Date: 8/19/25 10:12 am From: Tom Edell via groups.io <TEdell...> Subject: [slocobirding] King Eider at Morro Bay
On Sunday, January 17th, a King Eider was found on Morro Bay. It was found
during the evening high tide and seen from the Morro Bay State Park Marina
boardwalk. From the boardwalk, a group of birders watched it swim out to the
south. It was later seen resting on oyster company floats from Pasadena Ave
in Los Osos. The next morning the bird was again seen on the floats from
Pasadena Ave, before heading off toward the Marina boardwalk where it could
not be seen. It was back on the floats yesterday afternoon.
The bird is in female like plumage and has very worn, bleached white
primaries and probably is unable to fly so it should be around for a while.
Its recent pattern suggests the best place to see if is from the shoreline
north of the Pasadena Ave beach access. The light is best in the morning.
The bird is not close, and a scope is useful to find it and see detail.
Photos of the King Eider can be viewed here
<https://media.ebird.org/catalog?sort=upload_date_desc&searchField=species&r egionCode=US-CA-079&taxonCode=kineid> .
Yesterday, a juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper
<https://media.ebird.org/catalog?sort=upload_date_desc&searchField=species&r egionCode=US-CA-079&taxonCode=semsan&beginMonth=8&endMonth=8&beginYear=2025&
endYear=2025> was at the mouth of Cayucos Creek. It continued there this
morning but was last seen foraging with a juvenile Western Sandpiper in the
beached algae on the northern side of the Cayucos Pier. A hundred or more
Sooty Shearwaters were visible from the end of the pier and there were about
50 Common Murres scattered offshore.
