Hello Sea Birders,

This is the trip report for the April 30, 2016 pelagic aboard the 80 ft. Privateer out of Seaforth Landing in Mission Bay. The Privateer is captained by Cristin Kelly. The boat is a purpose built tour boat and plies her trade most days doing local whale watching.

Twenty-two intrepid birders and six leaders met on a drizzly, overcast, and windy morning that felt more like the northwest than San Diego. Though conditions weren’t great, the forecast, and in fact the weather, were improving as dawn broke.

Paul Lehman gave an orientation and introduced the other leaders Peter Ginsburg, Guy McCaskie, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, and Matt Sadowski, under the cover of a hallway at Seaforth. We then headed down to board the Privateer and get settled in. On cue the light rain let up and we cast off for our ten-hour adventure offshore.

From Seaforth Landing to the open ocean is a much shorter ride than our trips out of San Diego Bay. In turn there are fewer interesting bottom features there to create the mixing of nutrients that attract birds and other life close to shore, so we had to travel farther once on the ocean to get into the birds. We did get looks at several migrating Pacific and Common Loons and Surf Scoters close to shore. This inshore area would normally be home to Black-vented Shearwaters, but they have withdrawn to their breeding islands some 240 nautical miles to our south, and no stragglers were seen here today.

The area 5 to 6 miles west of Mission Bay does have a change to the sea bottom known as the “270 spot” or “Six Mile Bank”, consisting of an uplifted rocky area then a sharp drop off. This area had a scattering of Sooty Shearwaters and Black Storm-Petrels. Those two species would, as expected, be the most numerous for much of the rest of the day. No big concentration here, just a steady stream of two’s and three’s. We also started seeing a few Red-necked Phalaropes. Sooties and Red-necks are both north bound migrants at this time of year, while the Black Storm-Petrels are summer breeders on the nearby Coronado Islands (Mexico), so expected here.
We got our first distant Brown Booby here as well; a species now ho-hum for local birders. Twenty years ago that sighting would have required good documentation; today it was just the first of eight, and not particularly well seen. Brown Boobies later in the day flew right past the boat for much better looks. We did get great looks and a nice photo op on a Parasitic Jaeger chasing one of two Elegant Terns. As soon as the tern gave up its meal to the jaeger the tables were turned and the two upset Elegant Terns proceeded to chase the jaeger, which kept its pirated meal. Elegant Terns are our most abundant summer offshore tern, with many feeding at considerable distance from shore (+30 nm) and their breeding colonies.

We had a Sabine’s Gull follow our chummed gull flock (now almost all Western Gulls, as California and Heermann’s and others gulls have largely departed). Sabine’s are one of the world’s most beautiful gulls, particularly nice in spring. We always hope see them but can’t always count on them here. Most of the Sabine’s Gull population travels north well west of San Diego and perhaps earlier than we thought, per observations from the cruise ships off the west coast.

The only marine mammal we had out here other than the ubiquitous California Sea Lion was a brief not so good look at a Minke Whale, not a surprise as they call them “Slinky Minkes” for a reason. The next long stretch of water is over the San Diego Trough, a featureless are of deep water than can be notorious for its lack of life. Today the sea gods smiled on us with a great look at a rather locally uncommon Black-footed Albatross. We certain hope for albatross in the late winter and spring, but never take them for granted. After all, no bird I know of is more iconic of the open ocean. Black-footed Albatross actually has the smaller population of the two abundant North Pacific albatross species, Laysan and Black-footed. The Short-tailed Albatross has only a tiny population, perhaps a couple of thousand birds in an ocean that covers half the planet. Pre-historically and historically known off San Diego, none have been seen anywhere near here in many decades. If that population grows, who knows, but that’s going to be a very slow process, and like all albatrosses, faces many challenges. Laysan Albatross has the largest population, perhaps 2.5 million birds, and seems to be expanding its breeding locations. They now breed on a couple of islands off the west coast of Mexico, yet it’s a very tough bird to get off San Diego. Most of the Laysan Albatrosses disperse north from their breeding islands to the northwestern Pacific.

Black-footed Albatross, on the other hand, numbers some 850 thousand and breed primarily in the northern Hawaiian Island chain. The young birds seem to disperse to the west coast of Mexico and work their way north up the west coast. Most of these birds pass well west of San Diego and can be quite common out around the shelf edge to our west. A few come up inside the Channel Islands and those are the birds we see. Always a treat.

The next stretch of water is over the fickle Thirty Mile Bank. The inner edge is an escarpment wall rising some 600 fathoms (3600 feet) out of the deep trough. This is storm-petrel waters. We have had six species of stormies here over the years and if “Townsend’s” Leach’s Storm-Petrel is split out as expected, than would make a seventh. The Thirty Mile Bank is THE place to look for the storm-petrel rafts (sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands). Ashy Storm-Petrel seems to be somewhat regular here in spring, and we picked up a few today. This is the place to look for Least Storm-Petrel in fall. Last year we had a spring Wilson’s Storm-Petrel here and a number of years back a Wedge-rumped was photographed here.

There are two problems with the Thirty Mile Bank. First, it’s exactly half way between San Diego and San Clemente Island; making it difficult to figure out what county we are in. The Bank does not lay true north and south but angles northwest – southeast. The northern part of the bank is in Los Angeles County (closer to San Clemente Island), while the southern portion is in San Diego County (closer to San Diego’s coast). These storm-petrel rafts lie right in the middle. Often right on the “line”.

The other problem, and this one more important for birders here, is that if the rafts can’t be found, or don’t exist, birding here can be very tough. We found that the case today. With a messy sea surface, tough viewing conditions, and a little shorter than normal trip time, we drew a blank. The only consolation was a few tiny groups (mini-rafts) of storm-petrels that were seen well. We gave up pretty quickly and opted to travel southeast, with the wind and swell, for a softer ride. I’m not sure the large rafts occur every day, and may not form at all in rougher seas. So we decided to save time to look for more fertile waters.

The Bank did turn up some regulars, such as Northern Fulmar, Pink-footed Shearwater, a Pomarine Jaeger, and another Sabine’s Gull. One nice surprise was two different small groups of Least Terns – tiny but every bit as capable of traveling well offshore to feed as the larger Elegant Tern. Both species often use floating debris or kelp as a rest stop.

We returned across the San Diego Trough towards the Nine Mile Bank. Seas had softened a bit, the sun was out, the ride direction more comfortable, and the wind had dropped a good bit. We had flushed a few Scripps’s Murrelets during the outbound trip, but with conditions as they were, we had gotten rather poor looks. Now we could take our time and ”sneak” up on Scripps’s Murrelets, for much improved looks. Those were a target bird for the day, and like the Black Storm-Petrel, a Southern California specialty. With that done, we proceeded east, with a turn to take a look at a pod of Risso’s Dolphins along the way. Then we had a distant Fin Whale, a basking Broadbill Swordfish, which is common here in summer, and finally Common Dolphin in large numbers scattered and feeding for miles, with good numbers of birds in tow – mostly Sooty Shearwaters and Elegant Terns, but also some Northern Fulmars, Pink-footed Shearwaters, and Black Storm-Petrels, and a Pomarine Jaeger came close-in for better looks. We had three Common Terns sneak through as we watch all the life around us. Then we had our second really good bird of the day: a South Polar Skua, which flew in from the bow and down the right side of the boat. This is a somewhat regular but rare spring migrant, a long way from its nesting grounds in Antarctica. This bird was clearly at the early end of the arrival spectrum, and a little closer to shore than expected. South Polar Skuas seen in our waters are juvenile birds that seem to come through in a relatively compact period from mid May to Mid June on their North swing. They then return south over a much wider range of dates in fall, from August through October. South Polar Skuas are always impressive: dark, massive, unmistakable. Reminds me of a quote by seabirder extraordinaire Todd McGrath ” You may mistake a dark Pomarine Jaeger for a Skua, but you will never mistake a South Polar Skua for a Pomarine Jaeger”. That’s says it all.

We didn’t have the best weather and seas, but both improved during the day. This trip produced pretty well for an early spring trip. Misses were few (it would have been nice to find the storm-petrel rafts), and in line with what we’ve been seeing offshore of late. Capt. Cristin did a great job getting us positioned to see the birds, and she and her crew got us out and home safely, and added some narrative to the marine mammals we saw.

The local ocean water remains slightly warmer than normal, lots of forage, lots of life, so this spring continues to hold promise. I hope you’ll join us for one of our upcoming trips.

Dave Povey
www.sandiegopelagics.com

Species list:
Brant
Mallard*
Surf Scoter
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Black-footed Shearwater
Northern Fulmar
Pink-footed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Black Storm-Petrel
Brown Booby
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant*
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron*
Great Egret*
Snowy Egret*
Black-crowned Night-Heron*
Whimbrel
Red-necked Phalarope
South Polar Skua
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Scripps’s Murrelet
Cassin’s Auklet
Sabine’s Gull
Heermann’s Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Least Tern
Caspian Tern*
Common Tern
Forster’s Tern
Royal Tern
Elegant Tern
( * Mission Bay only )

Marine Mammal;
Minke Whale
Fin Whale
Risso’s Dolphin
Common Dolphin
California Sea Lion

Fish
Mola mola ( Ocean Sunfish )
Broad billed Swordfish

The trip began under beautiful clear skies and with a lot of anticipation. We had not been to the Brown Booby colony on the Coronado Islands in several years. Recent reports indicated there could be several hundred boobies now roosting there, and with the extreme El Niño event, who knew what else might be there. In addition to the warm water pattern in the equatorial Pacific from the El Niño, we have an associated warm water anomaly in our area, which can cause unpredictable patterns of seabird distribution. And we certainly seemed to experience some of that today.

As we motored out through San Diego Bay, we had several ELEGANT TERNS, which are getting late now, as most of them head off to their wintering grounds in Central and South America by late October and early November. As we passed Ballast Point, a sharp observer picked out a half-dozen BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS in the cobbles along the beach, so we slowed and moved in closer for better views and photographs. As we continued on, hundreds of BRANDT’s CORMORANTS were streaming out of the bay to feeding areas further offshore.

Almost as soon as we were out of the bay, we had our first BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER and the first of many BROWN BOOBIES for the day. Several boobies put on a nice show flying around the boat as we motored out, while others were roosting on the channel buoys. Not long after, we began to encounter our first BONAPARTE’s GULLS, which continued in small groups throughout the day. One of our astute passengers noted later in her photographs that she had a gull on the water she initially identified as a Bonaparte’s, but her photograph showed red coloration along the base of the bill, which is more consistent with a Black-headed Gull – a rare bird for our area. Unfortunately, she only has a few photos of the bird on the water, and ideally we would like flight shots showing the underside of the primaries, which would be dark in a Black-headed Gull and light in a Bonaparte’s. We are soliciting any photos of Bonaparte’s-type gulls in flight from the trip to see whether we can verify the identity of this interesting gull. In the end, it could be that the reddish bill base is an artifact of exposure, with the sometimes-brownish bill base of Bonaparte’s just looking a bit redder in the bright sunlight, but we may never know for sure.

We also picked up our first of four POMARINE JAEGERS for the day in the nearshore waters, and began to encounter CASSIN’S AUKLETS in pairs and small groups. The auklets were particularly uncooperative today, generally flushing and flying away before we could get very close. Nevertheless, by the end of the day everyone had gotten at least a few good views and some decent photographs. As expected, things slowed down a bit over the San Diego Trough as we headed to the 9 Mile Bank, but we still managed to pick up some NORTHERN FULMARS, with a range of light to dark morphs, and a few RED PHALAROPES. Although we had some Red-necked Phalaropes on our October trip, they have now moved on further south, making their long trek to pelagic wintering grounds off of South America.

The 9 Mile Bank was not as productive as it usually is. We only managed to pick up a few additional species, such as a single BLACK STORM-PETREL off the stern, and a distant unidentified storm-petrel off the bow.

Anticipation began to build as we headed south towards Mexican waters. We crossed the border at approximately 10:25 AM, and almost immediately encountered a BROWN BOOBY in flight. By the time we got to the booby colony, everyone was at the railing with cameras ready. In addition to 117 BROWN BOOBIES roosting on the steep southeast face of Middle Rock, there was a lone adult BLUE-FOOTED BOOBY in the midst of them all. The nearest breeding areas for Blue-footed Boobies are in the Gulf of California, and while they will move up the northwest coast of Baja California after breeding, they don’t normally make it all the way to the Coronados Islands. This was definitely the highlight of the trip, but there were a number of other island surprises before we got back to San Diego County waters. We had the expected PEREGRINE FALCONS, BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, and PELAGIC CORMORANTS, along with a WANDERING TATTLER, but were surprised to find a juvenile RED-TAILED HAWK, a NORTHERN HARRIER, OSPREY, and a hybrid AMERICAN x BLACK OYSTERCATCHER as well. There is an area of overlap in the breeding range of American and Black Oystercatchers in northern to central Baja California and hybridization is becoming a conservation concern for American Oystercatchers here. We could easily tell that this individual was a hybrid by the fact that it’s black bib extended further down the chest than would be expected for a pure American, and there was quite a bit of black smudgy spotting extending onto the white belly. For the detail-oriented birder, there is a scoring system (the Jehl scale) that can be used to grade the purity of these American-Black Oystercatcher hybrids.

As we headed back to the Bay, the calm conditions we had enjoyed all day became a little rougher as we headed into the swell and the wind, but it was a nice change of pace. The big surprise on the way back was a flock of 11 SNOW GEESE lifting off the water and heading northwest – not a species we typically see offshore! A few of the other highlights for the day included several HERRING GULLS, a HERRING x GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL hybrid, and a pair of distant unidentified MURRELETS.

Although bird numbers and diversity were down a bit compared to previous November trips, it was still quite a thrill to visit the booby colony and find a Blue-footed Booby, which was a lifer for some. The El Niño is expected to continue into early 2016, so who knows what the coming year will bring in terms of unexpected seabirds. We are working on our 2016 schedule now so check back in a month or so to see what we have planned for the coming year.

Thanks to everyone who joined us on this last trip of the year, and we look forward to seeing many of you next year.

Hello Seabirders,

This is the Buena Vista Audubon and Grande pelagic trip report for Sunday October 11, 2015. We greeted daylight with clear skies and an absolutely crazy mass of fisherman coming and going at Point Loma Sportfishing Landing on San Diego Bay. We felt a little lost in the crowds, but as boats departed and fisherman and fisherwomen cleared out, we gathered, got a little orientation, and 48 passengers and seven leaders boarded our old standby and friend Grande. Grande had just come in from a day and a half fishing trip, unloaded fish and fisherman, got a quick scrub down, and we were ready to cut loose and head to sea. This is a fast turnaround in what has to be one of the most epic fishing seasons in many years – perhaps a lifetime. That was the reason for the craziness around the landing this morning.

Leaders for this trip were Mark Billings, Greg Gillson, Peter Ginsburg, Paul Lehman, Guy McCaskie, Bruce Rideout and myself. We also had a group of a half dozen San Diego regulars who always provide extra eyes and assistance, and deserve our thanks. They certainly make these trips a little easier. We pushed out of the commercial basin into the main shipping channel and south to the tip of Point Loma. Escorted the whole way by large numbers of HEERMANN’S GULLS, with the occasional flyby ELEGANT TERNS, or ROYAL TERNS. The former nearing their departure date, the latter increasing in numbers slightly as they are a fairly common wintering bird here.

The channel buoys just south of Ballast Point and all the way down to the SD (Whistle) Buoy three miles out had much of the expected sea lions, cormorants, and gulls. Today many of the buoys were decorated with BROWN BOOBIES. I saw two buoys with six, another with four, one with two, and so on. Throw in several more boobies flying around the immediate area. I think I counted nine inside Point Loma and another dozen or more just off the Point. We once considered BROWN BOOBY rare here, not so now. Thirty-two for the day is not any big deal. Certainly one of the more amazing changes in avian distribution!
Leaving Point Loma behind we headed southwest toward the inner edge of the Nine Mile Bank, and the Mexican Border. This track took us through much of the expected inshore species. San Diego’s signature inshore seabird is BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER. We got nice looks at these guys at all distances as a few came in to the chummed gull flock in the stern. Paul on the P.A. pointed out their characteristics compared to other expected shearwaters.

I find it interesting that normally we would be expecting the return of BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER in the late summer and early fall, with number steadily increasing into winter. This year they arrived back here in numbers in June and July, when normally nearly absent. Their numbers have actually been in sharp decline locally this fall. Reports of BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER from as far away as coastal N. California, Oregon, and Washington may explain where they have gone – more evidence of displacement cause by historically high sea surface temperatures in the northeastern Pacific. Not so glamorously called “The BLOB”.

This inshore area also turned up good numbers of phalaropes. The overwhelming majority were RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, with a few larger, whiter, RED PHALAROPES scattered about. Both species of phalaropes gather around the slick-lines from tidal outflow from San Diego Bay. This is an area of water mixing and churning that often has the coolest water and most nutrients from down in the water column. Today the sea surface temperature (SST) here was 72 degrees F. I’ll talk more about SST’s later in this report. This area had a few CASSIN”S AUKLETS, with more further offshore. This species is an enigma to me. We once thought, with reason, that low CASSIN”S AUKLET’S numbers were an indicator of lower ocean productivity. The productivity being lower due to increased sea surface temperatures. Yet CASSIN’S AUKLET’S numbers remain strong this summer, and CASSIN’S AUKLETS were among the more abundant species seen today, with 150. Though most of this boat-shy species were seen at a distance.

This inshore area had a few species that were a bit out of place: a COMMON LOON, two WESTERN GREBES, a flyby group of eight WESTERN SANDPIPERS, a POMARINE JAEGER, a SABINE’S GULL, and a couple of “not so common” COMMON TERNS. The last three species were seen in greater numbers further offshore. We also had a small passerine do a quick pass of the boat, one of three for the day, and none I.D.’d beyond guesses as to warbler type or sparrow type.

Up on the Nine Mile Bank, we found an EARED GREBE – an odd but somewhat regular “seabird”. BLACK STORM-PETRELS were in small numbers, most at a distance, and not well seen until later in the day. We also ran up on two HUMPBACK WHALES here. Those on the bow got a good close look.
As we passed over the drop-off on the western edge of the Nine Mile Bank we picked up a second PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER in the wake, and several folks rushed to get a gentleman off the bow and back to the stern, as he needed that species for number 600. Hats off to him for a well-earned milestone.

We also spooked-out many CALIFORNIA FLYINGFISH in this stretch. I saw a lot of photographers trying to get these crazy things in focus, and some succeeded. They certainly had plenty of targets, as twos, threes, fours, and fives popped out at a time – some traveling a hundred yards or more. This turned out to be a good diversion as the San Diego Trough, notoriously for being quiet, was living up to its reputation today. One eBird survey hour had 42 birds: 2 CALIFORNIA GULLS, 20 WESTERN GULLS (all chummed in ), 2 BLACK STORM-PETRELS, 18 CASSIN’S AUKLETS. Yep that’s all for One Hour! The midday heat was just enough to create a nice naptime for some, without a much being missed.

The Thirty Mile Bank had a little more life, but scary little. We did pick up another NORTHERN FULMAR or two, a single PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, a rather nice looking SOOTY SHEARWATER, a scant few more BLACK STORM-PETRELS, a couple of POMARINE JAEGERS, a distant look at a LONG-TAILED JAEGER, more CASSIN’S AUKLETS, and two more SABINE’S GULLS. We were in need of a big hit out here, and it wasn’t happening. We kept working north until we started to get just a little more storm-petrel action; at first just two or three, then a half dozen, then another scattered half dozen. Then eagle-eyed Paul had them. The RAFT!! Fully a mile off and outside our normal search area, this was in Los Angeles County waters, as we were closer to San Clemente Is. than to mainland San Diego (La Jolla).

We seemed to take “forever” to get up to the raft (actually two rafts, a larger and a smaller one), but instantly we knew we’d hit the LEAST STORM-PETREL mother-lode. Photos may give us a little better ratio, but LEAST STORM-PETRELS clearly outnumbered BLACK STORM-PETRELS by a wide margin. Too bad that many LEAST STORM-PETRELS kept their distance, while the BLACK STORM-PETRELS came in somewhat closer to the boat. I think all still got satisfying looks, and I heard camera shutters clattering away. We estimated 3500 stormies total here, broken down to 2800 LEAST STORM-PETRELS, 700 BLACK STORM-PETRELS, and one ASHY STORM-PETREL. Nothing seen with any white on the rump anywhere.

Whew, relief! These rafts of stormies can be difficult to track down even when we know the general area to look. I’m not even sure these rafts form every day. Last trip we had several LEAST STORM-PETRELS scattered around the Nine Mile Bank and elsewhere. Today we saw NONE until we got to the raft. I’ve often been asked why storm-petrels form rafts. My thought is that it gives the protection of numbers, perhaps while conserving energy for the individual. That likely is an overly simplified answer. Why do they tend to form rafts in the same areas? Well they don’t always. Some years we’ve seen rafts on the Nine Mile Bank or San Diego Trough, or off La Jolla. This Thirty Mile Bank area is certainly popular, perhaps due to it’s being the most central area between the offshore islands and the mainland. Maybe it’s just close to a food source, away from possible predators, protected from weather or…who knows? Some up-and-coming young biologist might find a master’s or doctoral thesis in answering these questions, and others .

Needless to say these rafts, when found, are cause for amazement. I never tire of seeing them. I’ve described them as being “amoeba like”. Much like a single organism, the birds get up en masse and fly low over the water, change direction, break into multiple groups, and rejoin – all this as if a by a single mind. Great stuff. We departed the storm-petrel raft and retraced our track back to the southeast, then east back to San Diego. The trip back had more of a number of species already seen, with the addition of a close-in young PARASITIC JAEGER and a flight of shorebirds that included BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, a GEATER YELLOWLEGS, and some dowitchers. We also had another flyby passerine, perhaps a sparrow sp.

We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we approached San Diego’s harbor.
A very nice trip; calm seas, beautiful visibility, but maybe a little warmer than most of us wimpy Southern Californians would like. Certainly the highlight was the storm-petrel raft. Overall our species list was low, as were the total numbers of birds (except LEAST STORM-PETRELS). October pelagic trips usually produce much better numbers. Along with the hot air temperatures and calm conditions, the Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) were higher than we normally see. “Normal” for this time of year might be 67-71. Last year (considered a warm water year) we saw SSTs in late Sep. and early Oct. at 72-73. Today we recorded SSTs up to 77 F. These Sportfishing boats don’t carry scientific thermometers, but as small changes in water temps are important to finding fish, they are pretty accurate. I’ve also recorded 77 F on my last trip offshore in late September. That temperature is as high as any I’ve seen locally, and the water seems to me to be uniformly warm (hot) over a wide area. Scuba divers say that the warm water also extends down in the water column. These SSTs are clearly affecting bird distribution, e.g., BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS off Oregon, BROWN BOOBIES at the Farallons, a NAZCA BOOBY off Oregon, and on and on. What all of this means is, uncharted territory. Now “The Blob” is being doubled-downed on by a predicted mega “EL Nino” this winter. This could make a very interesting winter season, or a major disaster, or…? Time will tell.

Dave Povey
www.sandiegopelagics.com

Hello Seabirders,

This is the pelagic birding trip report for Sept. 27, 2015. This was a new trip for us out of Mission Bay aboard the Privateer. The Privateer is a purpose built boat for whale and dolphin watching, not the usual sport fishing boat. That gave us some benefits, such as abundant seating, a large second deck, and a little more speed. We also had a friendly and knowledgeable crew. The draw back if there is one is that Privateer carries a much larger passenger load than boats we have used in the recent past, and the permanent seating can be in the way, such as in the stern.

We gathered the group of eager birders on the patio behind Seaforth Landing for sign in, then a quick orientation. Eighty-three passengers and eight leaders boarded under partly cloudy skies for a 7:30 a.m. departure. Leaders were Tom Blackman, Peter Ginsburg, Guy McCaskie, Jimmy McMorran, Gary Nunn, B J Stacey, and Justyn Stahl, and myself.

The Seaforth dock is right next to the Mission Bay bait dock, so we did a quick scan of the usual pelicans, cormorants, long-legged waders, gulls, and lazing California Sea Lions resting there. Then we were on our way out of the basin and into the channel leading out to sea. A benefit to Seaforth location is the quick access to the open ocean.
The Mission Beach jetty turned up a WANDERING TATTER. Offshore the first thing noted were the numerous RED-NECKED PHALAROPES and smaller number of RED PHALAROPES. Likely a thousand phalaropes were scattered around the bay’s tidal out-flow lines and the kelp debris drifting down from La Jolla. Our estimates for the day was a ratio of about ten RED-NECKED to two RED PHALAROPES, with a slight gradient of more Red-necks inshore and more Reds offshore.

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS put on a good show – first at a distance, then closer to the boat, and finally right in over our wake among the chummed gull flock. BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER numbers are down of late, which may indicate the food source has moved further up the California Coast. There are now numbers being seen and reported off San Luis Obispo and Monterrey Counties in the central coast, and a few even further north.

The now ubiquitous BROWN BOOBY made a showing here. We now think of them as regular and expected. I thought only eight for the day to be a little weak. I’d think the usual is more like 15 – 25 for a day at sea of late. Perhaps they were not flying today. The mantra these days is: any booby other that a Brown Booby. How short our memories!

This inshore area also had a flyby LONG-BILLED CURLEW. Nice to see that somewhat troubled species anywhere, but always nice to add to the offshore list. Two large tern species were seen inshore. Both ROYAL and ELEGANT TERNS were seen on this first leg of the trip. ROYAL TERN is the larger of the two and tends to be more inshore, often right along the beach. ELEGANT TERNS are slightly smaller and slimmer. They may be anywhere offshore, sometimes at quite a distance.

ROYAL TERN numbers increase slightly into winter. ELEGANT TERNS decline in the fall and they leave by mid October, returning in March. Telling the two apart at sea and in-flight requires study and practice. The two species sitting side by side on the beach are actually much easier to distinguish. The most abundant tern species today were COMMON TERNS. Unlike the name suggests, they are relatively uncommon most of the year and inshore. Numbers can be pretty good out here in migration.

Three early COMMON LOONS flew across the bow, as did an EARED GREBE. Both species are regular fall migrants offshore and their numbers will increase as migration continues. These two are not usually thought of as “pelagics”.

About five to six miles offshore we turned north to follow the curve of the drop-off towards La Jolla (see the trip track). This area often has good numbers of birds, with a little mix of inshore and more offshore species. So it was today. The reports were coming in on the radios from leaders so fast it was difficult to get them all out over the P.A. New species here were a PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, several BLACK STORM-PETRELS, a LEAST STORM-PETREL, POMARINE JAEGER, PARASITIC JAEGER, a bunch of CASSIN’S AUKLETS, and a possible Murrelet sp., and all this among many BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS and phalaropes.

West of La Jolla we turned out over the drop-off and headed further west toward the THIRTY MILE BANK. The numbers of birds decreased, but we added some new species such as SOOTY SHEARWATER, LEACH’S STORM-PETREL, SABINE’S GULL, and an ARCTIC TERN that was seen by a few birders. Further west we picked up more PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, BLACK STORM-PETRELS, another LEAST STORM-PETREL, two more PARASITIC JAEGERS, a number CASSIN’S AUKLETS, and COMMON TERNS.

Twenty miles out PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS had taken over, as had LEACH’S STORM-PETRELS, including a “TOWNSEND’S” LEACH’S STORM-PETREL. This is a smaller, darker, more rounded-wing appearing storm-petrel with a bright white rump. Photos showed the white did not wrap under the tail and the legs were short. Perhaps someday it will be a separate species. Also seen here was a hatch-year LONG-TAILED JAEGER. Nice looks, lots of photos. LONG-TAILED JAEGER is really a much sought after species locally. The majority of the LONG-TAILED JAEGERS migrate well west of the Southern California Bight. Also seen in this zone was another possible ARCTIC TERN.

This is the point where my tale takes a change in direction, both figuratively and literally. Sometimes plans change and they did so dramatically today. We had a gentleman fall and hit his head. He lay unconscious on the deck as folk rushed to help him.

Now the good news is he is fine, but we didn’t know that at the time. The possibility that the worst had happened caused Capt. Christin to change directions for home and contact the Coast Guard. We drove a relative beeline back to Mission Bay. Conveniently it was not the arching course we had taken getting to that area, so it was “new” water for us to look at (see the trip track). My sincere thanks to the folks (medical and non-medical) who helped this gentleman. Medical emergencies such as this are rare, but it’s nice to know help is there. Particular thanks to RN Iris Kilpatrick, who gave up her birding time on the rest of the trip back in order to keep a close eye on our patient. My apologies to the many that had hoped to get to The THIRTY MILE BANK. I was also disappointed. We had missed our target area on the Thirty Mile Bank by as few as 4.3 nautical miles.

Once all the excitement had died down and the Coast Guard determined that we should continue to the dock, the gentleman in question seemed back to an appearance of being OK. We returned to birding.

The first notable new bird on the return was a NORTHERN FULMAR; not sure whether these are new arrivals or holdovers from last winter. This bird was a dark morph with many missing feathers and some growing in, at any rate rather scruffy looking.

We also got our best looks of the day at an ARCTIC TERN, which circled the boat repeatedly for maybe 15 minutes – often right over our heads. Nice comparisons with any number of COMMON TERNS in this same track.

We also got looks at more LEACH’S, BLACK, and LEAST STORM-PETRELS, POMARINE and PARASITIC JAEGERS, CASSIN’S AUKLETS, and SABINE’S GULLS. Tons more RED-NECKED and RED PHALAROPES, and of course 4 more BROWN BOOBIES.

We docked at Mission Bay, unloaded our patient, and returned to sea with time to make the NINE MILE BANK – our last of the four planned legs of this trip. We topped off with an additional well-seen LONG-TAILED JAEGER, another ARCTIC TERN, the highest numbers on the day for PARASITIC JAEGERS (10), a SABINE’S Gull and COMMON TERNS (40). We had a couple of reports of murrelets, none well seen, and many more CASSIN”S AUKLETS. On the way back were several more close in LEAST STORM-PETRELS, a photographed ASHY STORM-PETREL, and of course a couple more BROWN BOOBIES. We also got nice looks at a BLUE WHALE and a HUMPBACK WHALE.

The return to Mission Bay had two SURBIRDS on the Ocean Beach Jetty.

Nice trip overall, the boat served us quite well, we had a nice mix of birds with few misses, no mega rarity, but that’s why they’re mega-rarities. The weather was exceptionally nice, though warmer than I’d usually expect.

Bird list: (MB) is Mission Bay, otherwise seen at sea.

Mallard (MB)
Common Loon
Eared Grebe
Northern Fulmar
Pink-footed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Black-vented Shearwater
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
Leach’s (Townsend’s) Storm-Petrel
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Black Storm-Petrel
Least Storm-Petrel
Brown Booby
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Wandering Tattler (MB)
Willet (MB)
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit (MB)
Surfbird (MB)
Peep sp. (MB)
Red-necked Phalarope
Red Phalarope
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger
Murrelet sp.
Cassin’s Auklet
Sabine’s Gull
Heermann’s Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Royal Tern
Elegant Tern
Hummingbird sp.
American Crow (MB)

Marine mammal list:
Blue Whale
Humpback Whale
Bottle-nosed Dolphin (MB)
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Short-beaked Common Dolphin
Long-beaked Common Dolphin
Harbor Seal
California Sea Lion

Fish list:
Hammerhead Shark
California Flying fish
Dorado (aka Dolphin fish)

Dave Povey
San Diego Pelagics

Hello fellow Seabirders,

This is the trip report for Aug. 23, 2015. This was a new trip added to the 2015 Buena Vista Audubon pelagic schedule, and was out of Mission Bay. The boat was the seventy foot Sportfishing Eclipse, owned and captained by Mark Gillette.

Using a new operation for pelagic birding is always a bit of an adventure, but Mark and his operation have run daily whale watching trips aboard the Privateer out of the same landing, under the Pacific Nature Tours moniker. Quite a number of birders have started using that operation as an easy way to get offshore when organized birding trips are not available. The frustration here, as with whale watching trips everywhere, is that the primary goal is whales! They often pass flocks of feeding birds tantalizingly close on their way to the nearest marine mammal. Talking to Mark, he was starting to get the sense that pelagic birding was an opportunity being missed, and that whale watching, as with fishing, uses many of the same elements to be successful. Our thanks to him for giving us an opportunity at a time of year when the fishing boats have just not been available locally.

Forty eager birders and six leaders met at Seaforth landing. We boarded at 7:10, did a brief orientation, then departed at 7:30 sharp. Leaders where Peter Ginsburg, Guy McCaskie, Gary Nunn, B J Stacey, Justyn Stahl, and myself. We were under overcast skies, unusual for August, but my preferred sky for seabird viewing. This was a ten-hour trip.

Seaforth Landing has the benefit of a short mile and a half ride out to the ocean, the bait dock with the usual Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets, Western and Heermanns’ Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants, and Brown Pelicans is passed within the first couple of minutes into the trip. We had a few Caspian Terns overhead and an Osprey on a nearby sailboat mast. The trip along the rip rap jetty turned up a Wandering Tattler which flew off the south as we stopped to get on the bird.

