Date: 4/4/25 7:02 am From: Ronald- Thorn via groups.io <Tronthorn...> Subject: [pen-bird] Sightings the last several days
Yesterday, Leonie and I decided to do a seawatch from Pigeon Point knowing the visibility would be very good with awest-northwest wind. Now that the fronts have passed through, migrants were on the move. Numbers of Surf Scotersand Red-throated Loons have increased. Northbound were ( 14 ) Brant and ( 2,257 ) Surf Scoters. Red-throatedLoon are earlier migrants than Common Loon and Pacific Loon. ( 3,080 ) Red-throated Loons passed the point with( 40% ) in alternate plumage. Other loons were ( 3 ) Common Loons in alternate plumage and ( 140 ) Pacific Loonsin alternate plumage. Shorebirds on the move were ( 3 ) Surfbirds and ( 6 ) dowitcher sp. ( 1 ) Caspian Tern passedthe point. Gulls were once again very low for this time of the year passing by Pigeon Pt. Mostly Western Gulls anda few California Gulls. Common Murres tallied up were ( 4,560 ). There were ( 5 ) Rhinoceros Auklets. Leonie kepta eye closer to shore and had ( 12 ) Pigeon Guillemots. I spent most of my time with the crystal clear visibilitylooking at the horizon. There were ( 6 ) Sooty Shearwaters. I would have expected more for this time of the year.
Some sightings from the bayside. On March 30, while doing a brief skywatch from home in Redwood Shores, aGolden Eagle was drifting towards the direction of San Francisco Bay. Black Skimmers in Redwood Shores during
high tide can be behind the dog park along Radio Road or at Shell Parkway and Bridge Parkway. ( 121 ) BlackSkimmers were at Shell and Bridge on the Mar. 27. The Ravenswood Salt Ponds had ( 2 ) Elegant Terns near theCaspian Tern colony on the Mar. 29. Elegant Tern has bred at this location among the Caspian Terns the last few years and should be watched for breeding that may occur this year. On that day there were ( ( 374 ) Ring-billedGulls on the Ravenswood Salt Ponds. A high number for that location and may have been a staging area before migration. In Redwood Shores, Leonie and I still have a male and female Red-breasted Nuthatches coming intoour feeders. It is rare for wintering Red-breasted Nuthatches to linger into April. The male and female were stillbeing noted as of yesterday.
Ron ThornLeonie Batkin
