Ann's Adventures: The Pelican Jinx

Friday, August 5

Since I have been getting up very early for a couple of weeks, I figured I could start attempting a morning seawatch around 6 am. After all, that's three hours later than my alarms have been set, and I can literally walk to the seawatch spot in about 90 seconds. I made it almost on time, with a cup of tea in hand. The numbers of birds were not high, but the expected Pigeon Guillemots, Black Turnstones, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, California and Glaucous-winged Gulls were all present and accounted for. I was very happy with myself for identifying a distant Red-necked Grebe in flight. But before the hour was out, the fog was in. I retreated to the ecoguardian's residence for some breakfast, before heading to the solar panels to get to work. This is my strategy this year: intersperse birding and chores. Last year, I missed much of the good birding time by trying to get the work out of the way. I have a better sense of how to combine both this year. As the fog rolled in, a passerine flew quickly past me. It was dark and medium-sized, but that was all I got of it. Frustrating, as there are so few seen here.

The solar panels were easy to clean today. A combination of the fog making the surfaces wet, and a new cleaning tool(repurposed snow brush/squeegee/scraper combo) I brought with me made the work go much more quickly than trying to switch tools for each task. From that viewpoint, I was also able to see a Ruddy Turnstone below, but sadly, no photos. The highlight was a "fogbow" that appeared as the fog started to lift.

Mushu is settling right in. He does not like to look out the window--too many loud, flappy things and blue sloshy surfaces out there! I suspect he'll become accustomed to them before it's time to leave, but for now, he's happy sleeping and exploring the house. He even found a bit of sunshine today. And he got to be in a TV interview! Even here, there are still ways to communicate with the media, and the levying of fines for free-roaming cats is newsworthy at the moment.

Later in the morning, I met up with Jeremias and Abi to test and repair the electric fencing that keeps the California Sea Lions from the are immediately around the houses. Okay, friends. I am here until at least August 25. On what date do you think I will first feel the impact of the fence? I am going to try to get off the island shock-free, but it feels almost inevitable. Even with the fencing, a determined marine mammal can still get pretty much wherever it wants, as evidenced by this young elephant seal.

Perhaps the best sighting of the day was a flock of about 15 Barn Swallows migrating across the strait. This is what I'm watching for!

Southbound Barn Swallow

I'm still playing catch-up on missed sleep (as I write this after midnight, I'm apparently not making many gains in this regard), so I thought I would have a short afternoon nap. I guess I took two. During my time "away", Abi and Jeremias saw at least 10 Brown Pelicans. My only consolation is that I wouldn't have been able to see them from my location even if I had been awake.

A trip up the lighthouse this evening produced one interesting spectacle. Two sea lions were catching fish just off the jetty, bringing dozens of gulls to join them in hopes of a few scraps. Check out these photos of one literally standing in the sea lion's mouth! I guess this explains how some gulls lose their feet.