San Diego pelagic: Cook’s Petrel, Least & Townsend’s Storm-Petrels, 3 B-f Albatrosses

By – 5:14 am

The San Diego pelagic trip on Saturday, 13 August, aboard “Legacy” and sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society visited the 9-Mile & 30-Mile Banks, San Diego Trough, and “The Corner,” out to the edge of San Diego County waters. The seas were moderate on the way out, but lightened the remainder of the day. It was a very good trip, with some of the highlights being a well-seen Cook’s Petrel at The Corner, at least three different Black-footed Albatrosses (The Corner, 30-Mile Bank, w. SD Trough), 3 or 4 Least Storm-Petrels (The Corner & 30-Mile), 1 Ashy, 12+ Townsend’s & 22+ Leach’s Storm-Petrels (some of which were closer to shore than usual, as close as the 9-Mile Bank), 11 Craveri’s Murrelets, 5 Long-tailed Jaegers, 9 Sabine’s Gulls, 1 Arctic Tern (30-Mile), a good count of 50 Common Terns, 3 Northern Fulmars (very rare at this time of year), and 9 Brown Boobies. Offshore (beyond one mile out) totals for the day were as follows:

Red-necked Phalarope 135

Red Phalarope 3

Pomarine Jaeger 5

Long-tailed Jaeger 5

jaeger sp. 3

Craveri’s Murrelet  11

murrelet sp. 4

Cassin’s Auklet 12

Sabine’s Gull 9

Heermann’s Gull 13

Western Gull 140

Common Tern 50

Arctic Tern 1

Elegant Tern 180

Black-footed Albatross 3

Leach’s Storm-Petrel 22

Townsend’s Storm-Petrel 12

Leach’s/Townsend’s Storm-Petrel 13

Ashy Storm-Petrel 1

Black Storm-Petrel 75

Least Storm-Petrel 3

Northern Fulmar 3

Cook’s Petrel 1

Sooty Shearwater 14

Pink-footed Shearwater 40

Black-vented Shearwater 1200

Brown Booby 9

Brandt’s Cormorant 1

Brown Pelican 15

Also a Guadalupe Fur Seal.

–Paul Lehman, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Dan King, Gary Nunn, San Diego