The San Diego pelagic trip on July 19th aboard Seaforth’s “Legacy” and sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society had nice weather and traveled out as far as the 30-Mile Bank and “The Corner.” Bird numbers overall were reasonable. Highlights included a record-tying high 9 Black-footed Albatrosses at the 30-Mile Bank, with several birds following the boat all the way back to the Nine-Mile Bank; a cooperative pair of Craveri’s Murrelets; a distant Cocos Booby; and 8 Ashy Storm-Petrels. A briefly seen and photographed storm-petrel by several observers at the 30-Mile Bank at or a little after 11AM appears to be a good candidate for an early Least Storm-Petrel, so any photographers taking storm-petrel photos at that time should check their photos. At the Mission Bay jetties was a continuing Black Oystercatcher and three slightly early-arriving Surfbirds.
Totals once we were over a mile offshore were as follows:
- Whimbrel 21
- Western Sandpiper 24
- Short-billed Dowitcher 5
- Red-necked Phalarope 120
- Craveri’s Murrelet 2
- Cassin’s Auklet 8
- Sabine’s Gull 12
- Heermann’s Gull 2
- Western Gull 40
- Least Tern 4
- Elegant Tern 430
- Black-footed Albatross 9
- “Chapman’s” Leach’s Storm-Petrel 2
- Ashy Storm-Petrel 8
- Black Storm-Petrel 370
- Least Storm-Petrel 1
- Sooty Shearwater 325
- Pink-footed Shearwater 65
- Black-vented Shearwater 220
- Cocos Booby 1
- Brandt’s Cormorant 17
- Brown Pelican 21
- Also: Black Oystercatcher, Surfbirds, Minke Whale, N. Elephant Seal, Mako Shark, Mola Molas, California Flying Fish
Paul Lehman, Bruce Rideout, Ed Corey, Dan Jehl, Dan King, Paul Mulholland, Matt Sadowski, San Diego
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