Seawatch Report - Nov 9

Today's count was quiet, yet enjoyable. The loon flight is gaining momentum, particularly in the case of Red-throated: we tallied 552, mostly in loosely grouped flocks of <15 along the "high line." We had 287 Pacifics and 40 Commons; sunrise-0900 brought the busiest loon hours. We also had a decent Common Murre push during 0700-0900 and ended the day with 612.

After the loon flight began to taper, I made a point of clicking through the Bonaparte's Gulls foraging over the bay, and got 1811 on one continuous scan over the entire field of view. (Fred was keeping an eye on the highline so this endeavor wouldn't result in missed scoters, loons, etc...). Elegant Terns (n=78) were also relatively numerous today, we had a late-afternoon Black-legged Kittiwake, and, perhaps unsurprisingly given the amount of potential small larid victims, we also had 2 Pomarine and 2 Parasitic Jaegers, the latter of which were dogfighting each other as they passed the point...

Today's wind was either light or had a fair amount of east in it; as expected on these conditions, tubenose sightings were few and distant. We logged Northern Fulmar and Sooty and Pink-footed shearwaters today.

Other sightings that merit mention today include our first-of-season Gadwall (n=3) and a Red-necked Grebe.

Weather today was calm and partly cloudy, except for 45 minutes or so in the early afternoon when thick fog settled on the Point.

See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/291383

 -Alison Vilag