I have heard tell of the Laysan Albatross that is a regular winter visitor to Point Arena harbor in Mendocino County for several years now. For one reason or another I have not made the journey to see him/her. As I have rekindled my enthusiasm for birds and birding I resolved to see this bird this year. On December 5th the news came across the list serve that "Big Al" had indeed returned. Since we now have an extra week of winter recess before school starts again I convinced Danette and Patrick to go with me for a short trip to the coast and two cracks at Big Al the Laysan Albatross.
It is unusual for an Albatross to spend so much time in-shore as Big Al does. In general these birds approach land only during their breeding season so it is a rare treat for birders who don't like boats to see one of nature's greatest flyers. On our first day out we arrived at the harbor in the early afternoon and were greeted by cloudy and drizzly skies. We scanned the harbor for a while without success and then learned from the harbormaster that Al had been present that morning but had disappeared before noon. I think the harbormaster may have called him a ninja when describing how he turns up and then disappears for a while. We hung around for a little while then resolved to return the next day and try again. After staying the night in Ft. Bragg we were shocked to find the sun shinning the next morning and we high-tailed it south for another try for Big Al. It wasn't 30 seconds after leaving the car that we knew he was there. As I approached the pier there was a large gray and white seabird just outside the surf line 100 yards to the north. It was significantly bigger than the gulls in the vicinity and therefore could only be Big Al. A recent post on the CALBIRDS list serve discussed the history of this bird. He/she was first sighted in 1994 making this the 19th consecutive winter of visitation. I also recall reading that the Tsunami generated by the large earthquake in Japan was destructive to the nesting area of these birds on the Midway atoll. It is nice to see that this bird was not a casualty of that phenomena. I spent about an hour on the pier enjoying the beautiful day and this amazing bird.
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