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

On Saturday Oct 1, we ran our annual fall pelagic trip with Island Packers from the Ventura Harbor. We had a great forecast and a nice setup of sea conditions so we left the harbor with a game plan and a sense of optimism. That didn't last very long after we heard radio chatter that the Navy was firing a missile at some point during the morning, which closed off most of the waters south of the Channel Islands. Our hopes that this exercise would be done by 0930 dragged on through the morning and we had to adjust our route with the severe limitations imposed upon us. It is tough to stay focused when the radio in the wheel house is blowing up with constant communication between the Navy and the fishing fleet; the latter of which was violating the boundaries of the closure so frequently that the launch had to be delayed again and again. With our hopes of visiting Santa Barbara Island and it's booby colony becoming more unrealistic by the minute, we adjusted and here is how the day went...
After leaving the harbor we started the trip with an unusual surprise when we found rafts of thousands of Black-vented Shearwaters sitting on the water right past the breakwaters. The birds must have been feeding all night as they were piled up on the water and not as skittish as they might normally be. We had great looks, which included several leucistic birds, and then moved on to Anacapa Island. The crossing was slow bird wise, but Anacapa provided our first thrill of the day after we found a Brown Booby and then a Masked Booby perched below the lighthouse on the east end of Anacapa. These two birds just sat there giving everyone on board great views.
Our original intention from here was to run west-southwest before eventually turning towards Santa Barbara Island. With the missile launch still pending the Navy told us we couldn't go south and we had to stay with a few miles of the islands. We adjusted and moved west on the south side of Anacapa and Santa Cruz. We were rewarded with nearly 30 Craveri's Murrelets behind Anacapa and as we headed west into Santa Barbara County waters we had great looks at a few close Ashy Storm-Petrels. This run was slow but we did have a few jaegers of all three species and the three expected species of shearwaters (Black-vented, Pink-footed, and Sooty) among other birds. We had hoped we would be cleared to move south somewhere along this route but it did not happen so we continued to the Santa Rosa Passage where we checked Bird Rock and found a Peregrine Falcon and a pair of Bald Eagles sitting on a midden on the adjacent part of Santa Cruz Island.
Moving into the Santa Cruz Canyon, we encountered some small flocks of Pink-footed Shearwaters that had other birds feeding with them and then somewhere off the east end of Santa Rosa Island, the day went haywire. Not long after finding Curtis Marantz his long-awaited Santa Barbara County Craveri's Murrelet, we had a few shearwaters in front of the boat when one of our sharp-eyed passengers said, "there is a white-headed Pink-footed in this flock." Linda Terrill said that I leapt off the deck at this point, but among a series of expletives flowing from my mouth were the two words I have only ever yelled once before in unison from a boat...STREAKED SHEARWATER!!!!!! Among a ton of out-of-control emotions and ensuing panic of birders, we just stopped the boat, started getting everyone on the bird, carefully evaluated our ID to make sure we weren't looking at a white-headed Pink-footed Shearwater, and then spent an extensive amount of time with this bird. Finding rare seabirds is often tricky business as some birds fly by the boat quickly or a bird flushes, never to be seen again. Many times only a few people on board see the very rare ones. However...Captain Joel Barrett managed the boat impeccably and everyone had incredible views of this mega rarity (Only the 20th for the state and the second off southern California). Although it flushed a few times, the low winds had the shearwaters settling back on the water so we had repeated looks at it. We quickly forgot about the travel restrictions imposed by the Navy which had ultimately and serendipitously led us to this bird. There it is...rare bird found, a boat full of satisfied birders, day is done...hardly!
The Navy pulled their restrictions, but we would not have time to head to SBI. We followed the shearwaters south along the eastern part of the Santa Rosa Flats and the number of birds increased ultimately revealing a few Buller's Shearwaters. A few birders got their life Streaked before their life Buller's...life is not fair. While still working the Streaked we found a Nazca Booby sitting on the water; our third booby of the day. We also had another interesting bird flash by that may have been a Wedge-tailed Shearwater. The winds were increasing so the birds were becoming more mobile. We did gather some photos of distant flocks on the water where we believed this bird briefly settled so we will see if we can find it after-the-fact. They were not very cooperative.
Our run south and then east into the deep waters of the Santa Cruz Basin continued to produce birds and we started finding storm-petrels including Black, Ashy, and Least. Our jaeger numbers were increasing and as we traversed the basin we had impressive numbers of Long-tailed Jaegers with decent numbers of Pomarines and a few Parasitics. Here and elsewhere starting at the Santa Rosa Passage, we also found a few South Polar Skuas. Along our run east we continued to encounter Craveri's Murrelets which were often clumped by pairs in loose groups of as many as 10-12 birds in view at a time. We will see what our eBird reveals, but we certainly had somewhere in the ballpark of 50-100 for the day. They were the most abundant alcid by far, but we did have a few Cassin's Auklets and Rhinoceros Auklets. The jaeger show continued with a few flocks chasing groups of Common Terns and Sabine's Gulls. Careful inspection of the tern flocks found us a few Arctic and Black Terns as well. The number of birds in the Santa Cruz Basin was awesome and our ride back was filled with jaegers, terns, shearwaters, murrelets, and phalaropes.

