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

Hi All,

It is once again that time of year again where I am starting to run my annual spring pelagics for the third consecutive year. I am happy to announce that to start the spring pelagic season off, I will be leading aMay7thpelagic out of BodegaBayto Bodega Canyon, Cordell Bank and possibly the Continental Shelf (assuming weather permits). Thetrip will be on the New Sea Angler (65 ft. Coast Guard approved vessel) with Captain Rick Powers,a 40+ year veteran of the open ocean and someone who has been runningpelagic trips for close to four decades.The goal will be to get offshore as quickly as possiblein order to maximize time for spring specialities such as MURPHY'S, HAWAIIAN, and COOK'S PETRELS all of which we were able to see on the May 8th boat last spring! Among the very appealing petrels should also be a variety of offshorebirdsheadednorthto the Arctic to breed including jaegers, terns and phalaropes as well as species are Leach's Storm-Petrels, Laysan Albatrosses (we had 8 on one boat last May), Parakeet Auklets (a species we were able to see two years), any species of booby and of course we always hope to find a Short-tailed Albatross. Spring is a time of year not often covered by pelagic boats so who knows what wemaydiscover out there.

If you would like to sign up, please let me know privately at lucascorneliussen04@... . The cost of the trip will be$160per person.

Good Birding,

Lucas Corneliussen

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

Hi all
We had a productive pelagic trip today with Island Packers from the Ventura Harbor. Our 12-hour trip had us going out to the east end of Anacapa Island and then traveling south across and around the Santa Cruz Basin before stopping at Santa Barbara Island and the Pilgrim Bank. I do not have precise numbers yet, but here is a summary of the highlights.
* Over 50 Brown Boobies, 2 Blue-footed Boobies, and the now 2-year old Blue-footed x Brown Booby hybrid on Sutil Rock near Santa Barbara Island * 5-10 Cook's Petrels on the west side of the Santa Cruz Basin with one bird allowing close approach on the water * A pair of Craveri's Murrelets south of Santa Cruz Island * Several pair of Scripps's Murrelets (one with a older chick). Getting late in the season for them * A Black-footed Albatross in the Santa Cruz Basin where we rarely ever see them
* Three South Polar Skuas * An early Sabine's Gull * Fair numbers of Black, Ashy, and Leach's Storm-Petrels * 1000's of Sooty Shearwaters, 100ish Pink-footed Shearwaters, a few early returning Black-vented Shearwaters, and a few summering Northern Fulmars
* Small numbers of Rhinoceros and Cassin's Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, and a few Common Murres near Anacapa (trying to breed there)
* A White-bellied Oystercatcher on Anacapa Island that will need to be evaluated further. Likely a hybrid
A great trip with birds in sight most of the day over our 200-mile route. Special thanks to Island Packers, especially Captain Joel Barrett who helps make these trips happen and brings an impressive amount of birding expertise to the captain's chair. Thanks also to leaders Todd McGrath, Peter Gaede, Dan Maxwell, and Wes Fritz for tirelessly sharing their expertise and finding birds over a long day at sea.

Cheers
Dave Pereksta

The details as I understand them are that this bird was found at around 1:15 PM today (10 June) by Kris McMillan and Geoff Veith at the lower pond at the Safari Park near Escondido, in inland San Diego County. The pond near where the Gliossy Ibis hung out last year and where a couple Neotropic Cormorants have been seen in recent years. They did not know what the bird was, so they sent a photo or two out for comment. Everyone commented that it appeared to be a Cook's Petrel or similar species. It stayed around the pond for only a minute or two, and was actually seen dropping to the water and picking up what may have been some sort of food (although I doubt it was squid!!). The bird then flew off. Geoff and Kris departed very soon thereafter and then sent additional photos out. Some time later, Safari Park staff member Eric Lutomski (of Wood Stork fame) gave a look for the bird there and did NOT see it. He said staff would look again later this afternoon.

