With at least two or three of the several northbound "repositioning" cruises having now taken place this spring between s. California and Vancouver, I thought I might share some info I have on potential future cruises and on the current situation. I have been taking these cruises now for well over 10 years and have logged 20+ of them during spring and summer, although I did not go on any of this year's trips.

Clearly there were plenty of Murphy's Petrels and a moderate number of Hawaiian Petrels offshore this year. With perhaps average numbers of Laysan Albatrosses. But very few Cook's Petrels. Cook's is often a "feast or famine" species, with large numbers some years in late April and early May, and then very few/virtually none during others. The numbers of the other pterodromas also vary from year to year, but not seemingly with as wild the swings, and they often vary due more to how many sharp observers are on board and, especially, on how much wind there is on a given a cruise (typically the more wind the better for all three species!). One windy cruise this spring had a total of 550 Murphy's, a new single-cruise record, beating last year's new record of ca. 350.

I also heard that the trip with all the Murphy's (and ca. 15 Hawaiians) also had as many as 80 birders on board. These numbers can get unwieldy, especially if there is limited good railing space due to wind and lighting making some sites unusable at times. Trying to get everyone corralled, not having them block the passage of all the non-birding cruise guests wishing to use the same deck for walking/jogging, and trying to coordinate list totals, photos, and details via shared eBird lists just gets more and more difficult. With the increasing popularity of these trips for a good chance at comfortably seeing numbers of Hawaiian, Murphy's, and Cook's Petrels, Laysan Albatross, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Tufted Puffin, etc. etc., such crowds have steadily been increasing on some of the sailings for a number of years. And these birder crowds are likely to get even WORSE in the near future for the following reason: Some or all of the cruise lines seem to be reducing the number of such cruises that go non-stop between SanDiego/Los Angeles and Victoria/Vancouver, and are adding stops along the way, which reduces time spent well offshore during daylight and also adds days and cost to these trips. Not a good trend!

So, I would suggest that folks look at the VARIETY of April and May offerings from a variety of cruise lines from either Los Angeles or San Diego. If you care about exactly which counties' waters you pass through during daylight, then the port of choice may well be important. Otherwise, either one is equally likely to produce those desired species mentioned above, and other factors such as the weather conditions during the trip, having some sharp-eyed observers on board, or simple luck are all going to be more important factors. Almost all birders to date have taken either Princess from Los Angeles or Holland America from San Diego (where one also sees Black Storm-Petrel and Scripps's Murrelet the first afternoon), but one might also wish to look into any offerings from (mostly Los Angeles) on Celebrity, Norweigan, or Disney cruise lines--and in that case you will have the railings mostly to yourself. I would also suggest, for those with a few more days available, looking into the 10-day or 12-day round-trip cruises on Princess from either Los Angeles or San Francisco up to southeast Alaska and back--doing so in May or early June for these same species--which go northbound even much farther offshore (up to 150+ miles out off n. OR to s. BC, where Mottled Petrel is possible in May), and come back southbound along the same repositioning route, in reverse, that the shorter, one-way trips do. So, you get almost double the amount of offshore time.

One other issue I'd like to mention on these cruises is the somewhat distressing amount of mis-called, mis-identified species (and numbers), or mis-plotted locations, that get reported on an all-too-often basis. This makes the situation really tough for regional editors, eBird reviewers, etc., who have to wade through the masses of reports after the trips are completed. With so many birders on board, theres no way to share
checklists across so many folks, and honestly thats not appropriate
anyway, given the fact that people
come and go, move from one side to the other, etc. Many sub-groups on the boat are basically separate sampling units
with their own biases and skill levels. But even without those issues, there seems to be a high level of "pressure" to see these desired birds, and on a regular basis it is fairly easy to see folks cutting corners and pulling the trigger too quickly on some distant and incompletely seen species that should be left unidentified. Too much "conventional wisdom" applied to species which "should" occur in those waters but which may be rare or absent some years (e.g., Cook's Petrel). We've also seen visiting first-timers on these West Coast cruises who are not accustomed to cruise-ship birding and/or who are skilled in another part of North America or the offshore World and assume they are therefore skilled here and then make regular mistakes--especially if they do not appreciate, at the time of the sighting, the proper STATUS & DISTRIBUTION of these species at the various seasons and along the various stretches of these routes. And the conditions can be challenging at times, depending on the weather and how close or far the birds are away from the ship, which varies a lot from day to day and trip to trip. Some of the most regularly mis-identified species are distant arcing Pink-footed Shearwaters being called Hawaiian Petrels, distant arcing or just plain poorly seen Sooty Shearwaters being called Murphy's Petrels, distant Bonaparte's/Sabine's Gulls or even Red-necked Phalaropes being called Cook's Petrels, Cassin's Auklets with plenty of pale on the belly being called Parakeet Auklets, and poorly/incompletely seen Rhinoceros Auklets being called Tufted Puffins.

