La Jolla seawatch: 1800 storm-petrels, and miscellanea

It can be said that we all said that we'd never seen anything like it from shore. Early on Weds morning at La Jolla, an assemblage of Black Storm-Petrels feeding VERY, VERY close to shore in a concentrated mass on what must have been a temperature-break or current-break for the entire time we were there, and a scene which looked like the very large assemblages of tight-flying storm-petrels one sees the first second one flushes a large roosting flock off the water when on a fall pelagic trip well offshore. Anyway, our best one-scan total was 1800+ birds. Also seen during the morning were 4 Brown Boobies, a good total of 5000 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Black-vented Shearwaters, 2 alternate-plumaged Red Phalaropes, and 7 Pacific and 2 Common Loons–of which the Pacifics were in their expected basic plumage on this late date, but one of the north-bound Common Loons was, surprisingly for the date, in full alternate plumage. Otherwise, ca. 18 Red-necked Phalaropes, a Surf Scoter, and a dozen one-year-old Heermann's Gulls (which is actually a "large" count recently).

–P. Lehman, D. Povey, J. Desgrosellier, P. Ginsburg, San Diego
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports