Grasshopper Sparrow, miscellaneous migrants, and offshore yesterday

On Thursday morning there's a Grasshopper sparrow working the north edge of the westernmost ball field at Robb Field, remaining totally in the open and behaving like a savannah sparrow. No sign of the buff breasted Sandpiper. On Point Loma there were reasonable numbers of yellow rumps and especially of hermit thrushes today including one very pale washed out gray Hermit thrush,  presumably an interior subspecies. Also getting late Western wood Peewee and hooded oriole, as well as a thick billed Fox Sparrow.

An offshore expedition on Wednesday to the 30 Mile Bank found low numbers of birds, as has been the case for quite some time, except for good numbers of Black venteds and Cassins Auklets. There were at least five Least Storm-petrels on the 30 Mile Bank, five Brown boobies in all, and the sole passerine we had around the boat was a Song Sparrow on the 9 Mile Bank. Also one of our several Chapman's Leachs storm petrels was closer to shore than normal for that deep water species, being on the inside of the 9 Mile Bank.

Paul Lehman, San Diego

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports