Date: 7/22/26 6:25 pm From: John Martin via groups.io <xenozoon7...> Subject: Re: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] Lesser Frigatebird at sunset
Swung and missed this morning from about 09:30-10:30 at Carmel Valley Road
X Torrey Pines Road, and 11:00-12:00 at La Jolla Cove.
John Martin
On Tue, Jul 21, 2026 at 9:20 PM <lehman.paul...> via groups.io
<lehman.paul...> wrote:
> Just after official sunset--so around 8:05--the frigatebird was circling
> over downtown La Jolla or somewhere near there--the inexactness due to my
> scoping at the time south from Scripps Pier area and it is not easy to get
> an accurate idea of actual distance to where the bird actually is, whereas
> direction is easy. If, in fact, the bird was on the other side of downtown
> then it would be along the coast approximately near the end of Pearl. Or it
> was closer, actually over buildings. If the former, then it is remarkably
> close to where it was seen just after 8PM back on 12 July--the initial
> sighting in this latest series. So perhaps it is roosting on at least a
> somewhat regular basis in that more southern-central coastal part of La
> Jolla--if in fact it is landing in a tree or whatever for the night and not
> simply just circling around all night long. But I did look briefly for the
> bird the following morning (13th) right after dawn where it had been seen
> late on the 12th, with no luck, and I've spent hours seawatching at La
> Jolla Cove on two different mornings since then, with no luck. Maybe the
> bird goes north some days to the Del Mar area, and maybe some days it goes
> south to the Point Loma area, where it was seen and photographed on the
> 19th. Or maybe it goes both directions some days....
>
>
> Clearly it would help if folks spread out at least from Solana Beach south
> to Point Loma.
>
>
> I would assume this bird is the same individual that was in southern
> Orange County and at the San Diego County line back in late May. And that
> there is a reasonable chance that it's the same bird that was here in San
> Diego County in February 2025. All involve an adult female with a more
> grayish rather than the more standard (??) pinkish-hued bill.
>
>
> --Paul Lehman, San Diego
>
>
>
>
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