The San Diego pelagic trip on Saturday, August 23rd, on board “Legacy” and sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society, took place under good sea and weather conditions (other than a 20-minute moderate shower!). We went out past the 9-Mile Bank to the 30-Mile Bank and The Corner. A good variety of the expected and uncommon seasonal species were found. The most unexpected find was a very rare Flesh-footed Shearwater (good looks and photos) in a flock of Pink-footeds and Sooties in the San Diego Trough, 17.3 mi WSW of tip Point Loma. Other highlights included three Black-footed Albatrosses on the 30-Mile Bank, Cocos Booby, plenty of white-rumped storm-petrels including at least a small number of Townsend’s, great looks at Long-tailed Jaeger and a good jaeger show overall, Arctic Terns, Red Phalaropes, and two seasonally surprising Pacific Loons. Alas, we only had a single pair of Craveri’s Murrelets seen rather poorly in flight (photo’d). We also had a single pass by an odd white-rumped storm-petrel closer inshore than normal for white-rumped birds on the Nine-Mile Bank that showed a fairly narrow, even, white tail-band and square-cut tail, but no foot projection beyond the tail, was fairly small and with a somewhat fluttery, direct flight. It has since been endorsed by multiple outside experts as a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel. At the time we thought the bird showed many characters of a Wilson’s but it did NOT show feet sticking out beyond the tail tip when it was photo’d over just a several-second interval. As it turns out, sometimes Wilson’s will tuck the feet in so that they are not visible, although if indeed the feet are showing then that is a good character. The bird DID show the correct wing shape, flight style, pale ulnar (upperwing) bar, white rump band shape, and tail shape for a Wilson’s.
Not long thereafter, at a feeding frenzy being attended by all three species of jaegers, there was a smallish dark-morph jaeger that was quite interesting. Some characters pointed to it being a potential immature (one-year-old ?) dark-morph Long-tailed, which are rare and a bit controversial as to their existence. These same outside authorities split on it being indeed a Long-tailed or best left as a Long-tailed/Parasitic.
Totals for the day once we were over a mile offshore were:
- Marbled Godwit 1
- Whimbrel 2
- Western Sandpiper 8
- Red-necked Phalarope 65
- Red Phalarope 7
- Pomarine Jaeger 20+
- Parasitic Jaeger 4
- Long-tailed Jaeger 4 (3 ads. 1 juv.)
- Long-tailed/Parasitic Jaeger 1
- jaeger sp. 5
- Craveri’s Murrelet 2
- Cassin’s Auklet 1
- Sabine’s Gull 24
- Heermann’s Gull 12
- Western Gull 500
- California Gull 1
- Least Tern 2
- Common Tern 11
- Arctic Tern 3
- Elegant Tern 250
- Pacific Loon 2 (basic plumage)
- Black-footed Albatross 3
- WILSON’S STORM-PETREL 1
- Leach’s (Chapman’s) Storm-Petrel 15
- Leach’s (white-rumped) Storm-Petrel 3
- Townsend’s Storm-Petrel 6
- Leach’s/Townsend’s Storm-Petrel 25
- Black Storm-Petrel 200
- Sooty Shearwater 350
- Pink-footed Shearwater 700
- FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER 1 (32.60, -117.54)
- Black-vented Shearwater 35
- Cocos Booby 2
- Brandt’s Cormorant 20
- Brown Pelican 200
- Also: Reddish Egret, Fin & Minke Whales, N. Elephant Seal, California Flying-Fish, Mola-mola
Paul Lehman, Bruce Rideout, Alex Abela, Nancy Christensen, Dan King, Matt Sadowski, Paul Mulholland, Patti Langen, and Sally Veach, San Diego
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