The situation is made even worse by some observers writing somewhat "canned" descriptions of what they think they have seen. I have read too many reports of distant Cook's Petrels in April-May which include details such as "arcing very high in the sky as this species does" and "bold dark 'M' across the upperwing." Well, very, very few of the Cook's in spring do these things on these trips!! They are almost all in substantial molt here in spring, and they look very messy (mottled) above, with some brownish tones and NOT showing a bold M; and even under windy conditions they mostly stay fairly low to the water and in a rapid, somewhat twisty flight. If one sees Cook's later in summer, once they have completed molt, then they do look fresh and with bold dark 'M's" across the upperside, and they do tend to arc up more.

These trips are great social fun and a great opportunity to see species that are difficult to see comfortably, or at all, elsewhere. But some of these trips could be too popular, so observers are encouraged to try to "spread the wealth." And please make extra efforts to report one's sightings with care.

--Paul Lehman, San Diego

The 4 day Searcher Pelagic left San Diego Monday a little before noon on it's annual swing through the Southern California Bight and beyond. The trips spent Monday at the 9 and 30. mile banks off San Diego. We started Tuesday at Santa Barbara Island and the Sutil Rock booby colony and then moved NW across the Santa Cruz Basin hitting a variety of featured before anchoring behind San Miguel Island at dark. Day 3 we left San Miguel Island at 4AM and were just east of Rodriguez Dome at dawn. We crossed the Dome and proceeded south to the San Juan Seamount, then southeast to a deep 2100 fathom canyon located there. the fourth day found us near the Tanner Bank moving Southeast to the San Clemente basin. We started a bit east of our usual location as we needed to be back to shore about 7 hours early to avoid the hihi winds offshore predicted due to Kay. We were still able to bird until dark, so no impact on the trip, and in fact one of the best birds of the trip was found late in the day in an area we typically don't bird. We were back at the dock by midnight, where we all slept on the boat and had a hardy breakfast before departing at our usual morning time.

I've been fortunate to participate in 18 of the 19 fall Searcher trips, and this was one of if not the best for diversity of species, weather, and the great looks we got at the vast majority of birds and mammals. A big thanks to my co-leaders Dave Pereksta, Dave Povey and Jon Feenstra. Also a big thanks to Art Taylor, Celia Condit, and the the crew of Searcher who took great care of us as they always do.

We keep bird checklists and haven't added everything up yet, so the numbers are approximate where given

Black-footed Albatross (Seen everyday)
Pink-footed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater 2 (one in SD and one in SB counties)
Black-vented Shearwater
Buller's Shearwater (about 500 most on the San Juan Seamount)
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Black Storm-petrel
Leach's Storm-Petrel (most the dark or dusky-rumped Mexico breeders)
Least Storm-Petrels (40 or so, seen in SD, LA, SB, and VEN) more widespread and numerous than typical
Townsend's Storm-Petrel (seen more inshore than in some years and seen every day)
Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (1 at a slick near in the late afternoon on Thursday in LA county about 7 miles west of the "corner"
Cook's Petrels (40 or so, mostly south of Rodriguez Dome)
Hawaiian Petrel 1 (South of Rodriguez Dome)
Craveri's Murrelet (about 60 mostly near Santa Cruz Basin)
Scripp's Murrelet 4
Guadalupe Murrelet 7 (some incredible looks)
Cassin's Auklet 2
Common Murre 1
Brown Booby
Red-footed Booby 2
Blue-footed Booby 2.5 (2 adults and the continuing Brown X Blue-footed hybrid) all on Sutil
2 Nazca Boobies
Red Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-billed Tropicbird 5 (with two different birds on the water allowing close approach)
Sabine's Gulls
Arctic Terns
Parasitic, Pomarine, and Long-tailed Jaegers

Marine Mammals included
Humpback, Blue, and Fin Whales
Baird's Beaked-Whales
10-12 ETP Orcas
Short-beaked Common Dolphin
Bottle-Nosed Dolphin
California Sea-Lions
Elephant Seals
Gudalupe Fur-Seals

Quite a haul for 4 days.......

The trip is already sold out for 2023, but you can go to bajawhale.com for info about the trips. a more detailed trip report with some photos will be prepared and all these sightings will be placed in ebird with photos over the next month.
Todd McGrath
skua@...
The Woodlands, TX

Calbirds et al.

Thanks for sending out the info Don. We are heading out tomorrow out of Monterey and the plan is to go to the area where the Short-tailed was last seen.
https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2022.html

As a belated trip report, last Friday (19th) was superbly good out of Monterey. We were able to see a lot of diversity, as well as rarities - Hawaiian Petrel, Nazca Booby (adult), and Baird's Beaked Whales for the cetacean enthusiasts.
As well, more Ashy and Black storm-petrels than we have had for years in Monterey Bay, Tufted Puffin, lots of Black-footed Albatross, great views of many Buller's Shearwaters in with the more common species, all three jaegers and a nice assortment of the expected alcids. A super day out, one of the best Monterey days in years for us. So we hope that tomorrow is another good day offshore.

