From an offshore storm

  

The offshore buoy was reporting wave heights of ~22 feet earlier today (23 December 2024).  These were big waves, so I took a few photos for the record.  

Each photo has at least one gull in front of the wave for scale.  The gulls seem to love surfing the winds off these waves, which is fun to watch.  You can click on the images for larger versions. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy conditions are going to continue for a while, so stay a safe distance away from these waves.

Seabird sampler

  

Here's a sampling of seabirds we encountered in Iceland.  Most of these photos were taken on the ferry to/from Heimaey except as noted.

Above, a Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea), and below a Sooty Shearwater on the left and a Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) on the right.  Note the size and color differences (the Manx Shearwater is smaller with black above and white below):

 

 

 

 

 

Adult Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) with a fish...

 

and a juvenile Atlantic Puffin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Immature Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)...

 

and an adult kittiwake flying by an iceberg at the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon:

 

 

 

 

 Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) in Reykjavík.

 

 

 

 

Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) soaring on updrafts along the cliffs. 

 

 

Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) high above the harbor on Heimaey.

 

 

Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea)

It was fun to see some familiar faces in a new setting — many of these species can also be seen off Bodega Head — as well as some species I haven't seen in a while (e.g., Atlantic Puffin, Black-headed Gull, and Great Skua).

Blown in with the wind

  

Conditions were just right for bringing Bonaparte's Gulls (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) into Bodega Harbor this week — several consecutive days of steady gale force northwest winds.  

Leaving work tonight (2 May 2024), there were over 50 Bonaparte's Gulls along the west side of the harbor — some resting on the tidal flats, and several groups diving on fish in shallow water:

 

 

 

I'm not sure about the identity of the fish, but a few were visible in the bills of several gulls:

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know if they'll stick around, but if you're in the Bodega Harbor area, watch for these handsome black-headed gulls.

 

 

 

Mine!

 

 

We've been busy with sea star surveys this week, but I couldn't help taking a quick photo of these two Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis) fighting over an Ochre Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus).  

 

The gull on the left was trying to swallow the sea star when gull on the right flew in and started pulling on one of the sea star's rays.  (If you're wondering, the second gull was eventually successful at pulling the sea star away from the first.)

Blown into the harbor

  

Quick shot of a Bonaparte's Gull in Bodega Harbor at the end of the day today, 1 June 2023.

Break in the storm

 

 

There were 20-30 foot swells at the coast today.  It's always hard to judge scale when looking at wave photos.  Can you find the two gulls in the photo above?  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

 

And here's a different view:

 

 

 

 

Those are large waves!  While documenting some storm impacts, I came across a group of Black Oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) huddled together on the upper beach.  It looked like they were just trying to get some rest:

 

 

 

Although there's more rain on the way, when I returned to Cotati there was a break in the clouds and a rainbow spreading across the sky to the east:

 

 

 

Take care during these stormy conditions.  💗

After a gale

  

Like clockwork — after a few days with gale force northwest winds in April, a flock of Bonaparte's Gulls (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) appeared in Bodega Harbor today (11 April 2022).

I counted 57 birds in the flock, but here are a couple of close-ups.  [You can click on them for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know if these birds will be around tomorrow, but they were resting on the water at the north end of the harbor (near Whaleship Road).

P.S.  Here's an older post under similar conditions, "Taiga bound" on 4 May 2015.

Refuge in a pine

  

A similar scene to March 10th unfolded this morning as I was driving to work.  I could see a Bald Eagle out on the tidal flats in Bodega Harbor, and there were Western Gulls swooping down on it.  Eventually the eagle took off and flew towards Spud Point:

 

 

 

The eagle landed in a pine tree along Old Bay Flat Road:

 

 

 

It kept a close eye on the gulls...

 

 

 

 

...and generally remained watchful:

 

 

 

I think this is a different individual than the one I photographed on 10 March 2022, so there must be a couple of different Bald Eagles visiting Bodega Harbor.

Revisiting The Birds?

  

Do you remember the scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds when the gulls are attacking?  Well, nearly 60 years later, they're still at it!  This morning (10 March 2022) they were mobbing a Bald Eagle on the tidal flats in Bodega Harbor.  The eagle wasn't that happy about it:

 

 

 

 

 

Orange mystery fish

  

A couple of days ago I noticed a large group of cormorants, gulls, and pelicans just offshore from Salmon Creek Beach.  It appeared to be a feeding flock (lots of diving and splashing), but I couldn't tell what they were catching at first.  Then I started noticing some birds with fairly good-sized orange-colored fish.  

I've been having some trouble with my camera lens not focusing properly, and this flock was distant, but I'm hoping the photos might still be good enough to identify the fish they were eating.

Other times when I've seen flocks like this, they've been eating smaller silvery bait fish, so I'm not used to seeing them catch a larger orange fish.  Although they caught a lot of these fish, they seemed to have trouble swallowing them.

I'm not sure about the identification of this fish, but my first guess is Striped Surfperch (Embiotoca lateralis).  If you can help with the i.d., I'd appreciate it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On and over the waves

 

We encountered a few nice flocks of Sabine's Gulls (Xema sabini) during the pelagic trip to Bodega Canyon and beyond on 23 May 2021.

Here are a few shots on the water, and a few shots in flight.  Be sure to look for the nice black edge to the dark gray hood, and the yellow tip on the bill.  Some birds haven't molted into breeding plumage yet, so have smudgy gray heads and dark bills.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are such pretty gulls, especially in flight when their striking upperwing pattern is visible against the waves :

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  For a little more information about Sabine's Gulls, you can check out the post from 3 September 2013.

Windy with a chance of Bonaparte's

  

Back-to-back days with strong northwest winds in April brings a chance of seeing Bonaparte's Gulls (Chroicocephalus philadelphia).  I spotted this flock out over Bodega Harbor this afternoon (at least 16 individuals, not all in the photo).  I thought they might have been terns at first, but I stopped the car and got out to take a quick photo with my zoom lens and then could see their head and wing markings.

For another example of Bonaparte's Gulls with some closer views, check out the post called "Taiga bound" from 4 May 2015.

In on the fun

During the last few days, there have been large schools of bait fish near shore.  The last time this happened, it turned out to be Night Smelt (Spirinchus starksi), e.g., see these posts from August 2018 — "Getting into a good school?" and "Fish, fish, fish!".  I haven't been able to identify the fish yet this time, but I started reviewing my photos from 1 August 2020 and there were some fun ones:

 

 

 

 

 

In order of appearance: Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) and Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) with fish...then Heermann's Gulls (Larus heermanni) chasing a tern (trying to make the tern drop the fish) and finally a Heermann's Gull trying to pull a fish out of a pelican's pouch.  More photos to come!