Date: 10/12/26 2:30 pm From: <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> Subject: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] Tropical Storm RACHEL San Diego County, October 11-12: (partial) summary
Here's a summary (undoubtedly a partial summary) of the more interesting avian events in San Diego County associated with Tropical Storm RACHEL, which came ashore centered a bit south of Ensenada during the middle of the night, October 10/11, crossed over the border right around Jacumba soon thereafter, and continued to speed off to the NNE. Birders out and about on the 11th, with just a very few looking on the 12th, produced the following notables in San Diego County. Thanks to all the observers who scoured coastal and inland sites. Some of these reports are tentative.
RAREST FINDS?My votes for the least-expected discoveries were
ROYAL TERN had only been seen inland in the county a couple times previously, and only as far inland as Lake Murray and Lower Otay Lake; thus, singles at Lake Morena and El Capitan Reservoir on the 11th and a hot-off-the-presses report of two at Lake Henshaw on the 12th were exceptional
WESTERN GULL has only been found in the far interior part of the county (east of the Escondido and Lakeside regions) two or three times previously (e.g., single birds at Lake Henshaw and Lake Morena), so a flock of 6 (with a Sabine's) flying east to west past Jacumba on the 11th was exceptional
LEAST STORM-PETREL seems like the bridesmaid rather than the bride because of the slug of previous Leasts found inland following Tropical Storm Hillary in late August 2023, but this time around one was at Lower Otay Lake on the 11th and I've just heard about potentially several on Lake Henshaw on the 12th
It seemed to be overall a good storm for terns, Sabine's Gulls, and phalaropes:
ARCTIC TERN reports were many on the 11th, and included inland birds at Lake Morena (two), El Capitan Reservoir (two?), and Sweetwater Reservoir, and several seen from shore along the coast at La Jolla on the 11th and 12th; inland multiple COMMON TERNS were at several sites (e.g., Sweetwater, El Capitan, Lake Henshaw) and coastal numbers were certainly above average; and duos of getting-late BLACK TERNS were at both Lake Morena and Sweetwater Reservoir
RED PHALAROPES were inland at Lake Morena, Lake Cuyamaca, and Borrego Springs, all on the 11th; and flocks of inland RED-NECKED PHALAROPES at multiple sites were unusual for this getting-late date (like the Black Terns)--perhaps birds pushed back north by the storm rather than over-flying southbound birds that got knocked down??
SABINE'S GULLS were well represented on the 11th both inland and coastally, with inland reports from Lake Henshaw (up to six, through the 12th), Jacumba, and Lake Murray, and at multiple onshore and from-shore coastal sites on the 11th
HEERMANN'S GULLS inland at Lake Murray on the 11th and at Lake Henshaw on the 12th
OTHER:
A SANDERLING at Lower Otay Lake on the 11th is one of the first-ever truly inland records in the county, and exactly how the bird got there (via what mechanism/direction) is open to discussion!
Five COMMON LOONS at Sweetwater Reservoir on the 11th were likely southbound overland migrants knocked down by the storm, the same day there was a substantial flight along the coast
SEAWATCHING at La Jolla, Torrey Pines, and Leucadia were productive, with headliners including reports of a record-early ANCIENT MURRELET, a BULLER'S SHEARWATER, two white-rumped storm-petrels (possibly Leach's types), a couple Least Storm-Petrels, a couple murrelet sp., and a good from-shore count of 16 Pink-footed Shearwaters. Some other goodies such as Red-footed Booby, a number of southbound Common Murres, Black Storm-Petrel, an excellent flight of Common Loons, and a reasonable southbound flight of Parasitic Jaegers could easily have occurred even without the storm.
Presumably a few more records of note will be forthcoming.
Paul Lehman, San Diego
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