Report

DATE: Sept. 1-5, 2008

TRIP: Offshore Birding Trip
28 passengers from 3 countries and 15 cities departed San Diego’s Fisherman’s Landing on a sunny, warm Labor Day afternoon, bound for a 5-day pelagic expedition through the Channel Islands, over deep water canyons and along the continental shelf-edge.

Highlights of the Sept 1-5, 2008 trip included Red-billed Tropicbird, Cook’s Petrel and Wilson’s Storm-petrel.

All participants had close views of more than 200 Leach’s Storm- petrels, including dark-rumped Leach’s Storm-petrels (O.I. chapmani) and Guadalupe Island summer-breeding Leach’s (O. I. socorroensis) that some authorities believe should be elevated to full species status.

Also of interest were close-ups of both subspecies of Xantus’s Murrelet, 2 Northern Fulmar, a first-year Ring-billed Gull 110 miles offshore at the Cortez Bank , a surprising (for SoCal) 169 Buller’s Shearwater, 1147 Pink-footed Shearwater, 578 Black Storm- petrel, 25 Sabine’s Gull, 5 Skua, 13 LT Jaeger, 20 Poms, 18 Ashy Storm-petrels, 4 Black-footed Albatross, 6 Blue Whale, 14 Fin Whale and a Sperm Whale.

Vagrants, lost, and out of place species over deep water included Greater Yellowlegs, Savannah Sparrow, Black Turnstone, McGillivray’s Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning Dove and the inevitable (3) Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Monday afternoon we birded the north edge of the Coronado Canyon, then headed north up the Nine-mile Bank towards the Channel Islands. Black-vented, Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwater were plentiful, as were Black Storm-petrels (197).

Tuesday morning at dawn found us just south of Anacapa Island where we counted 700 Pink-footed Shearwater over the course of the morning. This was a “Skua-Slam” day with 4 South Polar Skua, 14 Poms, 2 Parasitic and 3 Long-tailed Jaeger.

Excellent weather allowed us to wake up Wednesday morning further north than Searcher has ever ventured – over Arguello Canyon (Cook’s Petrel!). After breakfast we cruised over the Rodriguez and San Juan Seamounts (Red-billed Tropicbird!). The deep water was right for Leach’s Storm-petrels (140) and Long-tailed Jaegers (8) with a sprinkling of the other jaegers/skua for our second “Skua-slam”. After dinner, the second tropicbird of the day flew just 20 feet overhead to Searcher’s lights.

Thursday we awoke at a flat-calm Cortez Bank, 110 miles west of San Diego. The sweet spot of the day came at the Sixty-mile Bank where Wes Fritz laid an enormous slick attracting hundreds of storm petrels, including 2 Least and a Wilson’s.

Full descriptions of what we saw by region follow at the end of this post.

Species List Mon Tue Wed Thu Ttl
Black-footed Albatross

Northern Fulmar

Cook’s Petrel

Buller’s Shearwater

Pink-footed Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Black-vented Shearwater

Ashy Storm-petrel

Black Storm-petrel

Leach’s Storm-petrel

Leach’s Storm-petrel (soccorinsis)

Least Storm-petrel

Wilson’s Storm-petrel

Brown Pelican

Red-billed Tropicbird

Red-necked Phalarope

Red Phalarope

Western Gull

Heermann’s Gull

Ring-billed Gull (juv)

Sabine’s Gull

Black Tern

Common Tern

Arctic Tern

Common/Arctic “Comic” Tern

Elegant Tern

Royal Tern

South Polar Skua

Pomarine Jaeger

Parasitic Jaeger

Long-tailed Jaeger

Rhino Auklet

Cassin’s Auklet

Xantus’s Murrelet (scrippsi)

Xantus’s Murrelet (hypoleucus)

