The 16 July San Diego pelagic trip out to the 30-Mile Bank/The Corner area, aboard “Legacy” and sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society, was blessed with light seas and some good birds. The star of the show was the extremely cooperative Guadalupe Murrelet halfway across the San Diego Trough (32.626, -117.584; 19.9 miles W of tip Point Loma)–a species that is only casual within San Diego County waters. Only brief or distant views were had of a Red-footed Booby only a mile off Ocean Beach, of a Townsend’s Storm-Petrel along the outer edge of the 9-Mile Bank, and of a Black Tern in the San Diego Trough. The smooth seas were great for alcids, and we also had a super total of 77 Craveri’s Murrelets, which is possibly a new one-day record for the county (previous high 68?), 35 Cassin’s Auklets, and 2 Common Murres. Other highlights included two immature Long-tailed Jaegers at the 30-Mile Bank/The Corner, a falling-apart Northern Fulmar, two Sabine’s Gulls, and small numbers of both Leach’s (dark-rumped) and Ashy Storm-Petrels. Just after the trip, Nick Thorpe went through all his photos and discovered a MANX SHEARWATER he had photo’d at 9:22AM. At that time, we were down fairly close to the border and near the 9-Mile Bank. Congratulations to Nick for deducing the Manx from his photos, and lumps of coal to all the rest of us who missed this bird when it flew by…
Offshore totals for the day were:
Whimbrel 3
Western Sandpiper 17
Red-necked Phalarope 7
LONG-TAILED JAEGER 2
COMMON MURRE 2
GUADALUPE MURRELET 1
Craveri’s Murrelet 77
Cassin’s Auklet 35
Sabine’s Gull 2
Heermann’s Gull 1
Western Gull 120
BLACK TERN 1
Least Tern 2
Elegant Tern 275
Leach’s Storm-Petrel 7
TOWNSEND’S STORM-PETREL 1
Ashy Storm-Petrel 5
Black Storm-Petrel 250
NORTHERN FULMAR 1
MANX SHEARWATER 1
Pink-footed Shearwater 40
Sooty Shearwater 130
Black-vented Shearwater 1500
RED-FOOTED BOOBY 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3 Brown Pelican 50
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Paul Lehman, Dave Povey, Nancy Christensen, Jimmy McMorran, Gary Nunn, San Diego
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