Limestone Log II: Vol. 32, Issue 2, June 2021
From rain to sun!
Camp and Crew Updates
We are a little over a month and a half into the season and time is flying by here on East Limestone Island. The crew has added a new team member and we’ve had a recent run of incredibly hot weather. With strong north westerlies blowing through, a ridge of high pressure has decided to park itself on top of Haida Gwaii. The string of sunny hot weather has plants blooming, chicks are fledging, some exciting bird species have been sighted, and the excellent weather allowed for a trip down to the Lost Islands to complete the GWGU survey. As well, there have been some terrific spotting conditions, which have allowed us to put the scopes to work.
After a midseason switch the East Limestone Island crew is happy to welcome a new member to the team. Todd Weisbrot (Queen Charlotte) has brought his international guiding experience to Laskeek Bay. He has a passion for wildlife conservation and is excited to be a part of the team on East Limestone Island.
Adult Northern Flicker feeding a chick two days before it fledged.
Gwaii Haanas Black Oystercatcher (BLOY) Survey #1
With the coming of June, Matt and Natalie of the ElI Crew along with longtime LBCS employee Jake Pattison and small boat operator extraordinaire Doug Black had the enormous privilege of going into Gwaii Haanas to continue the long-term monitoring of Black Oystercatchers, after the 1-year delay caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. The trip turned out to have a few challenges with some high winds and rainy weather that held up the survey for a day and a half, but overall the trip was a success with 119 territory visits and over 135 eggs and 5 small chicks. While the GH BLOY (Black Oystercatcher) team was working in the south, LBCS biologist Rian Dickson was working in parallel doing the annual Laskeek Bay BLOY survey with her incredible group of volunteers (aka her sister Hannah, husband Jon, and 2 aspiring biologist daughters Taya and Noa). Round 1 of BLOY surveys was an awesome experience and a welcome flurry of new faces in the Laskeek Bay world.
BLOY crew, Todd, Natalie and Matt at work.
GWGU Survey (Lost Islands & Kingsway Rock)
On June 18th the conditions were as calm as you can ever imagine. Todd, Matt, and Natalie set off on adventure to Kingsway Rock and the Lost Islands, objective complete the GWGU (Glaucous-winged Gull) survey and continuing the Gwaii Haanas BLOY survey. The experience was memorable, as we discovered 160 adult GWGU with 125 active nests on the Lost Islands. As well there were 17 early season hatchlings all very camouflaged with their down feather pattern closely resembling their spotted eggshell, making them very hard to detect. Almost as challenging as spotting the two BLOY chicks that we were able to observe in the rocky crevasses on the Lost Islands.
While conducting the Lost Island section of the BLOY survey, we had an interruption while two transient Orca appeared in the lagoon hunting the ever abundant yet elusive PHVI (Harbour Seal) unsuccessfully. The crew is thankful for the excellent weather conditions that made for an unforgettable adventure to the Lost Islands.
Natalie completing the Glaucous-winged Gull (GWGU) survey on Lost Islands.
Marine Mammals
June was an incredible month for marine mammal sightings in Laskeek bay. Nightly marine mammal watches at the end of Ancient Murrelet gathering ground counts turned up sightings of Harbour seals, Humpback whales, Harbour porpoises, and on one evening there were several pods of Killer whales, which ended up being a great opportunity to use the new KOWA scope to get ID photographs that would otherwise have been impossible. The crew had a few other exciting incidental marine mammal sightings including two close encounters with orcas in the Reef boat, the first of which happened the morning of the GH BLOY survey (right in Cabin cove!) with a very curious solo male orca that decided to play in the kelp that the reef boat was drifting in. This resulted in a few under-the-boat passes and other antics that felt like a once in a lifetime deal, that is, until two weeks later at the Lost Islands where the ELI crew had another extremely close encounter during the Glaucus-winged Gull survey with 2 male Orcas hunting seals in the same small lagoon that the boat was in.
Orca hunting Harbour Seals in the lagoon at Cabin Cove.
Chicks to Fledglings
Matt, Natalie, and Todd have been busy trying to keep up with the activity of chicks and fledging on East Limestone Island. It seems like only a few days go by and the tiny chicks have doubled in size. Some the exciting sightings include a SOGR (Sooty Grouse) pair with a chick, a significant number of RBSA (Red-breasted Sapsucker) adults with recent fledglings, a couple of CBCH (Chestnut-backed Chickadee) family groups and a large family of HETH (Hermit Thrush) all serenading the forest on East Limestone Island. The other exciting news to share, albeit a little more on the darker side of life, is the recent sighting of a SSHA (Sharp-shinned Hawk) pair who seems to be nesting near the middle of the island. With all the chicks and fledglings populating East Limestone Island, the SSHA pair have plenty of food to choose from. We plan on keeping an eye on the pair with hopes to potentially locate their nest. On June 24th and 25th the NOFL (Northern Flicker) nest seemed to have at least one large chick being fed by an adult, and as of June 26th it seems to have fledged. The bird activity has been exciting and has kept the crew actively intrigued.
Rare Plant Find
East Limestone Island is well-known by botanists because of the rare plants found at sea level on the limestone derived soils. Unfortunately, the deer have reduced these to very rare occurrences, so now they are only found on the most inaccessible cliffs. Over the years, LBCS has documented the very rare Polemonium pulcherrimum Showy Jacob’s Ladder; Geranium richardsonii Richardson’s geranium; and Anenome multifida Cut-leaf anemone.
This year, it looks like we have found another rare plant. On June 9, volunteer Hannah Dickson, Rian’s sister, found a mystery orchid near the western shoreline just north of Boat Cove and took some excellent photos. We sent these to our long-time LBCS friend, Andy Mackinnon, who consulted with his colleagues Jim Pojar and Hans Roemer. They conclude this is very likely Piperia (Platanthera) ephemerantha, white flower rein-orchid. It is considered rare and threatened in BC, and vulnerable across it’s range from Alaska to Mexico. We had no previous records of it on Limestone, and it is not included in the Mike Cheney et al 2007 Vascular Plants of Haida Gwaii, so it is certainly a rare find. Unfortunately, and befitting it’s “threatened” status in BC, an unqualified identification was not possible because it appears to have been eaten by a deer on Limestone before it flowered, as our field team could not re-locate it.
Piperia (Platanthera) ephemerantha, white flower rein-orchid.
Conclusion
The Laskeek team would like to send out a big HAAWA & THANK YOU to our sponsor, Northern Savings Credit Union, for partial funding of the new KOWA spotting scope.
As June ends with a heat wave like no other, the crew at ELI are working hard on the PIGU (Pigeon Guillemot) nest box camera project, as well as capturing some prey images in attempts to ID the food source of the nesting PIGU on East Limestone Island. The second Gwaii Haanas BLOY survey is about to begin. Matt, Todd, and Natalie are surviving the heat wave with a few cool evening ocean dips. The final push of the field season is about to begin.
We are happy to report that the Laskeek Bay Conservation Society has managed to weather two field seasons of pandemic complications and uncertainty. Although we have been unable to welcome volunteers or visitors to East Limestone Island, we have been able to conduct our research and monitoring programs with small teams of Haida Gwaii residents.
Donations to support our ongoing programs remain crucial to our continued success - please click on the Donate Now button below, to be taken to our website donation page.
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