Early September is a great time of year for Cook’s Petrels well offshore, and it is near-peak for Red-billed Tropicbirds. The latter is almost “guaranteed” (as much as any uncommon pelagic species can be). Laysan Albatrosses (likely from the breeding population on Guadalupe Island to the south) are seen regularly in these waters. This is also an excellent time of year and an excellent area for Least, Leach’s, Black and Ashy Storm-Petrels, Craveri’s Murrelet, and the hypoleucus subspecies of Xantus’s Murrelet. South Polar Skuas are migrating south already with other returning northern migrants as Sabine’s Gull, Arctic Tern, and Long-tailed Jaeger. And anytime we venture far offshore, who knows what rarity lurks just behind the next swell – e.g. September is the peak month for Hawaiian Petrel, well seen and photographed from Searcher on the September trip a few years ago.
We still have spots open. Join us!