As well, we have a research permit now that allows us to use fish/squid chum in limited circumstances in the marine sanctuaries. This has taken some time for us to secure and will be helpful in trying to find storm-petrel concentrations (one of the key aims), and certainly unusual shearwaters and other tubenoses. But note that the rules are clear that we cannot chum near a Short-tailed Albatross (Endangered Species).

Alvaro

Alvaro Jaramillo
alvaro@...
www.alvarosadventures.com

Three Buena Vista Audubon sponsored pelagic trips out of San Diego are being offered in April, May, and June 2022. All are aboard the 80-foot "Legacy" out of Seaforth Landing in Mission Bay. Passenger loads are limited to 55, with several leaders.
April 24, 2022 . This is a 6- hour Sunday trip to the local canyons and banks off San Diego. A shorter trip than others but which still allows for coverage of inshore waters frequented by many seabirds and other marine life. Expected species include Scripps's Murrelet, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklet, Northern Fulmar, Pink-footed, Sooty, and Black-vented Shearwaters, Black Storm-Petrel, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, Red Phalarope, and Brown Booby.

May 14, 2022. This is a 10-12-hour Saturday trip that will likely extend west to the farthest reaches of San Diego County waters, and we may enter briefly into Los Angeles Co. as well. The "on the water time" here allows for a more thorough coverage of the various banks and deeps, for both the expected and less numerous species also found slightly farther offshore. Expected species include all those from the April trip, plus Ashy Storm-Petrel and Sabine's Gull, and gives us a better chance at possible species such as Black-footed Albatross, Red-billed Tropicbird, and South Polar Skua, with a slight chance for Laysan Albatross.

June 12, 2022. This is a 10-12-hour Sunday trip, with a similar general route as the May trip. Expected species are much the same as for the May trip, with a somewhat lower likelihood of Scipps's Murrelet but the possibilityof picking up the first of several summer species such as Craveri's Murrelet and Leach's Storm-Petrel, and with a slight chance for Cook's Petrel.

For further details and to see the July-October 2022 schedule, go to sandiegopelagics.com

You may book directly online at www.sdwhale.com (be sure you are on the Legacy Whale Watch site). Hit the red "BOOK NOW" button, which leads to the boat's schedule (both whale-watching and birding). Then scroll down to the date you wish to book. Hit "CLICK HERE" then "BOOKING."
You can also call Seaforth Sportfishing Landing during regular business hours: (619) 224-3383.
Thanks, and we hope we will see you onboard!

--Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Paul Lehman, San Diego

Hello all, We had a narrow weather window yesterday to get offshore and see a few birds and cetaceans. Wind after the front on Thursday was to decline on Friday and into Saturday, and so were the swells. Swells were big and mean on Friday, but by Saturday they had switched to big but rounded, well-spaced. We went out with an eye to the winds to our north, as we knew the wind shifts would happen north to south. As such, we were able to enjoy a rain free, and very diverse day offshore. The fun began close to shore where we found some foraging shearwaters, pelicans and gulls. In there we were elated to see a Manx Shearwater, and folks on the bow a little later said there were two. One on the right and one on the left of the boat. However, we were able to photograph only one. A bird in molt. Crazy, but it was just beyond the 5 mile distance from my house. Almost in reach for my home patch list. Here are the photos: https://ebird.org/checklist/S96591196 A tad farther out we found some Humpback Whales, more Pink-footed and Sooty shearwaters, then a very nice Bullers Shearwater; Bob Toleno and Chris Hayward saw a Short-tailed Shearwater at this time. After missing them for most of the migration, today all phalaropes out there were Reds. I expect that some will be found on shore tomorrow after the storm passes, I did see one today (Sunday) at Pillar Point marsh. Continuing on our voyage we worked our way out along the Pioneer Canyon, with a short glimpse of Ashy Storm-Petrel, and several Northern Fulmars. These looked fresh, unlike the few remaining over-summering youngsters which are patchy looking. Likely these were migrants. Heading south from the Pioneer, we found an amazing concentration of marine mammals with a big pod of Rissos Dolphins, mixed in with Pacific White-sided Dolphins, and some amazing views (right below the boat) of Northern Right Whale Dolphins. While we were looking here and waiting, a storm petrel flew by in bad light, first thought that it was a Black but the white rump shape clarified it was Leachs! This is a very tough species to see around here, a great find; minutes later a Black Storm-Petrel was seen. Then someone alerted me to a fur seal right by our boat, and amazingly it was the rare Guadalupe Fur Seal! Several folks obtained great photos of the distinctive head shape that separates it from the Northern Fur Seal. It is difficult to confirm this species at sea, they are perhaps more common now than ever as the population has increased. Then all heck broke loose minutes later when a Laysan Albatross flew right by the boat for amazing photos, and cheers from a boat full of happy birders. Several Black-footed Albatross were seen earlier. So much happened during this stretch. We also had one or maybe even two, Short-tailed Shearwaters come through at this time. These birds were all in San Francisco county. In total, we found five species of Shearwater, 3 storm petrels, and 2 albatross Not bad at all. Photos here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S96642277 We began to return to port, often at this time the surprises are done. But this time we stumbled on a South Polar Skua, after thinking we had missed that for the day (Pomarine and Parasitic jaegers were seen as well). Yet it was in the harbor that we found the final amazing bird of the day was the Northern Gannet sitting right on the break wall for the best looks I have ever had of that bird. Just fantastic! The photos of the gannet are outstanding - https://ebird.org/checklist/S96623361 The late season pelagic species showed up. It was a superb pelagic, unfortunately we did not find a Flesh-foot but I think we are saving that one for the next trip. We are doing our final pelagic of the season on November 13. Our hopes for a Laysan Albatross happened for this weekend, and in general late season is good for them. I always hope for Short-tailed Albatross of course, and November has produced them in the past. We shall see what turns up. If you are interested, we have approximately 6 spots left: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2021.html see you out there. This has been an amazing pelagic season so far, and we hope that our last trip of 21 will provide some nice sightings. Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hi all
We had an 11-hour pelagic trip out of Ventura with Island Packers yesterday (Oct 2). It was a beautiful day with low winds and nice seas, and we encountered a lot of birds and other sea life. We went from Ventura to Anacapa Island and then to Santa Barbara Island. The highlights were:
A huge feeding frenzy near Anacapa Island has thousands of birds including big numbers of Black-vented Shearwaters. We had our only Common Murre of the day in the channel before the frenzy.
A large flock of oystercatchers (30+) on Anacapa with three white-bellied birds. We could not get too close due to divers in the water and need to review photos to see if we can determine if any were Americans. The ones we could see well from the boat looked like hybrids and we did not get to see many fieldmarks like spread wings or rumps.
The waters from Anacapa to the Pilgrim Bank in Ventura County had lots of birds and common dolphins. We had a "skua slam" over the course of a few minutes, finding Parasitic, Pomarine, and Long-tailed Jaegers; and South Polar Skua. We also had decent numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters, a few Sooty Shearwaters, Sabine's Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets, two Brown Boobies, and an Ashy Storm-Petrel that sat on the water near the boat. However, the highlights of this stretch were 21 Craveri's Murrelets and several large rafts of Black Storm-Petrels that numbered around 1,200 birds or more.
The stretch from Pilgrim to Santa Barbara Island was less eventful, but Sutil Rock provided and incredible Booby show. We had 146 Brown Boobies, two Blue-footed Boobies, and two Red-footed Boobies!! This is the first time we have seen Red-footed Boobies perched on Sutil. Two birds perched together in vegetation makes you wonder what they are thinking. There was another booby that was either a juvenile Blue-footed or the hybrid Blue-footed x Brown from last year. Photo review of that is pending.
We left SBI and checked the Osborn Bank before heading back north on a line over deeper water than our southbound track. We continued to see Craveri's Murrelets and a variety of other species including Red and Red-necked Phalaropes, Sabine's Gulls, shearwaters, and jaegers. The highlight of this stretch was a cow/calf pair of Bryde's Whales that mugged the boat several times and swam along the side with their bellies turned upward. A "life" mammal for most on board. As we continued north back into Ventura County we continued to see a variety of birds and lots of common dolphins. The bird highlights there were our most photogenic Sabine's Gulls and Craveri's Murrelets of the day. We had 40+ Craveri's for the day!
Thanks go out to Island Packers for another great trip and all they do to support pelagic birding in southern California. Captain Joel Barrett, Laurie Van Stee, and Paige Knowles were awesome as always. In addition, the trip was expertly led by Todd McGrath, Ryan Terrill, Deven Kammerichs-Berke, Wes Fritz, and myself. Everyone's efforts led to a great day on the water.
We are also proud to announce that big year birder Tiffany Kersten picked up numbers 699 (Craveri's Murrelet) and 700 (Blue-footed Booby) for her lower 48 big year. Congratulations to her for an amazing milestone!
We have an 8-hour trip out of Ventura on Oct 23. Visit Island Packers website for more details.
Cheers
Dave Pereksta Ventura

