Trip Reports

Searcher Pelagic Trip, 7-11 Sep 2015

Sep 7, 2015 – Day One San Diego Bay

11 species

Brown Booby 2
Brandt’s Cormorant 600
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Pelagic Cormorant 1
Brown Pelican 25
Wandering Tattler 1
Willet (Western) 1
Heermann’s Gull 46
Western Gull 22
Royal Tern 2
Elegant Tern 1

San Diego County Waters including 9-Mile Bank, San Diego Trough, and 30-Mile Bank

14 species (+ 1 other taxa)

Common Loon 1
Pink-footed Shearwater 15
Black-vented Shearwater 66
Leach’s Storm-Petrel 1
Black Storm-Petrel 8
Brown Booby 13
Brown Pelican 3
Red-necked Phalarope 2
Pomarine Jaeger 3
Murrelet sp. 2
Cassin’s Auklet 4
Heermann’s Gull 5
Western Gull 137
Common Tern 18
Elegant Tern 3

Los Angeles County Waters – 30-Mile Bank

6 species

Black Storm-Petrel 105 Least Storm-Petrel 4 Brown Pelican 1 Red-necked Phalarope 2 Pomarine Jaeger 2 Western Gull 32

Sep 8, 2015 – Day 2 Santa Barbara County Waters including Pilgrim Bank, Santa Cruz Basin, Santa Cruz Passage, and Santa Barbara Channel

27 species (+4 other taxa)

Northern Fulmar 2
Pink-footed Shearwater 904
Buller’s Shearwater 1
Sooty Shearwater 15
Black-vented Shearwater 4100
Black Storm-Petrel 125
Least Storm-Petrel 1
Brown Booby 1
Booby sp. 1
Brandt’s Cormorant 68
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Pelagic Cormorant 2
Black-bellied Plover 9
Red-necked Phalarope 23
Red Phalarope 2
South Polar Skua 3
Pomarine Jaeger 33
Parasitic Jaeger 2
Long-tailed Jaeger 25
jaeger sp. 3
Common Murre 7
Scripps’s Murrelet 2
Craveri’s Murrelet 2
Murrelet sp. 1
Sabine’s Gull 12
Western Gull 166
California Gull 18
Common Tern 2
Royal Tern 4
Elegant Tern 10
Tern sp. 3

Ventura County Waters including Pilgrim Bank and eastern edge of Santa Cruz Basin

13 species (+1 other taxa)

Northern Fulmar 1
Pink-footed Shearwater 19
Sooty Shearwater 1
Black-vented Shearwater 30
Ashy Storm-Petrel 1
Black Storm-Petrel 23
Brown Booby 1
Red-necked Phalarope 11
Pomarine Jaeger 7
Long-tailed Jaeger 7
Jaeger sp. 1
Bonaparte’s Gull 1
Western Gull 18
Common Tern 2

Sep 9, 2015 – Day 3 Santa Barbara County Waters including Rodriguez Seamount, San Miguel Gap, and west side of the Patton Ridge

18 species (+4 other taxa)

Laysan Albatross 1
Black-footed Albatross 23
Pink-footed Shearwater 44
Sooty Shearwater 6
Leach’s Storm-Petrel 41
Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Chapman’s) 18
Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Townsend’s) 2
Ashy Storm-Petrel 4
Black Storm-Petrel 18
Red-billed Tropicbird 4
Brown Booby 2
Red-necked Phalarope 3
Red Phalarope 23
Phalarope sp. 1
Pomarine Jaeger 1
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Long-tailed Jaeger 9
Common Murre 1
Guadalupe Murrelet 1
Western Gull 4
Arctic Tern 1
Common/Arctic Tern 2

Ventura County Waters – east of San Juan Seamount

1 Species (+1 other taxa)

Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Chapman’s) 1
Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Townsend’s) 1

Sep 10, 2015 – Day 4 Ventura County Waters – Western parts of Tanner and Cortez Banks

13 Species

Black-footed Albatross 11
Northern Fulmar 1
Pink-footed Shearwater 36
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel 1
Ashy Storm-Petrel 1
Black Storm-Petrel 372
Marbled Godwit 2
Western Sandpiper 5
Red Phalarope 1
Long-tailed Jaeger 2
Guadalupe Murrelet 1
Western Gull 3
Arctic Tern 2

Los Angeles County Waters – Eastern parts of Tanner and Cortez Banks

16 Species

Black-footed Albatross 4
Northern Fulmar 1
Pink-footed Shearwater 28
Sooty Shearwater 1
Black Storm-Petrel 45
Least Storm-Petrel 1
Brown Booby 2
Red-necked Phalarope 3
Red Phalarope 29
Pomarine Jaeger 2
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Long-tailed Jaeger 4
Sabine’s Gull 3
Western Gull 69
Arctic Tern 11
Brown-headed Cowbird

Sep 11, 2015 – Day 5 San Diego County Waters – 9-Mile Bank to the Zuniga Jetty

20 species

Pink-footed Shearwater 1
Black-vented Shearwater 95
Black Storm-Petrel 6
Least Storm-Petrel 2
Brown Booby 5
Brandt’s Cormorant 12
Brown Pelican 6
Snowy Egret 1
Black Oystercatcher 1
Red-necked Phalarope 18
Pomarine Jaeger 1
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Cassin’s Auklet 17
Rhinoceros Auklet 1
Heermann’s Gull 2
Western Gull 40
Black Tern 1
Common Tern 7
Elegant Tern 4
Barn Swallow 2