Is this a portent of the End?

Until 22 Apr 2016, there had never been a pair of Common Raven on the Monterey Peninsula. But that afternoon, after the rain, there they were, dominating the American Crows in a pull-out just south of Pt. Pinos itself (above, lefthand bird is a crow; all raven photos © Don Roberson). A guy in an RV was feeding the squirrels, gulls and crows, and these two monsters homed right in. I don't think I've gotten this close to a raven before (right). Note the huge bill, the long throat feathers, the long wedge-shaped tail (especially noticeable in flight, below right), and vocalizations. In fact, I heard one call [guttural 'cronk'] over Crespi before I saw either of them, but had given up spotting it until these suddenly appeared.

It has never been clear why the coast of Monterey County did not host ravens in historical time. To the north they occur along the California coast from Santa Cruz all the way to the Oregon border, but there is only one mention of them along the southern Big Sur coast in the 1800s. There were only a half-dozen Big Sur coastal records until a pair took up residence near Pt. Sur in 1997. Now pairs are regular along the coast south of Garrapata SP. In northern MTY, the first ravens at Moss Landing were in 1990; several pairs now breed there and south to Marina.

But the Monterey Peninsula and vicinity has entirely lacked ravens in recorded history until recently. First record was 19 Oct 1996 over Jacks Peak, and then one the next day at Esplanade, Pacific Grove. A pair appeared at Carmel River mouth about 1997, but has been very sporadic. The first Pt. Pinos raven was 7 Aug 1999, and the only other before now was one photographed by Brian Sullivan at the Point on 6 Feb 2010 (he'd heard another — or the same? — over Funston Ave., P.G., that morning). The first in Pebble Beach was 20 Jan 2007 (Pt. Joe). And that's it for all documented claims. [Of course there are a slew of misidentified crows, called "ravens," by tourists, but none with any details or photos.]

So what is this pair doing here? (pair drinking from a rain puddle at the Pt. Pinos pull-out, below). The bird I presume was the female (slightly smaller) was actually fooling around with twigs in a wind-blown cypress just across in the street. Do they have breeding in mind?

Only time will tell. But please do document each and every raven on the Monterey Peninsula with photos or persuasive details.

Three bird taxa provided truly impressive highlights in early 2016, and together they appear in the 4-box gallery just below.

• The first occurred on 1 January, during the Moss Landing CBC, when a dark-morph adult "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk was seen and photographed near Aromas — but just over the county line in San Benito County (below left, © John Garrett). This was the first SBT record and presaged things to come in Monterey County.
• On 23 Jan 2016, Elkhorn Slough Reserve ranger Jane Rudebusch discovered an unusual dark-morph Buteo near Reserve headquarters. It was a first-winter dark-morph hawk, but its identify was not sorted out until studied on 13 Feb by Brian L. Sullivan, who identified it as an unusual dark-morph "Harlan's" Hawk (photo below right © B.L. Sullivan; see his eBird list for details). Sullivan has published several papers on the i.d. of this population of Red-tailed Hawk, which was once split as a separate species. The Elkhorn Slough Reserve hawk was seen and photographed by many through at least 20 Feb, so it was present a month. It represents the second MTY record and the first to be photographed. The first record was of another dark-morph bird that was present near Castroville from 11 Dec 1976-9 Jan 1977 (Rich Stallcup, L.C. Binford, R.A. Erickson et al.).

The final major highlights for early 2016 were in February, and appear as the bottom two photos in the box above:

• On 1 Feb a roosting immature Nazca Booby was briefly at Pt. Pinos, where spotted by Brian Sullivan and Paul Fenwick, and photographed here (above left, © Alfred Hochstaedter). The booby is well into post-juvenal body molt (although retained juv outer primaries and secondaries) and seems likely to be in its second year, as it now had a mostly white body. The orange color to much of the bill, setting off the yellow tip, is a feature of Nazca Booby. California's first accepted record was found dead in Ventura Co. on 23 July 2013 — and identified through DNA analysis! — but another half-dozen records have accumulated since, perhaps in response to El Niño. If accepted by CBRC, this would be the first MTY record. There were a couple of juvenal boobies during earlier El Niños that might have been Nazcas, but i.d. in full juvenal plumage (before bill color changes) is controversial. CBRC relegated them to "Masked/Nazca" Boobies.
• On 9 Feb, visiting Swedish birder Staffan Rodebrand photographed a crisply-plumaged and very pale first-cycle gull flying past the entrance to Moss Landing harbor (above right, © Staffan Rodebrand). It appears to show all the features of a "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull, including bill size and color, 'gentle' head shape, pale whitish plumage and remiges, much reduced secondary bar, mottled tertials, and a mottled tail (rather than a tail band). The photos have been submitted to CBRC but I believe this represents the 2nd MTY record of Iceland Gull. Another first-cycle individual was at Moss Landing 15-20 Feb 1998 (Rich Stallcup et al.) but not accepted by CBRC during a very conservative period of treatment of this taxon. It was accepted in Monterey Birds, 2d ed.

Answer to "Bathing Beauties" collage (near the top, above):

A female Townsend's Warbler is just behind the bird bath dish and next to the photo of Snick Farkas's painting. The remaining birds are then listed clockwise from extreme upper left: Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, male Townsend's Warbler. male Black-throated Gray Warbler, male Black-headed Grosbeak, female Hermit Warbler, Pine Siskin, male Western Tanager, Yellow Warbler, Oak Titmouse, and male Rufous Hummingbird.