Monterey Audubon

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We are dedicated to conserving and celebrating the birds and wildlife of the Monterey Bay region.

11/02/2026

Ten years ago today!

Let's hear it from Don Roberson:

"Frigatebirds sail over tropical oceans. Any frigate is a rarity as far north as Monterey Bay. There are a handful of summer records of Magnificent Frigatebird F. magnificens here, most of them dating to the last century.

There are just three California records of Great Frigatebird, and all of them at dates not usually suitable for Magnificent. The state's first was an adult male photographed from a boat just offshore Salinas River mouth on 13 Oct 1979; the state's second was at SE Farallon I. on 14 Mar 1992. And the third was this immature... first noted by a fisherman over Monterey harbor on 2 Nov 2016 and which ended up flying west past Skye Haas, the professional seawatcher at Monterey Audubon's formal seawatch at Pt. Pinos, on his second day of counting that fall. Skye's nice set of digital images were the key to sorting out the identification of this frigate, which can be difficult (see Howell 1994)."

Great Frigatebird photo © Skye Haas.

#5 on Don's top 10 birds, make that 20, make that 25, birds of Monterey Co.
https://creagrus.com/MTYtop10.html
(marked as last updated: 30 Nov 2019)

eBird checklist:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S32424853

- Bill

11/02/2026

11/01/2026

Good morning! It’s officially Seawatching time!

Shout out to Miranda 🦻🏼 Liam Likens Whitney Winokur Megan Kylee Walterman Vanessa and vince for predicting the Surf Scoter as our first bird of the count!

Although Alison did hear a Black Oystercatcher as she got out of the car this morning.

Join us anytime through Dec 15 to catch some of this amazing migration!

11/01/2026

See you at dawn! (Or sometime over the next 6 weeks)

Tomorrow at dawn our 11th year of Point Pinos Seawatch begins.
We are thrilled to welcome back Alison along with all the birds migrating through.

Rain 🌧️ or Shine ☀️ we will be there. If you’re joining us be prepared for the weather!

10/31/2026

Last minute costume ideas!

10/29/2026

4 days….

10/28/2026

Let's talk about those moths that are everywhere around here in the fall and that defoliate so many oak trees. What can we do about them??

Celebrate them. Protect them. And help with their Public Relations! They are a badge of honor for every yard and woodlot that supports them. These common late-season moths are the native California Oak Moth (Phryganidia californica) and they must be #1 or very close to the top of the list supporting all of our fall migrants and beloved vagrants on the Central Coast.

When we talk about planting natives, the #1 choice throughout much of the U.S. is to plant oak trees. Here in Monterey, several oaks species will do but the default is the lovely Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia). If you do one thing for birds in your yard, plant an oak tree. Period. Oaks support a galaxy of native pollinators, especially the moths and butterflies whose caterpillars are the fuel for both migrating and breeding birds. Our neotropical migrants make their perilous journeys north for an abundance of insect protein during the breeding season and most regions are now far less rich in insect biomass. And it's not just migrants that depend on insects, especially moths, especially juicy caterpillars. Most of our native songbirds require mostly insects to feed their young. Even most of our familiar, birdseed-loving backyard species need insects to feed their young. The young cannot digest seeds and need soft, protein-rich caterpillars. Native plants host far more insects than ornamentals, and those insects are the food our songbirds need to migrate, to overwinter, and to successfully raise their young.

So back to the California Oak Moth. Here is a native species that thrives. They're still abundant. They're providing food in large quantities in late summer and into the fall. Even now! And even better, they rarely kill the host oak, essentially only when it is already stressed. Those leaves will be back soon! So plant and protect oaks and the insects and birds that depend on them.

More oaks = more caterpillars = more birds!

- Bill

10/22/2026

We’ve always known Point Pinos is a special place, and last night at our Wednesday Seawatch was no exception.

We had Surf Scoters, Loons, Surfbirds, and a double rainbow 🌈

Next Sunday, Nov 1 marks the beginning of our 6-week marathon of “Seawatching”. With some massive storms predicted, you never know what we will see!

Join us next Wednesday evening or any time Nov 1 - Dec 15!

10/21/2026

It's just over a week until the start of the Point Pinos Seawatch! Who's ready? Once again we'll be counting from dawn to dusk every day from 11/1 to 12/15. We look forward to seeing you out there!

More info here:
https://www.montereyaudubon.org/seawatch

And now, your moment of Zen...

Pacific Loons in flight by Brian Sullivan:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S202712982

- Bill

10/18/2026

Great news about Short-tailed Albatross!

- Bill

Alvaro Jaramillo:

I have to share this. I had not heard the recent population numbers for the Short-tailed Albatross, but it is estimated at over 11,000 now recently surpassing 10K!! The growth rate is 7 - 11%, and remember that growth is "compounding" so as the population grows even if the growth rate remains the same, the number of young fledged increases. At these rates, it won't be that long until the population doubles. It is clear why this species is showing up in greater numbers in California pelagics, there are just more of them. I do hope that the Senkaku Albatross, which breeds in an entirely different set of islands, and has been documented to have enough differences to suggest it is a separate species (much smaller for one) is doing well too. However the nesting of that form is on contested islands, so biologists cannot go there easily and do their work. In other words, great celebration as things are going well but more work remains to be done. See less

Address

P. O. Box 5656
Carmel, CA
93921

Website

https://linktr.ee/MontereyAudubon

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