I joked that when life gives you lemons, you spike the lemonade with tequila and have the kind of day we ultimately had at sea. While we reflected that the day would have been great even without the Streaked Shearwater, we are not trading that one in. We will remember this one for a long time. Many thanks to Joel Barrett and Island Packers for supporting our pelagic trips and working with us to consistently provide great pelagic experiences. I also want to give a shout-out to our leaders who busted their butts all day...many thanks to Jon Feenstra, Peter Gaede, Hugh Ranson, Bob Schallmann, and Wes Fritz. Among the kind words I received as we wrapped up was sentiments from one very seasoned pelagic birder and dear friend who said she was impressed at how well people worked together and that there was a pleasant vibe on the boat throughout the day. One for the ages...
Dave Pereksta Ventura

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

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

Hi all.
Thebest bird of our Monterey Seabirds 8-hour pelagic birding trip on the Monterey Bay last Sunday was again a Manx Shearwater; unfortunately not as cooperative as the one on our previous trip and not seen by everyone. We had a good jaeger show with all three species well represented and seen well. The victims of the jaegers, Arctic and Common Terns as well as Sabine's Gulls were also present in good numbers. A handfulof Red Phalaropes were seen in addition to numerous Red-necked Phalaropes. And again several Black-footed Albatrosses put on a good show. Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters were present in large numbers. A single Pigeon Guillemont, a handful of Cassin's Auklets, and a couple of dozen Rhinoceros Auklets rounded out the alcid show with the abundant Common Murres.
Mammals were represented by a small pod of Baird's Beaked Whales and many HumpbackWhales, a couple of which called attention to their presence close to the Pt. Sur Clipper with a spectaculardouble breach.
A quick not on sea surface temperature. Unlike on our previous trip, on Sunday we couldn't identify any areas of warm water within reach. And while we covered very similar tracks on both trips, the difference in temperatureshowedin some of the species observed. For one, after the storm-petrel bonanza two weeks ago, we had none on Sunday. Two weeks ago, we had eight fur seals, three of which for sure and probably all were Guadalupe Fur Seals. Last Sunday, we saw approximately 25 fur seals, six of which for sure and probably all were Northern Fur Seals.
Next Sunday's trip is sold out, but we have space on our upcoming trips on September 19, and October 3, 10, and 17, 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)

Report by Gene Hunn

Cordell Banks and the Continental Shelf Pelagic from Bodega Bay aboard the New Sea Angler with Captain Rick Powers. April 25, 2021.

Lucas Corneliussen has emerged as the young empresario of pelagic birding out of Bodega Harbor. He put this spring trip together and filled the boat to its Covid capacity in face of stiff odds for fair weather. This was the first spring season pelagic trip in many years, as the spring season is well known to be the windy season on the Northern California coast and spring offshore trips always problematic. The forecast for this Sunday was dicey, but we persevered and were well rewarded for our faith in the pelagic gods.

For the first few hours, birds were scarce beyond the zone of gulls, loons, grebes, cormorants, and murres, though hundreds of migrating loons and bright Red-necked Grebes were a treat as we left the harbor. We did enjoy a nice variety of Northern Fulmars, spotted a few Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters, Rhinoceros and Cassins Auklets, distant Pomarine Jaegers and Sabines Gulls, will-o-the-wisp Ashy Storm-Petrels, shy flocks of Northern/Red-necked Phalaropes (some in nice breeding plumage, and a very few Reds), and our first Black-footed Albatrosses. A visitation by a troop of Dalls Porpoises livened up the early hours.

Blue sky broke through as we reached the continental shelf on the outside edge of Cordell Banks. The Captain announced that we had crossed a temperature threshold from chilly a 49 degrees to 51 degrees. At that precise moment a shout arose from the stern, Pterodroma!! Pterodroma!! HAWAIIAN PETREL!!! This high value target rarity glided to the boat, banked past the stern, toyed with us briefly off the bow before vanishing in the distance, but not before the big lenses had captured the moment.

