Date: 5/25/26 8:09 pm From: <tgmiko...> via groups.io <tgmiko...> Subject: Re: [OrangeCountyBirding] An addendum to my post on the frigatebird
Hi Stan,
There was an Ebird report of a Magnificent Frigatebird seen from Santa
Monica last week. I still haven’t checked to see if that report clashes
with when the Lesser Frigatebird was seen off the coast of OC. My initial
reaction has been that I suspect (with no photos to accept or reject the
Null Hypothesis) that the Santa Monica bird was, in fact, the OC Leaser
Frigatebird. In other words, the OC bird could now be at Hussong’s
Cantina, sipping a Corona, or it could be sitting on a cedar at Big Bear
Lake.
Tom
Thomas Geza Miko
Claremont CA 91711
909.241.3300
On Mon, May 25, 2026 at 7:55 PM Stan Walens via groups.io <stan.walens=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
>
> We all assumed that the bird might have been quartering low over the
> Trestles area because it was looking for a place to roost.
>
>
>
> But that is a very hilly area. Frigatebirds are capable of flying all
> night long, and the bird—well-fed after hanging around fishing boats for
> days—may have been looking for an onshore wind pushing the air upwards
> against the hillsides that would enable it to gain altitude.
> So it may still be around…or it may be hundreds of miles away…..
>
> I intend to keep looking for it. Elsewhere, of course.
>
> Stan Walens, San Diego
>
>
>
>