Once in the ocean we headed out to the west to a couple of bottom features. The first is a scattered rocky bottom area southwest of La Jolla, and the next is a rather steep drop (150 fathoms) into deeper water – the areas known as the 270 Spot and the Six Mile Bank. This area has held a fair amount of life all summer., and so it did today as well. The swell was small (1-3 ft.), but as always interval is everything, and today it was a bit short at 6 seconds. Wind conditions were near zero (2 kts. or less early, perhaps 7 kts. in the afternoon), and visibility good at 8 miles or more. Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) remain warm at 72.4 – 74.6 degrees F. Temperatures were pretty uniform over the area we covered, with a very slight gradient – warmer inshore, cooler offshore.

Among the first birds seen here were two northbound Pacific Loons –our loon species most likely to be seen offshore, but oddly out of season. Pacific Loon southbound migration doesn’t start here until October and peaks more into November and early December. A fair number of Pacific Loons winter here, most leaving in the spring. These two likely spent the summer in the area off La Jolla and may just be doing a day light adjustment after drifting south all night.

Another species seen here was Brown Booby. They used to be an exceptional bird locally. No longer. We now expect to see Brown Booby on every trip and would be disappointed to miss them. So it’s appropriate that two Brown Boobies came in together this morning and a third showed up a short time later – all these being dark juvenile birds.

The arrival of Brown Boobies off Southern California likely occurred in the late 1990’s, and there was a steady increase in sightings as the colony on the Coronado Is. (Baja California, Mexico) grew into the early 2000’s. By 2010 we more or less looked for a Brown Booby on all our pelagic trips north of the border, but it was still hit and miss. Two or three seen on one trip then missed on the next two trips. Then the explosion seemed to occur in 2012-2013. They were being seen on sea watches from the beach regularly and in numbers. Offshore we’d count a day with one or two Brown Boobies as an off day. The San Diego Christmas Count for 2014 had 18 Brown Boobies (several were seen from the beach by Paul Lehman on the 2013 San Diego Christmas Count, and one was on the 1991 count, pers. ob.). On the 2015 San Diego Audubon Festival pelagic trips in March we would drive a considerable distance out of our way, to the buoys off the mouth of San Diego Bay, to view Brown Boobies from 15 ft. away.
Forgive my dissertation. I still find this change in this seabird’s range fascinating. Short story is today we had a paltry 25, including a few adult females.

This area west of Mission Bay had good numbers (hundreds) of Black-vented Shearwaters. Our local smallish dark above, whitish below, snappy wing beat, very short glide shearwater. Black-vented Shearwater arrived back here early this summer, giving some to speculate than most did not breed this year. Numbers of Black-vented Shearwater have remained strong here and just south of here off Ensenada, Mexico, so one would assume they are still finding food here. On a recent fishing trip near Black-vented Shearwater’s nesting islands there were still birds present there, and finding food, so some may still be breeding or at least hanging on there.

Black-vented Shearwater is an inshore species so once we left the Six Mile Bank we saw few until we returned to the north end of The Nine Mile Bank later in the day. About 1500 seen today. Certainly a good number for August.

Red-necked Phalarope, Common Tern, Cassin’s Auklet, and a very few Black Storm-Petrels were also scattered over the 270 Spot and just inside the Six Mile Bank, so we did a large circle over the area. Sharp-eyed Gary Nunn picked up on a distance Sabine’s Gull behind the boat, then a second, and a third, and by the time we got turned around the group numbered five, both adults and juveniles. One Sabine’s Gull came in right over the chummed gull flock. We doubled this count for Sabine’s Gull over the remainder of the trip.
A single Black Tern was seen in this area, which seemed to elude our attempt to chase it, though we did sight it again, or was that a second Black Tern? Regardless, we did have another Black Tern in the later afternoon inside the Nine Mile Bank.

Black Tern is actually seen somewhat regularly offshore as a summer migrant in small numbers. They start through here about mid July, peak in mid August, and trail off in September. Nice to get them, as they are uncommon here at best.

We had several jaegers here, not a surprise with small terns and gulls about. Several Pomarine Jaegers – some with large tail spoons, a few juveniles less well marked but barrel chested and with bi-colored bills – were hard to mistake. It was here that one of the many intrepid photographers took a photo of an apparently close in juvenile Parasitic Jaeger that no one else saw. So how did we leaders miss that one? As it turned out, that was the only Parasitic Jaeger on the day, with more than a dozen Pomarine Jaegers seen.

I had really hoped this area would produce murrelets, but none were seen. Clearly food items, such as plankton, small fish, and krill are there, as more than one Cassin’s Auklet was too full to fly. I was kind of surprised we didn’t score there, but sensing the natives getting restless, we pushed off to the west, searching for the elusive storm-petrel raft.

The San Diego Trough can be a rather quiet area and was so today. The “Trough” is a featureless deep-water area between the inshore bank, and the steep escarpment of the Thirty Mile Bank. This deep-water area can turn up some good stuff, but usually near one side or the other. That was the case today. As we approached the Thirty Mile Bank the number of storm-petrels increased dramatically. Unfortunately few came close enough to the boat for easy identification. Clearly the majority of the stormies were not Blacks. As we started to look at photos, many showed little smudges of white on the sides of the rump. A few birds even had a bold white rump patch. We were looking at Leach’s Storm-Petrels of the chapmani subspecies. This subspecies can have an all-dark rump or with varying degrees of white, from a slight edge to a nearly all white rump. Leach’s Storm-Petrel’s flight style is a little more manic than a Black’s, with few glides, frequent direction changes, and a bent wing look. They are also smaller overall than a Black Storm-Petrel. We had a lot of Leach’s Storm-Petrels today. They far out numbered any other storm-petrel species out in this area. We estimated close to 100 Leach’s Storm-Petrels in this zone, including a short tour into Los Angeles Co. (see the trip track).

Then just to add to the interest and confusion we saw and photographed two “Townsend’s” Leach’s Storm-Petrels. This diminutive race of Leach’s Storm-Petrel, known as subspecies socorroensis, is called Townsend’s to credit the man who first described this bird. “Townsend’s” Storm-Petrels breed only on rocks around Guadalupe Is. off Baja California. Recent thinking is that “Townsend’s maybe a separable species. Certainly they appear different from the nominate and Chapman’s subspecies in having a shorter rounded wing, short tailed look, and more of a hovering, gliding flight – almost Wilson’s Storm-Petrel like. Both of these “Townsend’s ” had a bold white rump patches, which seems to be the case for the majority of them. The white patch does not wrap under the tail. A few “Townsends” may show a dark rump, and fewer still the intermediate amount of white (per Steve Howell, 2012). We counted one “Townsend’s” for Los Angeles County and one for San Diego.

The last note on storm-petrels for the San Diego Trough is that initially we called a number of Ashy Storm-Petrels, but it appears most of those were wrong. We do have a couple photos of Ashy Storm-Petrels, so clearly a very few were present, but many fewer than originally reported – perhaps no more than 5 or 6.

The disappointment out in this zone was that we did not find the storm-petrel rafts we were hoping for. It seems to me that a few birds were gathering, but never more than a half dozen at a time. A longer search in this area may have turned up a raft, but time conspired against us, so we turned southeast toward the Nine Mile Bank.

All the further offshore areas had a pretty good numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters. These guys always please the photographers. They make multiple passes and approach to within cell phone camera range. Large and dark above (many now a dark gray, with hint of a darker W pattern), with white bellies, a slower wing beat, and longer glides than the similarly marked Black-vented Shearwaters.
Sooty Shearwaters were scarce today, with only two seen – one near the Six Mile Bank, the other over the Nine Mile Bank. Lack of Sooties is not unusual for summer. We will see more of them again in the fall
The approach to the 178 area, near the north end of the Nine Mile Bank, gave us more action. The first was a nice pod of a hundred Common Dolphins. These guys put on a nice show. Next was a slightly spooky Fin Whale that gave us OK looks. We also watched a nearby sportfisher that had five or more Brown Boobies circling it.
The best sighting here was a young Black-footed Albatross sitting on the water, spotted by Justyn Stahl. The bird sat nicely as we circled. Black-footed Albatross is regular well offshore (100+ n.m.) this time of year, but rarely seen inshore in late summer and fall locally, so this was a nice addition to our day’s list.

We also had two White-winged Doves circle the boat here. The late summer and fall migration can be fun for land birds offshore as well. We got a little taste of that today. Besides the White-winged Dove, we also had two Mourning Doves near the Thirty Mile Bank, two Brown-headed Cowbirds, a Barn Swallow, and a hummingbird sp., all seen near the Six Mile Bank area. Throw in a small flock of Western Sandpipers that flew by in that same area. Migration is underway! The Nine Mile Bank had a nice mix of the birds seen earlier in the day. Coming in down wind and with the lighting behind us, gave nice looks at many more Black-vented Shearwaters, a few Black Storm-Petrels, a couple of Brown Boobies, Red-necked Phalaropes, another Pomarine Jaeger or two, Common Terns, and a few Elegant Terns. Just a note on Elegant Terns today: This is a species we normally see in such good numbers in the fall off San Diego that we may be guilty of under counting, or even ignoring, them to some extent. We counted something less than 30 for the day. I really noticed the lack of that species out here today. Why? Are they feeding in a different area? Have they started moving south? Have they dispersed off to the northwest? Perhaps other pelagic trips up the coast can give us an answer there.

My personal observation on a recent fishing trip from the west coast of the central Baja peninsula to all the way to Catalina Is. off Los Angeles was that the “concentration” was north of us. So perhaps Elegant Terns are dispersing to the north. How far north? Are other species that we associate with warm sea temperatures also there? Interesting questions. I think the coming fall pelagic trips will tell us more.

Scored as missing today off San Diego, Least Storm-Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird, and Craveri’s Murrelet. The warm water is here, where are they?

My thanks to all involved today. Certainly was a pleasant day on the ocean with lots to see and something for everyone to learn.

Dave Povey

Pacific Loons 2
Black-footed Albatross 1
Pink-footed Shearwater 40
Sooty Shearwater 2
Black-vented Shearwater 1500
Leach’s Storm-Petrel 60
“Townsends” Leach’s Storm-Petrel 2
Ashy Storm-Petrel 6
Black Storm-Petrel 50
Brown Booby 25
Wandering Tattler 1
Red necked Phalarope 300
Pomarine Jaeger 15
Cassin’s Auklet 19
Sabine’s Gull 10
Black Tern 2 or 3 seen singly
Common Tern 20
Elegant Tern 25

Land birds made a good show today.
White -winged Dove 2
Mourning Dove 2
Hummingbird sp. 1
Barn Swallow 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 2

In the category of also seen;
Fin Whale 1
Common Dolphin 100+
California Sea Lion – many
Mako Shark 1
Smooth Hammerhead Shark 4
Striped Marlin 1

Hello Sea birders, this is the trip report for June 14, 2015.
Thirty-nine birders and six leaders meet this morning for a 7 a.m. departure. This was somewhat later than the usual cast-off to avoid conflicting with fishing boat arrivals and departures. We got off right on time with a 6:59 cast off.

Trip leaders were Peter Ginsburg, Paul Lehman, Gary Nunn, Bruce Rideout, BJ Stacey, and myself. Paul gave the onboard orientation, did the wheel house direction, and the P.A. Bruce kept the e-bird list, and BJ did the lion’s share of the chumming. BJ, Gary, and Bruce did trip photos. All of us did our best to spot and direct birders to views of the birds.