Lucass gamble on targeting the outer shelf was richly rewarded and birders were screaming with joy, as only birders can do when in the presence of a super rarity, as if we had caught the worlds biggest fish. The Captain proceeded due west just beyond the shelf and the albatross numbers climbed, with 21 surrounding the boat at one time, of perhaps 100 in all for the day. Then another scream, LAYSAN ALBATROSS, as this pied monster cruised in from our wake to circle close in for ample photo ops. We also enjoyed an intimate encounter with a pristine spoon-tailed Pomarine Jaeger, a few Black-legged Kittiwakes, and close views of passing SABINES GULL flocks, eventually numbering in the hundreds.

At the head of Bodega Canyon, the Captain turned toward home, still 35 miles distant. The fine weather and calm seas had induced a somnolent air about the boat, but we awoke once more to excited shouts, this time of auklet!! Auklet!! PARAKEET AUKLET!!! This Alaskan vagrant cooperated most amiably for the next 20 minutes, allowing everyone (and every camera) to examine every detail. (This bird represents Sonoma Countys second Parakeet Auklet record with the first being a flock of 6 on a Repo Cruise in 2010.) But the day was not yet done. A large pod of Rissos Dolphins was spotted ahead, and we mingled with these striking cetaceans -- as did a Northern Fur seal -- as we headed to port. Finally, a lone, small dark shearwater with a flock of gulls proved on examination of the photos to be a SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER, always difficult to pin down. The captain slid the big boat neatly into the dock and we all debarked smiling.
Thank you Gene for the complete summary of the trip. I (Lucas Corneliussen) will likely be leading another trip in May from Bodega Bay so keep your eyes peeled!

Good Birding
Lucas Corneliussen

Hello folks More details tomorrow, when we can get better photos uploaded. However, a few folks on the boat today saw a Streaked Shearwater south of the Pioneer Canyon in San Mateo county. The odd bird was spotted first by Peter Pyle, from the bow of the boat. It was in view for a short while before disappearing, we looked for some time but could not re-find. The bird was similar in size to a Pink-footed Shearwater, but had strikingly pale underwings. As well, the body coloration was gray toned, and the face was pale. It was distant and only poor photos were managed. Ian Davies has better photos that will be uploaded once he is back at his computer. There appeared to be white on the rump/uppertail coverts that could be seen. Here are my poor photos. https://ebird.org/checklist/S75367135 More details tomorrow I hope. Perhaps others will have photos of the bird apart from Ian. Noting that we could not re-find immediately after seeing the bird, the chances of re-finding it are very low. But if there is enough interest in trying to look for it in the same general area, we do have a good weather window on Tuesday or Wednesday. Let me know, and we can see if this is feasible. Good birding! 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, I had gone to sleep seeing 17 knot winds offshore on the computer, and wondering what things would be like in the morning. Well, winds were down to 10 knots, the sky was cloudless and suddenly what was an impending poor weather trip was going to be fine. It was better than fine, it was wonderful. As has been the norm recently Common Murres were in the harbor, and masses of Elegant Terns were fishing the anchovy that are trapped in the harbor by the millions. We headed out and the first good sign was that an Ashy Storm-Petrel was seen about 10 miles out, closer than we usually see one. In fact on the way back in, there was one 3 miles from shore, definitely a record for us. Closer to shore than we ever see them. As is typical the line of Sooty Shearwaters was out there a few miles out, and lots of Common Murres with a single remaining (they leave early) Pigeon Guillemot. As we reached greater distances from the coast we found Pink-footed Shearwaters, a few Northern Fulmar and Rhinoceros Auklet. When we arrived near the Half Moon Bay weather buoy, things picked up, more shearwaters, Black-footed albatross and a nice fly by Laysan Albatross! What we assume was the same Laysan came back and gave even better views about 40 minutes later. Wilsons Storm-Petrel caused a thrill, as one came close to the boat. Little did we know that we would see several before the days end. Most storm petrels were Ashy, but eventually we found a Black Storm-Petrel, and from there on in, they took over the show. Progressively more common on each section of the trip as we headed south. Eventually we had an hour period when we tallied over 400! Some coming in for great views. Some photos here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73241708 The numbers do not do justice to the experience. For hours Black Storm-Petrels were constantly in view, so were many Ashy, and a few Wilsons here and there. Comparison between Ashy and Black was possible repeatedly, the bouncing flight of the long-winged Black Storm-Petrel is something we looked at so intently today, and on so many individuals that we will likely see those images as we fall asleep tonight. It was truly a great trip to really learn this species. Amazing! Another superb experience was spotting the Laysan Albatross, presumably the same one as earlier, and then Dorian Anderson yelling that he had just seen a second! Eventually, the two birds sat together at a distance from us, confirming two Laysan Albatrosses at the same time. To think that at one time it was thought that San Mateo County was not good for pelagics! It is fantastic for pelagics. Return to port surprise was a Tufted Puffin that buzzed the boat. Several Humpback Whales were enjoyed, including some lunge feeding individuals. We hope to replay some of this, with the caveat that things can change on a dime in the ocean, on Monday. Weather is forecast to be pretty calm on Monday and we can assure you that it will be cool out there. So if you want to try your luck with seabirds, and escape the heat, we have 4 spots left: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html take care, Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hello all, The trip started out slowly, with nearly nothing over the continental shelf on our way offshore. I was getting a bit worried, an Ashy Storm-Petrel about 15 miles offshore was a good sign though. Then we got to the continental shelf edge and it was just crazy, thousands of birds, and masses of Humpback Whales. Maybe 40 or so whales within a mile, and perhaps during the day we saw over 5-10% of the population of Pink-footed Shearwaters, thousands! They were at times much more abundant than the Sooty, just the perfect setup for a super rare shearwater to show up in. Our meter (the sonar) wash showing solidly 300-500 feet of solid bait fish below us, can you even imagine how many millions of anchovy that is Black-footed Albatross were a constant sight, and near the Half Moon Bay weather buoy we found a gorgeous juvenile Laysan Albatross in San Mateo county ( https://ebird.org/checklist/S72967622 ), this is the first Laysan of the year for us. Ashy Storm-Petrels were in both San Mateo and San Francisco counties, while Black Storm-Petrel was only in San Mateo, and Fork-tailed was in San Francisco ( https://ebird.org/checklist/S72967503 ). The jaegers, terns and Sabines are still largely missing, we wonder if they have not moved south yet or if they are going well offshore Lots and lots of both Red and Red-necked phalaropes. The numbers of Common Murres were huge, with nice looks at Rhinoceros Auklets and a bonus Tufted Puffin in San Mateo on the way back. Big surprise was a Lucys Warbler that flew around the boat and did not land. In the gray skies offshore it was tough to get a good handle of the ID, particularly since the bird had a dark looking throat from wet feathers there. But eventually when looking at the photos in the cabin it became clear that it was a Lucys, in San Francisco county, and this explained why it looked so tiny https://ebird.org/checklist/S72967568 . It was flying with a Brown-headed Cowbird which weirdly enough would go and fly to it when the warbler became more distant, like it was trying to flock with it. Blue Sharks, and Mola mola were enjoyed along with the bird and whales. But definitely the super abundance of shearwaters and murres out there was what will be remembered. We have a few spots open still for the trip on Saturday. Monterey Albacore grounds on the 12 th is also open still. https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hello all, We did three trips to the Farallon Islands earlier in the month Aug 8, 9 and 11. As well on the 15 th we went SW offshore from Half Moon Bay, to waters just north of Santa Cruz county. The Farallon Is. Trips were great and we saw that the major final fledge of Common Murres happened between the 9 th and the 11 th given that on the later date there were fewer around. Brown Boobies varied from 1 on the 8 th , and 9 th , to three on the 11 th . They were all females and underwing features looked fine for the Brewsters subspecies, the expected one here. Tufted Puffins are always stars of the show on the Farallons, with up to 40 seen, and multiples were also found away from the islands. We could not find the Horned Puffin which was seen by Farallon Is. biologists, oh well. We experienced amazing views of Cassins Auklets, and a few Rhinos (their numbers have been low recently), while a juvenile Cassins in Pillar Point Harbor on the 8 th was a complete surprise! Bullers Shearwaters were represented by only one on the 8 th , but then the next day approximately 100 birds gave amazing views (photographed birds were adults, not juveniles); both Sooty and Pink-footed shearwaters were in abundance. All days included many Black-footed Albatross. Northern Fulmars were in low numbers near shore, and then a few offshore but few in-between; as expected most are first cycle, patchy looking as they are in heavy molt. Storm petrels which we rarely see on Farallon trips included multiple Ashy and Black on the 8 th , and a few Ashy on the 9 th . Red and Red-necked phalaropes were common, and we found some nice rip currents where they allowed super close approach for photos. As is expected the first lost passerine offshore of the season was a Brown-headed Cowbird, they are nearly always the first to show up in August. Overall it was an amazing Farallon Island season, the July Nazca Booby of course a highlight. Another highlight was an awesome Leatherback Sea Turtle on the 9 th . Our offshore trip was incredible for weather, super calm, it was the calm before the storm as that night we had our spellbinding once in a decade thunderstorm in the Bay Area. Unfortunately many fires were stared by the storm, some of them making the news now. We found four species of storm-petrels, many Ashy, a few Black, 1-2 Wilsons and a Fork-tailed. A bird that Lucas Stephenson spotted could have been a Least due to the small apparent size, but we could not confirm with a photo or a great close fly by unfortunately. We will be watching for this species this season! Lots of shearwaters, including a few Bullers, and many Black-footed Albatross. We had a great whale show with Blue, Fin and Humpback as well as Rissos Dolphin. It seemed like the farther south we went, the better it got. Unfortunately time ran out and we had to make our way back to port before we could finish exploring this area. But I am looking forward to this Saturday when we are going to try to get to this region from the south, from Monterey. Overall, some weird stuff is going on. I saw tuna jumping on the 15 th , there were albacore caught in Marin, and a Swordfish seen near the Cordell Bank. Water reached 63F on the 15 th , a local record since we have been going out of Half Moon Bay. Multiple Blue Sharks were in the warm water. This seems like a year to be on the lookout for unusual southern storm-petrels, throughout CA we should be on watch for Least and Wedge-rump. Sea Surface Temperatures are not only abnormally high here, they are also high to our south, perhaps allowing for a northbound push of these rarities. On the other hand we have been seeing very few jaegers and Sabines Gull, although in July we had a day with all three jaegers and South Polar Skua. My guess is that their migration is somewhat backed up, and the flow will resume soon. There have been more south winds offshore than we normally see, that may be delaying southbound migration perhaps It seems like now that we are in late August, the jaeger and tern show will kick in to full gear. Masses of Sooty Shearwaters show up off an on in Half Moon Bay, for example there were 50,000 this morning! Marbled Murrelets have returned after an absence due to red tide. We are doing back to back trips out of Monterey this weekend, a longer one on Saturday (heading towards the hotspot noted above), shorter on Sunday. Weather forecasts look good thus far. Covid-19 procedures are in effect, masks, low number of people on the boats, and routine disinfectant use. Here is the upcoming schedule:
https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Here is a page on how to pick a pelagic: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/how-to-pick-a-pelagic-trip.html Looking forward to exploring the ocean this weekend out of Monterey. Come and escape from the real world, and see the marine world instead! Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

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

Tired after a full day on the ocean so here is a quick trip report for our pelagic trip today with Island Packers out of Ventura. Low winds, mild seas, and clear skies made for a great day on the water that was characterized by impressive seabird numbers and diversity. Our trip took us from the Ventura Harbor to Anacapa Island, the waters south of the northern Channel Islands west to the Santa Cruz Canyon, across the Santa Cruz Basin to the Pilgrim Bank, and then back to Ventura. Other than a few slow spots we had numbers of birds spread throughout the day with the following highlights:
Brown Booby on the Anacapa Arch - our only booby of the day Craveri's Murrelets - 32 plus a number of "sps" that were likely Craveri's Scripps's Murrelet - 1 very unseasonal bird that gave extended views near the boat
Cassin's Auklets - several including at least one cooperative bird near the boat South Polar Skua - at least 7; most giving great views Parasitic, Pomarine, and Long-tailed Jaegers Buller's Shearwaters - two elusive individuals among the larger Pink-footed flocks Pink-footed Shearwater - 500+ including several sizable flocks south of the islands Sooty Shearwater - scattered individuals among the Pink-footed flocks Black-vented Shearwater - 600+ in the Santa Barbara Channel
Black Storm-Petrel - 500+ including several large flocks Ashy Storm-Petrel - scattered individuals Leach's Storm-Petrel - one bird seen by only a few people Northern Fulmar - only one all day Sabine's Gull - only one all day Red-necked Phalarope - modest numbers; surprisingly no Reds
One odd looking shearwater passed the boat that may have been a Wedge-tailed Shearwater, but it was gone quickly and not refound. Had to let that one go.
Thanks to Island Packers for another great trip...we hope to have more scheduled in 2020.
Dave Pereksta Ventura