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