So Cal Pelagic Birding
a service of the Buena Vista Audubon Society
Pelagic Trips And Deep Water Expeditions
Seabirds, Dolphins and Whales Boat Trip
1/2 Day trip from Oceanside to hunt Gray Whale, Shearwater, Jaeger, Auklet, Murre and Bonaparte's Gull.
January 26, 2008 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Seabirds, Dolphins and Whales Boat Trip
1/2 Day trip from Oceanside to hunt Gray Whale, Shearwater, Jaeger, Auklet, Murre and Bonaparte's Gull.
January 26, 2008 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
26 Jan 2008 Trip Report
The warm sun shone upon nearly 100 birders today as they sailed out of Oceanside Harbor into calm waters for a 3-hour tour sponsored by the Buena Vista Audubon. Almost immediately the call of "Pom Jaeger!" went up as a morning began of witnessing the interaction of jaegers, terns, shearwaters and gulls, i.e. shearwaters, terns and gulls catching fish, jaegers chasing shearwaters, terns and gulls.
This season's "invasion" of Rhinoceros Auklets was very much in evidence as we totaled 45, in stark contrast with some years totaling zero all season. Other alcids: 2 fairly close Cassin's Auklets were seen with another 6 and one Common Murre too distant to be seen by many.
3 "dark" shearwaters were sighted (read: Sooty or Short-tailed). One was positively identified as a Short-tailed by its uniform medium-grey underwings and a soaring, banking, erratic non-sooty flight style; it banked within 100 feet of the boat. Other tubenoses included 3 Northern Fulmar (2 dark and a light morph) that came by to dine on our popcorn chum.
During the course of the morning we saw several small flocks of 6-10 Bonaparte's Gulls, and 8 Red Phalarope. Jaegers were seen well by all, 6 Pomarine and 6 Parasitic, pretty much all engaged in chasing prey or finding prey to chase.
Mammals included a pod of 20 Common Dolphin, a pod 6 Bottlenose Dolphin and a spouting Gray Whale that surfaced 5 or 6 times within several hundred feet of the boat for great looks by all aboard.
In short, a fun morning of birds, marine mammals, old friends and new ones.
A special thanks from the Buena Vista Audubon Society to Andy Mauro for organizing this whole affair. Without his idea and hard work, this would not have happened.
Totals:
1 Short-tailed Shearwater
331 Black-vented Shearwater
2 dark shearwater sp
3 Northern Fulmar
8 Red Phalarope
59 Bonaparte's Gull
15 Royal Tern
6 Parasitic Jaeger
6 Pomarine Jaeger
1 Common Murre
45 Rhino Auklet
8 Cassin's Auklet
Thanks to Trent Stanley, here's our
GPS tracklog overlaid on a Google Satellite image. It also shows Tren'ts short jaunt to Buddy Todd Park afterwards to see crossbills and an Orchard Oriole
http://www.sdbirder.com/photos/247907552-O.jpg
A FUN MORNING AT SEA: We'll head out on Saturday morning in search of jaeger, shearwater, dolphin and whales. You do not need be a member of the Audubon to participate.
March 2007 "Feeding Frenzy" by Bob Drew
LIMITED SPACE: Last year we were treated to a tremendous feeding frenzy of dolphins, gulls, shearwater and jaegers. Thousands of birds were soaring, diving, screaming, brawling and gorging themselves on fish. Scroll down for the full story of last year's trip. Last year this trip only lasted 2.5 hours, was a sell out with 135 people on board. This year, to allow more room, the trip is limited to 100 participants. Early reservations are strongly advised.
WHALES: Gray Whale watching season traditionally takes place from mid-December to mid-March. Over 15,000 of these peaceful "giants of the sea" make the trek from the chilly Alaskan seas to the warm water breeding lagoons of Baja California. The first migrating whales seen this season were December 15, 2007. During mid-January, as many as 200 whales have been counted off the San Diego coast.
LEADERS: Stanley Walens, Todd McGrath, Dave Povey, Matt Sadowski, Jon Feenstra, Andy Mauro and other expert birders will be aboard to find a rarity or two as well as make sure everyone on the boat gets to see all the expected species.
