Seawatch Report - Dec 10

The flight sure seems to be tapering at the Seawatch: though numbers of pretty much everything were low today, alcid diversity was quite high: we had 192 Common Murres, 6 Rhinoceros Auklets, 9 Marbled Murrelets, 2 Pigeon Guillemots, and 62 Ancient Murrelets.

A late Blue-winged Teal (a point bird, in fact, for me!) was a nice surprise in a flock of Surf Scoters (315 total today). We also had 2 White-winged and 1 Black Scoter.

The loon flight was very quiet today: 56 Red-throats and 27 Pacifics.

On the tubenose front, we had 2 Black-footed Albatross, 6 Northern Fulmars, and 1 Sooty Shearwater.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/300134

-Alison Vilag

Seawatch Report - Dec 9

Despite being a calm day, Black-footed Albatross made a great showing: during the 1000 hour, I did a slow scope scan of the entire horizon and was rewarded with ELEVEN Black-foots between the far southwest and Loma Prieta. Most of these were distant--more apparition than they were albatross--but a few were moderately close. We also had 15 Northern Fulmar, 2 Pink-footed Shearwaters, 1 Sooty Shearwater, and 4 Short-tailed Shearwaters.

Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet day. Surf Scoters put on a stronger showing than they have for a few days: 754. Other interesting waterfowl included 2 Gadwall, 2 White-winged Scoters, and a flock of 11 Common Mergansers.

On the alcid front, diversity was good today: we had 3 Rhinoceros Auklets, 2 Marbled Murrelets, 234 Common Murres, and 15 Ancient Murrelets.

The loon flight was small: 104 Red-throats and 206 Pacifics...

Other fun finds from today include 4 Surfbirds, 1 Pomarine Jaeger, 1 Red-necked Grebe, a Northern Harrier (migrating out across the bay to the NE!), 3 Tree and 2 Barn swallows, and a Pine Siskin.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/300136

-Alison Vilag

Seawatch Report - Dec 8

Black-footed albatross

Today was quiet with interspersed excitement. We started off strong with a few Black-footed albatross passing close by the point. Seeing these young birds was lovely - all the adults should be at breeding colonies by now courting and laying eggs.

The loon flight was slow in the morning, but had a notable 1100hr push of ~700 Pacific loons.

The alcid flight featured a single Cassin's auklet, which has proved elusive this year. The high Ancient murrelet numbers continue to provide some spice.

At noon, a small black and white shearwater flew in from outside the bay. Interestingly, this Manx shearwater started circling the buoy. We enjoyed close looks as it continued circling for roughly ten minutes, and it eventually disappeared while we discussed the identification.

Another notables include a Red-necked grebe spotted by Alexander Clementson, and a Western meadowlark that perched on the point. A Surfbird also flew by in a flock of Black-bellied plovers - though regular less than a mile south at Asilomar beach, they rarely appear at the point. Another locally common bird that made a rare appearance at the point was a Horned grebe. A Barn swallow continued the recent trend of late migrant swallows.

We are very grateful for the many volunteer counters and docents that spent their Sunday at Point Pinos!

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/299552

-Kai Russell