Hello all, It started very slow, thick fog, no birds. It took forever to see our first Sooty Shearwater. But once we were at the Pioneer Canyon, Sabines, Bullers Shearwater, jaegers, Black Storm-Petrel, they all started to show up. It was calm and windless, and the fog lifted giving great visibility. It was an unusual day in many respects, the calm weather was one, but also the fact that there was warm (61F water) that was blue-green. A distant murrelet (likely Scrippss) started our murrelet searches. In the end we saw 16 murrelets including all that we identified as Scrippss or were too distant to identify. Additionally two Guadalupe Murrelets were in the Pioneer Canyon (SF county) https://ebird.org/checklist/S95041081 Guadalupe Murrelet is among the rarest of the worlds alcids. Only 5000 breeding individuals are thought to exist, some put the population at 7500 total. They breed on offshore islands, and keep to warmer and deeper water than Scrippss Murrelets so are much less likely to be found on a pelagic than its close relative. As such, they are perhaps the hardest alcid to find in North America, and certainly worldwide it is not much easier. So we were elated to see two of them offshore. This species is Endangered. All three jaegers were found with an estimate of 8 South Polar Skuas, at one time two were together on the water. That is a lot of bird muscle out there! Hundreds of Sabines Gulls were offshore, basically all over the place. We topped it off with a big Black Storm-Petrel flock of two thousand approximately. Four species of storm-petrel were seen, the others were Ashy, Wilsons and Fork-tailed. Great views of Bullers Shearwaters wowed folks on the boat. We also may have seen at least one Guadalupe Fur Seal. If the warm water feel is what you are getting from this day, you would be right. It was unusual in that the ocean was dominated by a warmer/offshore water component that included many jumping tuna! We photographed a couple poorly, and saw some close by we think these were big Bluefin, not Albacore. Record numbers of offshore murrelets, along with the tuna, this was not a normal situation but a lucky one in water types we usually do not encounter here. To top it off, a Minke Whale was seen on our way back to port. And we started with wonderful views of Marbled Murrelets, and saw three Tufted Puffins on the trip. What a day to be out!!! We are sold out currently on available dates. But when I get a minute we will be adding two dates as the boat is available to do so. Both late season trips which should be good for albatross, Short-tailed and Flesh-footed shearwaters, and perhaps something unusual! The dates will be Oct 23 and Nov 13. We seldom get out there in November, this is a good date for Laysan Albatross and if we are to find an offshore and non-injured Short-tailed Albatross November might be the time. I will send out a message when we have the dates available on the website. You can email me ( alvaro@... ) if you want to be penciled in for either of those dates. Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hi all.
This is a belated report for Monterey Seabirds' August 22 pelagic birding trip, with apologies.
Highlights were a Manx Shearwater in a flock of Sooty Shearwaters that spent a few minutes within view, long enough to be seen by everyone on board, and a Tufted Puffin that circledthe Pt. Sur Clipper several times at close range allowing for great views and photos.
A few more species were unusually cooperative, including a Scripps's Murrelet that spent a considerable amount of time not only close to the boat on the water, but in a perpendicular orientation allowing for great side-on views. One of a handful of Cassin's Auklets also allowed closer-than-usual approaches, and a few of the Black-footed Albatrosses made close passes.
The weather and sea conditions were favorable and there were good numbers of birds in sight at all times. Our only jaegers were a couple of Parasitic Jaegers, but we had good numbers of Sabine's Gulls and Arctic Terns, with a handful of common terns. We had over 100 Ashy Storm-petrels, some in rafts of about a dozen each, and a couple of dozen Black Storm-petrels. Other species seen in good numbers include Red-necked Phalaropes, Sooty and Pink-footedShearwaters, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Common Murres. We also had three Northern Fulmars.
The mammal show was also spectacular. We had multiple humpback and blue whales, a couple of minke whales, multiple groups of Pacific white-sided and Risso's dolphins, as well as bow-riding Dall'sporpoises. We also had killer looks at three different Guadalupe fur seals.
There are still spots available on our upcoming 8-hour trips, including this Sunday, September 5. More info at https://www.montereyseabirds.com/ .
Take care,
Bernardo
--
Bernardo Alps
Wildlife Biologist California Whales & Wildlife www.photocetus.com
whalephoto@...
310.597.0449
P.O. Box 1667
San Pedro, CA 90733

Our string of fantastic Alvaros Adventures pelagics continues!

Saturday, August 28th
We departed Half Moon Bay harbor under sunny skies. A lone MARBLED MURRELET and two PARASITIC JAEGERS showed
before we rounded Mavericks, and we picked-up SOOTY and PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS as we headed offshore. Approaching
the continental shelf, we found hundreds of BLACK STORM-PETRELS, dozens of ASHY STORM-PETRELS, and double-digits of
WILSONS STORM-PETRELS. This trip was billed as San Mateo specific, so we did not proceed into the Pioneer Canyon (SF County)
as we had the two previous weeks; instead, we turned southwest and hugged the county line into deeper water. We added several
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES across the next hour, but the action peaked when we encountered several massive rafts of
storm-petrels (500+ birds each). They, like the group we found earlier, was overwhelmingly Black with Ashy, Wilsons, and 1-2
FORK-TAILED. A confiding LAYSAN ALBATROSS circled the boat several times, and we found singles of BULLERS SHEARWATER,
LONG-TAILED JAEGER, POMARINE JAEGER, SABINES GULL, and ARCTIC TERN. Returning inshore, we encountered one
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER and one SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER over feeding HUMPBACK WHALES about ten miles
from the harbor. Otherwise, RHINOCEROS and CASSINS AUKLETS showed in expected numbers. Among dozens of RED-NECKED
PHALAROPES, 1-2 REDS were welcome. Shearwater and jaeger numbers were very low, but those were offset by huge numbers of
storm-petrels and other, high-quality finds. With minimal swell, this was a pretty perfect trip! Offshore water temp was 59.5 degrees,
and we reached a maximum depth of 1,600 feet. (The shelf falls-off very slowly in San Mateo County compared to the 4,000-foot
Pioneer Canyon in nearby SF waters.)

Sunday, August 29th
Translocating to Monterey, we powered south towards Carmel Canyon amidst overcast and fog. Nothing beyond gulls was flying
around on this windless morning, but we sussed out SOOTY and PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS from floating flocks. Occasional
jaegers offered distraction, and our first BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS was encouraging. Diversity remained low through the morning,
but we tacked-on usual suspects like RED-NECKED PHALAROPES and RHINOCEROS and CASSINS AUKLETS. Leaving the canyon,
joining the underwater weenie, and venturing into the deeper Monterey Seavalley, the action increased. Among swelled shearwater
numbers, a lone BULLERS the only new variety, we found ARCTIC and COMMON TERNS, ~30 SABINES GULL, a single RED
PHALAROPE, and 5-6 EXAMPLES OF EACH JAEGER. The highlight, however, was two GUADALUPE MURRELETS, one of which
allowed pants-soiling views as it paddled about the bow for ten minutes; that amazing encounter helped minimize a notable (distressing)
lack of storm-petrels across the day, two ASHIES all that we found. In the un-bird department, we observed several HUMPBACK WHALES,
two NORTHERN FUR SEALS, and a group of LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHINS beyond the expected SEA OTTERS, SEA LIONS, and
HARBOR SEALS. Offshore water temp was 63-64 degrees, and we reached a maximum depth of ~5,500 feet. The first GUMU was at that
depth; the second was at 3,000 and only 7-8 miles from Point Pios. Oh yeah - a putative LEAST TERN went over the boat near the
aquarium, but we'll need to scrutinize photos before we can say for sure. That's a nice MTY County bird if it holds up.

Our remaining boats are selling out fast, so dont delay if youre thinking about joining us in September and October. August has been
incredible, so who knows what well find as fall progresses!!!

https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2021.html

Cheers,
Dorian Anderson (on behalf of fellow spotters Malia De Felice, Chris Hayward, Eli Gross, Steve Tucker, Bill Hubick, and Mark Kudrav)

