Hi all.
Yesterday (April 3), I had a Red-footed Booby about 8 miles South of Angels Gate over the escarpment. The bird briefly approached a pod of resting offshore Bottlenose Dolphins on a regular two-hour whale watching trip aboard the Triumphant out of Ports O'Call Village in San Pedro. Best I can tell, this was a subadult brown morph bird.
On March 18, I had a Brown Booby about 2 miles west of Rocky Point near the Redondo Canyon on a regular whale watching trip aboard the Navegante out of King Harbor in Redondo Beach. It was an adult female.
It appears that booby sightings have declined locally in recent months. I am still trying to wrap my head around the unusual seabird distribution this winter (does anyone remember Western Grebes). One pattern that is clear to me is that we have a small irruption of Northern Fulmars, including many adults (we often get first-year birds).
On a related note, I have to retract my February 7 report of a Manx Shearwater off Pt. Fermin. I neglected to follow up with a closer examination of my photos after a favorable initial impression. Thank you to eBird reviewer Chris Dean for keeping me honest.
Take care,
Bernardo
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Bernardo Alps
Wildlife Biologist California Whales & Wildlife www.photocetus.com
whalephoto@...
310.597.0449
P.O. Box 1667
San Pedro, CA 90733