Thursday, June 18, 2009

Storm-petrels in a Southeaster

We punted this morning and took the Bird Walk for All People to Sunset Beach and its covered pavilion. The wind was southeast 15-25 mph, the rain heavy at times, and the birding not so bad at all. Four Wilson's Storm-petrels appeared, about 10-15 minutes apart so I am presuming they are different birds (I hear a boat trip yesterday yielded 17 or so). One storm-petrel actually flew on the land side of the concrete ship for great views.

A single immature Northern Gannet appeared in the fog far offshore, and a wise Peregrine waited out the rain perched on a cross member tucked under the water tower along Sunset Boulevard. A first cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull stood on the beach next to Great Black-backeds for a nice comparison, and a lone Ring-billed Gull in full adult plumage but missing most of the primaries on its left wing obviously will be spending the summer near here. A Snowy Egret flew in, apparently having just crossed the bay despite the rain, and three Black Skimmers skimmed past.

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