Wedge-tailed shearwater, La Jolla Cove, Jan 18

At about 8:30 a.m. today, I watched an unseasonal dark-morph wedge-tailed shearwater flying south along the outside of the kelp line, coming out of the Cove and heading southwards.
Bigger than sooty/short-tailed. Lackadaisical flight on long, bent pointed wings, long tail, dark brown on top and uniform gingery-brown on underwings in the bright sunlight.
Did not see it again before I left at 9:15.

Would not report it except that my previous experience with wedge-tailed shearwaters at the Cove is that they may make large circuits around the Cove, head south, and then come back, and repeat the circuit, so worth watching for today and maybe tomorrow, both in the Cove itself and along the outside of the kelp line.

Thousands of birds in a feeding frenzy several miles offshore, so there’s obviously food out there to attract birds.

Stan Walens, San Diego
January 18, 2020; 9:55 am
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports