The flight at the Seawatch was very enjoyable today. Surf Scoter movement continues at a very high volume: we logged 3358 total today and recorded our first 1000+ hour for the species this season (1165 during the 0600 hour). A few flocks had other waterfowl (scaup, White-winged and Black Scoter) tagging along, and the scoter flight dropped off considerably after 0900. Common Murres were also prominent today, with 2486 tallied and our peak hour (0700) bringing an impressive 1453. Our busiest loon hours today were 0700 and 0800, and we logged 115 Red-throated and 206 Pacific loons. Sooty Shearwaters (n=51) made a decent, albeit distant, showing today and we also had 44 Northern Fulmars and a handful of Pink-footed Shearwaters.
We recorded our first-of-season Tufted Puffin, Pigeon Guillemot, and Red-necked Grebe, and another Wilson's Snipe, 2 Black-legged Kittiwakes, and 8 distant white (Snow or Ross's) geese warrant mention.
On the landbird front, small flocks of American Pipit (12-18) were migrating northeast over water during the first hours of the count: it's quite cool to be scanning for loons and murres and pick out a flock of these little guys bouncing across the bay! On days with lots of pipits, I'm always alert for other small open country birds, and we were rewarded with a Horned Lark that flew right overhead: a new Pt. Pinos bird for me. Other new landbird species for the season included Tree Swallow and Pine Siskin.
However, my favorite sighting today was a sighting that will rank high for the entire season. It was a White-tailed Kite, which we see occasionally from the Seawatch--but behind us, over the golf course. When I first noticed today's kite, it was high and already over the bay beyond the Point, flying northeast on a similar flight line that migrating Cackling Geese travel during fall here. I watched it until it was out-of-sight. Never saw it return--didn't expect it would return. Its approach and execution of the water crossing was similar to what I see in Northern Harriers--confident, determined, direct. This is not a species I've ever seen over big water and I will remember how nonchalantly it took on the water crossing forever.
Weather at the Point today was calm and clear, with decent visibility and moderate swell. There was a light offshore wind this morning, which brought Monterey's rotting anchovy essence all the way to the Seawatch. The outer buoy was registering NW winds 11-17 kt overnight, though these calmed during the day, and the pressure dropped slightly, from 29.90 at count's start to 29.96 at the end.
See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/290653
 -Alison Vilag
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