Hello all, A quick summary of our very fun pelagic out of Pillar Point Harbor today in calm weather. On our way out we found the first of a few Black-vented Shearwaters, most in San Mateo but one was in San Francisco county. A few Ashy Storm-Petrels were in the Pioneer Canyon, and then farther south we found Black Storm-Petrels. Shearwaters were fantastically well represented, Bullers throughout the trip, and then the most common was Pink-footed. Sooty Shearwaters were about in small numbers, and eventually we found a few Short-tailed Shearwaters in both counties, as well as nice views of Flesh-footed Shearwaters in both counties. We saw two or three, it was difficult to keep track! Six species of shearwaters, not bad. What was great were the nice views of all of the shearwaters, with even a good study of Short-tail which can be difficult to see well in the field. Several South Polar Skuas were found, as well as Pomarine and Parasitic jaeger. But the surprise of the day was when shouts of booby came from the stern of the boat, we assumed there was a fly by happening but no, the bird was sitting in the water. Wow, what a disconcerting look this bird had! From a distance it almost resembled a Blue-footed, but as we got closer it was clear that it was one of the Nazca/Masked. However it was a year old bird. Several keys led us to Nazca Booby, lack of collar on the neck, amount of dark markings on the underwing, extensive dark remaining on the head, and the bill color which was dusky at base, and more pinkish and then yellow at tip. As far as we know this is the first Nazca Booby seen by birders in San Mateo, the first in the county was earlier this year, photographed by fishermen on their boat. The bird was on the county line and flew into San Francisco before exiting to San Mateo, so a two county bird! Incredibly, with all of these birds we did not see an albatross today unfortunately. A surprise flock of Aleutian Cackling Geese were well offshore, and then a single one sitting on the water was bizarre to see. Marine mammals were spectacular with approximately a dozen Blue Whales, many Humpback Whales and a huge (2000) pod of Pacific White-sided Dolphin with Northern Right Whale Dolphins. Bottlenose Dolphins and Harbor Porpoise were also seen close to shore. Blue and Salmon shark were seen! Booby photos here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S74673610 Flesh foot and Short-tailed photos here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S74673581 What an amazing day. We head out next weekend, but the trip on the 24 th is the only one with open spots remaining before the end of the season. You can sign up here: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html good birding, Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hello all, Belated trip report, it has been a busy week. Yes, the season has turned, the late season birds are here. Overall the weather was a bit less amenable than the forecast had suggested, this meant we had to go a bit farther north into the weather to get offshore. It worked, and were able to drive south in a following sea through the Pioneer Canyon and then stayed off the continental shelf until we had to head back to port. We started off nicely with a pair of Marbled Murrelets close to shore as well as a couple of Parasitic Jaegers. Heading offshore I did get a very troubling feeling, there was little to nothing other than Common Murres as we went out, it took a long time to see a shearwater! In fact I saw an Ashy Storm-Petrel before I saw a Sooty Shearwater on this trip. But once we arrived at the continental shelf things began to sort out with Sooty, Pink-footed, and Bullers shearwaters, Black-footed Albatross, as well as Rhinoceros and Cassins Auklets. It was a good day for Rhino Auklets, lots out there. Perhaps associated with these numbers we found two Tufted Puffins, a juvenile and a non-breeding adult; puffins at this time of year are very neat to see, so different from the summer. Heading south we picked up more Ashy Storm-Petrels, many Black Storm-Petrels and a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel. South Polar Skua, two Long-tailed Jaegers (together) and Pomarine jaegers gave us the skua-jaeger grand slam. We picked up Blue Whales, which have been hard to find in central CA, we were able to share this information with Monterey Bay Whalewatch who are working with a TV/Film crew (BBC) and they have been looking for Blue Whales, fortunately our magic spot worked for them a couple of days later and they were able to get some footage that we may see in a documentary in the future! On our way back more Bullers Shearwaters showed up, and a flock of Sooty Shearwaters had an individual that was flying around with a darker underwing, a Short-tailed Shearwater. As well, about 10 miles offshore our first of the season Black-vented Shearwater showed up and a few more in the next 20 minutes or so. All jaegers and South Polar Skua, three species of storm-petrels and 5 species of shearwater, diversity is up! We have two spots on Oct 18, and a few more on the 24 th remaining. https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Also, I am doing a Big Walk for Rhinoceros Auklets a walking big day next week where I am asking for donations to Oikonos for the Ao Nuevo Island project, restoring habitat and monitoring Rhinoceros and Cassins Auklets on the island. Hopefully I can break 110 species on foot power, and will likely walk about 20 miles assuming I survive!! Please donate more details here: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/oikonos-ecosystem-knowledge/alvaro-jaramillo-1 good birding! Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Paul I think the Black Storm-Petrels are up here, hundreds regularly in the last couple of weeks in San Mateo County, lesser numbers but still notable in San Francisco county. So perhaps overall productivity is low in your part of the ocean this year Interestingly we are not getting a push of Black-vented Shearwaters yet, just Black Storm-Petrel. It will be interesting to see what is going on out of Morro Bay next weekend. We have trips on Oct 4, 17 and 24 (last two dates are new) out of Half Moon Bay, it has generally been nicely active out of this port! Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

The San Diego pelagic trip on 19 September, sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society, was aboard "Legacy" out of Mission Bay. We went out to

the 9-Mile and 30-Mile Banks, as usual. Sea conditions were a bit bumpy and choppy when traveling west and northwest, but fine when going all other directions. The sea conditions made spotting some storm-petrels and all alcids difficult. Highlights included a cafe-au-lait Red-footed

Booby just shy of the 30-Mile Bank, a Buller's Shearwater only 2 miles off the beach, a juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger, and some 6 Least Storm-Petrels, mostly on the 9-Mile Bank. Photos of all of these will appear in upcoming eBird lists. As has been the case now for a solid year, overall numbers for most species are fairly low and there are appreciable stretches with very low numbers of birds. Species seen offshore (beyond 2 miles) were:
Red-necked Phalarope 30
Red Phalarope 1
Pomarine Jaeger 7
Parasitic Jaeger 2
LONG-TAILED JAEGER 1 juv. (21 mi. WSW of Point Loma)
jaeger sp. 2
Sabine's Gull 1
California Gull 7
Western Gull 240
Common Tern 7
Elegant Tern 35
Leach's Storm-Petrel 5
Black Storm-Petrel 48
LEAST STORM-PETREL 6 (5 along outer edge of 9-Mile Bank, 1 'only' ca. 8.5 mi. W of Sunset Cliffs)
Pink-footed Shearwater 28
BULLER'S SHEARWATER 1 (only 2 mi. off Ocean Beach)
Sooty Shearwater 1
Black-vented Shearwater 1150
Brown Booby 1
RED-FOOTED BOOBY 1 (26.3 mi WSW La Jolla, near inside edge of 30-Mile Bank)
Brown Pelican 1
Brandt's Cormorant 1
The next (and last trip for 2020) pelagic trip is again aboard "Legacy" out of Seaforth Sportfishing and is scheduled for 4 October. Ten hours, and presumably we will return to the 9-Mile and 30-Mile Bank areas. Details at sandiegopelagics.com.

