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Thank you for subscribing to the <daily> San Luis Obispo County Rare Bird Alert. The report below shows observations of rare birds in San Luis Obispo County. View or unsubscribe to this alert at https://ebird.org/alert/summary?sid=SN36231 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless indicated.
eBird encourages our users to bird safely, responsibly, and mindfully. Please follow the recommendations of your local health authorities and respect any active travel restrictions in your area. For more information visit: https://ebird.org/news/please-bird-mindfully
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:26 by Eric Wier
- 1119 Pasadena Dr, Los Osos US-CA (35.3316,-120.8427), San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.842726&<ll...>,-120.842726 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268119374 - Media: 2 Photos
- Comments: "Found today by Alexander Yan and Brian O’Kelly. Large, brown sea duck preening on wooden structure at water level. Bird had scaly patterned underparts, white primaries which created the appearance of a white lateral stripe; whitish “wingpits” (observed when bird flapped it’s wings); and a black bill"
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 06:36 by Ann Stockert
- 1137 Pasadena Dr, Los Osos US-CA (35.3313,-120.8432), San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.843218&<ll...>,-120.843218 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268116226 - Media: 6 Photos
- Comments: "Continuing, originally observed 8/17 from the boardwalk by Alex. Great views through scope but terrible photos. Female in molt with primaries very bleached out and ragged looking. 7 other birders present."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 18:38 by Herb Elliott
- Morro Bay SP--Marina/Boardwalk Trail, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8418006&<ll...>,-120.8418006 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S267978150 - Media: 3 Photos
- Comments: "... overall warm brown plumage lighter on the head, rounded head shape and a short bill; observed via scope off the boardwalk as the bird swam in the estuary near the oyster farm. It was later observed across the bay from Pasadena Park Overlook.
First reported by Alexander Yan and Brian O'kelly. It's the second county record; the first was recorded between 10/28/1985-2/17/1986 near the same location."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 19:00 by Tom Slater
- Pasadena Drive, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8434961&<ll...>,-120.8434961 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268294693 - Media: 5 Photos
- Comments: "Large, brown duck with a relatively small bill, blending and sloping from the top of the head. White underwing. Would swim and then rear up constantly. Apparently a worn female. Roosts on a submerged feature, with many pelicans. Scope needed."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 08:05 by Roger Zachary
- Pasadena Drive- Bay Overlook, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8427307&<ll...>,-120.8427307 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268136327 - Media: 1 Photo
- Comments: "I arrived just in time and appreciated the help of other birders that directed me to see the bird swimming away into the middle of the bay. Long shot image and not much field marks but it was the female King Eider"
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 19, 2025 07:16 by Andrew Fleming
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268248077 - Comments: "Continuing female. Spotted using scope sitting on one of the oyster farm buoys The farm closest to the marina /boardwalk. Would be visible from there too. Was near a large orange ball buoy. Large buff brown duck with lumpy head, black bill with unique smile shape."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 19:40 by Stephanie Little
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268282989 - Comments: "Continuing bird originally found by Brian and Alexander. I arrived at 7:40 p.m. so light was waning. The duck had been preening prior to my arrival but had just moved into the water to feed again when I saw it first in the scope. Large, brown sea duck with small, sloping head. Bill was dark in the scope, relatively small. Decent views in the scope given light, but my photos are horrible. Bird’s feeding behavior was fun to watch, diving to feed, quickly returning to the surface, popping its body high out of the water, and then diving again, to be repeated over and over. It stayed fairly close to the oyster farm structure the entire time we watched it, for ~30 minutes."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 19:40 by Carrie Miller
