Date: 5/24/26 9:32 pm From: Nick Thorpe via groups.io <nick.thorpe49...> Subject: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] Lesser Frigatebird
This bird has been posted all over the place today except here, so will try to sum up the key points.
A female Lesser Frigatebird has been seen off-and-on from the San Clemente Pier (in Orange County) since May 20. Initially identified as Magnificent but photos trickled out that were better for Lesser. It has a full white collar and extensively white axillaries / armpits.
The bird was seen by many people from San Clemente today, from at least 7:45am - 4:30pm. The bird was very distant for most of the day, circling around high over the horizon and following fishing boats when they were in the area. The bird ranged between San Mateo Point (SD County line) and Dana Point, visible with a scope from the pier most of the time if someone was keeping track of it.
There was a significant gap in sightings after 4:30pm, and then a few folks scouted south and found the bird in San Diego airspace off Trestles Beach starting at 6:30pm.
Ezekiel Dobson valiantly stayed on the bird until 8:24pm, and observed it flying low over the ground along the Trestles Beach trail
here: (33.3902160, -117.5930730)
The bird eventually disappeared over the hill, but the hope is that it has gone to roost locally in San Diego County.
If this is the case, the bird should wake up in San Diego County tomorrow and theoretically be visible from somewhere along the Trestles Beach trail (I would suggest the trailhead personally) as it flies out over the ocean. The assumption is this would happen at or a little before dawn.
There absolutely will be a lot of people looking for this bird from the San Clemente Pier tomorrow, so if you miss the bird in San Diego County, there should be positive/negative confirmation of the bird at its “usual” spot by early morning.
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Nick Thorpe
University Heights
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