Ann's Adventures: Where are the Birds??

While just a couple of kilometres away, things are changing almost daily on the birding front, there hasn't been much change here on Race Rocks, although birders in a boat found a Common Tern between here and Pedder Bay today. The Brown Pelicans and occasional shorebird drop-in (such as the third Short-billed Dowitcher since I arrived) spice things up a bit, but for the most part, the birding picture is pretty consistent here during August.

A boat of birders was a welcome distraction to the day.

Brown Pelicans

Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher with Black Turnstones

All that's needed for the positive identification of the dowitcher. The pattern on the tertials is diagnostic.

Short-billed Dowitcher with Black Turnstones

But there is still a lot unknown about the rest of the year. Have a look at the eBird bar chart for Race Rocks. You can certainly detect the boat-friendly time of year! There are many gaps, especially through the late fall to the summer during which there is no eBird data at all (grayed out columns). I may have to try to find a way to get out here more often during those gaps to check things out!

A lot of missing weeks of data for this hotspot!

Note that a lot of the passerines showing on this eBird bar chart are likely from Pedder Bay as birders make their way out towards Race Rocks.

Besides the boating birders, the most interesting story of the day was finding the young elephant seal on the move on her own first thing this morning. She knows Bubbles's hiding spot now, and how to get there! And get there, she did. She was there all day, even though after two full days on the island, Bubbles returned to the water this afternoon.

Elephant seal in stealth mode

Found him!

Maybe not so impressed

My place now!

The California sea lion numbers and aroma are definitely increasing, and along with that, the number of flies getting into the houses. There's also been an explosion of fruit flies in the generator room, generated by the rolling compost bin being temporarily housed there. The sea lions are getting closer and closer to the fence by the lighthouse, but so far there haven't been any intruders.

Sea lions getting closer and closer to the fence

As my stay here winds down, I'm trying to think of small jobs I can do before I go. In the Standard Operating Procedures, the instructions for relief ecoguardians for any quiet times is "fix or clean something". I'd rather fix than clean, so I've made some adjustments to cupboard doors, made a temporary fix on the flag pulley line until Greg brings a new one, and fixed a screen door hinge. Okay, I've cleaned some, too. The gull poop is endless, and until the desalinator is fixed, the water definitely isn't. I've been using the remaining solar panel cleaning water (which is very dirty by the time that's done) to try to keep the main path to the house a little cleaner. The gulls don't appreciate the effort and immediately proceed to undo my work! Same goes for the decks and stairs on the house. I also want to maximize my time outdoors to enjoy the days I have left. Secretly hoping for a weather change, but there's none in the forecast.

Mushu is fully adapated to living here now, and can even look outside without panicking. It will be interesting to see his reaction to returning to his home of 17 years next week. Mine, too, although I've been there 23. This will be one of my longest trips away from home, even though it's not that far away. It's very cool to have the opportunity to be here on Race Rocks, but I admit that I'm a little bit homesick and looking forward to returning to my abnormal normal life. And a cup of Tim Horton's tea!

A few pictures from today: