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Trip Photos by Dave Pereksta, Matthew Binns and Dave Povey

- By Paul Lehman

The 15-17 October double-overnight pelagic trip aboard “Grande” from San
Diego to the shelf-edge just inside the San Juan Seamount visited waters
claimed by San Diego, Los Angeles, and Ventura County birders and was
blessed with light seas and winds throughout (although probably too light
for getting Pterodroma petrels up and flying!).

The highlights included:

Brown Booby:  1 sub-adult on 10/17 some 16 miles west of Point Loma (SD waters)

Red-billed Tropicbird: 2 just south of San Clemente Island on 10/15; one just 6 n. mi. south of San Clemente Island

South Polar Skua:  total of 3 (2 LA waters, 1 VEN waters); one just 3.5 n. mi. South of San Clemente Island.

hypoluecus Xantus’s Murrelet: total of at least 7 along shelf-edge, on 10/16

storm-petrel roost at north end of 30-Mile Bank (LA waters) of 1400 Least,  350 Black, and 1 Ashy–on 10/15

Black-footed Albatross: one seen (in LA waters) on 10/16, but low number typical for Oct

Also, excellent numbers of Pomarine Jaegers throughout, good numbers of
Pink-footed Shearwaters, with smaller numbers of Sooty and Black-vented,
fair numbers of Leach’s Storm-Petrels (mostly DARK-rumped) over the deep
water, several Sabine’s Gulls, 3 Northern Fulmars (all ratty looking so may
have over-summered), and a surprising 104 Common Terns (mostly on 9-Mile
Bank and waters just west of there).

A Common Murre was just a couple miles off Pt Loma on 10/17. A flock of Surf Scoters about 40 miles out on 10/17 were the first of this fall locally.

A couple American-type and 2 Black Oystercatchers continued at Ballast Point, SD, on 10/15.

In the “out-of-place” category were the flock of 13 Eared Grebes flying south far, far offshore out at the shelf-edge near the San Juan Seamount, and a Black Turnstone circling the boat out there as well–both on 10/16

Mammals & Fish:   4 Mola-mola; 100 California Sea Lions; 3 Guadalupe Fur Seals; 620 Common Dolphin; 20 Bottlenose Dolphin just outside the harbormouth; 18 Fin Whales; 1 Minke Whale;  and one or two Beaked Whales – following is Dave Povey’s account:  The beaked whale(s) was seen on Sunday afternoon west of the Worm Bank. We were approaching some larger whales, I believe Fins, when I saw a smaller whale maybe 50-75 yards off to our starboard 5 o’clock. The animal was small, I would say 20ft long (range of 18 -24). It showed a bulbous head, but no beak on surfacing, and no visable blow. The back was a smooth medium gray with no scars or marks, and a prominate but small dorsal set well aft (did not show at the same time as the head). No flukes were seen. The animal I saw surfaced three times, and I saw what I believed was one animal. Paul Lehman said he  saw two animals at this location. We circled back but did not see this whale(s) again.

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Tom Blackman Photo Stream

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Channel 8 Video of the Sea Otter

Union Tribune article of the Sea Otter

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Doug Aguillard, Pete Ginsburg, Vic Murayama, and I motored out of Mission Bay on the 14th. We cruised a circle route from s. w. La Jolla  to 17- 18 n. miles west of Ocean Beach, down the San Diego Trough to below the border then back across the lower Nine Mile Bank. Here is a list of notable species including some surprising misses.
N. Fulmar  4  (including one 200 yards from the Mission Beach Jetty)
Pink-ft. and Sooty Shearwaters  1000-1200 at the ratio of 2-3 Sooties to 1 Pink-foot.
Black -vented Shearwater   NOT SEEN
Black Storm Petrel    1 !!! ??
Red Phalarope   1Red-necked Phalarope  150 +
Sabine’s Gull   7  (2 adults, 2 sub adult or 1st summer, 3 Juvy or birds of the yr.) all in the same area mid lower Nine Mile Bank.
Common Tern 175+   Seen in two areas mid lower San Diego Trough, and inside the lower Nine Mile Bank.
Elegant Terns  8 (continues in very low numbers offshore ? )
Cassin’s Auklet  15  lower Nine Mile Bank.
Pomarine Jaeger  11
Parasitic Jaeger  5
jaeger sp  2-3
mammals;
Blue Whale   3-5  15 n. miles west of O.B.
Common Dolphin sp. many hundreds to < 1000 , in widely scattered groups of 30 to 50+ . Lots of small young (5-10%) in many groups.shearwaters did not seems as attrached to feedind dolphin, as trips this summer.
Two side notes; The area of bird concentration, mid lower San Diego Trough, were feeding on small (3 to 5 inch ) Pacific Sauries that were being chased to the surface by large squid (12-15 inch long, red in color, with short tenicles, foot tall squirts of water to push away from the surface. Perhaps young “Humboldts” ?). We did not note anything feeding on the squid.Birds here were Pink-footed Shearwater (in a ratio of 2 to 1 over Sooties), Brown Pelicans, Common Terns, and a couple of Elegant Terns.
The area of bird feeding concentration on the Nine Mile Bank was on tiny shrimp like “krill”, ( euphausides ).Birds here were; a large number of Sooty Shearwater (Pink-foots nearly absent), phalaropes,  Sabine’s Gulls, many Common Terns, and Cassin’s Auklets.
weather was heavy overcast, 1-2 ft swell, light s.w.breeze to calm. air temps upper 60′s, sea surface temps 63-67 F68 n. miles traveled.
Dave Povey

Dulzura

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(San Diego) The 95-foot live-aboard Searcher departed San Diego’s Fisherman’s Landing on a sunny, warm Labor Day afternoon, bound for a 5-day pelagic expedition through the Channel Islands, over deep water canyons and along the continental shelf-edge.  We headed to the Nine Mile Bank and worked our way slowly north in a zigzag fashion, following the life zones as we found them until the sunset as we were west of Oceanside.