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268272814 - Comments: "Continuing bird originally found by Brian and Alexander. I arrived at 7:40 p.m. so light was waning. The duck had been preening prior to my arrival but had just moved into the water to feed again when I saw it first in the scope. Large, brown sea duck with small, sloping head. Bill was dark in the scope, relatively small. Decent views in the scope given light, but my photos are horrible. Bird’s feeding behavior was fun to watch, diving to feed, quickly returning to the surface, popping its body high out of the water, and then diving again, to be repeated over and over. It stayed fairly close to the oyster farm structure the entire time we watched it, for ~30 minutes."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 19:40 by KRISTI LUND
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268279288 - Comments: "Continuing bird originally found by Brian and Alexander. I arrived at 7:40 p.m. so light was waning. The duck had been preening prior to my arrival but had just moved into the water to feed again when I saw it first in the scope. Large, brown sea duck with small, sloping head. Bill was dark in the scope, relatively small. Decent views in the scope given light, but my photos are horrible. Bird’s feeding behavior was fun to watch, diving to feed, quickly returning to the surface, popping its body high out of the water, and then diving again, to be repeated over and over. It stayed fairly close to the oyster farm structure the entire time we watched it, for ~30 minutes."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 08:28 by Doug Drynan
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268276322 - Media: 5 Photos
- Comments: "continuing female bird that was first reported on the bay yesterday. I got some good views through my scope of the bird resting on a buoy that was part of the oyster farm. several other birders were also on the beach observing the bird. Tom Edell give me some pointers on features to look for in the bird, including the extremely worn primary feathers, that appeared to be almost all sheath at this point. overall, the duck was large bodied and brown, with the feathers having a scalloped appearance along the breast and belly, when the light hit it just right. it also had a pale buff eye ring, with a buff eye stripe that curved behind the eye on the neck. sloped forehead and dark bill."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 08:05 by Mark Mushkat
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268143236 - Media: 4 Photos
- Comments: "Found 8/17 by Yan & O’Kelly. Bird at approx. .3 or .4 miles from viewing spots. Diving sea duck, medium in size, mostly dark brown to tan with a small head and bill relative to COEI. Notable white on upper flank, above eye and at gape. Slight upturn at gape evident in one photo. M. ob."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 08:00 by Jim Royer
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268236881 - Comments: "Continuing brown female with pale line coming down the neck from a lighter area around the eye with feathering coming onto the base of the dark bill creating a distinctive circular border between the brown feathers and the bill, which made the bill appear short. Originally found by Alexander Yan and Brian O’Kelly."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 08:00 by Roger Hammer
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268149324 - Comments: "female or juvie brown duck, fairly large (about mallard size, but shorter bill), diving frequently, scoped w/ Roger's good glass at quite a distance as it worked itself north past the oyster farm toward white marker stakes. too far for decent pics w/ my camera. the group reassembled with 15+ more birders at the marina boardwalk in an attempt to get a closer view. very fun to be w everyone. bird is likely to remain until it molts and can fly distance again."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:45 by Terri Osborn
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268132788 - Comments: "When I arrived at Pasadena Park Beach, (with the viewing platform), there were several other birders present and four spotting scopes were set up to view the King Eider. It was resting and preening on the buoys near the oyster farm out in the bay. The female King Eider, spotted earlier today by A.Y., was about mallard size and all brown with a thin white stripe on the side and a dark bill. The low light and distance made it difficult to see and I wasn't able to get a photo. Herb and a few other birders did get some photos. Thanks to Eric Wier for sharing his spotting scope."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:44 by Herb Elliott
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S267979704 - Media: 1 Photo
- Comments: "... overall warm brown plumage lighter on the head, rounded head shape and a short bill; observed via scope off the boardwalk as the bird swam in the estuary near the oyster farm. It was later observed across the bay from Pasadena Park Overlook.
First reported by Alexander Yan and Brian O'kelly. It's the second county record; the first was recorded between 10/28/1985-2/17/1986 near the same location."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:28 by Anonymous eBirder
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S267981510 - Media: 5 Photos
- Comments: "Continuing lumpy-headed female found by A.Y. By the time we arrived to the Marina Boardwalk the duck had swam southwesterly, so we drove to Pasadena Park, where I said, “If I were an eider I’d go to the platform area.” I started scanning and spotted a buff-brown duck preening atop some kind of floating scaffolding by some poles. Some other birders, from their position between a few homes to the north, also spotted the eider. The duck was about thirty yards east of a main platform out in the bay, which was to our northwest. The bulky bird was buffy-brown with a smallish black bill and thick neck, and had a lumpy lower forehead protrusion. The preening bird faced away from us—so we could also see a thick trailing edge of white along its tucked wings (I think—hard to tell), also revealing some of the white of its underwing patches when it flapped. Couldn’t see details like scallops or chevrons on its sides, or the smile of its bill. We eventually joined the other birders, though their vantage wasn’t much better. Distant photos."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1)
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:20 by Reef Comer
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268148007 - Comments: "Continuing female settling into roost on wooden platform near oyster barge. Large, tawny-brown sea duck with small, sloping head. Small, dark bill with upturned gape gave a ‘smiling’ expression. Had a noticeable amount of white on the wings, which surprised me, but only my second sighting ever of this species, so could be normal. Incredible find, especially for summer! Second county record for SLO."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:17 by Will Knowlton
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268167992 - Media: 2 Photos
- Comments: "Reported earlier in the evening. Decent views in the scope. Not so decent photos. Brownish duck with rounded head when viewed in profile, shortish bill, and pale spot noted above the eye while in the field."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:17 by Morgan Bing
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268170676 - Media: 2 Photos
- Comments: "Reported earlier in the evening. Decent views in the scope. Not so decent photos. Brownish duck with rounded head when viewed in profile, shortish bill, and pale spot noted above the eye while in the field."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 17, 2025 19:17 by Jay Carroll
- Pasadena Park Beach, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8440733&<ll...>,-120.8440733 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268253362 - Media: 2 Photos
- Comments: "Reported earlier in the evening. Decent views in the scope. Not so decent photos. Brownish duck with rounded head when viewed in profile, shortish bill, and pale spot noted above the eye while in the field."
King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 07:50 by The Spotting Twohees
- Pasedena Dr, Los Osos, CA, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.8431674&<ll...>,-120.8431674 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268122105 - Media: 2 Photos
- Comments: "Continuing bird found 8/17. Seems to have spent the night on the buoys at the Oyter Farm.
Female, appears to be molting. No one has yet to see it fly. It is swimming and diving as it moves about the bay, so far between the main Chorro Creek channel and the Oyster Farm. Often stopping to raise up out of the water. Photos"
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 11:00 by Tom Edell
- Cayucos Creek Mouth, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.907463&<ll...>,-120.907463 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268144723 - Media: 3 Photos
- Comments: "juvenile discovered by HE and KH. Lone peep foraging along the shoreline at the ocean end of the creek lagoon. The bird flew from the creek three or four times but always returned. It had black legs and black thick based bill with a blunt tip. The wings and back appeared scaly because of the pale fringed feathers and lacked the reddish scapulars of a juvenile Western Sandpiper. The bird was white below except for at the shoulder and upper breast where a buffy wash that extended onto the breast had short streaks at the shoulder. The face was pale with a brownish cheek, some brownish streaks, a dark line extending from the bill to the eye, and a pale supercilium. The crown was mostly brown. One photo shows a partial web between two toes. See photos for more details."
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 10:38 by The Spotting Twohees
- Cayucos Creek Mouth, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.907599&<ll...>,-120.907599 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268146049 - Media: 6 Photos
- Comments: "*Rare but regular. Juv feeding at the creek mouth. Flew off occasionally but came back several times, giving deep cherrk calls. Scaly pale peep with short traffic cone shaped bill and no rufous in scapulars. Pics"
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Aug 18, 2025 10:38 by Herb Elliott
- Cayucos Creek Mouth, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.907599&<ll...>,-120.907599 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268144508 - Media: 6 Photos
- Comments: "*Rare but regular. Juv feeding at the creek mouth. Flew off occasionally but came back several times, giving deep cherrk calls. Scaly pale peep with short traffic cone shaped bill and no rufous in scapulars. Pics"
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) (1)
- Reported Aug 19, 2025 08:35 by marlin harms
- Cayucos Pier, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.9069453&<ll...>,-120.9069453 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S268286572 - Media: 3 Photos
- Comments: "Foraging on the sandy beach alongside a juvenile Western Sandpiper. Semipalmated had slightly shorter bill, less colorful and less contrasting wing coverts than Western. Photo."
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