One Moment in Nature is a reflection back in time to a moment of discovery as I explored the natural settings around me. Through the sharing of this moment, is my hope that readers will become motivated to learn more about our environment and its inhabitants, and become passionate advocates for conservation. One Moment in Nature is a Reflections of the Natural World Blog Post Series by Jim Gain
THE MOMENT
Granted that most avid birders are cringing at the use of “A Flock of Seagulls” in my title, but it is just an homage to the famous 80s new wave band from Liverpool. I have always felt that Sabine’s Gulls are one of the most striking members of the Laridae family of birds. We ocassionally find these birds inland (often immature birds), but they are usually found well offshore as they migrate between the high arctic and the coastal-upwelling zones off western South America. On this particular day (2023-08-15), I was heading out on an offshore pelagic birding trip to the Monterey Submarine Canyon with Alvaro Jaramillo (Alvaro’s Adventures).
Before we even cleared the seawall we were treated to a very cooperative Red-footed Booby that had been hanging around the Monterey Harbor.
After about an hour of observing the usual seabirds as we headed out the call went out, “Flock of Sabine’s Gulls flying from 12:00 towards the left, low over the water!” Upon hearing the call, “I Ran” to the bow (see what I did there?), and started shooting.
At first, they were flying away from us (typical), but they eventually angled more towards the stern and gave us good sideways views.
A little later we encountered another flock with fewer individuals, but this time we were able to get a little closer.
AND. THEN. IT. JUST. GOT. CRAZY!!!
Over the course of the 8-hour pelagic we tallied 864 Sabine’s Gull ticks over 9 separate eBird checklists! eBird Trip Report Link
ABOUT THE SPECIES
Distribution and Abundance: Sabine’s gulls breed in the Arctic, with a near-circumpolar distribution across northernmost North America and Eurasia. They migrate south to the Southern Hemisphere in autumn, covering up to 32,000–39,000 km per year, the longest migration of any gull.
Conservation Status: This species has an extremely large range and a very large population and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range and population size criterions.
ABOUT THE AREA
Monterey Canyon, or Monterey Submarine Canyon, is a submarine canyon in Monterey Bay, California with steep canyon walls measuring a full 1 mile (1.6 km) in height from bottom to top, which height/depth rivals the depth of the Grand Canyon itself. It is the largest such submarine canyon along the West coast of the North American continent, and was formed by the underwater erosion process known as turbidity current erosion.
Most recent Blog Posts from the One Moment in Nature series.
Reflections of the Natural World 