Today started with dense fog: for the first hour and a half or so, we couldn't even see the tip of Pt. Pinos. As is often the case here, though, when the fog DID lift, we were treated to a stream of close Northern Fulmars and Sooty and Pink-footed shearwaters, as well as a few Pomarine Jaegers, three of which were still sporting their spooners! Per the outer buoy, it was blowing WNW 9-15 kt overnight, so perhaps that plus the fog put these tubenoses close to shore.
It seems safe to now say that the Surf Scoter flight has started: today was the third consecutive thousand+ day (n=2194); the flight today was heaviest in the afternoon, with 487 in the 1400 hour our peak. Tagging along with the scoter flocks were a Northern Shoveler, an American Wigeon, and 2 Black Scoters.
Common Murre and Rhinoceros Auklet were the only alcids recorded today, and it was another respectable murre flight: 812, with the 1200 and 1300 hours being the highest-volume.
Red-throated Loons (175) passed frequently during the mid-morning hours, though I've yet to see a flock of more than 10 individuals yet this season; we also had 177 Pacific Loons.
We had 5 Black-legged Kittiwakes today, all first-cycle and some quite close. Testament to the current anchovy abundance, the number of Elegant Terns remaining in the bay is much higher than it was during the prior two seasons I counted here: I counted 61 today, and the largest flock was 23 individuals.
Weather at the Point today was generally windless and, once the fog lifted, mostly sunny. Whitecaps from the NNW appeared by late afternoon (the outer buoy was registering 11-15 kt), but we didn't actually feel the wind at Pt. Pinos until the count's final hour, when Pink-foots and fulmars made a small sunset showing. The swell was moderate today, and the pressure dropped from 30.13 at sunrise to 30.00 at sunset.
See the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/290469
- Alison Vilag
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