Did you know that a dedicated group of volunteered is continuing to count migrating seabirds at Point Pinos? You can still drop by for this informal Seawatch. The Red-throated Loons continue to stream past the Point. One of five species of loons, the Red-throated Loon, Gavia stellata, may undoubtedly win the title of “Most Adaptive” among this group of clumsy-footed birds. Translation of the scientific name describes a starry (stellata) Sea Mew (Gavia), a reflection of

Weather: It rained off and on at Seawatch today until early afternoon, when the wind--previously calm--picked up to a pretty brisk NW wind. Visibility was fairly limited during the biggest parts of the morning push: it was frustrating to have steady presence of dark shearwaters at a distance where the distortion was so bad the birds were impossible to identify. The swell was moderate. At the outer buoy, the wind was NE at 6 knots at dawn. It switched to NW at noon, building t

Black-legged kittiwakes Weather: The wind at Pt. Pinos this day had quite a bit of east in it at sunrise, and as the day went on it shifted to north and then built to a moderate NW for the last couple hours of light. It was dry and partly cloudy; visibility was quite good and the swell was moderate. At the outer buoy, at sunrise the winds were E at 8 knots, switching to N, 6 knots at 1100 and switching to W at 1400. At sunset the wind was 14 knots from the west. Pressure was

Weather: Today was the wettest I've ever had at Pt. Pinos. It rained from the time I arrived right up into the last hour of the count, when a little sliver of sunset appeared right in time for our last big scoter flocks of the day to look gorgeous against. The wind at Pt. Pinos felt far less than what was predicted--there was about twenty minutes of gusting sideways rain--but I expected about six hours of that. I am very glad those expectations were not met... Visibility was

Weather: Seawatch today was plagued by fog: from about 1000-dusk, there was perhaps one hour, cumulative, that the buoy was visible. This season has brought the most fog I've experienced at Seawatch, but so far that's my only qualm, weather or otherwise, for this season. We've already had so many great birds! The swell was minimal, and the wind was moderate SW at the point for most of the day. At the outer buoy, it was blowing from the NE at 6 knots at dawn and switched to 6

Weather: No fog today, which was much appreciated by all who have endured the fair amount of fog we'd had this week... winds weren't great: moderate NNE at the Point for most of the morning, dying off in late afternoon. Swell was moderate, skies were mostly clear, no precipitation. At the outer buoy, winds at dawn were NNE at 8 knots, switching to NNW at 0900. They built to 12 knots W at 1600. Pressure at dawn was 30.00, and it fell slightly to 29.94 at sunset. Birds: There w

Weather: At the Point, it was a calm day. The swell was substantial, though somewhat diminished from yesterday, and visibility was generally pretty good, except from about 1400-1545, when the fog was so thick we couldn't even see the end of Pt. Pinos. At the outer buoy at dawn, winds were NNE at 4 knots. They switched to W at 1100, building to 12 knots by the count's end. Pressure at dawn was 30.18 and it fell to 30.03 by the count's end. Birds: We had a modest loon flight th

Weather: In terms of wind, it was calm at Seawatch today, but in terms of the Pacific Ocean, it was some of the wildest surf I've seen here. During high tide, waves were crashing over the highest parts of Pt. Pinos, and surf was raging up to within a few feet of the bench. The waves flushed all the kelp flies from the rocks--they took refuge on the green concrete block. At one point, fifteen Black Oystercatchers were huddled on the same bit of Pt. Pinos and managed to not bic

Photo by Mark Chappell - March 2024 Weather: This morning started, again, with fog--we could not see to the buoy. The fog lingered for most of the morning, though by mid-morning we were consistently seeing to the buoy and by afternoon we were able to see Loma and the stacks at Moss Landing, and it even got sunny. It was fairly calm at Pt. Pinos itself; at the outer buoy at dawn, winds were WSW at 8 knots and remained westerly and <8 knots over the course of the day. Pressure

Black Scoter drake (center left) in a flock of Surf Scoters Weather: Slight breeze all day, strongest mid-morning as it swung around from east to west. The fog rolled in in the early afternoon and we were in pea soup for less than an hour - great visibility all day otherwise, except for a slight haze due to salt spray from the heavy swell. Birds: Overall slightly quieter than yesterday, but with constant movement throughout the day. SURF SCOTERS steadily flew by in small floc

Since it was Saturday, many of Monterey's finest seawatch supporters were able to swing by, and the whole day felt like a homecoming: for me, and for this window of fall migration. What a happy, eager gathering of birders. Thank you for having me once again. Weather: At Pt. Pinos, winds were light at dawn, picking up a little from the NNW during late morning and early afternoon. Dense fog moved in and out for the entire morning, and came back briefly in the afternoon--the buo

Today was the quietest that I can recall during this season of Seawatch. Nothing was flying in force, but an uptick in Rhinoceros Auklets during the last hour of the count (96--the bulk of the entire day's tally of 179) are making me wonder what tomorrow morning will be like... a nice dark Pomarine Jaeger in the last hour of the count was fun, too. Surf Scoters continue to trickle by--193 today. The murre flight was very small (267 total), and we had 13 Ancient Murrelets. We

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-throat

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

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 provi

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

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 an

Today was a pretty standard early-December day at the Seawatch, save for one small detail: a late-morning tsunami warning that led us to decide to suspend the count for roughly 45 minutes in case there actually was a tsunami. No tsunami. The murre and the loon flights were the most prominent movements at the Seawatch today. We had 1934 Common Murres (peak flight 0700-0900), 52 Rhinoceros Auklets, and 67 Ancient Murrelets. Peak Pacific Loon movement occurred during the 0800 ho

Today was a somewhat diminished version of yesterday's big loon/murre/Bonaparte's showing, but still a very fun day at the Seawatch. The early morning hours (sunrise-0900) were typified by a wide river of Pacific Loons and Common Murres that flowed low and southwest across Monterey Bay. Another treat from today was taking the day's first peek into "The Deep" (that is, west of the Point) around sunrise and immediately seeing the towering, formidable dorsal of a male Orca--whic

There are two things I've consistently noticed about big flights here that don't seem attached to any particular weather system: 1. There is condensation on my vehicle when I'm leaving predawn for the count; 2. during the afternoon prior, the loon flight picked up again after a late morning lull. I entered the count yesterday knowing that both these factors were at play. However, I don't put a lot of stock into my flight fortunetelling, so when I set up at Pinos yesterday mor