The bird of the day was a San Diego County WILSON’S STORM-PETREL at the north end of the Nine Mile Bank, 15 n. miles northwest of La Jolla.  Throughout the day we totaled 10 Pomarine and 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 10 Common Terns, 100 Black Storm-petrels.   Shearwaters included 157 Pink-footeds, 579 Sooties and 4 Black-venteds.

Tuesday morning pre-dawn found us south of Anacapa Island.  As we wound our way around Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands we added Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Sabine’s Gull, Black Oystercatcher and Northern Fulmar to our lists.  On Tuesday afternoon as we were departing the Channel Islands to head west over the continental shelf to the edge.  At 3:22 p.m. (6 SEP 2011) Todd McGrath saw, called out, photographed and identified a WHITE-CHINNED PETREL as it came into chummer Adam Searcy’s slick. The bird followed Searcher in the wake for several moments allowing all onboard to get great views and photos.

White-chinned Petrel location:
34°10’4.47″N    *  120°22’19.07″W    *  5.5 n  (10.5 km) miles N of San Miguel  *  17 n. miles . (31.7 km) S of Pt Conception

Wednesday morning we awoke in deep water about 48 miles WSW of Point Conception, just south Arguello Canyon.  We rolled over the 948 spot (affectionately known to L.A. birders as “Mitch’s Bank”) before working our way south to the Rodriquez Dome.   Fun birds throughout the day included 5 SOUTH POLAR SKUA, 7 Buller’s Shearwaters, 20 Sabine’s Gulls and 8 Black-footed Albatrosses.  Our course south towards the San Juan Seamount was in the migration corridor for Arctic Terns (12) and their nemesis, Long-tailed Jaegers (33!).

Thursday morning we woke up at the 2000 fathom line (2 miles deep) about 20 miles north of the western edge of the Bell Bank.

During the day Adam’s chum slick attracted 24 more Black-footed Albatrosses which we enjoyed flying around the boat in varying numbers until dusk.  32 more Long-tailed Jaegers were spotted.  To the thrill of participants, throughout the day we totaled 12 RED-BILLED TROPICBIRDS (or as we call them, SEARCHER specialties), many of them circling repeatedly over SEARCHER.  11 of the 12 tropicbirds were seen in the morning in the deep (1000-2000 fathom) waters near the shelf edge north of the Bell Bank.

Near the Bell Bank we encountered a pod of 4-6  BAIRD’S BEAKED WHALES in the same area as we saw them from SEARCHER and GRANDE on two deep-water trips pelagic trips in 2010.

Throughout the day participants had ample opportunity to study 3 races of Leach’s Storm-Petrels   including (a) the nominate (O. l. leucorhoa) which breeds in the North Pacific from Alaska to California; (b) the southern breeding (mainly the Coronados and San Benito Islands) “Chapman’s” race (O.l. chapmani); and (c) the summer-breeding Guadalupe Island (Mexico) race, “Townsend’s” (O. l. socorroensis) that some authorities believe should be elevated to full species status.

Marine Mammals and fish for the trip included Mola Mola, Blue Shark, SPERM WHALES, Blue Whales, Fin Whales, Sea Otters (near the Channel Islands),  Guadalupe Fur Seals, Pacific White-sided Dolphin and Bottlenose Dolphin.

Special thanks to leaders (1) Todd McGrath, who threaded us through the canyons, seamounts and ridges of the California bight while finding and identifying birds at astounding distances;  (2) Paul Guris of east coast pelagic birding fame (www.paulagics.com) and (3) Adam Searcy who spent Monday – Friday attracting all manner of seabirds to SEARCHER with his concoctions of popcorn, fish-oil and fish-guts.

Thank-you, too, to Art Taylor and Celia Condit, owners of SEARCHER Natural History Tours, who block time every year from their natural history tours for a birding expedition enabling us to wander and ramble the California bight in search of common and rare seabirds (with frequent stops to witness the awesome spectacles of marine mammals).

It was a great week at sea.  There is nothing else quite like being out there – no TV, no cell phone, no computers, not traffic.  The September weather was fantastic, as it almost always is this time of year.  New friends were made, life birds logged, and fun was had by all.   Thanks again to Todd McGrath, Paul Guris and Adam Searcy for leading the trip, and thanks, too, to the participants who submitted photos for the trip report.

Baird’s Beaked Whales by David Kennedy

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By Dave Povey

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Scroll Down For: Trip Tracks By Matt Sadowski & eBird Totals By Jon Feenstra

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Trip Report by Paul E. Lehman

(San Diego) The double-overnight pelagic trip aboard “Grande” from 7AM Mon to 7AM Weds (15-17 Aug) to the edge of the continental shelf well southwest of San Diego (in both San Diego and, mostly, Los Angeles County waters) recorded some excellent birds. Inshore it was calm and with just a light breeze; out at the edge of the shelf there was a 15-20mph NW wind (good for pterodromas!) and moderate swell and chop. Highlights included:

As we left port Monday AM, there were THREE AMERICAN-type OYSTERCATCHERS (2

Americans and 1 hybrid-type is our best guess!) and 1 Black Oystercatcher at Ballast Point.

Inshore, Monday, we birded 9-Mile Bank and 30-Mile Bank, then headed SW. At the shelf-edge, Tuesday, we worked a ca. 44-nm line from NW to SE, mostly 87-95+nm south of San Clemente Island or 130-140nm SW of Point Loma.

DARK-RUMPED PETREL: around mid-day Tuesday, one flew by the bow and quickly away, seen adequately by only several on board, and as a “large pterodroma” by most others.

COOK’S PETREL:  one seen well by almost everyone near the back of the boat early on Tuesday.

LAYSAN ALBATROSS: one came in to the boat with Black-foots on Tuesday.

RED-BILLED TROPICBIRD: total of SEVEN (!) seen on trip, one late Monday near Butterfly Bank, 5 in one relatively short stretch along shelf-edge on Tuesday AM, and one on the way back in late Tues; excellent views of several of them right around boat

WILSON’S STORM-PETREL: one made a single pass past the bow and continued away in San Diego County waters on Monday, 17.5nm W of Point Loma

OTHER SPECIES SEEN INCLUDE:

Western Grebe:  1 swimming in ocean 17.5 miles offshore (!) on Monday

Black-footed Albatross: ca. 7 total, though difficult to determine total due to constant presence of birds behind the boat on Tues

Leach’s Storm-Petrel:  150+ total, including many dark-rumped; 2 in SD Co.

Ashy Storm-Petrel:  3 SD waters, 3 LA waters

1600 Black Storm-Petrels: 1500 of which in one raft on 9-Mile Bank

Least Storm-Petrel:  1 briefly seen by few in the large BLSP raft

Xantus’s Murrelet: 3 scrippsi near 30-mile Bank and 2 HYPOLEUCUS at shelf edge

Rhinoceros Auklet:  3 unseasonal birds total, 2 SD, 1 LA

Sabine’s Gull: 15, including several birds starting only 2-3 miles off Pt Loma

Long-tailed Jaeger: 11 total, with 4 in SD Co. waters

Arctic Tern: 4

and….. the usual Pink-foots, Sooties, Pomarines, phalaropes, Cassin’s, 15 Common Terns, etc….   two land birds landed on board–Eurasian Collared-Dove and Brown-headed Cowbird….  the dove rode with us all the way back to Point Loma after consuming several dishes of water and some French Toast.

In all, good numbers of birds at 9-Mile and 30-Mile Banks and then the usual long stretches with relatively few birds as one got well offshore, but there certainly was fine quality!!!

–Paul Lehman,  San Diego

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TRIP TRACKS BY MATT SADOWSKI

eBIRD TOTALS BY JON FEENSTRA

Day 1 – Nine Mile and Thirty Mile Banks, San Clemente Basin

Day 2 – At the shelf edge 135 nautical miles off shore – Matt’s Bank and the Bell Bank

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By Dave Povey

(San Diego) On Sunday Aug 21, 2011. Barbara Carlson, Matt Sadowski, Jim Pawlicki, and I, departed Mission Bay. We made did a circle past south La Jolla, then  s.w. to middle the San Diego Trough west of the north end of the Nine Mile Bank (18 n. miles). Then back down the middle of the “9″. This route was similar to the one done on Aug. 7, out of San Diego Bay, and reported by Paul Lehman.

The Mission Bay Jetty had 2-3 Black Turnstones (a.m.), a Surfbird (a.m.) and a Wandering Tattler (p.m.)
75+ Black-vented Shearwaters north bound with a like number of Sooties,
3-4 n. miles off s. La Jolla. This species was not seen on the 7th.
40 Sabine’s Gull seen groups of 2-6 birds, but we once had 10 in the air at the same time.  Most associated with the Common Dolphins pods off the escarpment of the Nine Mile Bank, and out to mid trough (12-18 n. miles). only 4 seen on the 7th.
30+ jaegers. 13-15 Pomarine, 6-7 Parasitic, and at least 4 and maybe as many as 7 Long-tailed Jaegers, with additional distant un I.D. jaegers .. We’d hoped to have photos aid in I.D.s and separating repeats, as they were coming at us from all directions on the dolphin pods. Several times we had 4,5 or 6 jaegers on a single Sabine’s Gull. Once three were Long-tailed Jaegers (sub adults), with an adult seen shortly after. 1 Long-tail, 2 Parasitic, and 8 Poms seen on the 7th.
4 Rhinoceros Auklets all west of the “9″. 3 seen on the 7th
No N. Fulmar today although 3 were seen on the 7th.
We found the raft of Black Storm Petrel (3000+?) on the outer edge of the “9″ maybe 2-3 n. miles above the border. This is the raft found by the Grande pelagic a few miles to the n.e. on 15th. Missed completely on the 7th though we made two passes through that area.
Long study and chumming could not produce any other species here.
2-4 Ashy Storm Petrels all beyond the escarpment.
4 Common Tern ( where are they?).
1 Elegant Tern offshore ??  150+ seen out there on the 7th. Too many jaegers, or more food closer to beach?
2 Cassin’s Auklets
1 Red Phalarope, 10 on the 7th
45-50 Red-necked Phalaropes, 100+ on the 7th.
2000+ Sooties, and Pink-foots at the ratio of about 4 or 5 to one, very similar to the  7th. Most following the dolphin.

Dave Povey
Dulzura

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By Paul Lehman

(San Diego) Today, Sunday, I went offshore with Dave Povey, Barbara Carlson, and Derek
and Jeanette Lovitch. Excellent numbers of birds just BEYOND 9-Mile Bank
(almost all associated with schools of Common Dolphins), but mediocre
numbers on the Bank proper. On both the way out and coming back in we had 3
osytercatchers on Ballast Point (inside mouth of San Diego Bay): TWO
AMERICAN-type OYSTERCATCHERS which I would call just slightly too much on
the hybrid side of things, plus one BLACK OYSTERCATCHER.  Totals offshore
were as follows:

3 NORTHERN FULMARS  (very rare in summer)
700 Pink-footed Shearwaters
800 Sooty Shearwaters
50 Black Storm-Petrels
100 Red-necked Phalaropes
10 Red Phalaropes
4 SABINE’S GULLS (including what looked like a fresh, full-blown JUVENILE,
which would seemingly be very early for this age)
80 Elegant Terns (feeding over the dolphin schools, 15+ miles offshore)
9 Pomarine Jaegers
1 Parasitic Jaeger
1 LONG-TAILED JAEGER (one-yr.-old, about 15-16 miles out)
3 XANTUS’S MURRELETS (all scrippsi; getting late)
12 Cassin’s Auklets
3 RHINOCEROS AUKLETS  (very rare in summer)
1 Brown-headed Cowbird (about 12 miles out)

–Paul Lehman,  San Diego

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By Todd McGrath

(Santa Barbara) Our July 23rd Condor Express trip enjoyed great weather, better company and an excellent variety of birds. We went out past the San Juan Seamount and covered many of the hot spots that have produced good birds in the past, and we were not disappointed.

Highlights were a rare July sighting of Manx Shearwater (well seen and photographed) a single Laysan Albatross that sat near the boat and enertained us for quite a few minutes as well as two separate Red-billed Tropicbirds that buzzed the boat in deepwater near the San Juan Seamount.

Long-tailed Jaegers as well as a South Polar Skua were also highlights.

Xantus’s muurelets were a treat, and we had nice views of multiple birds, all of the scippsi form.

2011 has featured cold nutrient rich water, and as a result we did not find Cook’s Petrel despite spending a lot of time in deep waters.

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eBird Trip Track by Jon Feenstra

Video with photos and trip tracks best viewed in full screen mode by clicking the rectangular “full screen” icon in the lower right hand corner of the window.  Click the “escape” button to return to normal view.

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SATURDAY 28 May 2011

(San Diego) North America’s most luxurious live-aboard birding vessel – SEARCHER – sailed on a three day adventure weekend to see seabirds and marine mammals. On the way out of the harbor we saw Caspian, Royal, Elegant and Least Terns. We stopped by the bait tanks to get close ups of the California Sea Lions, Black-crowned Night Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons and Brandt’s and Double-crested Cormorants.

Several miles out to sea we encountered our first Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters of the trip. At the Nine Mile Bank we encountered a BROWN BOOBY and our first Black Storm-Petrels. Windy conditions made for challenging alcid and storm-petrel viewing conditions. Crossing into the deep water between the Nine and Thirty Mile Banks we encountered two SABINE’S GULLS our first two BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES, two Xantus’s Murrelets, our first Cassin’s Auklets and several California Flying Fish in San Diego County waters.

Beyond the Thirty Mile Bank we crossed into Los Angeles County Waters encountering another Black-footed Albie and 100 Short-beaked Common Dolphin. Three Brown Pelicans were unusually far offshore 30 – 40 miles from the mainland.

We found quiet waters in San Clemente Island’s Pyramid Cove where we had dinner, spent the night, and breakfasted Sunday morning before riding the swells southeast to the Los Coronados Islands about 9 miles south of the US/Mexican border.

SUNDAY

We encountered our first SOUTH POLAR SKUA 6 miles southeast of San Clemente Island, and a second Skua 9 miles south east of the island, plus an alternate plumaged Red Phalarope and a Northern Fulmar. (LA County.)

We encountered eight ARCTIC TERNS about 35 miles wsw of Point Loma in LA County waters. Also seen between San Clemente and the Coronados Islands was a Fin Whale, an Ashy Storm-Petrel and 40 Leach’s Storm-petrels, at least 20 with white rumps (presumably nominate) and eleven dark-rumped (presumably Chapman’s) – the others too distant to identify to subspecies.

At the Los Coronados Islands we saw two Black Oystercatchers on North Island and counted 26 Brown Boobies on Middle Rock. Participants enjoyed good looks at Harbor and Elephant Seals. The number of Brown Pelicans on North Island far exceeded last year’s counts where few young were seen. This trip we counted more than 800 Brown Pelicans – more than 600 of them were young “birds of the year.”

MONDAY

Monday morning dawned bright and clear with 10 knot winds. Another Black Oystercatcher was seen on South Island as we traveled six miles south from the Coronados Islands (11 miles offshore of Rosarito) and discovered a rich life zone, spending several hours in the midst of 5 or 6 enormous Blue Whales plus a close encounter with a Minke Whale.

Memorial Day sightings in this life zone in Mexican waters included COMMON MURRE (1), BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS (2) and SOUTH POLAR SKUA (1), all about six miles south of the islands as we enjoyed the whale show and 11 miles west of Rosarito. Also in this krill rich environment we saw 22 Xantus’s Murrelets, 40 Cassin’s Auklets and 250 Sooty Shearwaters – all enjoying their Memorial Day breakfasts.

Upon returning to United States waters we encountered an adult male BROWN BOOBY eight miles ssw of Point Loma flying towards the Coronados Islands.

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Terry’s Pelagic List Grand Totals

Dave Povey’s “by the area: numbers and his totals:

Area #1   San Diego Bay , May 28th

Area #2  Pt. Loma to the outer edge of the Nine Mile Bank ( 0-12n.m. )

Area #3  The outer edge of the Nine Mile Bank thru the 30 Mile Bank (12-30n.m.)

Area #4  The 30 Mile Bank to about 5 n. miles from Pyramid Cove, San Clemente Is. (30-55n.m.)

Area #5  Pyramid Cove and the s.e. end of San Clemente Is.  May 28-29th

Area  #6  5 n.miles from Pyramid Cove to the Mexican Border  (55-25n.miles)

Area  #7  The Mexican Border to within 2 n. miles of N. Coronado Is.  (25-14n. miles)

Area  #8 The Coronado Islands, May 29-30th.

Area  #9 from 2n.m from the Middle Rock, of the Coronado Is. to the south, west and north.  (15-8n.m.)

Area  #10 From the Mexican Border to Point Loma  ( 8 to 0 n.m. ).

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areas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, = total     ( bold are Mexican birds)

Pacific Loon   0,  8,  0,  0,  2,  0,  0,   15,  0,  0,  =25

Osprey  2,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  = 2

Black-ft. Albatross   0,  0,  2,   1,  0,  0,  0,  0,  2, 0,  =5

N. Fulmar   0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0,  =1

Pink-ft. Shearwater    0,  21,  29,  38,  0,  12,  22,  0,  11, 0   =133

Sooty Shearwater   0,  36,  25,  18,  2,  44,  50,  7,  250,  15  =447

Black Storm Petrel   0,  20,  46,  12,  0,  100,  4,  0,   1,  0  =183

Ashy Storm Petrel   0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  1, 0,  0,  0, 0   =   1

Leach’s Strom Petrel   0,  0,  0,  0,   0,  25,   3,  0,  0,   0  =  28

Wht-rump                                    16,   0

Dark-rump                                     9,    3

Brown Booby    0,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  26,  0,  1   =28

Brown Pelican   120,  68,  6,  3,  40,  5,  8,  600,  4,  30  =884

Double-cr. Cormorant   5,   1,   0,   0,  4,  0,  0,  10,  1,  2  = 23

Brandt’s Cormorant   250,  15,  1,  1,   45,  0,  3,  85,  4,  12  = 416

Pelagic Cormorant   0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  2,  0, 0  = 2

Great Blue Heron  6,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 6

Great Egret   8,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 8

Snowy Egret   11,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0 = 11

Black-cr. Nigth Heron  1,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0 = 1

Black Oystercatcher  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  3,  0,  0 =  3

Red Phalarope  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 1

Heermann’s Gull  3,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0,  0,  1,  2,  0  =7

Western Gull   75,  60,  35,  40,  100,  25,  15,  300,  50,  30 =  730

California Gull  1,  5,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0,   0,  2,   0  = 9

Sabine’s Gull  0,  0,  2,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 2

Elegant Tern  0,  15,  1,  0,  0,  0,    0,  8,  5,  14  = 43

Royal Tern  2,  3,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  5,  0,  0  =  11

Caspian Tern  2,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 2

Least Tern  0,  9,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  6  = 15

Arctic Tern   0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  8,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 8

Common Murre  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0  = 1

Xantus’s Murrelet  0,  0,  2,  0,  0,  4,  2,  1,  22,  0  = 31

Cassin’s Auklet  0,  5,  4,  0,  0,  2,  2,  0,  40,  0  = 53

South Polar Skua  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  2,  0,  0,  1,  0  = 3

jaeger sp.  0,  0,  0,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 1

Red-cr. Parrot  2,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0  = 2

Cliff Swallow  0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 1

Barn Swallow  4,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 4

Mammals

Blue Whale  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,   1,  2   = 3

Fin Whale  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0,  0,  0  = 1

Minke Whale  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0  =1

Risso’s Dolphin  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,   5+,  0,  0,  0  = 5

Bottle-nosed Dolphin  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  12,  5,  30, 0  =  47

Common Dolphin  0,  0,  0,  6,  100+,  10,  0,  0,  35,  0  = 151

Short-beaked                          65,    10,              35,     = 105

sp                                         6,    35,                                   =  41

Calif. Sealion  50,  8,  2,  1,  12,  ,3,  4,   175,  15,  6, 2  = 278

Harbor Seal  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  20,  0, 0  = 20

Elephant Seal  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  8,  0, 0  = 8

Fish;

Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish)  0,  0,  0,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0  = 2

Flying Fish sp.  0,  0,  4,  1,  1,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0  = 6

Dave Povey   6-2-2011

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Video with photos and trip tracks best viewed in full screen mode by clicking the rectangular “full screen” icon in the lower right hand corner of the window.  Click the “escape” button to return to normal view.

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(San Diego) This was a fun Buena Vista Audubon Society Pelagic trip.  The star of the show was a Flesh-footed Shearwater that we found at the Nine Mile Bank almost at the same date and location we found one from Grande in 2010!   Thanks to BJ Stacey and Jimmy McMorran who were able to capture it digitally (see the video!).

We found lots of our target birds and some “hoped-for” species on this 13 hour run to the Nine Mile Bank, then all the way out to the Thirty Mile Bank – all San Diego County, all the time.

Many participants had a half dozen or more lifers.  Seven, eight or nine San Diego County birds were not uncommon. Perfect weather.  Perfect crew.  Perfect boat.  Perfect leaders.  Perfect day!  Add ‘em all up and they equal BIG FUN!!  See you next year on May 12, 2012  when we do it again to try and bag the Flesh-foot for the THIRD year in a row!

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:

Flesh-footed Shearwater 1

South Polar Skua 1

Black-footed Albatross 7-8+ !!!  J

Sabine’s Gulls 6

Black Tern 1

Common Tern 9

Northern Fulmar 3

Participants enjoyed a good numbers of loons, shearwaters, storm petrels, phalaropes, alcids, and jaegers.   Also seen: Fin Whale, Risso’s Dolphin, California Sea Lions, possible Humpback Whales (distant), California Flying Fish and some BIG Mola Mola. Several warblers including, a Hermit Warbler that rode along with us in the cabin/salon for several miles.

The hunt is on.  They’re out there.  Perfect weather is shaping up this weekend in a hunt for RB Tropicbird, Laysan & BF Albies, Murrelets, Sabine’s Gulls, Flesh-footed Shearwater and Blue Whales. Just 2 spots left!  http://tinyurl.com/searcher-28May

14 MAY 2011 TRIP LIST

by Dave Povey

All birds seen in San Diego County waters

Surf Scoter  2  ( male and female near 30 mile bank)

Pacific Loon  94

Common Loon  2

Eared Grebe  2  ( San Diego Bay )

Osprey  1 ( S.D. Bay )

Northern Fulmar  2

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS 7-8 ( Twice we had 4 together, once on the 30 Mile Bank, once near 9 Mile Bank, one or two birds followed the boat the majority of the day, beyond 10 n. miles from Pt. Loma).

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER 1 ( Came to the gull flock mid-afternoon on the 9 Mile Bank)

Pink-footed Shearwater 83

Sooty Shearwater 219

Black Strom-Petrel >1000 (Two areas of rafts,  one on the farthest point of the cruise 30 Mile Bank, > 600 birds, and one at the upper end of the 9 mile Bank, > 400 birds ).

