another Tufted Puffin

Another Tufted Puffin has been found not very far offshore in San Diego County waters, this one photographed by a couple participants on a whalewatch trip on Sunday, 2 April, only 3-1/4 miles off Mission Bay. The bird seen back on 18 Feb was only 7 miles off La Jolla. And one seen not long after that off Los Angeles was only a few miles offshore. Typically, they are seen farther offshore–when seen at all, that is!  Past “puffin eruptions” often peaked in May (even sometimes as late as early June for Horned Puffin), so there is likely a full two months still to search for more. Two regular scheduled Buena Vista Audubon sponsored pelagic trips on “Legacy” out of Seaforth Landing are coming up on 7 May and 3 June, and obviously being lucky and taking a shorter whalewatch trip might even work, although the whalewatch boats obviously go where they wish to go.

–Paul Lehman, San Diego