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Seabirds Carried Inland by Tropical Storm Nora

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Seabirds Carried Inland by Tropical Storm Nora WESTEt BIP,DS Volume 30, Number 4, 1999 SEABIRDS CARRr INLAND BY TROPICAL STORM NORA ROY M. JONES, 2237 North SunsetDrive, Tempe, Arizona 85281 Everyyear about15 cyclonesform off the southwestcoast of Mexicoor regeneratethere from Caribbean storms that have crossed Central America; about half of these become hurricanes.Prior to the 1970s, these storms were thoughtto have no effect on weatherin the United States.Court (1980) broughta new perspectiveto easternPacific cyclones when he showedthat 40 stormsoccurring between 1904 and 1980 hadaffected the western United States. It shouldsurprise no one then that with so few tropicalstorms reaching North America from the Pacific much is left to be learned about their effects on birdsand the potentialfor unusualdisplacements, especially of coastal and pelagicspecies inland. In 1976, TropicalStorm Kathleengave orni- thologistsa glimpseof sucheffects when it strandedhundreds of seabirdsin the desertsouthwest, primarily at the SaltonSea (Kaufman1977, McCaskie 1977). TropicalStorm Nora providedanother opportunity for studywith an unprecedentednumber of seabirdsfound in Arizona along the Colorado Riverand, to a lesserdegree, at the SaltonSea. TROPICAL STORM NORA Nora formedlate on 15 September1997, roughly480 km southwestof Acapulcoin a largearea of disturbedweather that was likelyrelated to a tropicalwave (a disturbanceor troughof low pressurethat movesfrom east to westthrough the tropics,generally creating only a shiftin windsand rain but often associatedwith with the developmentof cyclones)that crossed from Africa into the Atlantichurricane basin in late August.The southern part of thiswave crossedthe CaribbeanSea and northernSouth America, arrivingin the easternPacific 12 September.Nora reachedtropical storm statuson 16 Septemberand becamea hurricanewith a largeill-defined eye on 18 September.Traveling parallel to the west coast of Mexico, the hurricanepassed over the RevillagigedoIslands with a verybroad eye (92 km WesternBirds 30:185-192, 1999 185 SEABIRDS CARRIED INLAND BY TROPICAL STORM NORA wide)on 22 September.Moving west of Baja California,Nora cameunder the effectsof a low-pressuretrough to the northwest,which steeredit northward.Nora madea directhit on PuntaEugenia, Baja California Sur, 24 Septemberand brought floodwaters to itssecond landfall about 95 km south of San Fernando,forcing 350 to 400 peoplefrom their homes (Rappaport 1997). Acceleratingoverland, Nora crossed the BajaCalifornia peninsula, skirted the western shoreline of the Gulf of California and entered the United States, as a tropicalstorm, along the Arizona-Californiaborder. Further weakeningensued, and by 1700 on 25 SeptemberNora was a tropical depressionnear Rice Valley, California,with winds of 48 km/hr. Yuma receiveda peak wind gust of 75 km/hr and 8.9 cm of rain. The storm dissipatedover the next two days while moving northeastwardthrough Arizona, Utah, Colorado,Idaho, and Wyoming(Rappaport 1997). For birders,the timing of the storm as it hit the Lower ColoradoRiver valleywas rather unfortunate, allowing only a few hoursfor lookingfor birds beforedarkness fell. Interestingly, though, during the heightof the wind(56 to 72 km/hr) gullsand terns at Lake Havasuwere unfazed.They were activelyfeeding over the water,fighting and chasingeach other vigorously for foodthat hadeither welled up fromlower depths or wasswept down with the runofffrom higherground. Followingthe stormon the morningof 26 Septemberbirders were out in force;Arizona and southernCalifornia were well covered,and, once word got out of the storm-petrelsat Lake Havasuand the SaltonSea, people continuedreporting for weeks.Observers as far awayfrom the stormtrack as Willcoxand PicachoReservoir in easternand centralArizona reported theirsightings: they had anticipated the possibilityof unusualbirds. This level of reportingcontributed greater detail on the activitiesof storm-drivenbirds than was providedin the early days after Kathleen,which floodedand washedout many accessroads. BIRDS ASSOCIATED WITH NORA At the north end of Lake Havasu,Mohave Co., Steve Ganley,Charles Babbitt, and I observedan apparent Black-ventedShearwater (Puffinus opistl•omelas)on 26 September.Jim Burns and Bud Johnsonsaw two followinga boat the next day at the same location.The originalwritten descriptionsare on file with the ArizonaBird Committeeat the Universityof Arizonabird collection (no photographwas taken nor specimencollected). Only one shearwaterhad been seen in Arizona prior to Nora, a Sooty Shearwater(Puffinus griseus) found dead near Wellton,Yuma Co., on 6 June 1971 (Quigley1973, Univ. Ariz. 10316). Inlandsouthern California recordsinclude a Wedge-tailedShearwater (Puffinus pacificus) at the Salton Sea, RiversideCo., 31 July 1988 (McCaskieand Webster 1990) and a Buller'sShearwater (Puffinus bulleri) at the same locationon 6 August 1966 (AudubonField Notes 20:599, specimenin the San Bernardino CountyMuseum). There have also been eight records of the SootyShearwa- ter from Imperial and Riversidecounties, all betweenApril and August (Patten and Minnich 1997). None of the region'sprevious records are 186 SEABIRDS CARRIED INLAND BY TROPICAL STORM NORA thought to be storm related (Patten and Minnich 1997). The Black-vented and Sooty are the most commonshearwaters of the northerngulf, and it seems reasonable to infer that the Lake Havasu birds came from there. However remotethe chancethat a bird couldsurvive in the eye longenough to make a trip from RevillagigedoIslands, it may be difficultto rule out Townsend'sShearwater (Puffinus auricularis auricularis) entirely. Two birdsreported as Leach'sStorm-Petrels (Oceanodroma leu½orhoa), onedark-rumped and one white-rumped, were briefly observed by BillHowe at the north end of Lake Havasuon 26 September.The originalwritten descriptionis on file at the Universityof Arizona.There are no accepted recordsfor Arizona.In southernCalifornia, Kathleen was responsiblefor a dark-rumpedindividual at the SaltonSea on 15 September1976 (McCaskie 1977), and a white-rumpedindividual was at the mouth of the Whitewater River 30 June-21 July 1984 (McCaskie1984). Approximately 40 Black Storm-Petrels(Oceanodrorna rnelania) were seenand photographedat Lake Havasuon 26 and 27 September(Figure 1). Reportswere from the mouth of Bill Williamsdelta, Takeoff Point, Cattail Cove, the north end, and from the California side in San Bernardino Co. (manyobservers). The lastrepor! wasof eightbirds on 30 Septemberby E. A. Cardiffand Dori Myers.At the southend of the SaltonSea, J. Coatsworth reportedthree or four birdson 27 September.The numberthere fluctuated with a high of 17 on 11 October(M. A. Patten).The last report was on 9 November(H. King). There were no previousrecords for Arizona. Inland records in southern California are from the north end of the Salton Sea, RiversideCo., 21 September1986 (McCaskie1987) and King's Canyon NationalPark, Tulare Co., 5 October 1994 (Yeeet al. 1995). Althoughthe Figure 1. BlackStorm-Petrels, Lake Havasu,26 September1997. Photo by William Grossi 187 SEABIRDS CARRIED INLAND BY TROPICAL STORM NORA bird at the SaltonSea was not storm related,the one at King'sCanyon was thoughtto be associatedwith a nontropicalPacific storm. Between 100 and 200 Least Storm-Petrels (Oceanodroma microsoma) were seen and photographedat Lake Havasu on 26 September(many observers).The numberwent down to 40 to 60 the next day, and from 28 Septemberto 1 Octoberonly one to sixbirds were reported.The birdswere seen at the mouth of the Bill Williams delta, Takeoff Point, Cattail Cove, the north end, and from San Bernardino Co. in California. Two dead Least Storm-Petrelswere picked up at Lake Havasu. one 26 September (C. Tomoff, Univ. Ariz. 17724; Figure 2), the other 3 October(D. Stejskal, Univ. Ariz. 17817). At the south end of the Salton Sea three birds were found 27 September(D. K. Adams),with one stillpresent 20 October(G. McCaskie). Kathleen brought three individualsto Arizona, two at Lake Mohave, Mohave Co., 12 September 1976 and one at Davies Dam, Mohave Co., 17 September1976 (Monsonand Phillips1981). The only other Arizona record, related to the remnants of Hurricane Lester, is of a bird at PatagoniaLake, Santa Cruz Co., 24 August-5 September1992 (Rosenbergand Stejskal1993). In California,Kathleen brought 500-1000 birds to the Salton Sea (McCaskie 1977). Another was found at the WhitewaterRiver delta 10 July 1993, the onlyinterior California record not associatedwith Kathleen or Nora (Patten and Minnich 1997). Blackand Leaststorm-petrels are commonin both the northerngulf and alongthe northernend of Nora's track in the Pacific,making their origin Figure2. LeastStorm-Petrel, Lake Havasu,26 September1997. Photo by Troy Corman 188 SEABIRDS CARRIED INLAND BY TROPICAL STORM NORA difficultto assess.The mountainsof Baja California,however, should have blockedthe arrivalof a large numberof birdsat Lake Havasufrom the Pacific.It seemsmore plausiblethat the majorityof Nora's storm-petrels (includingLeach's) were sweptinto the storm from the gulf. Some of the storm-petrelreports from the SaltonSea were probablyof birdsfrom Lake Havasuthat had foundtheir way to this inlandsea rather than to the gulf (McCaskie1998). Some storm-petrelsat Lake Havasuon 26 September were reportedas weak and tiredwhile many othersappeared to be fine. One observercommented that someprobably did not survivefor too long after they were seen. An adultRed-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) was found by Pamela Bearein ImperialCounty, California, on 27 September.The birdwas picked
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