November 25

Weather: The wind was brisk and from the NE at Pt. Pinos at dawn, dropping off somewhat over the course of the day. It was clear, visibility was quite good, and the swell was moderate. At the outer buoy, it was blowing NNE 13.6 at dawn; it switched to W, 8 knots, at 1300, and continue to come from the west until sunset. Pressure at sunrise was 30.20 and remained fairly even; at sunset it was 30.17.

Birds: NE winds are not good for Seawatch (nor for human comfort at Seawatch!), so today was quiet, especially considering that this is the window when we start expecting Pacific Loons to peak.

We had our season's first Cackling Geese - 2, flying towards Santa Cruz - and a flock of 7 Snow Geese, also flying towards Santa Cruz. We tallied 803 Surf Scoters today (and had 2 White-wings and 2 Black Scoters). A big Band-tailed Pigeon flock made a low foray over the Point this morning as they contemplated the bay crossing - delightful to see. For alcids, we had just 15 Rhinoceros Auklets, 526 Common Murres, and 9 Ancient Murrelets. We had 428 Red-throated Loons, 1317 Pacific Loons, and 4 Common Loons. Madison spotted our day's only kittiwake, ensuring the kittiwake streak (which began Nov 17) continues. We hope it keeps going; kittiwakes are great!

-Alison Vilag

eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/tripreport/436023