 0

0

0

0

74

23

95

4

197

0

0

2

0

95

0

75

7

220

115

0

22

1

29

0

0

55

2

0

1

2

1

1

6

0

0

 0

2

0

49

1050

120

0

10

88

0
0

1

0

55

0

240

1

300

50

0

0

0

4

4

2

1

4

4

14

2

3

0

6

0

0

 2

0

1

118

1

11

0

4

3

40

0

2

0

0

2

0

6

0

0

0

3

0

0

4

1

0

0

1

3

1

8

0

1

2

4

 2

0

0

2

22

1

0

0

290

167

0

2

1

0

0

13

2

69

2

1

0

0

0

5

2

0

0

0

2

1

1

0

0

0

0

 4

2

1

169

1147

155

95

18

578

207

0

7

1

150

2

328

16

589

167

1

25

1

33

13

5

56

6

5

20

6

13

1

13

2

4
Ttl 3840
Blue Whale

Sperm Whale

Beaked Whale

Fin Whale

Common Dolphin

Risso’s Dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

White-sided Dolphin

Elephant Seal

Guadalupe Fur Seal

California Sea Lion

Blue Shark

Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola)

 6

1

1

14

1300

110

85

35

1

5

124

12

5

SEPTEMBER 2008 SEARCHER TRIP LOG (by Jon Feenstra)

Nine Mile Bank – USA 9/1/08 This list includes all birds recorded from exiting SD harbor, the entire length of the 9 Mile Bank (US), just north of there – all SD County water Northern Shoveler 6

Pink-footed Shearwater 64

Sooty Shearwater 23

Black-vented Shearwater 75

Ashy Storm-Petrel 3

Black Storm-Petrel 200

Brown Pelican 63

Brandt’s Cormorant 9

Red-necked Phalarope 70

Red Phalarope 6

phalarope sp. 15

Heermann’s Gull 51

Western Gull 108

Sabine’s Gull 23

Black Tern 1

Common Tern 28

Common/Arctic Tern 1

Royal Tern 2

Elegant Tern 49

Pomarine Jaeger 1

Parasitic Jaeger 1

Long-tailed Jaeger 1

Cassin’s Auklet 3

Rhinoceros Auklet 1

Anacapa Island – Southern Waters 9/2/08 Waters south of Anacapa Island to the NE corner of the Sta Cruz Basin – all in VenCo waters.

Pink-footed Shearwater 700

Buller’s Shearwater 2

Sooty Shearwater 52

Black Storm-Petrel 88

Brown Pelican 39

Greater Yellowlegs 1

Black Turnstone 1

Red-necked Phalarope 233

phalarope sp. 0

Heermann’s Gull 2

Western Gull 42

Common Tern 2

South Polar Skua 1

Pomarine Jaeger 3

Rhinoceros Auklet 1

Mourning Dove 1

Savannah Sparrow 1

Santa Cruz Basin – SBA County 9/2/08 This list includes birds from the north and west edges of the Sta Cruz Basin – all in SBA County

Pink-footed Shearwater 200

Buller’s Shearwater 12

Sooty Shearwater 31

Brown Pelican 5

Brandt’s Cormorant 2

Red Phalarope 1

Heermann’s Gull 5

Western Gull 85

Common Tern 1

Elegant Tern 1

South Polar Skua 2

Pomarine Jaeger 5

Parasitic Jaeger 1

jaeger sp. 2

Cassin’s Auklet 2

Santa Rosa Flats – SBA County 9/2/08 Birds seen over the south end of the Santa Rosa Flats, near the Santa Rosa Buoy, and the 311 Bank. All in SBA County.

Pink-footed Shearwater 37

Buller’s Shearwater 2

Sooty Shearwater 6

Brown Pelican 2

Red-necked Phalarope 3

Heermann’s Gull 1

Western Gull 56

Common Tern 2

Arctic Tern 3

Common/Arctic Tern 2

Pomarine Jaeger 5

Parasitic Jaeger 1

Long-tailed Jaeger 2

jaeger sp. 3

Cassin’s Auklet 3

Brown-headed Cowbird 1

San Miguel Island Pelagic waters 9/2/08 Birds recorded between the 311 Bank and Richardson Rock. The track was mostly along the 500 fathom line.