Brown Pelican  58

Double-crested. Cormorant  6

Brandt’s Cormorant   75

Great Blue Heron  2

Snowy Egret  6

Black- crowned Night Heron  8

Osprey  1

peeps sp.  12-15 (likely Western Sandpiper)

Red Phalarope 3

Red-necked. Phalarope >100

Heermann’s Gull 1 ( San Diego Bay )

Calif. Gull  20

Western Gull  250-300

SABINE’S GULL 6

SOUTH POLAR SKUA 1

Pomarine Jaeger 3

Parasitic Jaeger 1

jaeger sp. 1

BLACK TERN 1  (upper 9 Mile Bank)

Common Tern  9  (on kelp paddy 30 Mile Bank)

Least Tern  10

Royal Tern  3

Elegant Tern  18 ( rather low number)

Caspian Tern  9

Xantus’s’ Murrelet 27

Cassin’s Auklet 112

Rhinoceros Auklet 4

Orange-crowned Warbler 1

Yellow Warbler  1

Hermit Warbler 1 ( ride along in galley)

Wilson’s Warbler 2

warbler sp. 2-3

MARINE MAMMALS

Fin Whale  (1)

Risso’s Dolphin  (6)

California Sea Lion  15

whale sp  (2)

FISH

Mola Mola  (4)

California Flying Fish  (2)

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Summary: The alcid viewing was very good. The marine mammals put on a pretty good show with two Blue Whales only 4 and a half miles from the” Point”. A Fin Whale near the “Border” mid Bank, and a mystery whale (poss. Minke) north of the Fin. Tons of Common Dolphin, and two pods of Bottle-nosed Dolphin.

By: Dave Povey

(San Diego) Peter Ginsburg, Steve Brad, Eirc Kershner and I, made a big loop around and across the Nine Mile Bank, on May 6th, 2011. We found very pleasant ocean conditions with a 1-3 ft swell (mostly 1ft) and a very light  breeze, and  heavy overcast. Very good for viewing small alcids, as the numbers reflect, Cassin’s Auklet 140+, Xantus’ Murrelet 50+, Rhinoceros Auklet 6, and a near breeding plumage Common Murre. We also saw a fair number of Phalaropes 300+, with 180 or so Red-necked, and 6 Reds. The rest too distant or moving too fast to separate.

Loons were also moving around (many headed south?), with about 100 seen. Sixty or so I.D. as Pacific, 3 as Common Loons. Sooty Shearwaters were spread pretty evenly over the whole area, with sight concentrations around dolphin pods. Pink-foots were all on the outer part of the” Bank”.

Black Storm Petrels seemed to be starting to raft up inside the very top of the “Bank”  with two small rafts numbers around 600-700 birds total. All storm petrels seen were beyond 10 n. miles offshore.

Franklin's Gull (c) Steve Brad

Other concentrations of birds were just outside the San Diego Harbor entrance, Brown Pelicans are still in big numbers there, as are cormorants, and gulls. That area the had a lone Heermann’s Gull, on the way out and a breeding plumage Franklin’s Gull, and a molting to breeding plumage, immature Bonaparte’s Gull, on the way in. Many dolphin also on the bait fish there.

Terns were in low numbers offshore with 15 Elegant, and 11 Least Terns. Did not see a jaeger today which was a surprise as they (Pomarine) were fairly common  on the Santa Barbara trip last week.  We saw three passerines offshore, a Wilson’s Warbler, a Barn Swallow, and we had a Orange-crowned Warbler ride with us for several miles.

Marine Mammals put in a nice showing with two Blue Whales 4 and half miles from the” Point”. A cooperative Fin Whale near the” Border” mid bank, and uncooperative mystery whale (Minke?) north of the last. We saw two pods of Bottle-nosed Dolphin, 50+, and many Common Dolphin 600+ animals, and the usual batch of Cal. Sealions.

Sea surface temps ha ve warmed with warmest temps north and west at 63-66 degrees, cooler to south and east at 60-62. Distant traveled 60 n. miles. 0630 to 1400

More Franklin’s Gull photos by Steve Brad

OC Warbler (c) Dave Povey

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Trip Track by Matt Sadowski

Video with photos and trip tracks best viewed in full screen mode by clicking the rectangular “full screen” icon in the lower right hand corner of the window.  Click the “escape” button to return to normal view.  Detailed Trip Tracks are located at the end of the video.

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(Santa Barbara) The star of the April 30, 2011  pelagic show was a Murphy’s Petrel that EVERYONE got to see very well as it made multiple passes on the 2011 spring migration Condor Express pelagic from Santa Barbara to the Rodriguez Dome.  Its GPS coordinates were 34.160054° -121.216308° (37.5 naut. miles from Rocky Point, which is close to Point Arguello).

We saw lots of Black-footed and one Laysan Albie, Sabine’s Gulls, Arctic Terns, Xantus’s Murrelets and multiple breaching Humpback Whales, distant Blue Whales and a couple of Dall’s Porpoise.

eBird Totals by Jon Feenstra

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Video with photos and trip tracks best viewed in full screen mode by clicking the rectangular “full screen” icon in the lower right hand corner of the window.  Click the “escape” button to return to normal view.  Detailed Trip Tracks are located at the end of the video.

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Trip Report

By: Dave Povey
Dulzura

Tom Blackman, Peter Ginsburg, Terry Hunefeld and Dave Povey boated from Mission Bay to La Jolla Cove then west along the south rim of the La Jolla Canyon to about 8 nautical miles, then south to 13 n. miles west of Mission Bay. The sea surface remains cold. 58-59 degrees F.

Our best observation timing wise was a very early breeding plumage female Red-necked Phalarope.   50+ Surfbirds were on the Mission Bay jetty in the morning(high tide), one in the afternoon (low tide).

