Sea state: white caps, fast moving water, waves and swells up to 1 m
Visitors/Boats:
There have been no visitors to the island and no boats within the reserve
Ecological:
There is a new goose nest with one egg so far established in the middle of the island where the footpaths intersect
The young pup has seemed particularly inactive recently, and we have not seen her in the water for some time. Nick mentioned to us when he visited that she seems to have gained weight so we are not overly concerned. She spends most of her time near the jetty behind her favorite fence post.
The goose with an injured leg continues to limp around the island, but seems to be making do and there are no signs of deteriorating condition.
The eagle activity has been steady, aside from today with these strong winds
The seagulls are beginning to pull the grass and collect other debris for nesting, but no established nests so far.
Maintenance:
The generator is still out of commission, but we have been taking in a substantial amount of solar energy. Combined with the smaller generator contributing, our batteries have remained healthy. We are conserving water heavily until the new part arrives, as the desalination process requires a sizable amount of electricity.
Felted sea lion fur
Goose down clinging to rocks
Abandoned goose nest behind fuel shed
E103, “Erica” enjoying the sprinkle from a punctured fire hose
Saw a couple boats here and there, not during the big storm though
Greg is dropping by today with some supplies
Ecological
Seems like some of the sea lions came back when the storm hit, it was blowing up to 40 knots on Wednesday but today it has finally come down to almost nothing
A couple different birds also came by, I’ve been seeing a lot of ravens lately, eagles, snow buntings and one whimbrel
There is a little elephant seal by the jetty today, pink tag V173
Thankfully the storm brought in some driftwood than can be cut up and dried out for next winter
I am expecting some visitors tomorrow, we are working on decluttering and getting the desal going
Ecological
The sea lion numbers were dropping but it seems there is a lot more today than there have been in the past week, possibly due to the sudden change in weather the wind came up today
Census
Sea Lions – 500 (145 Steller and 315 California)
Harbour Seals – 0
Gulls – 240
Cormorants – 56
Canada Geese – 23
Black Turnstones – 30
Eagles – 10, there have been quite a few eagles hanging around lately
I have been very busy with courses and training which is why there has been a lack of posts lately but I am finally caught up and will be posting regularly, will walk around and count the animals once it is not storming anymore
Maintenance
I have been trying to keep up with the desalinating, the desalinator itself is running very slowly so it has to be run regularly, so I hope it lasts a little longer
running the generator to full charge has also been difficult because it takes so long and I run it after sunset but I haven’t lost power lately so that’s good
Ecological
The first pups mother is not around anymore, she left a few days ago but the second pups mother is still here, I imagine she won’t be around for much longer either, the second pup is getting quite large
It’s nice when the moms are gone because the pups will start interacting with each other
As for the mom who lost her pup, she is still around and I have no idea how long she plans on being around for, she hasn’t really given any attention to the other pups but she is cuddly with the other mom, oddly the mom who killed her pup
still looks like there is quite a few sea lions around and a lot of cormorants
