La Jolla Cove, April 1, 2019: elegant terns; banded pelican

Completely different bird population from last week. The feeding frenzy is gone, and most wintering birds seem to have moved out.

Highlight of the morning, from 6:45–7:30 was a torrential movement of Elegant Terns northwards. I have no idea whether they were migrating or foraging.
Passed by at the rate of about 2/second for nearly an hour. That would make somewhere between 6500–7000.

Otherwise:

Heermann’s gull: 9, all first winter
California gull: 0
Boobies: 0
Horned puffin: 0
Black-vented shearwater: 40
Bonaparte’s gull: 30, all far out.

Also, the pinniped biologist photographed a banded brown pelican a few weeks ago. Blue band, #A23.
Wants to know where to report it.
Please let me know, off-list.

Finally, the dead whale I saw last week was very likely the same individual removed from the beach at San Onofre a few days earlier.
Photo comparison indicates that the pattern of decay was very similar.

Stan Walens, San Diego Adjacent
April 1, 2019; 8:50 am
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports