Today KP467, who has been waiting in my neighborhood several days for her mate, was reunited with him. The behavior in this photo is typical of nesting couples.  They sit close together and gently groom each other’s faces.

When I checked this afternoon I could not see KP792, the female who had a chick last year with the male who left his previous mate for her.  (See November 12 post.) She was not here this afternoon.  Later I went to the golf course and found blue KP027 still waiting for her mate.  As I was walking away, I saw an albatross fly over the golf course, circle it and land near blue KP027.  Great, I thought, her mate has returned.  If I didn’t know these birds better I might have left it at that and put that information in my notebook.  Instead I walked back to check.  It was KP792!  What was SHE doing there?  I have looked back at data from other years and can find just one observation of her at the golf course.

If someone in my neighborhood had asked, “Where did KP792 go?” I might have answered, “Maybe she went back to the ocean to get something to eat.”  I would not have said, “She probably went cruising around to see if there were any other albatrosses anywhere that she could sit near.”

I love these birds.