An Adventure Close to Home!

 I have been fortunate to be able to visit some very remote places such as Antarctica and Attu. Over the years, I've had the privilege of working on restricted lands managed by the Department of National Defence and others. This week I'm having a wish fulfilled by getting to spend a week at another place that few have been. I am on Race Rocks, within spitting distance (if you are a very, very proficient spitter) of Rocky Point Bird Observatory's Rocky Point site. 

As luck would have it (and I am a firm believer in luck), I found out that they were looking for a relief Eco-guardian for a week. Emails sent, zoom meeting held, paperwork filed, and here I am! That island that we look at daily from Rocky Point is my home for the week, and I have been encouraged to share some of my experiences.

Greg Dickinson (Pearson College) and Garry Fletcher brought me to Race Rocks on the Second Nature on Saturday, August 7. After a quick tour of the facilities, instructions on the duties of the Eco-guardian, and the handing over of the Standard Operating Procedures binder, Greg, Garry and the previous relief Eco-guardian's group all got aboard the Second Nature and headed away, leaving me with gulls, Pigeon Guillemots and a very large male Elephant Seal. 

Garry Fletcher and Greg Dickinson

It was pretty windy the first afternoon and evening as I got used to my surroundings.  By far the most numerous and messiest residents are the Glaucous-winged Gulls.  Several of them are still raising their young, and are fiercely protective. Be careful where you walk!  Everyone tries to be as careful as possible to not disrupt the birds, but you literally can't go from one point to another without causing agitation. As noted by previous relief Eco-guardian Joan Rosenberg, if young gulls tread into another bird's territory, it is likely to be attacked by one or more adults, so you have to work hard to not scare them out of their own turf.

Very young Glaucous-winged Gulls

There are several buildings on Race Rocks: The Eco-guardian's house (3 bedrooms, everything you need in the house), the student/researcher house (2 bunk rooms plus a single room for the teacher), and several outbuildings for things like the generator, desalination equipment,  winch control, workshop, and boathouse. Power is supplied by a large array of solar panels and a diesel generator. Water is supplied by the desalination plant. Oh yeah, and there's a lighthouse!  One of my forays the first afternoon was to the top of the tower. 110 stairs from ground and then a short ladder through a door in the floor of the lamp room.  It's got a 360 degree view, but not much room to move around.  There's also a small door to go outside, but it's been sufficiently windy when I've been up there that I haven't tried that adventure yet.

Student/researcher residence

The last few steps to the top

The Eco-guardian's residence from the top of the tower

Here are a few of the things a relief Eco-guardian does:

Wash windows and solar panels daily (did I mention there are a LOT of gulls?)

Solar panels on the generator building.  I discovered another array towards the water from this building!

Manage the power level requirements by running the generator as needed.

Write a daily blog post for http://racerocks.com

Monitor boat activity around the ecological reserve , warning boats of infractions (mostly getting too close to the wildlife)

One of many vessels in the reserve on Sunday.

Census the animals and birds on the islands

The full-time Eco-guardians have other longer-term tasks they do as well, including programs with Pearson College students.

Of course, the birder in me is hoping that some rare bird might stop by. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed for that one.  If it did, it's likely that one of the gulls would see it as a nice light snack--unless it was something big like a pelican or booby.

Along with the gulls, there are good numbers of Pigeon Guillemots here.  So far, all have been adults, and they gather in groups of up to 40 on various spots on the island. But I have seen one sneaking a fish into a crevice, so it is possible that they are still nesting. I'm not surprised if few of the chicks on the island survive the Gluttonous-wily Gulls.

Pigeon Guillemots

Gotta love those red boots!

There are also a number of shorebirds: Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Surfbirds and both Western and Least Sandpipers have been here over the weekend. 

Black Oystercatcher chick and bodyguard

The most dominant mammal on the island is the Elephant Seal.  He lies wherever he wants, and right now that is adjacent to the sidewalk. More on him in my next post.  California Sea Lions, Steller's (Northern) Sea Lions and many Harbour Seals also come ashore on the main island, but for the most part can be found on the various islets of Race Rocks.

Molting male Elephant Seal

I am here just until Friday.  There will be others coming to do work on the island in the next few days, so most of my alone time will be in the early mornings and later in the day, but getting to experience living out here by myself for the first few days has been pretty amazing! The window/solar panel washing takes a fair amount of time, and I'm just working out the best way to allocate that so that I can spend more time looking out to sea! More to follow!