DATE AND TIMES: Saturday, January 26, 2008 from 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
COST: SOLD OUT
25-30 Pomarine Jaegers were seen on last year's trip.
(c) Thomas A. BlackmanReservations:
Call Buena Vista Audubon (760) 439-2473 or send an email to akamauro@cox.net All you need to do is give your name, phone number and number of people attending. We'll trust you to show up.
Pay at the dock by cash or check made payable to "BVAS" Please arrive between 7:15 and 7:45 a.m. for an on-time departure AT 8:00 a.m. sharp.
Location: Helgren's Sportfishing, 315 Harbor Drive S., Oceanside. (Take Oceanside Harbor exit off I-5.) Free Parking.
Scroll down for the full story of last year's trip.
Common Dolphin (c) Thomas A. Blackman
Trip Report - March 2007
by Stan Walens:The ocean was filled with gulls – California, Western, Ring-billed, Thayer's, Herring, Heermann's, Bonaparte's, a half-dozen Glaucous-Winged. About 3 dozen Black-Vented and 3 Short-tailed shearwaters were seen.
Without question the highlight of the trip was coming upon a spectacular nature-documentary-worthy feeding frenzy. Thousands of birds were concentrated across an area of 1-1/2 square miles above a massive school of anchovy. 500-1000 (a wild guess; I have no idea how many there really were, but they were everywhere) common dolphins were pushing the anchovy to the surface, and something on the order of 8-10,000 birds were feeding on them. This is where the 3 short-tailed shearwaters were, along with a large number of jaegers, both parasitic and pomarine. The jaegers were actively hunting, chasing gulls, terns, and other jaegers, and beating black-vented shearwaters down into the water.
The jaegers were the bird highlight of the day, and there was hardly a minute of the trip when we did not have a jaeger in view. My guess, and it was hard to keep track of individual birds and their distinctive plumages when they were so active and traveling so fast and so far, is that we saw between 25-30 Pomarine Jaegers and 12-15 Parasitic Jaegers.
Learn More About Seabirds!
San Diego Pelagic Birding:
How, What, When, Why!Thursday, 7:00 p.m. Jan 24, 2008
Buena Vista Nature Center
with Stan Walens
Pelagic (i.e. ocean) birding represents the last frontier to many local birders. We may have finally figured out how to sort out crows from ravens, but what about the Northern Fulmars from the Pomarine Jaegers? How does one go about pelagic birding anyway? What are we looking for, and how can we improve our odds of success?
Fortunately, the January meeting of Buena Vista Audubon promises to be a simple primer on all we need to know about pelagic birding - and you're welcome to join us.
Noted San Diego County pelagic bird expert Stan Walens will talk us through a virtual pelagic birding trip, showing us the birds we can expect to see off the coast of San Diego, teaching us the sometimes subtle clues that lead to a positive identification, offering tips on what to wear, what to bring, and where to position ourselves on the boat.
The evening promises to be an informative and inspirational look at the challenges, joys, and rewards
that await the San Diego birder who is willing to cast off in search of new birds and new adventures.Come join us on Thursday evening, January 24, at 7:00 p.m. as we take that first step in expanding our birding horizons. There is no charge to attend the program.
Then join us two days later for our second step as we go on a special pelagic birding trip out of Oceanside Harbor for a half day SOLD OUT
Buena Vista Audubon Nature Center
Hours: Tue-Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Sun 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Closed Monday
760-439-2473
2202 South Coast Hwy., Oceanside, CA
East side of street just north of lagoon bridge
Stan Walens at Stan's Bench in La Jolla
Expected or Probable
Birds and Mammals
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Black-vented Shearwater
Short-tailed Shearwater
Red Phalarope
Bonaparte's Gull
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Common Loon
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Bottlenose Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Gray Whale
White-sided Dolphin
California Sea Lion
Harbor Seal
Target Birds (Possible)
Pink-footed Shearwater
Cassin's Auklet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Xantus' Murrelet
Black-legged Kittiwake
Northern Fulmar
Common Murre
Caveat
On any given pelagic trip you could see everything or nothing... there is no way to tell until you are out there.
Old Native Saying
You will see more whales and seabirds on this trip than you will from your living room.
