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

Seawatch Report - Dec 7

Today felt like a standard late-season, light wind day at the Seawatch: subdued loon, scoter, and alcid movement overall; frequent Black-footed Albatrosses popping up on the horizon--and sometimes closer than the horizon. Other highlights were a flyby Marbled Murrelet, a Black-legged Kittiwake (an adult), and a Red-necked Grebe.

We ended the day with 327 Surf Scoters (we're at nearly 42,000 for the season--low, with just a week to go), 52 Rhinoceros Auklets, 672 Common Murres, 88 Ancient Murrelets, 77 Red-throated Loons (we're at 11,319 Red-throats for the season, which is a record high), and 1193 Pacific Loons (season is 91,142, also low).

The tubenoses were enjoyable today: one of the closest Short-tailed Shearwaters I've seen at Seawatch; albatross appearances during 4 hours with at least 3 individual birds present; 5 Pink-footed Shearwaters, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, and 28 Northern Fulmars.

The morning started off with a moderate east wind that died by mid-morning and never picked back up, though there was a very light west wind during the late afternoon. The swell was fairly large, visibility was good save a fast-passing fogbank in mid morning, and there was no precipitation.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/299125

-Alison Vilag

Seawatch Report - Dec 6

Ancient murrelets

A dense Ancient Murrelet flight and close, repeat appearances by Black-footed Albatross stole the Seawatch show today: we had 357 Ancients (steady movement through noon!) and saw albatross during 6 hours of today's count; the max visible at any one time was three (!), which was fantastic--especially given the lack of wind: it was <5 knots all day at Pt. Pinos... I think my favorite seawatch vignette today was a Black-footed Albatross in front of a humpback whale background and a cameo foursome of flyby Ancients. I will never not abandon everything to awe over at least a few albatross arcs!

Otherwise, it was fairly quiet: 163 Surf Scoters; 1962 Common Murres and 94 Rhinoceros Auklets; 235 Red-throated and 2313 Pacific Loons.

The tubenose showing was a little more diverse today. In addition to the albatross, we had 62 Northern Fulmars, 12 Pink-footed Shearwaters, 1 Sooty Shearwater, and 2 Short-tailed Shearwaters.

A Black-legged Kittiwake and 2 Marbled Murrelets were also fun flybys at today's Seawatch.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/298621

-Alison Vilag