Sea Watch Wednesday October 27, 2010

What a crazy day up at Avalon! The shifty weather made for some interesting conditions for migration. Despite some heavy precipitation the viewing conditions were actually okay for most of the day, thanks in part to an improvised telescope/bungee-cord/umbrella set-up. Despite thoroughly sifting through the good movement of Laughing Gulls in the morning, I couldn't turn up a Franklin's Gull, which should be thought of as a legitimate possibility here over the next couple of days given the current weather pattern.

Other than Gulls, there was not much moving in notable numbers. Interestingly though, the VAST majority of dark-winged Scoters today (>92%) were Surf Scoters. Interesting species highlights were 3 Horned Grebes flying by together during the second hour of the day, an adult/subadult-type Parasitic Jaeger, a juvenile Common Tern, and two back-to-back point-blank crisp juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Tomorrow should be a good one (or at the very least it should present more pleasant weather)!

Complete eBird list with counted species in bold:
Total individuals counted: 3,482
Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 10/27/10
Number of species: 35

Brant 1
Northern Pintail 1
Greater Scaup 15
Greater/Lesser Scaup 1
Surf Scoter 2266
White-winged Scoter 4 (3 were flying north)
Black Scoter 181
Surf/Black Scoter 41
Red-throated Loon 6
Common Loon 21
Horned Grebe 3
Northern Gannet 291
Brown Pelican 1
Double-crested Cormorant 8

Peregrine Falcon 2
Semipalmated Plover 22
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Sanderling 45
Semipalmated Sandpiper 13
Dunlin 7
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Laughing Gull 289
Ring-billed Gull 40
Herring Gull 69
Lesser Black-backed Gull 2 Juveniles
Great Black-backed Gull 66
Caspian Tern 2
Common Tern 1 Juvenile
Forster's Tern 59
Royal Tern 113
Black Skimmer 1
Parasitic Jaeger 1

Tree Swallow 300
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Song Sparrow 2
House Sparrow 20

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