Date: 10/19/24 8:21 pm From: Tom Benson via groups.io <thomasabenson...> Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] Sea & Sage pelagic trip, October 19
Sea & Sage Audubon held their annual fall pelagic trip today, Oct 19, aboard the Ocean Institute's R/V Sea Explorer. We visited the 279 Bank, Crespi Knoll, Lausen Sea Mount, and the nearshore escarpment between Laguna Beach and Dana Point. We had calm seas, light winds, and clear, sunny skies all day. For the most part, birds were sparsely distributed the entire day, though we did have a good diversity of species, just in small numbers. Pelagic birds seen offshore (279, Crespi, Lausen) included 1 Red Phalarope, 1 Red/Red-necked Phalarope, 11 Cassin's Auklets, 2 Craveri's Murrelets, 1 juvenile Sabine's Gull, 1 Black Storm-Petrel, 1 Northern Fulmar, and about three dozen Pink-footed Shearwaters. Also of note offshore were a Brewer's Blackbird, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and an unidentified hummingbird. Numbers actually started to pick up after we left Lausen Sea Mount and made our way inshore toward Laguna Beach. Shortly after carefully examining two dozen Pink-footed Shearwaters, a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER flew past the boat 13.5 km southwest of Emerald Point. We continued inshore and back toward Dana Point, with other notable birds including a Common Murre, two more Craveri's Murrelets, and our only Sooty Shearwater of the day. As we approached the harbor, we encountered a large feeding frenzy over the escarpment and directly out from the harbor mouth. We estimated 20-25 jaegers patrolling the feeding frenzy, and except for 1 Parasitic Jaeger, all the birds we identified were Pomarine Jaegers. The frenzy included upwards of 2500 Black-vented Shearwaters. By carefully picking through the raft of Black-venteds, we were able to identify 3 MANX SHEARWATERS. The only other bird of note on our trip was a somewhat early adult Herring Gull in the morning between the escarpment and the 279 Bank.
There is a (very) preliminary eBird trip report.
A few photos from today may be found on iNaturalist.
Tom BensonRedlands, CA
