Blue-footed!

The last major influx of Blue-footed Boobies (Sula nebouxii) along the California coast was in 1972.  (Most of them nest in the tropics, e.g., on the Galapagos Islands and in the Gulf of California).  Since 11 September 2013, multiple sightings have occurred from southern California to Point Reyes, with a flurry of observations during the past weekend.  

Early this morning Alan Wight and Dan Nelson spotted the first Blue-footed Boobies ever recorded in Sonoma County!  The boobies flew by the bluffs near the outer parking lot on the southern end of Bodega Head.  I've heard that both Alan and Dan managed to get photographs.  Congratulations to both of them for having the foresight to be watching for boobies from Bodega Head this morning!

Dan has kindly permitted me to post a couple of his images here to share this exciting record.

 

These are juvenile birds, with darker heads and duller feet than adults.  But you can still see a hint of blue on the feet in the close-up below.

 

ADDENDUM (18 September 2013): Click here to see some of Alan's pictures.

P.S.  I was curious about the species name, "nebouxii."  According to the Dictionary of American Bird Names, it's after Dr. Adolphe Simon Neboux: "Little is known about Neboux except that he was Surgeon Major on the French exploring vessel Venus, which visited the coast of California in the course of a cruise extending from 1836 to 1839.  The Blue-footed Booby named in his honor in 1882 by Milne-Edwards, the eminent French Zoologist, was possibly based on a specimen collected on the Venus expedition."