The weather was as near perfect as anyone looking for comfort at sea could hope. Heavy overcast – in fact we had a few spells of light mist. The dark sky really works very well for spotting most all of the dark seabirds. Winds were very light: No more than 1-4 kts all day. Seas were benign, with a 1-2 ft. swell, and even though the swell came from two directions, the interval was long enough to avoid the roll that many land-lovers hate.

We generally have somewhat lower expectations for these late spring, very early summer trips. Wintering birds should be gone, the peak of migration is generally past, and post-breeding dispersal is often a few weeks away. So what does that leave? Well, most often, some surprises. That was true today! The sea surface temperature has been warmer than normal all winter, and even though it is much closer to normal now, an El Niño seems to be gain strength in the southern hemisphere. What will that mean for us today?

No more than a short distance into the main San Diego Bay channel we had a small number of “inshore” Bottle-nosed Dolphin. Though the population of this form is much smaller than the larger, darker, cousin found offshore, they are more frequently seen just outside the surf line along our beaches.

Our track out of the harbor took us past a number of points of interest: The bait docks for the many pelicans, cormorants, egrets, herons and sea lions, and past Ballast Point and Zuniga Jetty for a half dozen Surf Scoters – these being likely over summering birds, as many hundreds winter here and all but these few have long departed for breeding areas in the far north.

We then cleared the tip of Point Loma and its two lighthouses – the older atop the ridge dating to the 1850’s, the newer near the water line dating from the 1890’s. Near shore and the harbor entrance we found a mix of Brown Pelicans, Brandt’s and Double-crested Cormorants, Western and Heermann’s Gulls , and numerous Elegant Terns. The last two species recently arrived in big numbers from the breeding areas in the Sea of Cortez. Reports are of a largely failed breeding season there.

The area of ocean inside the Nine Mile Bank gave us a mix of Black-vented Shearwaters, a couple of Sooty Shearwaters, a few Black Storm-Petrels, Cassin’s Auklets, and many more Elegant Terns. We also picked up our first Brown Booby. This bird was an immature, a mostly dark bellied bird. Though Brown Boobies are now regular on local pelagics, they still elicit some excitement among sea birders. As the day went along and the booby count increased the excitement faded. So by the late afternoon, when 5-6 Brown Boobies were seen circling a fishing boat near the Thirty Mile Bank, they hardly drew a second look. Twenty-three Brown Boobies were listed for the day! I saw only 3 adults for the day, a mostly mature male, and two adult females.

The Nine Mile Bank had much the same birds, with the mix starting to change – more Sooties, fewer Black-vented Shearwaters, more Black Storm-Petrels and Cassin’s Auklets, and a distant Pink-footed Shearwater. We also ran into our first murrelets. Now, having “learned our lesson” last year when an exceptionally early pair of Craveri’s Murrelets showed up, we felt a careful study was appropriate. Mid-June we still expect to see the locally breeding Scripps’s Murrelets, not the later arriving Craveri’s. It took a while to get keyed in on the subtle differences, but we did have both species for the day. To increase the difficulty, most of the Craveri’s and some of the Scripps’s were missing flight feathers. Under normal conditions, these two species are separated by season. Scripps’s Murrelets arrive here in March, breed locally, and move out to the northwest by the end of June. Craveri’s Murrelets breed on islands and rocks off the southern portion of Baja California and the Sea of Cortez. In years when they arrive here (not every year), we’d see them In August and Sept. They are fully capable of flight then, and are I.D.’d (called) with some confidence. Both species have to be separated from Guadalupe Murrelet (not seen today), which may bridge the seasons of the other two. Guadalupe Murrelets are usually seen much further offshore locally. Until a few years ago, Scripps’s and Guadalupe were considered northern and southern races of Xantus’s Murrelet. The Guadalupe is actually somewhat easier to I.D. than the other two, as the amount of white in the face is greater and loops up in front and over the eye. Scripps’s and Craveri’s are a different problem. Scripps’s has a little more white in the face, with the white on the same line as the bill, and may show a brighter white eye crescent. Craveri’s is darker faced, with the dark extending very slightly below the line of the bill, and the white crest above the eye is faint or absent. Scripps’s sits a little higher in the water and may show a little white below the folded wing while Craveri’s is dark to the water line. The dark feather area of Craveri’s tend to be blacker, particularly on the head and neck. That area is slightly browner on Scripps’s. The bill is slightly longer and thinner on Craveri’s, shorter and thicker on Scripps’s. The characters most people look for on Craveri’s are the dark wing lining and breast spur, both hard to see with birds on the water. These field marks are better seen and photographed with the bird in flight. Size is also a factor, but dang if I can tell that Craveri’s is about an inch smaller in length than the less-than-10-inch long Scripps’s.

So ….what did we see and when…? The first solo bird appears to have been a Craveri’s and the next group of five were I.D.’d as Scripps’s, as was the next solo bird. The next group of 4 was all Craveri’s, as was the next group of 5. One pair with a chick were Scripps’s, and so it went for 10 Scripps’s Murrelets, and 20 Craveri’s Murrelets for the day. Thanks to all the photographers for the many excellent pictures, they helped a lot. These Craveri’s Murrelet were clearly early arrivals and may continue up the coast as the summer proceeds.

We departed the north end of the Nine Mile Bank and drove west toward the Thirty Mile Bank. The intervening area, known as the San Diego Trough, can be a dead zone, but promptly gave us surprise number two – a Buller’s Shearwater, a rare but regular fall migrant inside San Clemente Is. As most Buller’s Shearwaters pass through the Hawaiian Islands on the northward migration, they are barely recorded here in spring. No sooner had Paul explained that than the second Buller’s showed up. So we had two in view at the same time. Then as the day went along we added a third and fourth, and ended the day with a very conservative 17, for a bird that maybe had a couple of previous spring records here.

Mid Trough we heard someone call a sea turtle off the bow, then as quickly, a South Polar Skua was called off the stern. The South Polar Skua was obliging and flew right over the stern of the boat, then attacked a Western Gull out of sheer orneriness, or is it just what South Polar Skuas do? Meanwhile, the sea turtle also popped up in the wake just off the stern and a few quick-on-the-trigger camera folks got photos of what later proved to be a Loggerhead Sea Turtle. All sea turtles are rare this far north, so this was a nice addition to the day’s rarities. This animal was about the size of a large trash can lid, and had a number large gooseneck barnacles on the upper shell.

This mid Trough area also had a number of schools of crashing tuna. Doug Aguillard’s quick camera work got a nice shot of a Yellowfin Tuna breaking the surface – another out of season warm-water species. As we approached the Thirty Mile Bank the number of storm-petrels increased. Black Storm-Petrel is the default storm-petrel in all are local areas, and we had scattered birds all day once offshore and away from the beach. We did pick up a few Ashy Storm-Petrels, but it was a white-rumped bird here on the Thirty Mile Bank that got our attention. The logical assumption would have been a Leach’s Storm-Petrel, and one was seen on the day. Our local race of Leach’s Storm-Petrel, chapmani, often has an all-dark rump, or with just a smudge of white to the sides of the rump. Or, if the rump is all white, is divided in the center – not the bold solid-white rump seen here. Also, the flight style was all wrong for Leach’s. Leach’s Storm-Petrel, both leucorhoa and chapmani, have that bounding, slightly crazy, twisting turning, high wing-stroke flight. This bird had more of a short fluttery flight style. There is a race of Leach’s Storm-Petrel, socorroensis, that breeds on Guadalupe Is. some 200 n.m. south of here, which some think may be a separate species called Townsend’s Storm-Petrel. The flight style fit – Townsend’s show the more fluttery flight style, appear shorter winged, often (but not always) have a bright white rump, limited to the top of the rump only. The problem here was that the bird we were looking at was in heavy molt. One would expect Townsend’s to be in a high state of breeding plumage, and of course be closer to their breeding island. Again the photographers came to the rescue. Multiple photos showed the white wrapping around under the tail, a short square-ish tail, and more importantly, a long legged bird. This was a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel! A somewhat regular, though rare, species here, expected in early fall…., but spring??? Wilson’s Storm-Petrel surprise number three!

We drove down the inner escarpment of the bank to the border before turning east, back out over the Trough. The next interesting sighting was of a couple (maybe 3 ?) Blue Whales. Nice looks. The Blue Whale populations have had problems worldwide. The Southern California Bight has remained a stronghold, with more than five hundred Blue Whales counted by aerial survey, mostly around the northern Channel Islands, but also a fair number off San Diego.
The return to the outer edge of the Nine Mile Bank added to the Buller’s Shearwater, Brown Booby, and Black Storm-Petrel counts. We also picked up a fairly steady flow of Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters – both southern hemisphere breeders that spend their winter, our summer, in the California Current, and spread into a wide front along the west coast of North America. With enough practice, all four species of shearwaters seen today can be separated by flight style. The Black-vented Shearwaters have the snappy, very rapid, 4 or 5 wing beats, a very short glide, back to the rapid wing beats, then another short glide. Sooty Shearwater has a rapid wing beat and a little longer glide, often with the wing beats continuing as the bird is on a slight rise, followed by a glide on a sight descent, which is accentuated if there is more wind. Pink-footed Shearwaters have a slower wing beat, but still with a little snap, and an even longer glide. Buller’s Shearwater has the most languid wing beat, and an extensive glide even light wind conditions. It’s fun to test your skills when all are present in numbers, as they were today. Just recognize that as the winds change, so will the flight styles.

The return across the Nine Mile Bank showed we weren’t quite done with the surprises. We got good looks at a very small, short tailed, large winged storm-petrel with a nearby Black Storm-Petrel. Now if it had been August or September, I don’t think we would have hesitated to call a Least Storm-Petrel, tick it off the day’s list, and continue, but this is mid June?? Fortunately, the photographers helped us out again. In fact, there was another photo taken some hours earlier of a Least Storm-Petrel, so two were seen today. A subsequent trip four days after this one, on June 18th, looked to prove the continuing presence of Least Storm-Petrels, and found six.

The return to the harbor gave us good looks at a Rhinoceros Auklet and a Red-necked Phalarope, both out of season, but neither particularly rare. We also had some nice looks at Least Terns just off the Point.

We returned to the Grande slip at 7 p.m., tired but successful. Our thanks to owner and Captain James McDaniels, Captains Jimmy and Charlie, and deck hand and cook Oscar for another great day on the water.

Species list:
Mallard *
Surf Scoter * 6
Pink-footed Shearwater
Buller’s Shearwater 17
Sooty Shearwater
Black-vented Shearwater
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Least Storm-Petrel 2
Brown Booby 23
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron *
Great Egret *
Snowy Egret *
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Red-necked Phalarope 1
South Polar Skua
Scripps’s Murrelet
Craveri’s Murrelet 20
Cassin’s Auklet
Rhinoceros Auklet 4
Heermann’s Gull
Western Gull
Least Tern
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Elegant Tern
Rock Pigeon *
Barn Swallow (1 on the 30 Mile Bankplus several seen on San Diego Bay).