Photos will undoubtedly be posted elsewhere soon by the observers. The bird looks like a Cook's Petrel. Similar species such as Pycroft's and DeFilippi's--neither of which have yet to be recorded in California--seem to be eliminated (as best we can tell) on the basis of bill shape and tail pattern. As for how the bird got way inland to Safari Park, there are two main options: 1) It got trapped in the Gulf of California and headed this way, directly or via the Salton Sea where there are two or three previous summer records, sort of the same route taken by some spring Brant, scoters, and loons; or 2) it was found stranded at almost any spot in San Diego County by a good samaritan who didn't know where to take it so figured the Safari Park might be able to take care of it.

Other than the Salton Sea birds, the only other Cook's Petrel I am aware of to have occurred inside the beach in CA is a bird found in a Santa Cruz driveway on 17 Nov 1983.

Hopefully this portends numbers of Cook's offshore San Diego and elsewhere as well! (Although there probably is little correlation...). So please come on the San Diego pelagic trip this coming Sunday, or in July (almost full) or August, and we'll definitely try!

--Paul Lehman, San Diego

The northbound Holland America ("Eurodam") cruise-ship pelagic from San Diego to Vancouver, April 25-29, produced some 500+ Murphy's Petrels, 7 Hawaiian Petrels, 140 Cook's Petrels, and 20 Laysan Albatrosses. Very windy on April 26, but light winds on April 27, but still crazy numbers of Murphy's both days. These are record high totals for Murphy's, Hawaiians, and Laysans for a single trip. April 26 daylight ran from western Santa Barbara County to southern Marin County (brief). April 27 from northern Humboldt County (brief) and Del Norte County through much of Oregon. This trip, like most of them, runs about 42-53 miles offshore of CA, and slightly less off Oregon, most of the time right along the shelf edge. Photos taken of many of these birds will appear in eBird reports at some point soon. Here is the county breakdown of the (approximate) totals:

26 APRIL
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: 2 Hawaiians, 2 Murphy's, 1 Laysan
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY: 1 Hawaiian (continuing), 4 Murphy's, 35 Cook's, 2 Laysans
MONTEREY COUNTY: 5 Murphy's, 45 Cook's, 6 Laysans, 2 Tufted Puffins
SAN MATEO COUNTY: 2 Hawaiians, 45 Murphy's, 70 Cook's
SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 2 Hawaiians, 125 Murphy's, 3 Laysans
MARIN COUNTY: 10 Murphy's, 1 Laysan

27 APRIL
HUMBOLDT COUNTY: 1 Hawaiian, 10 Murphy's
DEL NORTE COUNTY: 22 Murphy's, 1 Laysan
OREGON: 260 Murphy's, 6 Laysans

--Paul Lehman (San Diego) and 25 birders (mostly from out-of-state)

To add a bit to the information provided by Jim Holmes, his round-trip from San Francisco to Ensenada and back is a good new twist on the many "repositioning cruises" that birders have taken off the CA coast now for over 10 years. Jim's trip was not a repositioning cruise, but rather just a regular mini-cruise, but the spring repo cruises are primarily from San Diego (Holland America) or Los Angeles (Princess) up to Vancouver. Similar trips departing San Francisco get very little daylight in CA waters. And in no case do you want trips that add unwanted ports-of-call (other than Victoria), as that cuts down on daylight well offshore. These spring trips (mid-April to mid-May) are very good for Murphy's and Cook's Petrels and Laysan Albatrosses, good for Hawaiian Petrels, and great for lots of Black-footed Albatrosses, Fork-tailed and Leach's Storm-Petrels, Tufted Puffins, etc. Fall (September) trips, southbound, are good for all the standard fall pelagic species. Very rare trips in Nov/Dec are good for Mottled Petrel. Some Princess ships have the wrap-around bow deck that Jim's ship had, and which is great for observation AND PHOTOGRAPHY if it is not too windy and that deck is thus closed. If so, one birds one deck lower and just slightly back on one side or the other, depending on lighting, which is the only deck configuration available on the Holland America ships. One advantage of Jim's route is that you start and end at the same port, so no flight(s) needed if you live near the embarkation port. There are also 10-12 day round-trip cruises from San Francisco or L.A. up to Alaska and back on Princess between May-Sep that are excellent for deep-water and other pelagics, but much of that, of course, is north of CA.

