The first Buena Vista Audubon pelagic birding trip of 2019 departed Sunday on the Grande under cloudy skies, with a relatively light swell and a nice northwesterly breeze – near ideal conditions, particularly for finding alcids, and we found plenty. The highlight for many participants was the excellent views of Scripps’s Murrelets throughout the day, including a pair with two chicks. Although the timing of nesting varies from year to year, probably relating in part to resource availability, this is a fairly early date for fledglings. We also had frequent, though often a bit distant, views of Cassin’s Auklets, so most participants were able to get comfortable with their identification in flight compared to Scripps’s Murrelets. Late in the day, we had one unusual murrelet flush in front of the boat and fly away. Debate ensued as to whether it was an early (by a month!) Craveri’s, or an usual (possibly molting) Scripps’s Murrelet. We are waiting on additional photos of this bird before drawing any final conclusions. Probably the biggest surprise of the day was a Pigeon Guillemot that flew across the bow as we were approaching the Thirty-mile Bank. It’s a bit earlier than expected for a guillemot, and most observations in the County are from sea-watches at Point La Jolla, not from boats that far offshore.
We had all three expected species of shearwaters, with Sooty Shearwaters being the most abundant by far, followed by a dozen or so cooperative Pink-footed Shearwaters, and a few late Black-vented Shearwaters. Black Storm-Petrels were also seen frequently throughout the day, with moderate numbers of Ashy, and a few dark-rumped Leach’s (subspecies chapmani).
The Brown Boobies were not as abundant as they often are, but we had several very cooperative birds that lingered long enough for excellent views and photos – a real treat for many on board.
The whales and dolphins did not disappoint either. We had excellent views of Fin and Blue whales, and the Common Dolphins periodically put on an acrobatic show as they approached the boat for some bow-riding. Unofficial total bird counts for the day are at the end of this post.
Our next trip will be on Sunday, June 9th. Trip details are on our website, sandiegopelagics.com. We hope to see you on the boat!
Bruce Rideout, San Diego Pelagics and Buena Vista Audubon
Bird Species Totals:
Common Loon 2
Pacific Loon 30
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Brandt’s Cormorant 25
Brown Pelican 55
Brown Booby 2
Red-necked Phalarope 54
Bonaparte’s Gull 1
Western Gull 209
California Gull 5
Heerman’s Gull 1
Common Tern 3
Caspian Tern 4
Royal Tern 10
Elegant Tern 93
Forster’s Tern 1
Least Tern 36
Black-vented Shearwater 6
Pink-footed Shearwater 11
Sooty Shearwater 166
Black Storm-Petrel 121
Leach’s Storm-Petrel 8
Ashy Storm-Petrel 48
Scripps’s Murrelet 90
Scripps’s/Craveri’s Murrelet 1
Cassin’s Auklet 117
Pigeon Guillemot 1
Barn Swallow 3
Snowy Egret 5
Great Blue Heron 2
Wilson’s Warbler 2
Townsend’s Warbler 1
Marine Mammals
Fin Whale
Blue Whale
Common Dolphin
Possible Guadalupe Fur seal
Comments are closed.