Subject: PB weekly summary #4 (long)
Date: Apr 16 21:38:28 1996
From: PAGODROMA at aol.com - PAGODROMA at aol.com


Point Piedras Blancas, San Luis Obispo, Co., California.

Weekly Summary #3, 4/01-4/07, 1996.
(*Selected* species; i.e. in most cases including those species which are
clearly long-shore, off-shore migrants but *not* including 'common' large
migrant larid gulls, cormorants (except DCCO), most shorebirds, miscellaneous
non-sea waterfowl, and in most cases unidentified birds like alcids, terns,
jaegers, etc.)

SEARCH EFFORT - 25X = 23.9hrs.
SEARCH EFFORT - E + 10X = 30.1hrs.
TOTAL HOURS OF EFFORT = 54.0hrs.

RTLO --- 4,585
PALO --- 51,815 (best estimate = ~64,000)
ar/palo -- 2
COLO --- 1,872
YBLO --- 0
co/yblo -- 3
CLGR --- 0
BFAL --- 4
LAAL --- 0
NOFU --- 9
PFSH --- 1
FFSH --- 2 (4/10 & 4/14)
SOSH --- 361
STSH --- 0
MASH --- 1 (4/14)
BVSH --- 0
storm petrels 0 (none this year yet)
BRPE --- ~103 (judged as migrants)
DCCO -- 1 (must have been more?)
BRAN --- 5,361 (best estimate = 14-18,000; heavy flight 4/08)
BLSC --- 2
SUSC --- 13,582 (best estimate = 35-45,000; heavy flight 4/08)
WWSC -- 87
RBME --- 38
OLDS --- 1
WHIM --- 106
LBCU --- 17
REPH --- 0
RNPH --- 0
POJA --- 0
PAJA --- 0
po/paja -- 0
FRGU --- 0
BOGU --- 5,869
HMGU --- 30 (all brown immatures, first good influx on 4/14)
MEGU --- 0
GWGU --- 5
GLGU --- 1 (2nd winter chalky white)
BLKI ---- 2
SAGU ---- 0
CATE --- 7 (very low!! I miss many of these cutting 'behind'
me)
ROTE --- 1
ARTE --- 0
FOTE --- 197
COTE -- 0
COMU --- 80
PIGU --- ~40 (residents; maybe some migrants)
MAMU --- 12
XAMU --- 0
ANMU --- 3
CAAU --- 8
RHAU --- 25

Notes & selected highlights this week:

The first heavy Pacific loon flight passed Point Piedras Blancas on 4/13 with
the first significant 'pulse' passing between 0845-0915 (~8,000 birds), with
the flight running steady from first light to 1300hrs, 1-2,000 per hour, then
going virtually dead afterwards. The estimated total Pacific loons was
~20,000 (actual count sample = 17,694). Such flights should continue now for
the next two weeks or so. At it's peak in a week or so could have totals
ranging daily up to 40,000. The 'pulse' flights, truely one of North
Americas most spectacular and mind numbing and hyptotic avian spectacles, and
doubtlessly underappreciated, are completely unpredictable. They usually
occur during the morning, but similar bursts could hit at any time of the
day, last from 20 minutes to an hour or two as an unbroken 200 meter wide
ribbon of life passes by just a few hundred meters off the beach.

A dental emergency dragged me away from this place for much of 4/08, and
right in the middle of a major brant and surf scoter flight. There were huge
snake like undulating flocks of surf scoters, with the daily total estimated
at 20-30,000 with 8-12,000 brant. I get really bummed when I miss something
like this, and being off site even for a minute stresses me so.

Did you know that those long black strings of surf scoters which everyone is
familiar with which pass an observer on the beach are *not* strings at all?
They are lateral diagonal formations and always pose an interesting site as
they approach head on from the south. Truely bizarre looking as they
undulate like a big black snake giving an appearance of nearly touching wing
tip to wing tip. The brant and loons fly in the same general patterns and
not lined up one right behind the other although the loons give the
appearance of giving themselves a little more room.

Both male and female peregrines are busy feeding the newly hatched (4/05)
young. As the nestlings grow into fledglings, both parents become more and
more defensive and territorial. I encountered the first volley in the 'war
or words' on 4/11, as the male came after me screaming and hanging overhead
just for standing out at the end of the driveway, 0.3 miles from the nest
site. This will grow steadily 'worse' in the coming weeks, and become
downright annoying as both birds scream and swoop on any intrusion by late
May if everything continues as it should. There is no sneaking around this
place without everyone knowing about it! :)

Here's an item copied & pasted from my daily field notes from 4/13:
"....A spectacular kill was observed at 1840hrs right overhead over the
gray whale monitoring site, as the pair hunting together, took out an adult
Bonapartes gull. I didnt actually see the whole event and was only alerted
when I heard the primal death screams of the Bonapartes gull in the talons
of the female peregrine with both birds overhead together. Im sure this
kill was a cooperative effort. This is one of the most fascinating things to
observe about the peregrines when the hunting effort is cooperative. Both
birds go hunting together, one in the lead, the second 200 or so meters
behind. One bird chases and distracts the target while the other swoops in
or stoops for the kill. The gull was still alive as the female flew 50 feet
directly overhead with it in its talons, on its way to the aeiry, and was
seen picking at the neck, perhaps to kill it. She then went directly into
the aeiry with it to feed the young. I still havent seen the young yet, but
that should happen any day now as they should soon start wandering around in
the turret-like cavity on the side of the Outer Rock. Natural peregrine nest
sites just dont get any better than this one! Isolated rock islet, sunny
southeast side, and with an all you can eat buffet of migrating water, sea,
and shorebirds. These falcons have it way too easy here...."

The "oasis" around the lighthouse continues to be virtually void of spring
landbird migrants. We just haven't had the right conditions yet. Perhaps
this week with the combination of a 'new' moon and a week of forecast
unsettled weather will send something out here. Virtually anything common
anywhere else, even a mile or so inland is rather rare or unusual out here.
This week, only western kingbird (2), orange-crowned warbler (1),
yellow-rumped (Audubon's) warbler (1), Lincoln's sparrow (2), and
golden-crowned sparrow (2-4) were seen. This "oasis" is a clump of Monterey
cypress, some pines, and some deciduous scrub which can be birded in 5
minutes or less -- a simple walk through, a little pisching, and done,
finished, caput.

Allen's hummingbirds are still incubating two eggs. The black phoebes have
four young, now about two weeks old, and there are more flies than ever in
the elephant seal cove where they live.

San Simeon State Park -- not checked this week. Again... no time for
everything!

The Hyakutake Comet has been utterly spectacular on clear nights in the NW
evening sky, usually before 2200hrs. with the aid of the 25X Fujinons. The
offshore phase of the gray whale migration (adults & juveniles) has tapered
off and we are beginning to see a few cow/calves now.

Richard Rowlett <pagodroma at aol.com>
(Bellevue, WA)
currently: Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
San Simeon, California