* Seen on San Diego Bay only

Mammals
Blue Whale
Bottle-nosed Dolphin (inshore)*
Bottle-nosed Dolphin (offshore)
Common Dolphin sp. (some Long-beaked)
California Sea Lion

Reptiles
Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Fish
shark sp.
Mola mola
Pacific Bonito
Yellowfin Tuna

Insect
Dragonfly sp.

Dave Povey
www.sandiegopelagics.com or socalbirding.com

Hello Sea birders, this is the April 25, 2015 Buena Vista Audubon and Grande pelagic trip report.

Thirty-five birders, five leaders, and two boat-crew met for our trip out of San Diego Bay. Paul Lehman gave a brief onshore orientation. Leaders were Paul, Bruce Rideout, Peter Ginsburg, Justyn Stahl, and myself. The Grande was captained today by Jimmy Merrill and crewed by Oscar. We cast off under cloudy skies. The forecast this morning gave us a nice weather window early, but with winds expected to increase from the west as the afternoon went along. Paul and Jimmy made the decision to forego the normal relaxed looks around San Diego Bay and inshore to press for offshore waters early, so we could have the increased winds and waves behind us the rest of the day. That worked out perfectly.

We did slow down to take a look at each of the harbor entrance buoys, as they have often held Brown Boobies this year. The number 5 buoy was empty, but we found an immature Brown Booby sitting atop the number 3 buoy. The last buoy in the line is the San Diego Buoy, at 3 n.m., and there we hit the mother lode – five Brown Boobies on the buoy, with another 7 around the immediate area. Nice show!

I can’t predict how long this recent dramatic expansion of Brown Booby into our area will last. It could be a permanent change, or perhaps just ephemeral. Just a few years ago any booby sighting would be rare. Brown boobies have now been seen as far north as Alaska. Since mid-2014 we can motor fifteen minutes out of San Diego Bay and have an excellent chance of seeing multiple Brown Boobies. Dare I say we can now count on it!

The Booby show kind of overshadowed the Pacific Loons flooding by just beyond the Whistle Buoy. Most, if not all, were in breeding plumage, with the gray heads and necks and white scapulars. We did see a few northbound Pacific Loons all day and at all distances offshore, but the vast majority of the nearly 400 seen today were in this 3 to 5 n.m. zone.

This inshore area turned up a few Black-vented Shearwaters as well. This is getting on the late side for this otherwise common species, so we were happy to get a dozen to study. Black-vented Shearwaters return in early spring to the nesting islands off the central coast of Baja California some 300 n.m. south of San Diego. They will return here in the late summer.

A nice surprise in this same area was a rather inshore Pink-footed Shearwater. This Southern Hemisphere species looks somewhat similar to our Black-vented Shearwater, but is larger and has a slower wing beat, longer glide, a pink base to the bill, and of course, pink feet. A close up comparison of these two species is always nice.

Normally Pink-footed and Black-vented Shearwaters are separated by both season and distance from shore. Pink-footed Shearwaters are in the greatest numbers in the summer, and are usually seen further offshore – often along the outer edge of the Nine Mile Bank and further out. Black-vented Shearwater is most abundant in the winter months and often seen from just outside the surf line or kelp beds to 5-6 n. miles.

We did have good numbers of Pink-footed Shearwater all day. They are a crowd pleaser and a photographers dream bird. They also make the chummer look good, as they make repeated close passes to the chummed gull flock, circle, and stick with the boat for a considerable distance. I counted eight following the boat at one time. Some approached the boat as close as ten feet, and one even flew directly over the heads of the passengers in the stern at no more than arm’s length.

The deep water just inside the Nine Mile Bank turned up several pairs of Scripps’s Murrelets, though the first seen was a solo bird that might have had a mate in a nest burrow on the nearby Coronado Islands. Conditions for spotting small alcids on the water were only fair today with the wind and waves, so to have 28 Scripps’s Murrelets for the day was an indication of this being the peak season locally. I’d guess if we had flat calm conditions our total might have been much higher.

Our arrival on the Nine Mile Bank was marked with our first well-seen Sooty Shearwater. This is another Southern Hemisphere species, nesting primarily on islands off of New Zealand, Australia, and southern South America. Their migration into the California Current is one of the most impressive migrations in the animal world. Sooty Shearwaters satellite-tagged in New Zealand were found to be feeding near Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, then traveled to the west coast of North America and up into the Gulf of Alaska in the Northern Hemisphere summer. Other sooties were found to go to areas off Japan, and yet others to the west coast of South America. Some of the estimated world population of 20 million Sooty Shearwaters do this in a single calendar year. Today most of our sooties were in singles and small groups of up to five, split into two plumage groups – those in fresh plumage and those in heavy wing molt. The latter showing what appeared to be a light bar on the upper wing, but which was actually the light colored bases of the flight feathers (normally covered by the now missing feathers).

The Nine Mile Bank also had a few miscellaneous species such as a flight of three Cassin’s Auklets. Distant and poorly seen, these were the only Cassin’s Auklets for the day. Usually one of the more expected species, they are typically quite boat shy, so often not well seen. We had small groups of Elegant Terns and Least Terns here as well, and would see both species all the way to the inner edge of the Thirty Mile Bank. One Parasitic Jaeger flew down the left side of the boat. Several Surf Scoters crossed our bow headed north. Two somewhat offshore Double-crested Cormorants checked out our gull flock, and we had our first of perhaps 2 to 4 Fin Whales of the day.

We pressed on to the west still hoping to beat the forecasted increase in afternoon winds, moving over the escarpment and out into the deep water of the San Diego Trough. The drop-off here is created by the Coronado – Palos Verdes fault. Marine charts show a series of eleven 50-fathom contours, starting at 100 fathoms then dropping off another 550 fathoms. That makes a 3300 ft. escarpment face!

We increased the number of following Pink-footed Shearwaters and quickly added a Black-footed Albatross. Black-footed Albatross is not always the easiest bird to get in San Diego County waters, though fairly common much further offshore in spring and summer. Depending on the exact location, these offshore waters might “belong” to L.A. County, Ventura County, or even Mexico. The closest point of land determines the jurisdiction, and because San Clemente Island belongs to L.A. County, most of the offshore waters do as well, since the Island is the closest point of land offshore, despite being right out in front of San Diego. As it turned out today we needn’t have worried – we picked up a second and then a third Black-footed Albatross, all well within San Diego County waters.

Most of the rest of the afternoon we had one or more Black-footed Albatross behind, in front, or alongside the boat. They even followed us back onto the Nine Mile Bank on our return, perhaps helped by the increasing winds at that time of the day.

The Trough held most of the Red-neck Phalaropes we saw over the day, which occurred in small groups of 10s and 20s, most now in alternate or well on the way to that plumage. Mid San Diego Trough we picked up our first few Black Storm-Petrels. I understand the distress some birders were feeling here –these stormies would dart in, get lost in the swell and wind wave, change direction, and then be reported in a completely different side of the boat. That frustration would end as we drove to the southeast corner of the Thirty Mile Bank and started north along the inner slope. We found more and more Black Storm-Petrels until we came upon a raft of about a thousand! For the next 15 minutes these guys swirled around the boat and gave us as good a look as one could expect, with a few birds coming in to a cod liver oil slick 75 to 100 ft. from the boat. A single Ashy Storm-Petrel was called out here, but even with its smaller size, lighter coloration, and more fluttery flight style, it was extremely hard to pick out of the mob of Black Storm-Petrels.

We also picked up our first Northern Fulmar, and then had several more of the darker, smoky gray-morph birds. We had a good number more as we returned south over our original track.

Before we left the Bank, we got a group of eight Sabine’s Gull that flew by. I had someone nearby say he wished we’d gotten a better look at them, and as soon as said, another Sabine’s Gull flew by, then another, and then a third – all as if following the original group. A couple more were called out at a distance, and then they were gone.

This area offshore produced a number of Pomarine Jaegers, almost all with nice tail “spoons”. As we returned towards the Nine Mile Bank, we had Pom after Pom streak into the gull flock, with several picking at the Popcorn the gulls were after. Among this flood of Pomarine Jaegers was a beautiful, nearly black, dark-morph bird. I’m sure it was the subject of a good number of photographs. At least I heard a lot of shutters clicking.

Both Pomarine Jaeger and Sabine’s Gull breed in the high Arctic. They, along with Red-necked Phalaropes, winter at sea – Sabine’s Gull off the west coast of South America. Red-necked Phalaropes and Pomarine Jaeger also make it below the equator, but some Pomarine Jaegers may linger as far north as California in winter.

Our return to the Nine Mile Bank was marked with a spectacular breaching Fin Whale. This whale made a series of full length and half-length breaches that received lots of ooohs and aahs. Nothing like a 75-80 ft. whale suspended in the air then crashing back to the surface. We did also see a second (or third ?) Fin Whale in another direction here.

Returning to San Diego Bay we came across a spot of fast moving, feeding Pink-footed Shearwaters, Brown Boobies, Least Terns, and Elegant Terns, with the usual Brown Pelicans, gulls and cormorants. This appeared to be over a feeding school of Pacific Bonito.

This turned out to be a very nice day of seabirding. We did have a miss or two, most notably Red Phalarope, but overall we got everything we could reasonable expect. The weather, though not great for small alcids on the water, made for nice flight conditions for tube-noses (albatrosses, fulmars, shearwaters, and storm-Petrels), yet was fairly easy on the passengers. Skies were dark overcast, partly cloudy, and mostly sunny at various points during the day. Winds were 8-12 kts. in the a.m.; as low as 5 kts. mid-morning; and 12-15 kts. from the west in the p.m. Air temps were in the upper 60s and low 70s. The swell was mostly 3-5 ft., with a 2-3 ft. wind wave. Sea Surface temps were mostly 64-65; close to normal after a winter of a much warmer than normal water temperatures.

Dave Povey
www.sandiegopelagics.com

Species List for San Diego Bay
Mallard
Surf Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night- Heron
Osprey
Heermann’s Gull
Western Gull
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Elegant Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
European Starling

Species List for the ocean
Surf Scoter
Pacific Loon
Black-footed Albatross
Northern Fulmar
Pink-footed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Black-vented Shearwater
Ashy Storm Petrel
Black Storm Petrel
Brown Booby
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Marbled Godwit
Red-necked Phalarope
Scripps’s Murrelet
Cassin’s Auklet
Sabine’s Gull
Heermann’s Gull
Western Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Least Tern
Elegant Tern

Hello Seabirders.

This is the trip report for Saturday, October 4, 2014.

We met at Point Loma Sportfishing Landing under a bright moon and the wispy high clouds left behind by Hurricane Rachel. This has been an unusual hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific. Major tropical storms and hurricanes usually form well down in southern Mexico and track out to the west, or fall apart below the tip of Baja California. This year most of these storms have formed into hurricanes, and have tracked up the Baja Coast. Three have stuck Baja Sur. One, Hurricane Odile, made a direct hit on Cabo San Lucas, as a category 3, on Sept. 21, 2014. This did major damage to the Cape District, stranding many tourists, closing down the airport, cut roads, and left residents without shelter and services. We all wish our southern neighbors the best in these difficult times.

