Seawatch Report - Nov 21

Today's continuing south and moderately strong winds (SE 15-17.5 knots at outer buoy; SSW at 8-9 knots at the count) were the likely culprit for another quiet day at the count. A Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel that briefly appeared from the swells just beneath the count site was a nice afternoon surprise, and an adult Pomarine Jaeger that still had most its "spooners" was the morning's avian treat. We had a pinniped treat, too--a Steller's Sea Lion that had hauled up onto the buoy. It was the first I've seen at Pt. Pinos, and I was amused by the fact that, while four California Sea Lions fit easily on one side of the buoy, the other side was entirely taken up by the Steller's.

Only 101 Surf Scoters were tallied today, and the alcid flight was quiet too: 78 Rhinoceros Auklets, 379 Common Murres, and 4 Ancient Murrelets. On the loon front, we had just 283 Red-throats, 245 Pacifics, and 6 Commons. Tubenoses were scarce: 1 Sooty Shearwater; 8 Northern Fulmars. During the morning, the bay was filled with Bonaparte's Gulls--it's been a few days since they've been numerous, and we tallied 706 today.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/294500

- Alison Vilag

A Southerly Approaches - Nov 20

Today was our first in what's looking to be a long run of south winds: as of right now, there is nothing in the 10-day forecast that looks particularly enticing, but hopefully that will change. To our north right now is an incredible low-pressure system (a bombogenesis), and this weekend our first-of-season atmospheric river is forecast, which will bring rain and south winds. Today was dry at the count, but the wind built to 21 knot SSE at the outer buoy by count's close and was 7.4 knot at the count; sensing the storm to the north made everything feel atmospherically ominous, and a formidable wall of cloud built to the northwest over the course of the day.

The flight was the quietest we've ha all season: 46 Surf (and 1 Black) Scoters. 14 Rhinoceros Auklets and 205 Common Murres. 1 Black-legged Kittiwake, 1 Northern Fulmar, and 1 Sooty Shearwater. 319 Red-throated Loons and just 15 Pacifics. The Red-throat flocks were even higher than they typically are. For me, today's highlights were watching the surf seethe in, and also a very close blue whale--I think just the second one I've seen from Pt. Pinos.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/294286

- Alison Vilag

Seawatch Report - Nov 19

Today was a quiet day at the count, which isn't wholly unwelcome after the big flights and exciting birds we've enjoyed during the last week. The scoter flight has hit another lull, it seems: just 98 Surf (and 1 Black) today. The loon flight was diminished, too: just 501 Red-throats and 92 Pacifics. It's amazing to think back to last Friday--just five days ago--when we had more than 20,000 Pacific Loons. It's a dynamic flight; a dynamic place; and not knowing what each day will bring is, for me, part of what makes seawatching so exciting.

We did have a nice morning murre flight, with our daily total coming out at 2187. We also had 4 Rhinoceros Auklets (it's also crazy to me how much the murre/Rhino composition changes here on a day to day basis!), 2 Marbled Murrelets, and 2 Ancient Murrelets.

It was a quiet tubenose day--just 19 fulmars; 10 Sooty Shearwaters; 2 Black-vented Shearwaters.

Less-common highlights included a Black-legged Kittiwake, a Pomarine Jaeger, and a Black Scoter.

Winds at the count remained <5 knots all day. Visibility was fairly good, the swell minimal. Overnight, the wind at the outer buoy had been NW at ~10 knots, switching to the NE by sunrise. The pressure dropped from 30.15 at 0800 to 30.04 by count's end.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/294107

- Alison Vilag