Date: 4/12/24 11:44 am From: Alex Castelein <alex.castelein...> Subject: [sbcobirding] Seawatch Campus Point
Hi all,
After Wim's report of good seabird numbers from Campus Point yesterday afternoon, Max and I went to check it out and sure enough there was quite the show.
As Wim reported, it was nice to see 15 Surfbirds hanging out on the rocks and a large feeding frenzy composed of hundreds of cormorants, pelicans, and gulls just offshore. Olivia D'Arezzo mentioned that this could be due to the dredging going on East Beach, which apparently ends after today.
The real show for Max and I were the migrating seabirds. In a little over an hour, we estimated about 1000 Pacific Loons, with several Common and Red-throated mixed in. There was one 2-3 minute period with a constant stream of loons for which I estimated 410 birds! We also had a total of about 300 Surf Scoters (no special scoters) and 100 Brants. Mixed in with the scoters we had 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 scaup, which I think looked good for Greater by the extent of white in the wing stripe, but without photos decided not to call them. There was also one sad looking Common Murre just beyond the rocks. Small numbers of Forster's Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls were nice to see as well.
Visibility was tough at times with the thick fog, but generally the birds were quite close, affording good views.
