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

[Sorry this report is late. I thought I'd sent it on Tuesday, but discovered
it still sitting in the holding file this morning].


Weekly Summary #10, 5/20-5/26, 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 = 35.0hrs.
SEARCH EFFORT - E + 10X = 36.7hrs.
TOTAL HOURS OF EFFORT = 71.7hrs.

RTLO --- 96
PALO --- 15,641 (best estimate = ~16,820)
COLO --- 294
ARLO --- 0
YBLO --- 0
CLGR --- 3
BFAL --- 2
LAAL --- 0
NOFU --- 18
PFSH --- 51
FFSH --- 0
SOSH --- 37,376+
STSH --- 0
MASH --- 1 (5/26)
BVSH --- 0
storm petrels 0 (none this year yet)
BRPE --- 1,324 (major influx continues, big days 5/24 & 5/25)
DCCO -- 9 (some or all probably locals & not migrants)
BRAN --- 219
BLSC --- 0
SUSC --- 854
WWSC -- 1
RBME --- 11
OLDS --- 0
WHIM --- 251
LBCU --- 5
RNPH -- 90
REPH -- 1
POJA --- 0
PAJA --- 2
FRGU --- 0
BOGU --- 69
HMGU --- 563
MEGU --- 0
GWGU --- 2
GLGU ---- 0
BLKI ----- 0
SAGU --- 43
CATE ---- 11 (perhaps just local area residents)
ELTE ---- 2
ROTE ---- 0
ARTE ---- 0
COTE ---- 11
FOTE ---- 0
BLTE --- 0
COMU --- 449 (high numbers again)
MAMU --- 0
XAMU ---- 1
ANMU --- 17
b&w murrelet sp. 12 (plus 22 more unid. small alcids)
CAAU ---- 20
RHAU ---- 38
TUPU ---- 1 (adult 5/21)

Notes & Comment:

COASTAL SEABIRDS; LOONS, PHALAROPES, ETC.:
Life and the routine is back to normal now that we've gotten rid of *Mr.
Fog*. However, we are beginning to wind up our gray whale operations here
and this will doubtlessly be the last *70-hour* week for coastal seabird
observations. Phew!

The Pacific loons are still packing through, steady and predictable now,
~1,000 - 4,500 per day, with ~95+% all gone by before noon each day, and ~80%
between 0630-0800hrs. Most are in concentrated packs of 20-100 or so.
Passage by Piedras Blancas in this time frame which is typical even at the
peak suggests that there must be a major roosting/rafting area off Morro Bay
somewhere, where the loons 'hold up' for the night. Even when they are
rafted up, resting and feeding, they seem to still be in migration mode,
*swimming* north. Typically, they take flight ~30 minutes before sunrise.
The afternoons are most often slow to totally dead, in part perhaps due to
the usual near-gale afternoon cold longshore northwesterlies, but even on
calm afternoons, flights can be near non-existent. Perhaps there is simply a
dead zone south of Morro Bay to maybe Point Conception where loons don't
congregate. I don't know; just conjecture at this point. This week's total
of 15,641 reaped from 71 hours of sampling effort somehow seems pretty meager
when looking back and noting that 16,500 were logged in just one half-hour
sampling block when the migration was at it's peak on 4/23.

Here today, gone tomorrow; here one minute, gone the next. Mercifully,
those tens and tens of thousands of red-necked and red phalaropes are done
gone. Only a few small tiny straggling flocks of red-necked (90 total) and
one *token* red were seen this week.

The elegant tern influx reported in weekly summary #7 (4/29-5/05) appears to
have been merely an anomaly or some sort, rather than perhaps the beginnings
of something big spreading north as I had suggested. There has not been a
repeat of a similar event since early May despite the good flights of brown
pelicans and Heerman's gulls. Perhaps the unusual and record breaking heat
wave over all of Southern California during that week triggered that
anomalous event.

All those thousands of sooty shearwaters which had been flying north were all
heading south through the first half of the week. Didn't matter whether the
wind was from the north or the south. They were *all* going south! Where
to? Maybe Morro Bay. In an evening network news clip shown (NBC I think)
one evening about the Morro Bay fisherman refusing to allow a Coast Guard
boarding of his vessel, showed hundreds to thousands of sooty shearwaters
rafting and flying through the bottom of the screen.

PASSERINES
A minor passerine *fall-out* on 5/26 produced the only migrant warblers in
the bushes around the lighthouse this week -- yellow (1), Townsend's (3),
Wilson's (2), and ....prothonotary (1). PROTHONOTARY WARBLER!! and first
vagrant here this season. That was 5/26, Sunday, and my full bore morning
concentrated effort on seabirds with the 25X, so I didn't get around to
checking the bushes until around 1400hrs. The water tank was overflowing
creating a temporary fresh water swamp and all those warblers were drinking
and bathing there. Fresh water comes from a well here and when the tank
reaches a certain low point, it fills automatically until it overflows. The
prothonotary was a beautiful 'glowing' male and easy to see and find
repeatedly. A couple of *pisches* and out of the bushes he would pop. So
there, *bird of the week* and probably *bird of the season*.

PEREGRINES:
All three fledglings continue to do very well. There was way too much
interesting action going on this week to summarize quickly. Some excerpts
from my journal:

5/22/96 "....At 0730hrs, both adults took a shot at a lone whimbrel, a
species I have always thought should be easy prey but invariably ignored.
The male hit the whimbrel and momentarily had it clutched in its talons,
then dropped it from about 20 feet out over the sea, ~0.3 nm offshore. The
whimbrel hit the water with a splash, and the peregrines swooped over it once
then aborted the mission and returned empty handed to the Outer Rock. The
whimbrel managed to get itself airborn, shook itself off, and flew off and
away. What is it exactly that peregrines (at least these ones) dont like
about whimbrels? Ive never seen one taken in my three seasons here. They
dont seem to care much for buffleheads either as that one lone female is
still anchored in the exact same spot in the drying up marshy rain pool out
along rt. 1 where it has been since I arrived here in mid-March!...." [this
type of whimbrel incident was observed twice this week].

5/24/96 "....There never ceases to be something every day here! At
0600hrs, the male and the female were observed for about 5 minutes engaged in
a cooperative hunt and attempted capture of a single adult Bonapartes gull
(the only adult seen today), ~600 meters directly offshore. The peregrines
bumped it a couple of times but the gull seemed unharmed. Then, I realized
that there was an adult western gull involved in the chase too. The
Bonapartes set down on the water twice, but took flight when the peregrines
swooped over attempting to snag it off the water. The third time the
Bonapartes set down on the water, the western gull landed beside it about 2
meters away. Hmmm.... me thinks... Maybe the western gull is going to kind
of protect the Bonapartes. Wrong! That bastard! This nasty western gull
barged right up to the Bonapartes and instantly just plain killed it while
the two peregrines made a couple final passes trying to snatch it away. They
gave up and returned to the Outer Rock. Meanwhile, the western gull plunged
in and just totally ripped the Bonapartes gull apart. I could see stringly
bits of flesh and eyeballs being extracted. It was incredible if not almost
unbelievable!

At 0730hrs, the female was seen returning to the Outer Rock with a successful
kill in her talons, an immature Bonapartes gull. Her arrival was not
without some hassel as she was being persued by yet another western gull and
a Brants cormorant. Once on the side of the Rock, she was screaming softly
for a few minutes until the other potential thiefs left her be...."

5/25/96 "....A very active day amongst the peregrine clan. Trying to
tabulate all their activities and movements in my log looks something a bit
of a mess. I was aware of the whereabout of all three juveniles for most of
the day as they lingered around and on the lighthouse, and flying between
there and the Outer Rock and to other rock pinnacles around the Station area.
All three were often perched together, and side by side on one of the
favorite antennas at the top of the lighthouse. Also, they perch on the
rails and sit on the deck and on top of the light shield.

The adults were busy too and visible most of the day. Three kills were
observed, adult ancient murrelet (0930hrs), immature Bonapartes gull
(1800hrs), and some unidentified shorebird, maybe one of the three red-necked
phalaropes seen out on the longshore current line (1930hrs). Two
unsuccessful attempts were made on a red-necked phalarope (0830hrs) and a
single cliff swallow (0900hrs), though perhaps the latter was just a playful
stoop. All three kills were delivered to the eagerly waiting juveniles.

The most interesting and especially noteable was the immature Bonapartes
gull and the nearly 45 minutes of interaction between the female and the
juveniles before they were allowed to have it. I saw the female fly to the
Outer Rock with the gull at 1800hrs and perched there with it briefly. All
three juveniles were perched on the lighthouse (antenna) at the time and
remained there. The female, with the gull neatly tucked in her talons flew
to the lighthouse amidst a lot of squawking and screaming from the eager
young. Repeatedly, she briefly landed on the same antenna but refused to
give up the gull. Instead, the juveniles were made to come after it. The
female would fly around and the juveniles would follow. Eventually, the
prize was exchanged in a talon to talon handoff in flight near the
lighthouse, and the one juvenile which ended up with the meal returned to the
Outer Rock with the female to eat it.

I finally have gotten quite good and close looks at all three juveniles. I
am fairly convinced now that I can distinguish who is who. At least so far
as I believe there are two females (the first to hatch and fledge) and a
single male. The presumed females are heavier and bulkier and have much
heavier brown streaks on the breast and underparts. Also, they are further
developed molt wise, with most of the upper plumage, wing feathers, and
rectrices appearing uniform dark brown to grayish brown. The presumed male
is slimmer and even now, more sleak looking -- well, neater in appearance.
Streaks on the underparts are cleaner and finer. Otherwise, much like the
larger juvenile females except that the rectrices in the middle portion of
the tail are lighter brown. All three juveniles sport distinctive light
brown to buff terminal tail bands which helps greatly in dim light (dawn &
dusk & fog) to differentiate adults from the juveniles roosting on the Outer
Rock Islet...."
----------


Tom Edell -- Good thing you came to visit on Sunday and *NOT* Monday.
Sunday's PALO count was ~4600, most while you were here. There was nothing
wrong with Monday, weatherwise. The ocean was just a vast empty void all
day. Boring! The PALO count on Monday was a dreary 35! ...And nothing much
else either!

*******
5/28 -- UH OHH!! BIRD ALERT!! Basking in the glow of the prothonotary
warbler as probable *bird of the season* was just usurped by something else
on 5/28. I don't even know if there is a California record for this one.
There is one for Washington. It was two miles offshore, heading south.
Won't reveal what it was just now -- that would be out of synch with these
reports. But these hints should be enough for a good guess if you know (or
care) much about West Coast / North American vagrants. Answer next week.
*******

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