A small movement of loons, 26 Pacifics, 9 Commons most now in alternate plumage. Also north bound at sea, Whimbrels, 2 groups for 10, Black-bellied Plovers 7, Elegant Terns 30+ and Forster’s Terns 4. We also had a Yellow-rumped Warbler come onboard for a short ride, some 6 n. miles west of La Jolla.

The only Tube-noses seen (15) all had dark bellies the 10 or so positively I.D. where all Sooties. We felt we had a couple of candidates for Short-tailed Shearwater, but photos were either inconclusive or in fact Sooties. We were seeing two distinct molt patterns. Birds with very worn flight feathers (post or over winter non breeders ?) and others in very clean plumages (birds of the year?)

Very few Bonaparte’s Gulls (37) most in groups of 2 to 5.
We had one north bound Common Murre. Some 19 Xantus’s’ Murrelets all at the southern limit of our cruise. 177 Rhino. Auklets in groups of up 15 most well offshore but 2 just on the outside edge of the kelp beds.

Jaegers seemed cooperative, allowing Tom to get some great photos. One bird had a very interesting head molt pattern. We counted at least 8, with 5 I.D. as Pomarine, and one Parasitic. the 2 distant birds allowed to go as Pom/Para sp.

The kelp bed was alive with gobs of sardine-size bait. The birds there seemed almost uninterested — they’d eaten their fill. There were scattered groups of Common Dolphin (250-400), at least 4 Pacific White-sided Dolphin and many California Sealions still feeding, right into the densest part of the kelp (which seems to be a bit mangled right now… storms or tsunami?).
We had a Minke Whale charge our gull flock west of Mission Beach then (as is their M.O.) disappear.

Also a fun observation were 8 or so little plate sized Mola molas offering themselves up to the gulls on the surface for cleaning. We were drifting on a fish oil chum slick at the western limit of our cruise, 13 n. miles at the time. So these little guys came to within 10-15ft. of the boat. Interestingly a couple of Calif. Gulls seemed to be unsure of what was going on but an adult Western Gull swam right over and gently picked at the Molas upturned side.

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Video with photos and trip tracks best viewed in full screen mode by clicking the rectangular “full screen” icon in the lower right hand corner of the window.  Click the “escape” button to return to normal view.  Detailed Trip Tracks are located at the end of the video.

Trip Report

(San Diego)   The  four San Diego Bird Festival Pelagic trips (Thursday – Sunday, March 3-6) enjoyed perfect marine weather and a rich assortment of seabirds and marine mammals.   Special guest leaders included Peter Harrison and  Debi Shearwater.  Trip highlights included Black-legged Kittiwakes on all four trips, two Brown Boobies in San Diego County on Friday and close-ups of seven northbound migrating California Gray Whales.

Some of the species participants enjoyed on all four trips included:  Black-legged Kittiwakes, Sooty Shearwaters,  Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, Xantus’s Murrelets, Cassin’s Auklets, Rhinoceros Auklets, Black Turnstones, Brant Geese, Common Loons, Common Dolphins,  Bottlenose Dolphins and California Sea Lions.

Seen on multiple trips (but not all):  Northern Fulmars, Common Murres, Brown Boobies, Wandering Tattlers, Surfbirds, Red-throated Loons, Bonaparte’s Gulls,  Mew Gulls, Herring Gulls, Minke Whales, Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Harbor and Elephant Seals, Mola-molas.

Seen on one trip:  Pink-footed Shearwater, Black-vented Shearwater (!!), Elegant Tern (first of season for 99% of the participants and leaders).  About 30 Brown Boobies were counted Sat & Sunday at the Coronados Islands.  Also seen there were Elephant Seals, a hybrid American X Black Oystercatcher and more than 20 Black Oystercatchers.

Thanks to Swarovski Optics, SeaWorld and Birch Aquarium for their generous sponsorship which made these trips affordable for more than 250 enthusiastic birders.

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eBird Trip List

(thanks to Jon Feenstra and Matt Sadowski)

By Terry Hunefeld

Brant Geese and Common Loons accompanied Grande out of San Diego Harbor on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning on the fourth annual Buena Vista Audubon Society Winterfest Pelagic.  We headed south into perfectly calm and inviting seas towards a feeding frenzy of feeding dolphins and gulls about 3 miles south.  Distant Grey Whales were spotted, heading south.

We spent nearly 2 hours approaching the Nine Mile Bank while admiring Common Murres, Short-tailed Shearwater and a couple of Humpback Whales. As we neared the Nine Mile Bank we found our first Pink-footed Shearwater of the day.

The trip certainly lived up to it’s name:  Whales, Seabirds and Marine Mammals.  We encountered 3 species of Dolphin (Long-beaked Common, Bottlenose and Risso’s), 3 species of whale (Grey, Humpback and Fin) and great seabirds: 3 species of shearwater, 3species of alcid and a nice selection of gulls (Western, Ring-billed, California, Heermann’s, Herring, Glaucous-winged, Mew, Bonaparte’s).

Distant Grey Whales were spotted throughout the day.  We never could get close-up encounters with them, but DID enjoy a great Fin Whale show (great footage and photos in the video).

Show stoppers included (1) VERY close encounters with 8 Fin Whales (see photos),  (2) Bottlenose Dolphin doing acrobatics – flipping and spinning out of the water, (3) a Peregrine Falcon using Grande as a “blind” or distraction, then making multiple high-speed stoops on unsuspecting Cassin’s Auklets, missing, circling directly over Grande then stooping again until after a dozen or so tries it came up with a plump auklet and carried it away with gulls in hot pursuit hoping to force a dropped auklet (great photo sequence by Matt Sadowski in the video showing “the capture”).

To play video full screen, click the “4-arrow-box” in the lower right hand corner of the video.

Upcoming Trips

LOS ANGELES: The next SoCal Pelagic is sponsored by the Los Angeles Audubon on February 26 out of San Pedro to Redondo Canyon, a trip made famous by a Manx Shearwater that wouldn’t leave us alone a couple of years ago.

