It noticable.

Weather has been fantastic, with new Pigeon Guillemots and Oystercatchers showing up.

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea lions: 64
  • California Sea lion: 87
  • Harbour Seal: 14

Birds

  • Gulls: 55
  • Cormorants: 25
  • Eagle: 2 Adult, 2 Juvenile
  • Turnstones: 14
  • Canada Geese: 5 – 2 breeding pairs
  • Oystercatcher: 15
  • Pigeon Guillemots: 52

Ocean swell coming up the Juan de Fuca onto the jetty.

Animal Census

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I guess that counts as winter storms…

Looking south from the Lighthouse.

We got some spicy winds and the temperature dropped out from January 30 – February 5th. With the storms came the California Sea Lions en masse: going from 58 the previous count to 168. The Jetty must be much nicer than wherever their feeding grounds are.

 

Temperature trends for the week.

Wind data in Km/hour. A little spicy.

I am pretty impressed with the tourism operators that visit Race Rocks: I would have assumed anything over 35 knots would make for a bad day to visit, but we maxed out with 6 tourism vessels visiting the Sea Lions and Birds of Race Rocks, even during the worse day of winds we got this week. We also got a visit by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, doing a patrol of the Ecological Preserve and ensuring the tourism vessels didn’t disturb the Sea Lions.

Wind and current working against each other can make for some lumpy wildlife viewing.

First time I’ve ever seen Sombrio Point visit Race Rocks.

Time to hide from the wind and waves.

As for Race Rocks proper things have been pretty chill. There isn’t much of a stockpile of firewood, so we’ve been scavenging any bits of wood on the island to keep warm when the winds blowing. Hopefully warm weather is coming, or we’d take some evil North wind to deliver us some new fire wood.

Scrounging for any wood to keep things from freezing.

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea lions: 70
  • California Sea lion: 168
  • Harbour Seal: 22
  • Sea Otter: 1 (Ollie?)

Birds

  • Gulls: 55
  • Cormorants: 30
  • Eagle: 4 Adult, 5 Juvenile
  • Turnstones: 14
  • Canada Geese: 8 – 4 breeding pairs trying to hunker down
  • Oystercatcher: 25
  • Pigeon Guillemots: 45

Boats

  • Tourism: 6
  • Private: 0
  • Government: 1

August 1 Census

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Census Results:

Mammals:

  • Elephant seal: 2 (female and male)
  • Steller sea lion: 34
  • California sea lion: 11
  • Sea otter: 1
  • Harbour seal: 78

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 1
  • Canada goose: 3
  • Cormorant: 33
  • Gull: 584
  • Black oystercatcher: 20
  • Pigeon guillemot: 131
  • Whimbrel: 1
  • Surfbird: 28
  • Black turnstone: 137
  • Song sparrow: 2
  • Least sandpiper: 1

Facility work:

  • Reacquaint myself with the standard operating procedures and various systems on the island
  • Check boat electronics, safety equipment, and winch
  • Clean solar panels
  • Sample seawater

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 23
  •  Private: 5

Weather:

  • Sea: Rippled
  • Sky: Clear in morning, then partly cloudy
  • Wind: Variable light winds overnight until sunrise ~06:00, when wind switched to easterlies varying from 3-14 knots throughout the rest of the day
  • Daytime air temperature: low 13 C, high 24 C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.6 C

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

Another Windy Day

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Today was another blustery day and the weather couldn’t seem to make up its mind. The wind remained around 30knots throughout the day but the rest was a mix of blue sky and sun to dark clouds and pouring rain, and everything in between.

The sea lions don’t seem to mind the wind and looked as cozy as ever on their rocks. The gulls hunkered down with their heads tucked under their wings, the rest of the birds seemed to continue as normal. That includes the one goose that hangs out near the crane and stalks me whenever I walk in that general vicinity despite not having a visible nest (or mate) nearby. I also watched the same goose chase an elephant seal this morning but she seemed rather unbothered by it. I am still learning about birds and their behaviours but this particular goose seems to be holding a grudge!!

I didn’t expect to see Ollie today. With the wind and current being as strong as it is, I assumed he’d be tucked somewhere sheltered or asleep in a bed of mussels. Nope! I spotted him in the most exposed area possible, snoozing in a kelp bed – dead centre in the middle of the channel. I could barely see him between waves but he was completely unbothered by the weather. 

Despite the poor weather I did count 4 ecotourism vessels within the reserve today.

Nothing else to note today! 

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