This individual has been present daily since its discovery 6 December 2012 by Brian Fitch. Today it spent the entire morning roosting and preening on the north end of "North Dome Rock." It disappeared periodically behind the rock and was blocked from view by a Western Gull for a good period of time. The light brown smudging on its underparts suggest it is in its second cycle and not yet fully adult.
This species has increased dramatically in Southern California, with a colony of birds breeding in Baja on Islas Coronados just south of San Diego. For this reason the species is no longer reviewed by the California Bird Records Committee. But it remains a very rare visitor to Northern California with most records from the Farallon Islands.
Digiscoped from a distance of 250 m with Panasonic DMC-LX5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA |hand-held (no adapter).