Pelagic Birding Trip Sightings List – September 2014

1-Sep 2-Sep 3-Sep 4-Sep
Species Name
Cinnamon Teal – Anas cyanoptera 2
Black-footed Albatross – Phoebastria nigripes 5 1 17
Northern Fulmar – Fulmarus glacialis 1 1 1
Pink-footed Shearwater – Puffinus creatopus 6 160 55 105
Buller’s Shearwater – Puffinus bulleri 8
Sooty Shearwater – Puffinus griseus 2 3
Black-vented Shearwater – Puffinus opisthomelas 382 3 2,005
Leach’s Storm-Petrel – Oceanodroma leucorhoa 1 4 110 125
Ashy Storm-Petrel – Oceanodroma homochroa 25 12 6
Black Storm-Petrel – Oceanodroma melania 179 378 174 89
Least Storm-Petrel – Oceanodroma microsoma 10 3
Red-billed Tropicbird – Phaethon aethereus 10 1
Brown Booby – Sula leucogaster 1 1 1
Brandt’s Cormorant – Phalacrocorax penicillatus 502 33
Double-crested Cormorant – Phalacrocorax auritus 1
Pelagic Cormorant – Phalacrocorax pelagicus 4
Brown Pelican – Pelecanus occidentalis 36 6
Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias 1
Great Egret – Ardea alba 6
Snowy Egret – Egretta thula 4
Black Oystercatcher – Haematopus bachmani 1
Long-billed Curlew – Numenius americanus 1
Marbled Godwit – Limosa fedoa 1
Black Turnstone – Arenaria melanocephala 3
Sanderling – Calidris alba 7
Short-billed Dowitcher – Limnodromus griseus 12
Red-necked Phalarope – Phalaropus lobatus 103 25 12
Red Phalarope – Phalaropus fulicarius 5 12 2
phalarope sp. – Phalaropus sp. 15 2
shorebird sp. – Charadriiformes sp. 10
South Polar Skua – Stercorarius maccormicki 3
Pomarine Jaeger – Stercorarius pomarinus 1 7 2
Parasitic Jaeger – Stercorarius parasiticus 1 2
Long-tailed Jaeger – Stercorarius longicaudus 3 6 7
jaeger sp. – Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) 1 10
Craveri’s Murrelet – Synthliboramphus craveri 13
Scripps’s/Guadalupe/Craveri’s Murrelet – Synthliboramphus 11 3 2
Sabine’s Gull – Xema sabini 1 6 1 1
Heermann’s Gull – Larus heermanni 102 13
Western Gull – Larus occidentalis 260 262 17 331
California Gull – Larus californicus 2
Common Tern – Sterna hirundo 140 2 4
Arctic Tern – Sterna paradisaea 8
Common/Arctic Tern – Sterna hirundo/paradisaea 12
Royal Tern – Thalasseus maximus 3 5
Elegant Tern – Thalasseus elegans 71 9 49
Mourning Dove – Zenaida macroura 1
Brown-headed Cowbird – Molothrus ater 6 1 1
passerine sp. – Passeriformes sp. 1
2020-07-15T16:34:58-07:00October 2nd, 2014|Trip Reports|

September 4 (day 4) Pelagic Birding tour

Hello all,
Today we started in the Tanner/Cortez bank area. There was a tremendous amount of birds there starting at daylight. Black-vented shearwaters were everywhere which is significant because they generally are closer to shore. Todd, John and Dave all mentioned they haven’t seen this amount of black-vented shearwaters ever in all their trips. Maybe the warm water conditions have something to do with it. Several blackfooted albatross appeared this afternoon. We had common dolphins. Risso’s dolphin , blue whales and California sea lions in the marine mammal department. Great weather and a great day again.
Today’s picture is a group of four albatross in our chum slick at sunset.

Team Searcher

2020-07-15T16:34:58-07:00September 4th, 2014|Trip Reports|

September 3 (day 3) Pelagic Birding Tour

Hello all,
We had another good day a long way offshore. We spent the day in really deep water– 2000 fathoms and deeper–off the shelf. We started on the Rodriguez Seamount and then went SSE to the San Juan Seamount late this afternoon. We were over 200 miles west of San Diego all day. There were lots of birds to look at at various times during the day and some whale sightings as well.
Pink-footed, sooty, black-vented and Bullers shearwaters, black-footed albatross, red-billed tropicbirds, jeagers, loads of storm petrels (ashy, Leachs, black). Arctic, elegant and common terns, western and Sabine’s gulls. There wasn’t too much time spent without birds today.
We saw Risso’s and common dolphin and a very large blue whale. It is interesting to think about seeing blue whales within 5 miles west of San Diego and then seeing them over 200 miles west of San Diego too! I think it means there is more and more blue whales in the Eastern Pacific. Great news!
Today’s picture is a Risso’s dolphin at the surface with more just under the surface in the foreground.
Team Searcher