For those interested in CA waters, the Holland America trips in spring get daylight in Santa Barbara north to San Francisco Counties and then the following morning in northern Humboldt and Del Norte. The Princess trips from L.A. get s. Monterey to s. Mendocino, but the next morning you are already in Oregon waters. (Nothing is wrong with OR and WA waters, mind you, as you get many of the desired species there as well.)

One uses a scope a bunch, but binoculars alone DO work for a bunch of the birds, and a lot of folks scan with binoculars but then zoom in with a scope for better views. But plenty of birds are quite close to the ship and provide for GOOD photography opportunities. The stability of these huge ships really helps!

After a two-year covid hiatus, a bunch of us are taking a Holland America cruise next week from San Diego to Vancouver from April 25-29. There is also a Princess trip with birders on board leaving L.A. on the 29th. And a couple other offerings in May.
--Paul Lehman, San Diego

Date: 4/19/22 3:17 pm
From: Jim Holmes via groups.io
Subject: Re: [CALBIRDS] Cruise Ship out of San Francisco

I got a few questions/suggestions regarding this trip, so some additional information....

This is basically a seawatch and you will need a scope. I would not
recommend just using binoculars. Basically, you find a spot out of the
wind with good light near the front of the ship and spend the day
scoping. It is not good for photography. Birds generally do not get
close to the massive ship.

As for price, we got 2 rooms (a balcony for me and my wife and an
indoor room across the hall for our two kids). For our 5 night trip,
our balcony was $533/person ($1,066 total). Our kids indoor room was
$429/person ($858 total). That includes everything (room, food,
entertainment, taxes, fees, port expenses, etc) but alcohol and tip
($15/day/person). I always get a balcony on these trips but I have
never done my seawatches from my room.

My eBird trip reports are here (you can see our route and the areas
where no reports are logged were when I took lunch with my family):

April 12: https://ebird.org/tripreport/48456

April 15: https://ebird.org/tripreport/48457

Happy to answer any other questions.

Thanks,

Jim Holmes

Sacramento, CA

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

Hi All,

To start the Spring pelagic season off, I will be leading a May 8th pelagic out of Bodega Bay to Bodega Canyon, Cordell Bank and possibly the Continental Shelf (assuming weather permits). Thetrip will be on the New Sea Angler (65 ft. Coast Guard approved vessel) with Captain Rick Powers,a 40+ year veteran of the open ocean and someone who has been runningpelagic trips for over three decades. The goal will be to get offshore as quickly as possiblein order to maximize time for spring specialities such as Hawaiian Petrel, Cook's Petrel and a variety of offshore birdsheaded north to the Arctic to breed. Other possibilities are Leach's Storm-Petrel, Parakeet Auklet (a species we were able to see last year around this time), Murphy's Petrel (another species we saw this time last year), any species of booby and of course we always hope to find a Short-tailed Albatross. Spring is a time of year not often covered by pelagic boats so who knows what we may discover out there.

Compared to last spring, wind has been quite mild this year so Rick and I are much more hopeful of running these boats than we were last year andwe think that this trip could be quite calm. That said, if you are interested, please let me know ASAP. The cost of the trip will be $150 per person.

Good Birding,

Lucas Corneliussen

The schedule of San Diego pelagic trips for 2022 has been finalized. As in recent years, all trips are sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society and are aboard the 80-foot "Legacy" (a whale-watching boat) out of Seaforth Sportfishing Landing in Mission Bay. Trip details, lists of expected and possible species for each trip, and past trip reports can be viewed at www.sandiegopelagics,com. Trips may be booked anytime online at www.sdwhale.com or call Seaforth Sportfishing Landing (619-224-3383) during regular working hours (7am to 4pm) Pacific Coast Time. We
are offering eight trips this year. Five are the traditionalpeak-season trips and are 10-12 hours in duration (mid-May, mid-Jun, mid-Aug, mid-Sep, and early Oct). Three trips are new. Two of these are shorter (5-1/2 - 6 hr.) trips (late Apr and late Oct) which are in the migration shoulder season and offer possibilities for some species sometimes missed in other months. The other new trip is a mid-July 10-12 hr. trip added to match the recent discovery of
Cook's Petrels in the southwest
corner of San Diego County waters. No guarantees here, but certainly an additional
chance for a variety of interesting species. Depending on the season, San Diego pelagic trips can be excellent for Craveri's and Scripps's Murrelets, a variety of storm-petrels including Townsend's, Ashy, and Least, Brown Booby, a chance for Red-billed Tropicbird, several rare boobies, and a good variety of the more expected pelagic species.
2022 pelagic trips;
April 24 Sunday 5.5-6 hr.
May 14 Saturday 10-12 hr. June 12 Sunday 10-12hr. July 16 Saturday 10-12hr. August 13 Saturday 10-12hr. September 11 Sunday 10-12 hr. October 1 Saturday 10-12hr. October 22 Saturday 5.5-6 hr.