--Paul Lehman, Dave Povey, Nancy Christensen, et al., San Diego

Hello all, Sunday and Monday (Sept 13 and 14), we went out from Pillar Point Harbor, into San Mateo and San Francisco waters. The Sunday trip was the SF country trip, where we maximize time in San Francisco county waters. We went to the Pioneer Canyon that day and had a great surprise, we found storm petrels out there. But first, on this day we did have multiple passerines fly by, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Wilsons Warblers, Audubons (Yellow-rumped) Warbler, Townsends Warbler, Merlin!, and perhaps a rarer warbler. It had pale at the base of the tail, but no good photos could be taken. One cowbird and a Wilsons Warbler eventually rode the boat back to shore. A boat fishing about 8 miles from shore texted us photos of a Magnolia Warbler that had landed on their boat, unfortunately it did not choose our boat. But what was exciting was finding flocks of Ashy Storm-Petrels in Pioneer Canyon, recall that the week before we found Black Storm-Petrels, but well south in San Mateo County. These were mainly Ashy, with a scattering of Black as well as Wilsons Storm-Petrels . On our best hour count, we estimated 600 Ashy Storm-Petrels . We lucked out as well with a San Francisco Flesh-footed Shearwater , our first of the season and we are looking forward to seeing many more. On the next day, we were not limited to San Francisco so we came up with a plan. How about looking for the Pioneer Canyon storm-petrels, and then heading south to where the Black Storm-Petrels had been the week before Our plan worked amazingly well. The big surprise was a super easy to see Minke Whale close to shore, not always a whale that allows for photography. We did not have the passerine fall out today, but a lost Black Turnstone about 10 miles out was trying to land on the boat. Once at the Pioneer Canyon we found the flocks of storm petrels again, this time maxing out with approximately 500 birds. But our diversity went up, finding Ashy, Black, Wilsons and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels . Bullers Shearwater showed up today. We then went south into San Mateo County, looking for the Black Storm-Petrel flocks, and on our way we found 2-3 Sabines Gulls which have been sparce this year. Early in the afternoon we found the Black Storm-Petrels, approximately 425 mixed with Ashy and a few Wilsons. Amazing, in one day we had gone from a concentration of Ashy to a totally different site with a concentration of Black Storm-Petrels. It was another fantastic study opportunity for storm petrels. We found Black-footed Albatross, Pink-footed and Sooty shearwaters, Northern Fulmar, Rhinoceros and Cassins auklets, Common Murre, Parasitic and Pomarine jaegers. Other critters included Humpback Whale, Salmon Shark, Mola mola, California and Stellers sea lions, Northern Fur Seal and Northern Elephant seal. The weather was good, we are excited about our trip this Saturday but it is sold out. Our next trips to this part of the ocean are on Oct 4, 17, and 24. The last two dates were just added. We have expanded our trips to later dates when numbers of albatross should increase, and we have high probability of finding Short-tailed Shearwater, as well as Flesh-footed Shearwater. Cross your fingers, but these late dates may also be good for Short-tailed Albatross. We will be on the lookout, Laysan Albatross will be a good chance and perhaps Ancient Murrelets may have started to show up by then. You can book and reserve here: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Good birding Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hello all, We had an amazing pelagic out of Half Moon Bay yesterday in sunny weather. The storm-petrelpalooza continued, and numbers were even higher than on Saturday. We estimated 1600 Black Storm-Petrels during one hour long transect, with 60 or so Ashy Storm-Petrels, and 7 or so Wilsons Storm-Petrels. This is the highest number we can find for San Mateo county waters, ever. A record haul! What was just fantastic was that we not only found flocks, but the birds were coming very close to the boat when we sat and idled, with opportunities for great photography. I am sure that more fantastic photos will be uploaded to the list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73349525 Again, it is difficult to put into words how fantastic the experience was. Just non-stop storm-petrels, multiple views. Over and over, and you could really see the flight style differences between Ashy and Black storm-petrels. We are all still going through our photos, as hundreds if not more were taken by each person there with a camera! Some of the Black Storm-Petrels were in San Francisco county, but the big numbers were to the south in San Mateo. We found three Tufted Puffins, many and close Black-footed Albatross, an abundance of Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, Pink-footed and Sooty shearwaters along with other common seabirds. Finally, jaegers were found in larger numbers, and all three species were seen including a fantastic adult Long-tailed right over our boat by Juan Pablo Galvan. Thanks for that spot! We were all looking at storm petrels, great that someone was looking up. The Humpback Whales put on an amazing show once again, with a group of feeding whales foraging right by the boat, putting on quite a show. We are heading out of Monterey on Saturday the 12 th , and return to Half Moon Bay on Monday Sept 14. There are 4 spots remaining for our Monday trip. You can reserve and book directly here: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Good birding to you either on land or out on the water! Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com