Seawatch Report - Nov 27

Nazca booby

Today's seawatch was highlighted by the Nazca Booby that reappeared during the 1000 hour, perched on the Pt. Pinos rocks until 1300, returned again sometime during the 1400 hour, and was still on the Pt. Pinos rocks when I left somewhat after sunset. Many birders--and many passers-by--got great looks at this great bird today, and I'm glad it's stuck around.

The winds today were less favorable than they've been: 7-16 knots ENE in the morning becoming more north and diminishing to around 5 knots in the afternoon, then turning a little west in the last hours of the count. At the outer buoy overnight and during the morning it was blowing from the north at 8-12 knots, becoming northwest 6-12 knots in the afternoon hours.

The scoter flight turned back on today! We tallied 4880 over the course of the day, with our peak hour being the last hour of the count, when 1502 came by. Many of the flocks today were cutting low across the bay near the buoy, and some of our largest evening flocks were cutting over the golf course behind the Seawatch. Tagging along in these scoter flocks were 2 White-winged Scoters, 1 Black Scoter, and 2 Cinnamon Teal.

The alcid flight was comparatively quiet: 468 Common Murres (peak hour 0700) and 9 Ancient Murrelets; I did not see any Rhinoceros Auklets today.

The loon flight was a shadow of yesterday's: just 2114 Pacifics and 287 Red-throats. A Black-footed Albatross, our first in nearly two weeks, was the tubenose highlight; we also had 1 Pink-footed and 1 Sooty Shearwater, 35 Northern Fulmars, and an all-white tubenose that, judging from flight style and shape, was likely a Black-vent with pigment issues.

1 Parasitic and 2 Pomarine Jaegers and 3 Marbled Murrelets were also highlights from today.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/296240

-Alison Vilag

Nazca Booby! - Nov 26

Today flew by at the Seawatch, testament to the good numbers AND the fun birds that passed by.

The morning started with drizzle and a steady flow of high Red-throated Loons. It was quiet enough in regard to wind and surf that we could hear several flocks "quacking" as they passed directly overhead. This is a Seawatch event I look forward to each season--it's not a sound we get to hear often and it always catches me by surprise. Alcids were moving too, though not at the chaotic volumes we've experienced during a few other mornings this week. We had 368 Rhinoceros Auklets and 862 Common Murres (peak hour for both 0700), as well as 2 Pigeon Guillemots and 27 Ancient Murrelets.

The Pacific Loon flight didn't really pick up until the 0800 hour, and there were two major flightlines: large scattered medium-high flocks passing directly in front of the count, and an even more scattered low line cutting the bay somewhat southwest of the buoy (but not the very distant loon line). This line pulsed PALOs for several hours: our biggest hour today was 5585 (0900), and our total daily tally was 14,844. (Our total Red-throated tally was 1426).

Our first super fun bird today was the Black Storm-Petrel that essentially did what yesterday's Black Storm-Petrel did, but in reverse (flying out of the bay instead of into the bay). Not much later, a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel flew into the bay, which was a really fun comparison of storm-petrel flight style while the Black was still fresh in our minds. The Fork-tailed was actually a life bird for Rhoda, and she took a quick bench nap to recover from the excitement. She was actually asleep when I spotted, naked-eye, a black-and-white booby flying over the Point. I yelled something like "THERE'S A NAZCA BOOBY RIGHT OVER THE POINT!". Rhoda woke up. We then confirmed it actually was a Nazca, photographed it, got the word out to area birders, and stayed on the bird (which had roosted on the South Gull Roost rocks) till everyone started to show up. The Nazca didn't just disrupt a nap--it disrupted Thanksgiving grocery shopping, laundry, and apple pie making. It was sleeping on the rocks when we left after sunset.

Other highlights today included 1 White-winged Scoter, 25 Brant, 3 Pomarine Jaegers, 1 Parasitic Jaeger, 6 Elegant Terns, and a handful of Sooty, Short-tailed, and Black-vented Shearwaters.

I'm also happy to report that we have Surf Scoters again. We ended the day with 401, and 170 of those came by during the last hour of the count, so I am hopeful we'll have some sort of a scoter flight tomorrow. (I'm feeling like we might have a good loon flight tomorrow morning too!)

It was overcast and great visibility all day, with drizzle during the first couple hours of the count and again briefly in early afternoon. The wind at the count was <5 knots from the ENE all day; at the outer buoy it was south 6-12 overnight, switching to ENE 4-10 during the first hours of the count, then to WNW <5 knots through the rest of the count. Pressure overnight was 30.10 dropping to 30.07 around sunrise and rising again to 30.11 around sunset.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/295951

- Alison Vilag

Seawatch Report - Nov 25

Today started with steady rain, but we were prepared: using one tarp, four gator clamps, two tripods, some bungees and paracord, and a hatchback vehicle, Rhoda, Catherine, and I were able to rig a shelter that kept us out of the wind and out of the rain--and still afforded a pretty generous field of view.

It was a quality over quantity day: our numbers of "frequent flier" species were low--22 Surf Scoters; 86 Rhinoceros Auklets; 272 Common Murres; 18 Red-throated Loons; 631 Pacific Loons... BUT we had some pretty sweet birds cruise by the Seawatch over the course of the day. 3 Pomarine Jaegers, 3 Marbled Murrelets, and 5 Pigeon Guillemots highlighted our "regular but not daily" list, and the top-shelf birds were another Cocos Booby that landed somewhere out-of-sight on the Point and a Black Storm-Petrel that flew into the bay at a decently close range, affording a nice long (~2 minute) look. Where else can you see storm-petrels while you're sitting on your tailgate?! Oh, Pinos... As an aside, during my first season here (2022), the sole strong south + steady rain day of the season also delivered a storm-petrel (Leach's) and a Cocos Booby...

The rain cleared out by around 10AM, and the morning started out calm (some good fortune for the construction of the tarp shelter!) but featured some brisk NNE gusts before the wind shifted to the SSW around noon, gusting to ~26 knots in the afternoon. At the outer buoy it was NNE 14-17 in the morning, switching to S around noon and building to 27 knots at around 1pm, though it dropped at the outer buoy to 14 knots by the count's end.

So many of the Monterey birding community looked out for me today, delivering hot soup, baked goods, warm beverages... you guys take such good care of me, and as I'm sitting here writing this, I'm warm not just from being out of the wind, but remembering everyone who demonstrated their care for me--and, by proxy, the Seawatch--today.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/295709

- Alison Vilag