Again, you can book directly at www.sdwhale.com . Hit
the red "book now" and scroll down until you hit the date you would like to
book. (Be careful that you do notgo to the San Diego Whale Watch site,
which is a different organization.) If you have any questions, contact us through sandiegopelagics@... . We
do not take reservationsor do waiting lists there. Those details are handled
by the Seaforth Landing or the Legacy's website noted above.

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

Birders,

The annual voyage on Searcher departed Monday Sep 7th from San Diego. Highlights from day 1 in San Diego and Los Angeles County included a single LEAST STORM-PETREL, a couple of TOWNSEND"S STORM-PETRELS and an adult NAZCA BOOBY as well as the usual species.

Tuesday we started our day on the Osborne Bank and worked our way to Santa Barbara Island where we checked Sutil Rock for boobies. Just off the island we had a few CASSIN"S AUKLETS. About 80 BROWN BOOBIES were there, plus a single continuing BLUE-FOOTED BOOBY, which may have bred with a Brown and produced a hybrid chick. We are reviewing photos of the possible hybrid. a young MASKED/NAZCA type Booby was also seen on this day along with ASHY, BLACK, and LEAACH's STORM-PETRELS.We also saw a few CRAVERI'S MURRELETS, as well as all the JAEGERS and SOUTH POLAR SKUA. We anchored behind San Miguel Island.

Wed we worked west from San Miguel Island to the shelf edge and down over the San Juan Seamount. We had more CRAVERI'S MURRELETS, plus a couple pair of SCRIPP'S MURELETS. about lunchtime we started seeing GUADALUPE MURRELETS, and had another adult NAZCA BOOBY. We were able to study LEACH's and TOWNSEND's STORM-PETRELS at close range on a natural slick, and we saw both light and dark rumped Townsdend's. BLACK_FOOTED ALBATROSS were following the boat in low numbers. over 100 BULLER's SHEARWATERS were out on the shelf.

Thursday we started West of the Cortex Bank and worked our way in from the shelf edge, down the outside od the bank and then across the top. a distant COOK'S PETREL was seen at the shelf edge along with another GUADALUPE MURRELET pair. on top of the bank we hab a LAYSAN ALBATROSS, sporting a red band from Guadalupe Island. While wartching the LAYSAN at point blank range, another young NAZCA/MASKED type BOOBY joined the fray. We worked out way east and got into some BLUEFIN TUNA, with lots of COMMON and ARCTIC TERNS. a few SABINE"S GULLS and hundreds of PINK_FOOTED SHEARWATERS. Another COOK'S PETREL flew by the boat giving most a good, if quick look.

Marine mammals included ELEPHANT SEAL, CALIFORNIA SEA-LION, NORTHERN and GUADALUPE FUR-SEALs, COMMON, BOTTLE-NOSED and RISSO's DOLPHINS, HUMPBACK, BLUE, and FIN WHALES.

We did not see RED-BILLED TROPICBIRD, only the second time in 17 years we have missed this species. All in all a great trip. My thanks to Searcher Natural History Tours for running these trips, my co-leaders Dave Pereksta and Dave Povey, and the intrepid group of participants. It was truly an adventure. Smoke and haze was present 150 miles offshore, but otherwisse the weather was generally good.

Todd McGrath
SKUA@...
Now safely back in TEXAS.

Hi All

This is a reminder that Island Packers is offering a 12-hour deepwater
pelagic trip from the Ventura Harbor at 7 am on Sunday July 12. This trip will
allow us to get to offshore waters beyond the reach of most day trips where we
will have a chance to see a number of outstanding pelagic birds and marine
mammals. Our intention is to go south from Ventura towards San Nicolas Island
and the banks, knolls, canyons and other productive features in the area. This
will give us a chance to look for sought after species like Red-billed
Tropicbird, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Townsend's Storm-Petrel, Cook's Petrel, and
Craveri's Murrelet. Boats out of San Diego have been seeing Cook's Petrels and
Craveri's Murrelets recently, and on a work visit to Santa Barbara Island a few
weeks ago I saw a Blue-footed Booby that is acting like it is paired with a
Brown Booby (there is a chick in the nest for what that is worth). We will
decide what our offshore destination will be after reviewing oceanographic
conditions at the time of the trip, which will help determine where the birds
and other marine life may be present or concentrated. This trip has been
productive the last few years. In 2017 we had Black-footed Albatrosses and
Cook's Petrels along with an astounding 45 Craveri's Murrelets. In 2018 we had
the first accepted at-sea record of Tristram's Storm-Petrel for the ABA area
(!), a Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel, Townsend's Storm-Petrels, lots of Cook's
Petrels, two Nazca Boobies, and an American Oystercatcher. Last year we had a
Manx Shearwater and incredible looks at Townsend's and Leach's Storm-Petrels.
Beyond these highlights, we always see a variety of the more expected
pelagic species and it is a trip that normally produces lots of birds.

While I would normally go on more about the birds we might see, I am
going to focus on safety related to the COVID-19 pandemic and how we plan to
run the trip to minimize risk to everyone on board. First, we are running at a
reduced capacity to ensure that passengers can sit/stand 6 feet apart. The
maximum capacity for the vessel is set at 57 people for this trip, which is
20-25 people less than we normally carry on a pelagic trip (and way lower than
the rated passenger capacity for the boat). Masks/face coverings are REQUIRED
at all times while on the boat. If you do not believe in wearing masks for some
political, religious, or other reason, then this is not the trip for you. The
exception is to eat or drink. We ask that when you are eating or drinking to
distance one's self 6 feet away from other people not in your party. When
eating and drinking remove your mask only sparingly, replacing it between
drinks, or bites of food (use your best judgement). We also suggest bringing a
few spare masks as you may want to put on a fresh one after several hours. Make
sure you can comfortably wear the mask for extended periods of time. In
addition, all the tables and handrails will be disinfected before boarding and the
restrooms will be disinfected on regularly scheduled intervals. The handrails
along the perimeter of the boat are marked at 6-foot intervals to help maintain
social distancing while aboard.

The trip will be on an ultra-fast catamaran that features a spacious
and comfortable cabin, galley, and excellent viewing from both the upper and
lower decks. A full contingent of outstanding seabird leaders will be present
to make sure we see all that is out there. The Captain and crew know how to run
birding trips and are enthusiastic and helpful. In addition, we work hard to
creep up on birds and get them in the right light...photographers will not be
disappointed!

Trips can be booked over the phone by calling (805) 642-1393 or online
at www.IslandPackers.com by clicking the Reserve Trip tab, select the Special
Trips tab, and select your desired departure. The cost of the trip is $195 per
adult.

Hope to see you at sea!
Dave Pereksta Ventura

Today, Saturday the 27th, Dave Povey, Nancy Christensen, and I
     went offshore, the main purpose being to visit the waters in the
     extreme southwest corner of the county, about 25-29 nautical miles
     from the tip of Point Loma and immediately bordering both Los
     Angeles County and Mexican waters. The waters offshore between the
     mainland and the inside edge of the 30-Mile Bank are currently
     amazingly dead, with very, very small numbers and an incredibly
     low diversity of birds. Once up on the 30-Mile Bank, just north of
     the international border, we starting finding a number of small-
     to medium-sized rafts of Black Storm-Petrels, Then, in the deeper
     water (2200-2400 feet; 67.7 F) beyond the shallowest section of
     the bank--right near where the international boundary makes an
     obvious 90-degree jog to the south, we starting seeing COOK'S
     PETRELS, many feeding with storm-petrels or just sitting in small
     groups on the water. We totaled at least 24 Cook's in San Diego
     County waters and at least 16 in L. A. County and 5 in Baja
     waters, with a bit of duplication as birds moved across the
     boundaries (as calculated by us!). Despite our working cameras
     only including a single super-zoom and a couple cell-phones,
     reasonable photos were obtained. We also had a pair of CRAVERI'S
     MURRELETS, an unseasonal Sabine's Gull, a one-year-old Common
     Tern, and 4 well-offshore Least Terns, all just inside L. A.
     County waters. There are only several previous sightings of Cook's
     Petrels inside San Diego County waters, and these involved just
     single birds.