2020-07-15T16:34:58-07:00September 3rd, 2014|Trip Reports|

Pelagic Birding Tour, day 2 (September 2)

Hello all,
Another great day with lots of birds. The highlights are south polar skua, pomarine and parasitic jeager, black-footed albatross. We had plenty of storm petrels and pink-footed shearwaters all day, lots of common dolphin, Risso’s dolphin, bottlenose dolphin and the highlight was a group of 20 Baird’s beaked whales. The weather cooperated with light winds all day and not much sea or swell. We are headed into San Miguel Island to have dinner and get some rest before heading west to the Rodriguez Seamount to start tomorrow.
Today’s photo is Dave Povey (chummed extraordinaire) in white hat and some fellow birders at the chum station.
Team Searcher

2020-07-15T16:34:58-07:00September 2nd, 2014|Trip Reports|

Pelagic Birding Tour: September 1

Hello all,
We had a fantastic day with a great start to our pelagic birding trip. We left San Diego harbor and within the first hour we started seeing black-vented shearwaters and we saw them through out the day. There were a few pink-footed shearwater as well.
Probably the highlight for the day was Craveri’s murrlets. We had some really good looks at these birds after the breeze subsided late in the day. Another high light was Sabines’ gull. We saw multiple storm petrels with the majority being blacks. We did see several Ashy’s and a few Least, a lifer for  a few people. We saw lots of Elegant and Common terns, Western gulls, and  a few California gulls.
We saw some marine mammals today with a good look at a bue whale, fin whale, and lots of short-beaked common dolphin. We also saw two northern elephant seals at the surface getting air. We had a very busy afternoon.
Team Searcher

2020-07-15T16:34:58-07:00September 2nd, 2014|Trip Reports|

Seabird report June 20

Hello all,
We have had a great day offshore northern Baja today. We are 100 miles south of San Diego. We have seen 20 black-footed albatross, black and Leach’s storm petrels, northern fulmars, pink-footed and sooty shearwaters and the highlight has been 6 Cook’s petrels. We also had a report from another boat 30 miles to the west of us. They were seeing multiple Cook’s petrels today.
Team Searcher

2020-07-15T16:34:58-07:00June 21st, 2014|Trip Reports|

Tour #6 Isla San Jose, Islas Los Islotes

Dear whalewatchers:

We started our day at Punta Colorado to watch the colors develop on the red sandstone cliffs at Isla San Jose (see photo). We went ashore for a pre-breakfast birding and plant walk to this beautiful desert arroyo. Then we set off for a snorkel session with sea lions and reef fishes at Islas Los Islotes. Everyone really enjoyed our stay there, novice and advanced snorkelers alike.

Tonight is our last night aboard Searcher so we’ll reflect on a wonderful trip with lots of wildlife sightings and new experiences.

Team Searcher

2014-04-18T18:17:54-07:00April 18th, 2014|Trip Reports|

Tour #6 Bahia Agua Verde

Dear whalewatchers:

We spent the morning at Bahia Agua Verde for a shore excursion and then a snorkel in a beautiful little cove. Snorkelers were treated to large schools of fish, a variety of sea stars, lots of puffer fishes (much to the delight of Searcher mermaid and cook, Geri Sue) and even a few octopuses.

As we left the anchorage, we took a spin around Roca Solitaria to see blue-footed boobies, white-throated swifts, oystercatchers and more (see photo). For the afternoon, we spent some cruising time with bow-riding bottlenose dolphins and belly-flopping mobula rays.

We are heading for a calm anchorage to have a back-deck BBQ and margarita party.

Team Searcher

2014-04-17T17:40:21-07:00April 17th, 2014|Trip Reports|

Tour #6 Isla Santa Catalina

Dear whalewatchers:

We had a great night at anchor last night and enjoyed sunrise at the beautiful Isla Santa Catalina. We went for a morning hike in the arroyo and found lots of desert iguanas and other reptiles (including the rattleless rattler), singing birds and the wonderful cactus garden present on this remote island. After hiking, several people went snorkeling in a cove on the island and others took a coastal cruise.

After lunch, we set off to find whales. We watched a large herd of common dolphin and a small group of bottlenose dolphins. After a quiet time, we stayed with a small humpback whale who breached and showed flukes regularly.

Today’s photo is that whale, after a close visit to the bow!

We plan to anchor tonight at Bahia Agua Verde.

Team Searcher

2014-04-16T18:18:45-07:00April 16th, 2014|Trip Reports|

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