Coming into port

  

A couple of quick photos of Elegant Terns (Thalasseus elegans) at Porto Bodega today (28 September 2026).  There was quite a bit of feeding activity over the water, and then the terns came in to roost near the outer docks.  Excellent views of these beautiful terns!

 

 

Changes in latitudes

  

Wow!  News started trickling in yesterday afternoon that a Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) had been spotted at Cordell Bank (5 October 2025).  I wasn't on the boat, but I asked if I could share a couple of photos because this is an intriguing record — and a first for North America!

Waved Albatross are more often seen off Ecuador, Peru, and northern Chile.  They nest on Española Island in the Galápagos and on Isla de la Plata off Ecuador.  They are unusual among albatross species in having a primarily tropical distribution.  Prior to this record, the farthest north one had been observed was off Costa Rica (looks like possibly two records there, one in 1993 and another in 2014?).  Marin County is the farthest north a Waved Albatross has been seen by far.

This is a distinctive albatross.  Note the pale head and dark body/wings, the large yellow bill, a hint of yellow (sometimes called a suffusion) along the back of the head and neck, beautiful black-and-white vermiculations along the lower neck area, and blue legs and feet.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

Not sure why this species appeared in Marin County at this time, but others have mentioned that prior out-of-range records might have been associated with warmer water conditions.

With many thanks to Glen Tepke who kindly provided these terrific photos.

October morning

  

Yesterday (10 October 2024) Eric and I made a quick trip to Chatham, Massachusetts, and encountered a nice flock of Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri).  

The terns flew to a sandbar, spent some time roosting and preening, then some individuals took off and started diving on a school of fish in shallow water.  The autumn light was nice and I don't often get to spend much quality time with Forster's Terns, so here are a few photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a relatively large flock of Forster's Terns, ~250 birds.  I didn't get a photo of the entire flock, but here's one that shows the general scene.  [You can click on any of the images for larger versions.] 

 

 

 

And another showing the view to the south:

 

We left feeling grateful for an October morning on Cape Cod.

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).

Harbor light

  

Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) in the harbor on Heimaey (Iceland) with beautiful golden reflections from the cliffs.

Land of fulmars

After spending this past week in Iceland, I started thinking about Iceland as the land of fulmars.  It was amazing to see Northern Fulmars (Fulmaris glacialis) everywhere — over the ocean, soaring around sea stacks, perched on sea cliff ledges, resting next to waterfalls, gliding among the icebergs, and high above inland cliffs.

If you look closely, I’m guessing you’ll be able to see fulmars in all of the photos below.  Sometimes the scale of the photo is such that the fulmars appear quite small, so you might need to click on the image to view larger versions.

Cobalt!

  

Displaying Brandt's Cormorants (Urile penicillatus).  Their cobalt blue throat pouches were so bright in the morning sun!  Photographed on Bodega Head on 26 June 2024.

Re-terning with fish!

Manu-o-Kū, or White Tern (Gygis alba) chick, photographed in Honolulu, O’ahu, on 30 March 2024.

We watched as a parent came in with a bill full of fish to feed the young chick:

So grateful to spend a little time with these beautiful terns!

Mahalo to Beth for showing us so many of the wonders of O’ahu!

Seabirds of Kīlauea

Examples of seabirds at Kīlauea Point on the north shore of Kaua’i today (4 April 2024):

‘Ua‘u kani, or Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna pacifica)

Koa‘e ‘ula, or Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda)…including two in a courtship display:

‘Ā, or Red-footed Booby (Sula sula)

Mōlī, or Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis)

‘Iwa, or Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor)

Soaring on the canyon winds

Koa’e kea, or White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus), soaring in Waimea Canyon on Kaua’i.  

Magical to watch these seabirds flying on the winds in these steep canyons.

Family time

Mōlī, or Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chick, photographed on O’ahu, Hawaii, on 29 March 2024.

And here’s a close-up of the parents:

Four tri's!

  

Lottia triangularis

 

 

 

Rissa tridactyla

 

 

Tritonia festiva

 

 

Trifolium macraei

 

Well, I realize it might be hard to see the connection among all of these photos, but I needed something to celebrate NHBH blog post #3,333!  In previous years I noted when I crossed the 1,000 and 2,000 marks, so here's a post to observe crossing 3,000 with four tri's!  Whew!  Thanks for staying with me!

Transequatorial migrants

  

We were about to start a meeting this afternoon when we noticed a dark mass just offshore — thousands of Sooty Shearwaters (Ardenna griseus) in a very dense flock!  [I recommend clicking on the images for larger and sharper versions.]

Not long after, we started seeing lots of splashing:

 

 

The white splashes were large enough that at first I though there might be mammals in the area, too, or larger fish breaking the surface.  But with binoculars we could see that it was the shearwaters plunge-diving into the water.  I'm guessing there might have been bait fish (or squid?) in the area:

 

 

 

The birds were about 1/2 mile offshore, so the photos are distant, but below is a closer view where you can see some of the characteristic stiff-winged silhouettes of the shearwaters.  (By the way, I haven't counted, but scanning the photo below my guess is that there might be >500 birds in this photo alone.)

 

 

 

And one more photo showing the amazing density of the shearwater flock:

 

 

 

Sooty Shearwaters nest in the Southern Hemisphere (e.g., in/near Australia and New Zealand) and then fly across the equator to visit the North Pacific during their non-breeding season.  Take a look if you're out at the coast, it's impressive to see so many shearwaters at once!