Weather: At dawn this morning, the wind was still coming out of the east, but not as intensely as it has been for the last week. The wind dropped off in mid-morning, then shifted west in late afternoon. Visibility was good, the swell was large, and it was a clear day. At the outer buoy, winds started at ~12 knots north, went ~10 knots NNE at 0900, switched to W at 1300, and were W ~10 knots at sunset. At dawn, pressure was 30.08, rising to 30.11 at 1000, then falling to 30.02

Weather: Dawn started with fog AND a stiff northeast wind - two conditions that don't usually cohabitate at Pt. Pinos. After a few hours the fog burned off and the wind dropped, but if you look at our loon numbers for the day, it's pretty evident that the damage was done... fog aside, morning visibility was poor: there has been more distortion on the "outer line" area of the horizon than I remember there being in my previous seasons. Is it related to the ongoing high pressure

Checking in with the morning crew as I arrived a little before noon, everyone was bundled up in puffy jackets with hoods pulled tight. Gloves were donned and rainpants were deflecting the wind. The morning crew had been treated to a chilly morning with a southeast wind - the opposite of what we want for a Seawatch shift! A cold wind blowing birds further away or keeping them down on the water, doesn't necessarily set one up for high counts or rare species. But spirits were ch