Northern Fulmar 2

Pink-footed Shearwater 215

Buller’s Shearwater 10

Sooty Shearwater 27

Brown Pelican 8

Brandt’s Cormorant 1

Red-necked Phalarope 7

Heermann’s Gull 2

Western Gull 66

Arctic Tern 1

Royal Tern 4

South Polar Skua 1

Pomarine Jaeger 1

Long-tailed Jaeger 1

Cassin’s Auklet 1

Arguello Canyon/948 Bank – SBA County 9/3/08 Species recorded at the 948 Bank starting at dawn (with a chum slick) and waters just to the south.

Black-footed Albatross 1

Cook’s Petrel 1

Buller’s Shearwater 5

Sooty Shearwater 8

Leach’s Storm-Petrel 5

Black Storm-Petrel 2

Arctic Tern 2

Common/Arctic Tern 1

Pomarine Jaeger 2

Long-tailed Jaeger 7

jaeger sp. 4

Cassin’s Auklet 1

Rodriguez Seamount – SBA County 9/3/08 Recorded in the vicinity of the Rodriguez Seamount which was passed while en route from Arguello Canyon to the San Juan Seamount.

Pink-footed Shearwater 1

Buller’s Shearwater 80

Sooty Shearwater 2

Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Dark-rumped) 16

Leach’s Storm-Petrel (White-rumped) 3

Ashy Storm-Petrel 4

Least Storm-Petrel 1

Red-billed Tropicbird 1

phalarope sp. 1

Sabine’s Gull 3

Arctic Tern 2

South Polar Skua 1

Pomarine Jaeger 1

jaeger sp. 4

Xantus’s Murrelet 2

Brown-headed Cowbird 1

San Juan Seamount – SBA County 9/3/08 Recorded within about 30 miles north of the San Juan Seamount. The RB Tropicbird was later at night (9:30PM) east of the San Juan and may have been in VenCo waters.

Black-footed Albatross 1

Buller’s Shearwater 34

Sooty Shearwater 1

Leach’s Storm-Petrel 120

Black Storm-Petrel 1

Least Storm-Petrel 1

Red-billed Tropicbird 1

Red Phalarope 6

Parasitic Jaeger 1

Long-tailed Jaeger 1

jaeger sp. 4

Xantus’s Murrelet 4

MacGillivray’s Warbler 1

Cortez Bank 9/4/08 Western and southern edges of Cortez Bank, and waters SE en route to Mushroom Bank.

Pink-footed Shearwater 17

Buller’s Shearwater 1

Leach’s Storm-Petrel 33

Black Storm-Petrel 5

Red-necked Phalarope 2

Red Phalarope 11

phalarope sp. 4

Heermann’s Gull 2

Ring-billed Gull 1

Western Gull 54

Arctic Tern 2

Pomarine Jaeger 2

Long-tailed Jaeger 1

jaeger sp. 2

Sixty-mile Bank – Los Angeles County 9/4/08 Includes birds recorded just north of the Mushroom Bank, along the north corner of the Mushroom, across the Sixty-mile Bank (including big chum slick), and just north en route to Butterfly Bank.

Black-footed Albatross 2

Pink-footed Shearwater 2

Sooty Shearwater 1

Wilson’s Storm-Petrel 1

Leach’s Storm-Petrel 38

Black Storm-Petrel 275

Least Storm-Petrel 2

Brandt’s Cormorant 1

Red-necked Phalarope 8

phalarope sp. 2

Western Gull 2

Common/Arctic Tern 2

Parasitic Jaeger 1

Brown-headed Cowbird 1

Butterfly Bank – LA County 9/4/08 Includes birds seen on and just south of the Butterfly Bank. We also sat on a slick on the bank for a time. The Leach’s included one Guadalupe type.

Pink-footed Shearwater 3

Leach’s Storm-Petrel 3

Black Storm-Petrel 7

Brandt’s Cormorant 2

Western Gull 3

Arctic Tern 3