Cory’s Shearwater Seen repeatedly 15 miles south of San Diego on the Los Coronados Islands, Baja, Mexico from March 2005 through September, 2007, e.g. Seen on "Middle Rock" 22 Aug 2007 (Povey, 22 Aug 2007). Seen in San Diego waters 21 miles offshore Point Loma San Diego on September 4, 2007 (Povey, 4 Sep 2007).
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| Cory's Shearwater near the Coronados Islands (c) Matt Sadowski |
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| Cory's Shearwater on Middle Rock aka "Booby Rock" in the Coronados Islands(c) Matt Sadowski |
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Streaked Shearwater Abundant in the northwestern Pacific. All of California's accepted records (through 2006) are from fall; 15 Oct is our latest date for this species. (Heindel & Garrett 2008).
2002: Seen in SoCal waters near Santa Cruz Island on September 7, 2002 between Santa Barbara and the San Juan Seamount (Hamilton, et al, 2007).
2006: Multiple sightings off Monterey Sep-Oct, 2006 including one photographed 30 Sep 06 off Cypress Point, Monterey Bay by Brian Sullivan. One photographed on Monterey Bay 15 Oct.
2008: One was 15 mi off Santa Cruz 12 Oct. Eleven of the 18 accepted record have come since 2001, and all 18 are from fall. Monterey Bay which receives substantial coverage at that season, continues to supply most of the records, including all five since 2006 (Western Birds: Vol 41, No. 3).
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| Streaked Shearwater being harassd by a Pom Jaeger on Debi Shearwater Monterey Bay Pelagic - 30 Sep 2006 (c) Steve Howell |
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| Streaked Shearwater - Photo taken from a Shearwater Journeys Monterey Bay Pelagic - 15 Oct 2006 (c) Steve Howell |
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Greater Shearwater Rare late summer - early fall visitor to the northeast Pacific. Seen 9 times off the west coast, seven California records, 4 accepted, all Montery and north. (Hamilton, et al, 2007). 6 of the 9 records are from Aug-Sep, one each for Jan, Feb, June.
2006: One photographed in Monterey Bay 15 Oct by S.N.G. Howell
2008: One 5 miles off Pt Lobos Monterey Nov 29. Six of the 7 accepted California records (and 6 of the 11 records for the northeast Pacific) have come from Monterey Bay and surrounding waters. These records are spread widely over the fall and winter months.
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Flesh-footed Shearwater Breeds in Australia and New Zeland. Regular summer visitor from Gulf of Alaska to Northern California. Rare visitor to SoCal’s deep water April to November. 2 seen 31 Mar 1996 ten nm west of the Coronados Islands (Radamacher & McCaskie, 2006). One off Santa Barbara 24 Sep 2005 and again on 16 Oct 2005 (McCaskie & Garrett, 2006). Seen in deep water on some Searcher trips (Searcher Trip Reports, 2003-2008).
2006: 3 from Searcher on April 4-day deep-water pealgic. One near San Clemente Island and 2 between the Rodriguez and San Juan Seamounts (Compton, CalBirds, 2 May 2006).
2007: One from Condor Express 21 Apr (eBird). One was in the Santa Barbara Channel near Anacapa Island 9 Jun and one seen from shore at Point Dume in Malibu Los Angels 23 Jun (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett).
2008: One recovered from the beach at Coronado San Diego 2 May 2008. One from Grande 10-11 May. One from Searcher 2-5 Jun.One was exceptionally close-to-shore (17 n. mi. west of San Diego) from Grande on 1 Nov.
2009: One off Port San Luis San Luis Obispo 24 Jan. One 15 Nov 25 km ssw of Pt Arguello from Condor Express. One 5 km off the Palos Verdes Pen. Los Angeles from NOAA ship 18 Nov (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett).
2010: One from Searcher Sep 9. One off Dana Point 25 Sep (NAB, McCaskie and Garrett). One 21 km w of Pt Loma from Grande in San Diego waters off Nine Mile Bank Oct 4. One at San Diego Nine Mile Bank 8 Dec.
2011: One was well photographed near the Nine Mile Bank San Diego from Grande May 14.
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater (c) Todd McGrath |
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater (c) Todd McGrath |
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Pink-footed Shearwater Common in SoCal from March to October. Numbers increase sharply from March to May, then decrease sharply from September to November. Usually present in small numbers November - March. Some years there are two peaks, in May and August/September (Unitt, 2004).
2007: 113 from Condor Express 21 Apr (eBird). 23 along Nine Mile Bank 22 Aug. 22 off San Dieo 4 Sep (Povey, SDBirds). 2098 in the Channel Islands from Condor Express 8 Sep (Feenstra, CalBirds, 25 Sep).
2008: One along Nine Mile Bank 19 Jan (Povey, SDBirds). One seen from Grande on San Diego Bird Festival pelagic 10 Feb. 94 from Grande 10-11 May. 370 from Searcher 2-5 Jun. 1239 from Searcher 1-4 Sep. 41 offshore San Diego 13 Sep (Povey, SDBirds). 6off Dana Point 20 Sep. 55 from Grande on 4 Oct day trip. 21 from Grande deep water 1-2 Nov. 7 from Grande 22 Nov day trip.