    

     Before I list the day's totals, if there is enough interest in
     chartering a fishing/whalewatching boat for a "chase-trip" at some
     point sooner rather than later (the next regularly scheduled San
     Diego pelagic trip is not until mid-August), then Dave Povey is
     willing to inquire of the local boat landings to see if any boat
     is available. The cost would depend on what the charter costs
     divided by the number of people going. Let Dave know if you are
     potentially interested and whether any day of the week will work
     for you or if only weekends are do-able. Conditions can change
     rapidly offshore, so there is certainly no guarantee of success!
     This is now the beginning of the very busy fishing season, and
     whale sightings have just recently increased, so this all may be a
     moot point--but it's worth a try if there is enough interest out
     there. Dave's e-mail address is

    

     Today's list:

    

     Cook's Petrel: 32+

    

     Pink-footed Shearwater: 6

    

     Sooty Shearwater: 20

    

     Black-vented Shearwater: 4

    

     Ashy Storm-Petrel: 18

    

     Black Storm-Petrel: ca. 700

    

     Craveri's Murrelet: 2

    

     Cassin's Auklet: 4

    

     Sabine's Gull: 1

    

     Heermann's Gull: 1

    

     Western Gull: 8

    

     Least Tern: 6

    

     Common Tern: 1

    

     Elegant Tern: 80

    

     Brown Pelican: 25

    

    

     --Paul Lehman, San Diego

Hello birders,

San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society is tentatively planning an approximately 18-hour pelagic trip out of Dana Point on Saturday, August 29. We plan to head out to the offshore waters beyond San Clemente Island to Tanner and Cortez Banks. Past trips have produced albatrosses, storm-petrels, tropicbirds, boobies, and Cook's Petrels. Given the current events going on in the world, we would like to ensure that we can fill the trip before we place our deposit on the boat. If you are interested in going on this trip (at a cost of $200 per person), please contact me directly and let me know. We need 35 participants to reach the break-even point, so don't be shy. Thank you.

Tom Benson

thomasabenson@...

San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society sponsored a 17-hour pelagic trip today, August 17. We departed Dana Point at 5 AM aboard the Ocean Institute's R/V Sea Explorer, and returned about 10 PM. We explored the waters mostly south and east of San Clemente Island, visiting 30 Mile Bank, 40 Mile Bank, Butterfly Bank, the San Clemente Basin, and the 277 Bank off Catalina Island. Highlights from the trip included 3 Cook's Petrels (40 Mile Bank), 2 Black-footed Albatrosses, several Townsend's Storm-Petrels, Blue-footed Booby (30 Mile Bank/SD Co.), Brown Booby, a couple Arctic Terns, a few Long-tailed Jaegers, and several dozen Craveri's Murrelets. Other species included Common Tern, Red and Red-necked Phalaropes, Sabine's Gull, Pomarine Jaeger, Black and Leach's Storm-Petrels, Cassin's Auklet, and Pink-footed, Sooty, and Black-vented Shearwaters. Of local interest in Orange County, we had several Leach's Storm-Petrels in the extreme southeastern corner of Orange County waters (depending on how one draws the boundary with SD), and then on our return trip saw half a dozen or so small storm-petrels south of Lausen Sea Mount that were likely Leach's or Least Storm-Petrels. Non-bird marine life included Elephant Seal, California Sea Lion, Common Dolphin, Minke Whale, Fin Whale, Green Sea Turtle, Hammerhead Shark, Mola mola, and flying fish.
Tom Benson San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society