San Diego pelagic 6 Aug: 5 Cook’s, 1 Nazca, 2 B-f Albatross, Townsend’s S-Petrels, L-t Jaegers, 17 Craveri’s, 5 Fulmars

The San Diego pelagic trip on 6 August aboard “Legacy” and sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society took place under very nice weather and sea conditions. As is usual, we ventured out to the Nine-Mile Bank, across the San Diego Trough, to the 30-Mile Bank and “The Corner,” some 34 miles offshore. There were a reasonable number and variety of birds offshore, including such highlights as 5 Cook’s Petrels, 1 adult Nazca Booby, 2 Black-footed Albatrosses, plenty of Townsend’s & Leach’s and Ashy Storm-Petrels, 2 Long-tailed Jaegers, a getting-late Scripps’s Murrelet, 17 Craveri’s Murrelets, a surprising 5 summertime Northern Fulmars, 10 Common Terns and 2 offshore Forster’s Terns, and a good count of 15 Brown Boobies. Totals for the trip once we were over a mile or so offshore were:

Semipalmated Plover  1

Black Turnstone  1

Least Sandpiper  1

Western Sandpiper  1

Red-necked Phalarope  135

Red Phalarope  3

Parasitic Jaeger  2

Long-tailed Jaeger  2  (Nine-Mile Bank)

jaeger sp.  2

Scripps’s Murrelet  1  (getting late)

Craveri’s Murrelet  17

murrelet sp.  10

Sabine’s Gull  8

Heermann’s Gull  4

Western Gull  40

Common Tern  10

Forster’s Tern  2  (unusual offshore; 13 mi W of Mission Bay)

Elegant Tern  55

Black-footed Albatross  2  (30-Mile Bank, SD Trough)

Leach’s Storm-Petrel  10+  (incl. 7 “Chapman’s”)

Townsend’s Storm-Petrel  7+  (30-Mile Bank & The Corner)

Leach’s/Townsend’s Storm-Petrel  35  (a number may prove to be Townsend’s)

Ashy Storm-Petrel  10

Black Storm-Petrel  150

Cook’s Petrel  5  (vic. 30-Mile Bank)

Northern Fulmar  5  (scattered; unusual number for summer)

Pink-footed Shearwater  105

Sooty Shearwater  75

Black-vented Shearwater  570

Nazca Booby  1  (adult; The Corner)

Brown Booby  15  (scattered; good count)

Brown Pelican  4

Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird  2

Blue Whale  1

Minke Whale  2

There are three more similar trips remaining in August and September:  26 Aug, 10 Sep, 30 Sep. See sandiegopelagics.com for further details.

–Paul Lehman, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Alex Abela, Pete Ginsburg, Dan Jehl, San Diego