The Western Field Ornithologists San Diego pelagic trip on Sunday, October 13, out of Mission Bay aboard “Legacy,” was held under fairly nice sea conditions. Bird numbers overall improved somewhat from recent trips and included numbers of birds associated with tuna and bait schools close to the border. The rarest species on the trip was a record total of FIVE Guadalupe Murrelets at the 30-Mile Bank and w. San Diego Trough (between 22 – 28.6 miles W of Point Loma). An extremely cooperative South Polar Skua right around the boat in the SD Trough was 19-2/3 mi west of Point Loma. One or two Manx Shearwaters seen 5.5 – 7 mi off Ocean Beach included one at rest in a flock of Black-venteds for an extended period of time. Also a total of 8 Craveri’s Murrelets at the Trough and 30-Mile Bank, and one female-type Brown (Cocos) Booby just off Mission Bay. For the second trip in a row there was a surprising lack of storm-petrels.
Totals for the day once we got about a mile offshore were as follows:
- Western Grebe: 5
- Red-necked Phalarope: 16
- SOUTH POLAR SKUA: 1
- Pomarine Jaeger: 14
- Parasitic Jaeger: 8
- jaeger sp.: 7
- GUADALUPE MURRELET: 5
- Craveri’s Murrrelet: 8
- murrelet sp.: 1
- Sabine’s Gull: 1
- Heermann’s Gull: 13
- Western Gull: 600
- California Gull: 3
- Common Tern: 3
- Forster’s Tern: 1
- Elegant Tern: 34
- Pacific Loon: 1
- Common Loon: 1
- loon sp.: 1
- Sooty Shearwater: 19
- Pink-footed Shearwater: 200
- MANX SHEARWATER: 1 or 2
- Black-vented Shearwater: 900
- Brown (Cocos) Booby: 1
- Brandt’s Cormorant: 5
- Brown Pelican: 350
- Yellow-rumped Warbler: 2
- Also: Surfbirds, Mola-Mola, Elephant Seal, Minke Whale
Paul Lehman, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Tom Blackman, Jon Dunn, Jimmy McMorran, San Diego