Good Morning Friends.

We had the opportunity to bird at La Jolla last Saturday, Steve counted 27 of us, I guessed 30 but anyhow there was a lot of interest.

We also had the added benefit of the presence of Stan Whalen who is the local expert on seabirds and birding from La Jolla sea watch benches. Stifling all of this great opportunity was a thick bank of FOG that didn’t seem to want to dissipate as if it had a will.  Thus; our scopes were of little use and even peering into crevices and recesses with our binos was handicapped. Stan facilitated the group and gave us an impromptu class about Western Gulls and the changes that occur to their plumage and bills as they gain different stages of maturity. We had in front of us; examples and I believe everyone benefited from this.

We walked earnestly to the southern extreme of rocky shoreline searching for a Wandering Tattler or American Oystercatcher. Stan’s long legs can really go the distance. Some of us heeded the 3 hour parking limit and gave up. Linda and I enjoy La Jolla enough to forgive the limited visibility, many PAS regulars stayed til the end. Stan got his scope from the car and I manned Jack Peterson’s scope to see if even through the FOG we could summon a shearwater. I saw one; really. So did Stan.

Our highlight birds were Surf Scoters, Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones and the ever faithful Spotted Sandpiper.

See the report below, Thank you Steve Ellis for compiling our eBird list and thank you for the photograph contributions that make our reports so colorful.

See you next time.

Gerry Baade

https://ebird.org/checklist/S151661099