Today was another quiet, warm, and windless day at Point Pinos. The lack of Surf Scoters was particularly noticeable given the consistent flights we've had over the past week - we counted less than 200 birds for the whole day. We only count birds exiting the bay (headed south on their migration), and noticed at least as many birds (if not more!) heading into the bay. We speculated that they could be anticipating the inclement weather forecasted for November 11.
The clear skies and flat seas meant we had an exceptional view across the bay. The morning haze lifted to reveal several hundred Bonaparte's Gulls across every part of the bay. These flocks eventually scattered as the sun rose higher. The large number of small gulls brought in a few jaegers -the Heermann's Gulls were also heavily engaged in kleptoparasitism, and chases occurred frequently.
The loon flight was a little hectic in the morning - several large flocks passed high above the bay, with a smaller line of single loons flying low over the water. We volunteer observers did our best to match the counting quality that Alison demonstrates everyday - it is not an easy job!
A White-faced Ibis appeared in the late afternoon and was the highlight of our day. First spotted far out over the water, it eventually appeared over land and seemed to land at Crespi Pond out of view. However, over the course of a half-hour we observed it making a few laps over the point, passing over the lighthouse. We presumed it was repeatedly flushed by golfers.
The calm conditions also meant we were able to observe several pods of Risso's dolphins. These pods exhibited various levels of activity, with some repeatedly breaching out of the water, and others dozing at the surface.
Thank you to all the volunteer observers and docents that came out to support Alison's day off! The marathon brought in many tourists and we were able to chat with and educate many curious passersby.
See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/291934
- Kai Russell
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