Today started with steady rain, but we were prepared: using one tarp, four gator clamps, two tripods, some bungees and paracord, and a hatchback vehicle, Rhoda, Catherine, and I were able to rig a shelter that kept us out of the wind and out of the rain--and still afforded a pretty generous field of view.
It was a quality over quantity day: our numbers of "frequent flier" species were low--22 Surf Scoters; 86 Rhinoceros Auklets; 272 Common Murres; 18 Red-throated Loons; 631 Pacific Loons... BUT we had some pretty sweet birds cruise by the Seawatch over the course of the day. 3 Pomarine Jaegers, 3 Marbled Murrelets, and 5 Pigeon Guillemots highlighted our "regular but not daily" list, and the top-shelf birds were another Cocos Booby that landed somewhere out-of-sight on the Point and a Black Storm-Petrel that flew into the bay at a decently close range, affording a nice long (~2 minute) look. Where else can you see storm-petrels while you're sitting on your tailgate?! Oh, Pinos... As an aside, during my first season here (2022), the sole strong south + steady rain day of the season also delivered a storm-petrel (Leach's) and a Cocos Booby...
The rain cleared out by around 10AM, and the morning started out calm (some good fortune for the construction of the tarp shelter!) but featured some brisk NNE gusts before the wind shifted to the SSW around noon, gusting to ~26 knots in the afternoon. At the outer buoy it was NNE 14-17 in the morning, switching to S around noon and building to 27 knots at around 1pm, though it dropped at the outer buoy to 14 knots by the count's end.
So many of the Monterey birding community looked out for me today, delivering hot soup, baked goods, warm beverages... you guys take such good care of me, and as I'm sitting here writing this, I'm warm not just from being out of the wind, but remembering everyone who demonstrated their care for me--and, by proxy, the Seawatch--today.
See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/295709
- Alison Vilag
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