Date: 8/10/26 10:20 pm From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [SFBirds] Marine Madness 8/10 San Francisco county STREAKED SHEARWATER etc
Hi all,
Today, August 10th, a boat full of birders ventured out from Sausalito
Harbor to the deep water far off of the continental shelf including the
northern edge of the Pioneer Seamount. Warm waters offshore have continued
to provide interesting conditions and an influx of species not normally
found in our region.
The day started in overcast weather and reasonable wind. As we left the
harbor and the typical stream of nearshore species, Lucas Stephenson and
Eddie Monson started shouting out "BLACK TERN!!!" The bird paralleled the
boat and ascended into the sky until we lost it in the fog. This was the
start of many highlights to come.
As we headed off but were still relatively inshore, calls came out of a
MANX SHEARWATER zipping by. Our first Pink-foots and Buller's came by the
boat, as well as some Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers.
Numbers of seabirds in the waters between the shore and the Farallons are
typically low, and were spiced up only by a couple Tufted Puffins as we
passed Northwest Farallon Island. As we crossed over the shelf break, birds
started to materialize. The first Storm-Petrel of the day took the form of
Wilson's flying in front of the bow. A smattering of Ashy and Black
Storm-Petrels appeared, along with some jaegers and Sabine's Gulls. As we
left the shelf edge and the associated temperature break, birds thinned out
again and made way for the "Pelagic Desert" ecosystem characteristic of the
far offshore waters of Northern California.
Nonetheless, we charged on, with smaller numbers of birds along the way. It
was during this time in the pelagic desert that a couple species
characteristic of more southern warm-water ecotypes came by: a mostly
dark-rumped Leach's Storm-Petrel (likely a "CHAPMAN'S" LEACH'S
STORM-PETREL) and a FLYING FISH sailed away from the boat. Both of these
species have a typically more southern distribution. The Flying Fish that
are showing up (which is apparently likely a Bennett's Flying Fish) are
almost never found north of Southern California Waters, even by fishermen
who spend weeks every summer on the water. Occasionally during large El
Niño events they have reached as far north as Monterey Bay, but before this
year I have never heard of one off of the Bay Area. This year, however,
this is at least the third pelagic to record this taxon, a significant
northward movement indeed. The Leach's is somewhat similar. In warm water
years they will occasionally reach far offshore regions such as Davidson
Seamount and likely Guide and Pioneer Seamounts. However, the encoursion of
them this year even from boats just at the shelf edge at Pioneer Canyon is
remarkable.
After spinning around the north end of the Pioneer Seamount we started to
head back towards shore. It was then that a young female COCOS BOOBY flew
right by the boat. The bird headed along the length of the boat then peeled
off.
We were now headed back into harbor and were just 14 miles offshore. Most
of the boat was silently napping in the cabin or back while a few birders
still diligently scanned through the Sooty Shearwater flocks. That is when
the call came out from Lucas Stephenson that a STREAKED SHEARWATER was
heading by the bow!!! A mad rush to the front of the boat ensued and most
people on board got solid views of this mega-rarity as it passed north with
the Sooties. A lifer on board for many, and a state bird for many others.
We were all in shock and awe of what had just happened. This also
represented the first record of this species for San Francisco county.
There were a solid number of photos as this bird passed by. The photos of
this bird can be seen in the eBird checklist here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S382127931
Full rough list of pelagic birds seen over the day:
South Polar Skua-1
Parasitic Jaeger-15
Pomarine Jaeger-3
Long-tailed Jaeger-2
California Gull
Western Gull
Sabine's Gull-10
Arctic Tern-5
BLACK TERN-1
Common Murre
Cassin's Auklet-50
Rhinoceros Auklet-8
Tufted Puffin-3
"Mexican Murrelet sp"-3
Black-footed Albatross-10
Northern Fulmar-5
Sooty Shearwater-10,000
Pink-footed Shearwater-200
Buller's Shearwater-50
STREAKED SHEARWATER-1
Manx Shearwater-1
Wilson's Storm-Petrel-1
Ashy Storm-Petrel-45
Black Storm-Petrel-6
"Chapman's" Leach's Storm-Petrel-1
Red-necked Phalarope-80
Red Phalarope-10
Marine Mammals:
Fin Whale-3
Humpback Whale-2
Minke Whale-1
Harbor Porpoise-4
I will also likely be running some more deepwater trips off of the Bay
Area. If you have interest in these please email me privately for
additional details.