None of the hurricanes have reached San Diego with anything more than an elevated swell, some thunderheads in our mountains, and the occasional day or two of wind. Fishermen here believe these storms push warmer than normal water into the Southern California Bight. Climatologist may argue than the warmer than normal waters are why the hurricanes are more frequent, and track so far north. So the “Chicken and the egg” argument may apply. Regardless, the sea surface temperatures here are unusually warm and that has had an effect on the birds we see offshore. I would love to say that the warm water as brought us all kinds of southern rarities, but the result seems to be more along the lines of depressing the normal south bound migration, and push some of our regular fall birds further north. That said, the waters locally have cooled somewhat, though another Hurricane this one named Simon is currently pushing up the Baja Coast!

Ok, on to the report. We departed the dock, after Paul Lehman gave his orientation. Leaders were Peter Ginsburg, Paul Leman, Guy McCaskie, Jimmy McMorran, Gary Nunn, Dave Povey, and Justyn Stahl. We had two captains onboard with Charlie and Jimmy sharing wheelhouse duties.

We did the quick version drive by of the bait docks. Now with a much increased number of BRANDT’S CORMORANTS. Then did a brief scan of Ballast Point, for the group of five BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, and one AMERICAN X BLACK OYSTERCATCHER (see the Sept. 21st. trip report for details), we also had a couple of WHIMBRELS there.

We followed the same track south that worked so well on the September trip for drawing in Brown Booby. We had three then, so why not a repeat now? Well, under the category of never count your chickens, or…boobies until… We saw none! We did get lots of looks at RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, many close-in. They seem to gather in this area where the tide flow stirs the water. Notably the water temps were only about 68 degrees there, most 71-74 elsewhere. We saw had an EARED GREBE here, actually a regular winter bird near shore.

We follow the Mexican Border west, actually WNW at this point, for more phalaropes, and a sprinkling of BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS, we even had one BLACK STORM-PETREL before the Nine Mile Bank. The “Bank” was not especially productive and we continued west to the south end of the Thirty Mile Bank. We picked up a few CASSIN’S AUKLETS along the way.

The chummed gull flock that we took along with us, changed from mostly HEERMANN’S GULLS in shore, to mostly WESTERN GULLS offshore, with the occasional CALIFORNIA GULL. Next month California Gull’s numbers will overtake Westerns and become the most abundant species out there.

In the way of non-bird sightings along the way, we found an area of whale activity, which included a couple of HUMPBACK WHALES, a distant very tall spout, perhaps a Blue or Fin Whale, and maybe 20-30 SHORT-FINNED PILOT WHALES. Pilot Whales here are somewhat rare here, though much more regularly seen just to our south. Pilot Whales like Orcas are large dolphin. Pilot Whale groups are matriarchal, but may have one or two large male traveling with them.

One large animal gave us nice looks as it swam parallel, and close in for some distance before giving us a tail lob, and a dive.

By the way the Short-finned moniker refers to the pictorial fins, not the rather large bulky dorsal fin seen well each time the animal surfaces. Nice show and hopefully some good photos

The numbers of storm-petrels has increased slightly over the Sept. trip. These birds were not particularly cooperative, but a slim few did manage to get close enough for a brief looks. I did see one LEAST STORM-PETREL without binoculars.

All four expected dark storm-petrels were seen today. A few Black Storm-Petrels gave us some satisfying looks.

BLACK STORM-PETREL is the largest, and most numerous here. They have deep wing stroked, fairly steady straight flight, short glides. They appear dark black, somewhat short tailed, and large winged. Note a pale carpel bar. They nest in numbers on the nearby Los Coronados Islands.

ASHY STORM-PETRELS appear gray/brown, have a long tail look, a shallow wing beat. They appear somewhat shorter winged. Can show a lighter gray/brown rump. Fluttery flight with lots of glides. A small number nest on the Coronado Is.

LEACH’S STORM-PETREL (dark-rumped). Commonest storm-petrel well offshore (50 n.m. or more). Bounding flight, sudden and erratic changes to flight direction, and speed. Bold carpal bars. Deeply fork tailed. May have traces of white, or light gray on the edges of the rump. A fair number of the chapmani ssp. nest on the Coronado Is.

LEAST STORM-PETREL An irruptive species here. Can be in very large numbers in fall, or nearly absent. Very small size, easiest to separate when seen with a nearby Black Storm-Petrel. Almost a “no tail look” when first seen. Steady quick wing beats, somewhat bat like. Very brief or no glides. Uniformly dark in appearance. Nest on islands off central and southern Baja.

We did extend our trip up the bank into the areas where rafts have been regularly found in past seasons. Today if anything they seemed even quieter than areas we’d come through to the south and east.
I am often asked why we don’t chum or spread an oil slick for our storm-petrels. Most folks have seen the masses of Wilson’s and other storm-petrel species off the east coast. Oil slicks can work here with some limited success, particularly Black Storm-Petrels, but nothing like what is seen on the east coast. That may have something to do with the ever present hoards of offshore gulls . Storm-petrels are preyed upon by them on the local breeding islands. Then some species seem to be downright boat shy as with Ashy and Least Storm-Petrel. We always drag a bag of tuna or other fish parts in hopes that something will follow the scent trail. Interestingly Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, seen here very rarely, do seem to be attracted to oil trails.

The return southeast gave us a quick look at two CRAVERI’S MURRELETS at medium range, but they were up and gone before we could get more than just a very few alert bow riding birders on them. I believe that is another species that may have pushed past us from the south to areas north of us. Always a tough bird to get onto in less the conditions are perfect. Most flush and fly long ahead of normal spotting range.

Back over the San Diego Trough we got great looks at another non-bird species, the seldom seen STRIPED MARLIN. This 6 ft. long billfish preformed a dozen or so leaps just a few hundred feet from the boat. A number of good photos were taken there.

We did get looks at a number of POMARINE JAEGERS today. I recall only one with the classic large tail spoons. Likely most are young or in molt.

A single juvenile SABINE’S GULL came into the stern, and stayed just long enough for most of the boat to have a look.

An ARCTIC TERN was seen well ahead of the boat. All three species Pomarine Jaeger, Sabine’s Gull, and Arctic Tern are Arctic breeders, and migrate past us to points south. The Arctic tern famously so, to waters around Antarctica; Sabine’s Gulls to the waters off South America. A few Pomarine Jaegers will stay locally, but many will continue on down the West Coast of Mexico.

Getting a PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER took us until early afternoon to tick off our list. Once that was done several made runs at the gull flock from the front and rear of the boat. Getting a Pink-footed Shearwater is not usually an issue here. Though a breeder from islands off of Chile. They are headquartered off the west coast of Baja, and Southern California, in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter, our summer. This maybe another species that pushed well passed us, in this warm water year.

I took a look at notes from comparable dates last year, Oct. 5, 2013 when 120 were counted, then on Oct. 13, 2013 for 500. Today’s total was 10, and that is actually an improvement over the Sept. 21, 2014 trip where we had 1 !

Sooty Shearwater was missed altogether today. That species is not expected in any numbers this time of year, but we usually pick up a few.

We did some zigzags down the Nine Mile Bank for better looks at some of the common species, and a nice pod of COMMON DOLPHIN that came to the bow.

The last interesting bird of the day was an odd nearly all white gull – likely a luecistic (lacking normal pigment) juvenile Western Gull. This bird was seen just outside the bay mid channel.

List of Bird Species

dabbling duck sp.
Eared Grebe
Pink-footed Shearwater
Black-vented Shearwater
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Black Strom-Petrel
Least Storm-Petrel
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret.
Black-crowned Night-Heron
American X Black Oystercatcher
Black Oystercatcher
Whimbrel
Red-necked Phalarope
Red Phalarope
Pomarine Jaeger
Craveri’s Murrelet
Cassin’s Auklet
Sabine’s Gull
Heermann’s Gull
Western Gull
California Gull
Common Tern ( reported later by a few observers )
Arctic Tern
Royal Tern
Elegant Tern
Rock Pigeon

List of Marine mammals

Humpback Whale
Common Dolphin
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Northern Elephant Seal
California Sea Lion

List of Fish

Blue Shark
Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish)
California Flying Fish
Striped Marlin

Invertebrates

Velella velella (By the Wind Sailors)

Hello Seabirders, this is the report for the Grande Buena Vista Audubon Society Pelagic trip out of San Diego, Sept. 21, 2014.

We gathered in the dark hours of the morning, in shirtsleeve weather and under partly cloudy skies. We loaded promptly, as boats and fisherman were coming and going at a hectic pace. Another boat was waiting for us to clear the dock for their arrival. Fishing has been nothing short of amazing this year – maybe the best in twenty or more years. The craziness around the docks is a result. Dave Povey gave a quick orientation, Capt. Jimmy a safety talk, and we were away from the docks and all the hustle and bustle, to the world of magic, mystery, and a timeless pace.

Leaders for this trip were Tom Blackman, Jon Feenstra, Greg Gillson, Brennan Mulrooney, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, and BJ Stacey. Our first stop the bait docks for photo ops of pelicans, cormorants, herons, egrets, gulls, and a large group of loafing California Sea Lions. We then moved down the channel to Ballast Point. The outer edge of the Point was loaded with hundreds of Heermann’s Gulls. We were about to pull away when a sharp-eyed spotter picked up on the bright scarlet bills of oystercatchers. We turned back to view eight BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, and a white-bellied AMERICAN “type” OYSTERCATCHER (a hybrid between an American and a Black). BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS are near the southern end of their range here in San Diego, while AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS are at the northern end of theirs. So any oystercatcher is a good bird here, but a “pure” American would have been a real prize.

After leaving Ballast Point we moved down the channel, and immediately had a PARASITIC JAEGER in a high twisting chase of an ELEGANT TERN right off the bow. These aerial displays always amaze all hands. We varied our usual course to proceed southeast towards Imperial Beach and the border with hopes of a booby sighting. Sometimes things work as planned. We got looks at three different BROWN BOOBIES in a variety of plumages. We saw a dark juvenile, a female, and a very cooperative adult male BROWN BOOBY that flew right over the stern of the boat. The males of this Western Mexico subspecies of BROWN BOOBY (brewsteri) have a frosted white head. I saw a number of nice photos taken of this bird.

The sea conditions were very nice, and birds were cooperating early, so we turned north. Next on the cruise plan was a look for CRAVERI’S MURRELETS. They have been fairly reliable around the 100-200 fathom area inside the top of the Nine Mile Bank. We managed to spring a pair of murrelets heading up there, then found a number of CASSIN’S AUKLETS as well.

We then moved off to the west and on to the Nine Mile Bank. Our hope was that we’d pick up more murrelets here, but it turned out we had better success on the way home. Our consolation prize on the Bank was a nice look at a BLUE WHALE. We usually don’t chase whales, but never ignore them when they are close in. This whale gave us several blows off the bow then waved goodbye with nicely raised flukes.

We had now left most of the inshore birds behind. RED-NECKED PHALAROPES had been the most abundant on the way out, with groups from a few birds up to 50 or more scattered all around the outflow plume from San Diego Bay’s tide changes. Whatever planktonic food items they pick from the surface must be abundant here. We also left behind most of the BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS. Normally this is an inshore species often seen from the beach, sometimes as close as the surf line. They are rarely seen beyond the Nine Mile Bank, but this summer they have been seen in the thousands well west of their normal haunts, some all the way out to the Cortez and Tanner Banks, 125 n.m. offshore. Today our numbers of BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER were lower, but some were seen all the way out on the Thirty Mile Bank, and all participants got great views of this regional specialty.

