On the landbird front, the Tropical Kingbird watched the sunrise with us from its favorite Foghorn Lot sign again, and I picked up a juvenile Northern Harrier high and distant to the south of the point flying north over the ocean. Any day I see a harrier confidently crossing big water is a good day; the Cocos Booby made it an even better day.

Our first-of-season kittiwake, a stunning 1st-cycle at kelp-line distance, was spotted by Paul (our first-of-season Paul, too...).

I woke at about 3:00 AM to hard rain on the roof and decided to not go back to sleep. This was in part because I am still fully on EST, in part also because I was excited for the opening day of the 11th annual Pt. Pinos Seawatch - a birder's holiday.

Since July, we've had fun hosting our Wednesday Seawatch Field Trips. These outings are a great way to practice using spotting scopes and binoculars to train our eyes to look for seabirds and the occasional whale.

Point Pinos Seawatch is one of Monterey Audubon's long-term conservation projects. As we enter our 11th year, we anticipate significant weather due to the forecasted Super El Niño, which could alter the patterns of the seabird migration. Read about our pre-season sightings.