Fri Bird Festival Pelagic trip: Masked Booby

Friday's (28 Feb) San Diego Bird Festival pelagic trip aboard the "New Seaforth" was highlighted by very light seas, excellent visibility, and a very cooperative sub-adult MASKED BOOBY right along the border, in both California and Baja waters. The bird was probably about three years old–well advanced–and clearly had a greenish-yellow bill. It circled the boat multiple times and sat on the water very close. Lots of photos. Other highlights included healthy counts of 12 Brown Boobies and 70 Northern Fulmars. Species seen OFFSHORE (and on jetties) were:

Brant: 6

Surf Scoter: 270

Surfbird: 8

Black Turnstone: 1

Spotted Sandpiper: 2

Parasitic Jaeger: 1

Pomarine Jaeger: 1

Scripps's Murrelet: 9

Bonaparte's Gull: 10

Mew Gull: 1 (adult off La Jolla)

California Gull: 1500

Western Gull: 500

Heermann's Gull: 10

Royal Tern: 8

Pacific Loon: 15

Northern Fulmar: 70 (a very good count)

Black-vented Shearwater: 5000

MASKED BOOBY: 1 (32.562, -117.313; ca. 7.15 nm SW of tip of Point Loma)

Brown Booby: 12 (good count)

Brown Pelican: 150

Brandt's Cormorant: 40

hummingbird sp.: 1

–Paul Lehman and other pelagic leaders, San Diego
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports