NOTES: A LAYSAN ALBATROSS IN INTERIOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Abstract

On 5 May 1976 while driving north on California State Highway 62, 9 km north of Interstate 10 at the intersection of Indian Avenue, we observed a Laysan Albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) flying over the desert. This locality is in Riverside County at the south base of Morongo Pass, Little San Bernardino Mountains, and is just east of San Gorgonio Pass between the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains. The bird was flying west-northwestward, parallel to the mountains, about 30 m above the ground. Very strong winds, perhaps 80 km per hour, were blowing from the west through the area at this time.