Black-legged Kittiwake Irregular late fall and winter visitor (November – March). Two were seen on a San Diego bird festival trip to the Los Coronados Islands on February 11, 2001. One was seen offshore San Diego on the annual San Diego Field Ornithologists New Year’s Day pelagic trip on January 1, 2003.
2007: 4 from Condor Express off Santa Barbara Apr 21 (Feenstra, CalBirds).
2008: One off San Diego in Mex waters 9 Feb. One 6 n.mi. offshore San Diego from Grande 22 Nov. Two at La Jolla Cove 27 Nov (Altman, SDBirds).
2009: 23 off Port San Luis 24 Jan. A 9 Feb storm with 30 mph winds brought numbers of Black-legged Kittiwakes to the coast, reported on SDBirds from Camp Pendleton, Cardiff and La Jolla; one 20 miles inland at Bonsall 10 Feb was apparently blown in by the storm (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett).
2010: One immature at the San Diego Flood Control Channel 6 Jan (Sue Smith SDBirds). One at Scripps Pier La Jolla San Diego Jan 23 (Matt Sadowski SDBirds).
2011: One on the 26th annual San Diego New Year's Day pelagic. The San Diego Bird Festival had 4 day trips to the Nine Mile Bank and Coronados Islands Mar 3-6 and saw this species each day with a high count of 13 on Mar 5.
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| Black-legged Kittiwake (c) Vic Murayama |
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| Black-legged Kittiwake (c) Glen Tepke |
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Sabine’s Gull Uncommon spring (mid-April to early June, most common in May) and fairly common fall migrant (mid August to mid October) offshore (McGrath & Feenstra, 2005)
2006: Two 100 miles offshore at the Cortes Bank 16 Sep.
2007: More than 1,000 off Santa Barbara 21 Apr (CalBirds). One 11 miles off San Diego 11 Jun (Povey, SDBirds).
2008: First record of the year off San Diego was 21 from Grande 9-10 May. 1 from Searcher 2-5 Jun. 5 from Grande 19-20 Jul. 3 off San Diego 23 Aug (Povey, SDBirds). 23 north of the Nine Mile Bank Encinitas 1 Sep from Searcher and 3 at Rodriguez Seamount 3 Sep. 3 off Dana Point 20 Sep. 5 off San Diego 22 Sep (Povey, SDBirds). 3 at Nine Mile Bank San Diego 16 Sep and 5 there 22 Sep (SDBirds). 5 at Nine Mile Bank from Grande day trip 4 Oct and 8 off San Diego 4-5 Oct. One 10 mi w of LaJolla San Diego 13 Oct 2008 (Povey, SDBirds). One from Grande 1-2 Nov was the last recorded off San Diego for the year.
2009: First record of the year off San Diego was 4 from Grande 9-10 May. 8 around the Channel Islands 16 May. 4 from Searcher 7-10 Sep. 21 from Grande 3 Oct. 6 from Grande 10-11 Oct. 3 from Condor Express 15 Nov were late.
2010: First of season: 200 from Grande May 15-16. 7 from Searcher May 29-31. 4 from Condor Express Jun 12. 2 from Condor Express Jul 31. 8 from Grande Aug 16-17. 2 from Searcher Sep 8. 58 from Grande Oct 2-4 (53 within 14 miles of the mainland San Diego Co). One from Grande Oct 9 on the Thirty Mile Bank Los Angeles county.
2011: 99 were seen between Santa Barbara and the Rodriguez Dome from the Condor Express on Apr 30. 5 were reported between the Nine Mile Bank and Thirty Mile Bank San Diego from Grande May 14. Two seen from Searcher May 28-30 between the Nine Mile Bank and San Clemente Island.
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| Sabine's Gull (c) Tom Blackman |
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| Sabine's Gull (c) Todd McGrath |
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Arctic Tern The Arctic Tern is famous for its migration that takes the birds from a breeding range in the Arctic to a winter range in the Antarctic. Most numerous in fall with most records from August - November. Less numerous in spring with most records in May.
2007: 4 from Condor Express 21 Apr (eBird).
2008: 2 off San Diego from Grande 10-11 May. 13 from Searcher 2-4 Sep.
2009: One from Condor Expres 16 May. 2 from Grande 24-25 Aug. 20 from Searcher 10-11 Sep. One from Grande 10-11 Oct.
2010: One from Grande May 15-16. 3 from Condor Express Jun 12. 9 from Condor Express Jul 31. One from Grande Aug 17. 110 from Searcher Sep 8-9. 19 from Grande Oct 2-3.
2011: 20 were seen between Santa Barbara and the Rodriguez Dome from the Condor Express on Apr 30. Eight seen from Searcher May 28-30 in Los Angeles waters between the Thirty Mile Bank and San Clemente Island.
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| Arctic Tern from Grande 25 Aug 2009 (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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| Arctic Terns (c) W. Terry Hunefeld |
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SOURCES:
Many sightings contain hyperlinks tied directly to detailed Trip Reports. More frequent sightings may not contain hyperlinks, but still have detailed trip reports with more documentation and locations; click on Trip Reports in the left column.
NAB, Erickson, et al: North American Birds - Baja Mexico reports, edited by Erickson, et al. Published quarterly by the American Birding Association.
NAB, McCaskie & Garrett: North American Birds - Southern California reports, edited by Guy McCaskie and Kimball Garrett. Published quarterly by the American Birding Association.
CalBirds: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS/
SDBirds: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDBIRDS/
Searcher Trip Reports: http://www.bajawhale.com/birdingtrips.asp
Other Literature Cited
Status and distribution data (c) 2008 - 2011 W. Terry Hunefeld
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| The Coronados Islands | Trent Stanley |
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