ML620174832

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Pereksta was blabbering about our chance of finding a puffin today and the first bird we found on the top of the Footprint was a Horned Puffin! Eagle-eyed spotter Robert Thoren spotted the odd looking alcid and we were able to get good looks at this bird over a 15-minute period as it drifted 0.5 mile further east into Ventura County waters. We found it approximately 500 feet east of the county line with Santa Barbara. Stocky black alcid with white undersides, black throat, whitish face with dark smudging in front of the eye, and a large two-toned bill that was yellow on the basal half and reddish on the tip. The dark smudging in front of the eye and the large bill suggest a nonbreeding adult. Other May birds off southern California seen by Pereksta in the past have had smaller bills and were likely first year birds; increasing our confidence that this bird was at least two years old.