We did drag along a good size group of gulls that we had been chumming for in order to create excitement and draw in other seabirds. We also had a sack of tuna parts hanging on the stern for the odors and oil that attract seabirds. This turned up the first of several PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS. This southern hemisphere breeder is normally our most abundant shearwater offshore, and a good indicator of active seabird feeding. So having only three PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS for the day was surprising, but they were very cooperative and everyone got great views. We did chase a very distant pod of COMMON DOLPHIN that had a flock of birds with it, but after 15 minutes it was clear we were not making headway on the fast moving dolphin, so we returned to course. The San Diego Trough is a featureless deep area between the Nine Mile and Thirty Mile Banks that is notorious for causing a long dry stretch in the day’s ride. Today was no different, but we did have a few BLACK STORM-PETRELS, a POMARINE JAEGER, and a few COMMON and ELEGANT TERNS along the way. The apparent breeze was nice, as the day was actually starting to get a little warmer than we West Coasters are use to.

The cruise up the inner portion of the Thirty Mile Bank did not yield the large storm-petrel rafts we get most years, possibly because they were staying further north due to our exceptionally warm water this year. Today’s sea surface temps ran from 71 to near 76 degrees F. The normal range here would be around 68-70 F for this time of year.

We then turned the boat southeast to head towards home, and immediately heard a cry go up from the bow – we had stumbled on a pair of CRAVERI’S MURRELETS, and a few sharp-eyed observers got excellent photos as they flew off. As we lost our cooling breeze heading through the Trough, most birders found the shade of the Grande superstructure to offer the best relief from the sun. It also turned out to be the best side of the boat for our last few highlights. Two SABINE’S GULLS caught up to our gull flock – one a very nice alternate plumage adult, and the other a juvenile, and the outer edge of the Nine Mile Bank turned up the only SOOTY SHEARWATER of the trip. Sooties can be abundant in the spring and remain in some numbers all summer, but not this year. A recent 5 day pelagic through the whole southern California Bight recorded only five!

The Bank also produced a couple more BLUE WHALES, though more distant than the one seen this morning. One result of the very warm waters was multiple sightings of large HAMMERHEAD SHARKS over the course of the day, some very close to the boat, along with dozens of FLYING FISH. The Vella vella, the small jellyfish known as “BY THE WIND SAILORS” that have been so abundant this summer were nearly absent today.

Just as we were approaching Point Loma we had a couple more brushes with CRAVERI’S MURRELETS, including a bird that was on the water close in to the shady side of the boat where a good number of observers finally got a decent look at that species.

List of bird species seen (* seen in San Diego Bay only);
Cinnamon Teal
Eared Grebe
Pink-footed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Black-vented Shearwater
Black Storm-Petrel
Brown Booby
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron*
Great Egret*
Snowy Egret*
Black-crowned Night-Heron*
American X Black Oystercatcher*
Black Oystercatcher*
Marbled Godwit
Red-necked Phalarope
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Common Murre (4 seen by a couple of observers)
Craveri’s Murrelet
Cassin’s Auklet
Sabine’s Gull
Heermann’s Gull
Western Gull
California Gull
Common Tern
Elegant Tern

List of Marine mammals;
Blue Whale
Common Dolphin
Harbor Seal
California Sea Lion

Fish sp.:
Scalloped Hammerhead Shark
Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish)
California Flying Fish

Dave Povey
www.socalbirding.com

We gathered at the Point Loma Sport Fishing Landing docks for check- in and were lead down to the Grande by Guy McCaskie. Paul Lehman ran us through an orientation to the boat and sea birding in general.

This morning was overcast, as is the norm for this time of year. Lovingly called the “June Gloom” by locals. Easier on the eyes than bright sun. Winds were light, but the last few days have had some rather strong winds out to the west. Grande has been in major yard and dockside maintenance and this is our first trip since January aboard her. She still has more work to be done and fishing season is now on.

The trip was sold out with all 48 spots filled, and we had 8 leaders onboard. Peter Ginsburg, Paul Lehman, Guy McCaskie, Gary Nunn, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Matt Sadowski, and B J Stacey. The run down the bay was uneventful, though we did get a look at the Bait Docks as they are now back in their normal moorings, just inside Ballast Point. Lots of the usual pelicans, cormorants, herons, egrets, and gulls, plus a pile of California Sea Lions.

We did a quick cruise by Ballast Point, and were escorted to sea by a couple of Black Skimmers, dozens of the newly arrived Elegant Terns, and Heermann’s Gulls. We got looks at a few Bottle-nosed Dolphin just at the harbor entrance, which seems a regular area for them when they are not actually up in the bay’s inner channel.

Once at sea the life dropped off. The May 17th trip had hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters as close as two miles out. Today nothing one would consider pelagic. We did eventually find a fair number of Sooties along the inner edge of the Nine Mile Bank. There were also a number of Cassin’s Auklets there. Both feed on krill, so that may indicate that the small shrimp-like creature is available there. We also had the day’s only Black-vented Shearwater give us a decent look flying across the bow. That species is a local specialty, and can be very abundant in the late fall and winter months. In the spring they withdraw to their few breeding islands some 250 miles below the border. About 90% of Black-vented Shearwaters breed on just one island, Natividad.

Crossing the Nine Mile Bank we found things again on the quiet side. This bank can have amazing amounts of life, but for whatever reason this year’s results here have been off. Perhaps it’s warmer than normal water, a change of food source, or any of a dozen other factors. Fortunately the San Diego Trough, which is best known for our attempt to get across it as quickly as possible, has had a fair amount of life this spring, and that was the case today – all our good sightings coming here.

First, a distant immature Brown Booby. That bird, although seen by all, was just not very satisfying. I thought our chummed gull flock had turned the bird, but in the end it flew off and away from us. Next good sighting was a flushed, and seen by only a few, murrelet species. Photos later suggested this was a Scripps’s Murrelet. Now to have that happen with two of the hoped for species of the day was not what we leaders wanted! We may get a Brown Booby once every second or third trip, and Scripps’s Murrelet, although common on late winter and early spring trips, is nearing its departure date for parts further north. Paul had already sighted two pairs off Humboldt County – that being much further north than one would expect! Well, we got redemption on both species. First a close in sitting on the water adult female Brown Booby, which then put on a plunge dive display for the whole right side of the boat. Later we eased alongside a pair of –Scripps’s Murrelets — which allowed a prolonged look, even though sea conditions were not ideal. Sometimes you do get a second chance. Turns out that our sure Scripps’s Murrelets were not! Photos later showed that we had actually seen two Craveri’s Murrelets. These birds were so much earlier than any of us expected for Craveri’s that they just slipped by us!! I know I’m thoroughly embarrassed as I’d seen more than 40 of them last summer and should have picked up on them. Scripps’s normally depart about now, but we can have stragglers through the summer months. Guadalupe Murrelets are next with that species seen from July into the fall. Craveri’s Murrelets have been recorded in July but I wouldn’t expect them until August. Well these two Craveri’s Murrelets didn’t read the book. Thanks to digital photography, and sharp-eyed passengers, we got things corrected. My (our) sincere apologies for the missed call at the time. Lesson learned!

Forgive me a brief editorial. Something is clearly going on with Baja California seabirds. I think most folks are thinking El Niño, which is predicted, but has not yet actually occurred (as of June 5th. NOAA report, “El Nino watch”). The above early Craveri’s Murrelets are only the latest in several events, starting with the Blue-footed Booby invasion along the west coast last fall. This year we have seen Red-billed Tropicbirds off San Diego in April and May. Cruise ship observers have had them north to Monterey, and Scripps’s Murrelets have be seen off Humboldt Co. (Paul Lehman, et. al.). Those again well north of their expected post breeding range. Next, the recent explosion of Elegant Terns in San Diego Bay. These terns are believed to have abandoned their breeding sites in the Sea of Cortez and are now nesting here. The large and early influx of Heermann’s Gulls is likely due to them following the Elegant Terns north. The local Southern California waters have been warmer than normal (sea-surface temperature inside the Channel Islands). Reports from the fishing community in the Sea of Cortez say those waters are ahead of expected summer warming.

The Pacific Sardine population here has been in decline. Fishermen in the Sea of Cortez have described it as a complete collapse. The Northern Anchovy locally has replaced the sardines, and seems on the upswing, so forage fish here remain good. That is not the case in the Sea of Cortez. So the simple answer is…. I have no answer. Clearly we are seeing a dramatic change. The next months well gave us more clues. What birds will show up in the mean time??? That will be interesting to see!

Back to the trip report

The San Diego Trough also gave us our best looks at a number of storm-petrels. Black Storm-Petrels are the common and occasional abundant storm-petrel species off San Diego. We really had no great numbers today, but enough that all hands got decent looks at them. They are the largest storm-petrel here, very dark with a brownish carpal bar. They have a direct flight, with deep even wing strokes, and appear long winged.

We also had a fair number of Ashy Storm-Petrels, including six together in a group. Maybe 13 for the day. A very good number for San Diego waters. Ashies are a smaller browner storm-petrel, with a shorter winged look, shallower wing stroke, less direct flight, a longer tailed look, and can show paler brown rump and gray wing lining if seen in the right lighting and angle.

Last, we had a Leach’s Storm-Petrel. Many of our local Leach’s are the chapmani subspecies and may show a good bit of white, some white, very little white, or no white at all, on the rump. This bird actually showed a rump patch at the all white end of the spectrum. Leach’s are best told by the small size, long winged look, bounding fight and crazy directional changes. This was one of the better San Diego birds of the day. Although common well offshore, they can be a difficult storm-petrel to find inshore. The San Diego Co. line lies half-way to San Clemente Is., and that cuts San Diego Co. waters off from most of Leach’s Storm-Petrel’s normal habitat.

We came up with two very worn looking Northern Fulmar for the day. That species is not expected this time of year, but a few seem to get “stranded” in the Southern California Bight each spring, and may survive into early summer. Also somewhat late was a rather pale alternate plumage or incomplete molt Red Phalarope. Perhaps a male, as they have the more subdued breeding plumage. The bird flew and settle nearby for several good views, and photos.

While we were maneuvering to stay out of the way of an operating navy ship and looking at various storm-petrels, we came on a Black-footed Albatross sitting on the water. This species is also regular well west of San Diego waters, and can be somewhat tough to get locally. May and June seem to be among the more reliable months here, but they can be missed on many trips inside the Thirty Mile Bank, so that was a good bird to get checked off.

The south end of the Thirty Mile Bank and the Mexican border has been a “go to spot” recently. Today that area let us down. Interestingly, we did see a Least Tern there. I am always amazed at how far these guys forage from shore. Elegant Terns also regularly forage at these distances but one could imagine much less energy expended on their part. Least Terns must find an abundance of food, less competition, or other factors to travel all that distance (20-30 n.m. from the beach).

Speaking of terns, we got an amazing show just two or three miles off the tip of Point Loma on the return. We found a large number of Elegants, and at least one each Royal and Forster’s Terns diving among the pelicans, cormorants, and gulls. Loads of small bait fish there.

Last, we took a look at Zuniga Jetty on the way in with no real expectation of anything other than the usual pelicans, cormorants and gull. So we were pleasantly surprised by a Black Oystercatcher there.

Dave Povey
www.socalbirding.com