Seawatch - November 4, 2024

Weather: Mostly sunny; moderate swell; good visibility; calm at Pt. Pinos, but afternoon westerly winds of 7-13 kt were recorded at the outer buoy.

Flight: The Surf Scoter flight continues to build, with 3334 tallied today. The first two hours of the count brought the heaviest movement this morning (733 and 766 scoters, respectively), and, as is typical with this species, the flight picked up again in the evening after dropping off from mid-morning through the afternoon; we recorded 444 in the count's last hour. Waterfowl diversity was good today--American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and White-winged Scoter all passed by the count, often mixing with Surf Scoter flocks; migrating groups of Cackling, Canada, and Greater White-fronted geese were heading northeast past the count, and I think my favorite flock of the day was the 7 Cackling Geese flying with 7 Northern Pintail.

Our season's first Marbled Murrelet and a Cassin's Auklet contributed to alcid diversity today, and Common Murres (n=851) were numerous for the third consecutive day; our peak hour was 1300 (n=186).

There seemed to be fewer gulls (and pelicans) passing the Point today, but 2 Black-legged Kittiwakes were fun, as were the 15 Elegant Terns recorded over the course of the day.

There were plenty of Northern Fulmars (n=71) cruising the bay today, as well as a few Pink-footed Shearwaters, but the tubenose highlight for me was a Black-footed Albatross--the first I've seen here this fall.

Because we lingered after sunset (because scoter flocks were still trickling by...) we were graced with two Black-crowned Night-Herons that were tidepooling around the rocks below the count.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/290285

- Alison Vilag