SAN DIEGO BIRD FEST: Then it’s time for the San Diego Bird Festival with four days of pelagic trips (March 3, 4, 5 and 6) led by (1) famed seabird author – Peter Harrison, (2) the woman who put California pelagic birding on the radar map of the world – Debi Shearwater, (3) Mr. More-Than-A-Year-At-Sea-Seeing-Seabirds – Todd McGrath, (4) former editor of Birding and status/distribution expert of all things N.A. bird related – Paul Lehman, and (5) the Godfather of California Birding – Guy McCaskie to name just a few of the expert leaders who will be aboard.   Thursday and Friday trips.   Saturday and Sunday trips.

Upcoming Trips

2011 Trip Report Index

By Terry Hunefeld

Peter Ginsburg, Tom Blackman and Terry Hunefeld accompanied Dave Povey to sea this morning (25 Jan) on a “scouting” trip for our upcoming Saturday Jan 29 Buena Vista Audubon Society Winterfest pelagic trip “Whales, Seabirds and Marine Mammals.”  http://www.socalbirding.com/upcomingtrips/sandiegojan292011.html

We were not disappointed.

Common Loons, Black Turnstones and a shrieking Black Oystercatcher greeted us from the Zuniga Jetty as we headed out to sea. A Parasitic Jaeger was spotted several miles off shore.  Small flocks of Pacific Loons flew by.

We saw our first Rhinoceros Auklets of the day about half way to the Nine Mile Bank – then numerous small flying flocks of Cassin’s Auklets – three here, six there, nine over there.

A highlight of the day was when we encountered an enormous pod of Common Dolphins – hundreds upon hundreds – in a pod stretching for at least a mile, perhaps two miles. They were feeding in the same area as a BIG Fin Whale while the gulls flew in their frenzied fashion over the pod, harvesting the leftovers like a pack of hungry hyenas.   The dolphins were very lively today, leaping, spinning, somersaulting and frolicking.  At the risk of anthropomorphizing, they sure looked like there were having fun.

Crossing the line into Mexico we saw our first Common Murre, followed by our FOS pair of Xantus’s Murrelets (scrippsi race).  We found our first migrating Grey Whales on the south side of North Island.

Middle Rock yielded a low number (by recent standards) of Brown Boobies: 22.  That number included two downy white chicks.  We counted four active nests.

On the way back to San Diego Harbor, we were treated to a BREACHING GRAY WHALE show.  It was spectacular to watch these 50 foot creatures come nearly entirely out of the water before crashing down in an enormous splash.

MIA:  Where are all the Black-vented Shearwaters?  They were not where we were on Tuesday!

Upcoming Trips

2011 Trip Report Index

THE LIST
Common Loon   8  (S.B. Bay)
Pacific Loon   11  (US)
Pink-ft. Shearwater   2 (US)
Brown Pelican   Many (50+) attending nest after near total failure in 2010, No. Cornoado Is. (Mex)
Brown Booby  22 ,  a rather low number for recent years. Four active nest, and two large downy chicks. (Middle Rock, Los Coronados)
Black Oystercatcher   1 (Zuniga Jetty),  5 ( N. Is. and Middle Rock, Los Coronados)
Red Phalarope  2  (US)
Bonaparte’s Gull   30  (US)
Common Murre  1  (Mex.waters)
Xantus’s’ Murrelet   2 ( Mex. waters)
Cassin’s Auklet   57 (US),  262 (Mex)  = 319
Rhinoceros Auklet  29 (US)  36 ( Mex) =65
Parasitic Jaeger   1 (US)
Pomarine Jaeger  1 (US)

MAMMALS
Gray Whale   5
Fin Whale  1  (US, inside edge mid way up the Nine Mile Bank)
Common Dolphin  2 Pods  400 – 1000
Harbor Seal   10
California Sea Lion  300+

WEATHER
Calm winds to <5kts, 2-4 ft swell, visibility greater than 20 n. miles, sea surface temps 56.7 to 59.3 degrees F. Air temps low 60′s.
Terry Hunefeld, Peter Ginsburg, Tom Blackman, Dave Povey
Jan. 25, 2011    0630-1300

Upcoming Trips

2011 Trip Report Index

26th ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S DAY PELAGIC TRIP

Aboard GRANDE from Point Loma Sportfishing
Sponsored By:  The SDFO – San Diego Field Ornithologists
January 1, 2012   7:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Jan 1, 2011 SDFO Pelagic Video

HD VIDEO BEST VIEWED FULL SCREEN BY CLICKING THE FULL SCREEN

BOX IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE VIDEO WINDOW

(San Diego) The Jan 1 2011 San Diego Field Ornithologists annual pelagic was once again sold out. Fun was had by all. Many participants commented on how they like the big spacious cabin on Grande with large restaurant-style booths with big windows sporting great views of the goings-on outdoors.

The birds of the day were a Sooty Shearwater and two or three Short-tailed Shearwaters, convinced that the gull flock was acting crazy for something more than just popcorn. They would land in the wake, look underwater, then fly around Grande affording great photo opportunities.    2011 Trip Report Index

The trip list:

Short-tailed Shearwater 2-3

Sooty Shearwater 1

Pink-footed Shearwater 1

Northern Fulmar 1

Red Phalarope 25

Black-legged Kittiwake 1

Glaucous-winged Gull 1

Herring Gull 3

Bonaparte’s Gull 850

Common Murre 5

Cassin’s Auklet 15

Rhinoceros Auklet 8

Horned Grebe 2 in the harbor

Brant Geese 37

Long-beaked Common Dolphin 200

Bottlenose Dolphin 4

Gray Whales – we saw the boats that were looking at the whales, but we couldn’t catch up with them as we had spent too much time having too much fun looking at shearwaters and rhino auklets and the whales were moving south at 6-7 knots.

2011 Trip Report Index