2009: 7 off Port San Luis 24 Jan. One on Oceanside pelagic 31 Jan. 16 at the Nine Mile Bank on 7 Mar from Grande on San Diego Bird Festival pelagic. Two seen in the west Channel Islands from Condor Express 1 Mar. 9 off San Diego 4 Apr. 13 off San Diego 30 Apr. 63 around the Channel Islands 16 May. 80 from Grande 29 May. 119 at the Nine Mile Bank 12 Jun and 73 there 16 Jun. 92 at Nine Mile Bank 13 Jul. 350 off Santa Barbara 25 Jul from Condor Express. 133 off San Diego 14 Aug. 115 from Grande 24-25 Aug. 575 near the Channel Islands form Searcher 8 Sep. 30 from Grande 3 Oct. 14 from Condor Express 15 Nov. 7 off San Diego 23 Nov. One at Nine Mile Bank 3 Dec.
2010: One on the 26th annual San Diego New Year's Day pelagic. 8 offshore San Diego 12 Jan. One off Oceanside 30 Jan. Seven at Nine Mile Bank on 3 day-trips 4-7 Mar on San Diego Bird Festival. Two off San Diego 14 Mar. 50 from Grande Apr 17. 488 from Searcher May 29-31. 202 from Condor Express Jul 31. 400 from Grande Aug 16-17. 80 from Grande Sep 3. 1055 from Searcher Sep 6-9. 428 from Grande Oct 2-4. 68 from Grande Oct 9. 3 from Grande Nov 13. 16 on Nine Mile Bank (Dave Povey) 8 Dec.
2011: One on the 27th 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 recorded one of this species on Mar 6. 23 were seen between Santa Barbara and the Rodriguez Dome from the Condor Express on Apr 30. 64 were reported between the Nine Mile Bank and Thirty Mile Bank San Diego from Grande May 14. 133 seen from Searcher May 28-30 between the Los Coronados Islands and San Clemente Island.
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| Pink-footed Shearwater (c) B.J. Stacey |
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| Pink-footed Shearwater (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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Wedge-tailed Shearwater Regular off the coast of Mexico south of Cabo San Lucas. Have been found as far north as Oregon. Given this species' abundance and range, the state’s total of four accepted records seems low (Hamilton, et al, 2007). Nine other records include 5 from SoCal. Most sightings Aug-Dec. While examining specimens, Steve N.G. Howell came across a bird labeled as a Short-tailed Shearwater collected in Santa Cruz 1 Apr 1915 that he reidentified as a dark-morph Wedge-tailed. This specimen represents the state's fifth record, and the lone spring record for California; Oregon also has a spring record, from Newport on 26 Mar 1999 (Heindel & Garrett 2008).
2008: One light-morph bird off Ano Nuevo Pt Aug 23 (Western Birds: Vol 41, No. 3).
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| Wedge-tailed Shearwater (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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| Wedge-tailed Shearwater (c) Brian Sullivan |
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Buller’s Shearwater Uncommon to rare fall visitor from July – November, most common around the Channel Islands (McGrath & Feenstra, 2005). "Dozens" were seen on a Los Angeles Audubon charter 20 Sep 2003 (Heindel, 2003). Unexpected was one seen from La Jolla Cove by many observers on December 1, 2007 (NAB, McCaskie & Garret).
2008: An out-of-season and nearshore individual was at Pt. Dume Los Angeles 14 Jun (NAB, McCaskie & Garret). Five seen at Arguello Canyon and 80 around the Rodriguez Seamount 3 Sep from Searcher. Three from Grande 90 nmi w of San Diego near Cortez Bank 5 Oct
2009: 14 from Grande 24 Aug. The 240 recorded from Searcher 8-10 Sep in the area between the Rodriquez Dome and the San Juan Seamount was a high number for SoCal waters; 34 from the same area from Condor Express 15 Nov and 2 off the Palos Verdes Pen 18 Nov were late (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett).
2010: 1 from Condor Express Jul 31. 1 from Grande Aug 6-17. 42 from Searcher Sep 8-9.
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| Buller's Shearwater (c) Todd McGrath |
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| Buller's Shearwater (c) Glen Tepke |
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Sooty Shearwater Arrives in April, peaks in May, remains common through September, then decreases through December (Unitt, 2004). 560 visible from the Newport Beach pier 28 Jul 2006 (McCaskie & Garrett, 2007).
2007: 300 from Condor Express 21 Apr (eBird). 669 from the Condor Express 8 Sep (Feenstra, CalBirds, 25 Sep 2007). 486 from Grande on a day trip 11 Jun (Hunefeld, SDBirds, 12 Jun).
2008: One near Coronados Islands 19 Jan (Hunefeld, SDBirds, 19 Jan). 254 at Nine and Thirty Mile Banks San Diego 13 Apr (SDBirds). 2000 from Searcher June 2-5. 116 near the Channel Islands from Searcher 2 Sep.
2009: Two from a pelagic charter from Port San Luis San Luis Obispo 24 Jan. One seen off Oceanside on a pelagic 31 Jan. One off Santa Barbara from Condor Express 1 Mar. Two seen on 8 Mar from Grande. Two seenwithin 5 miles off La Jolla San Diego on 15 Mar. 350 at Nine Mile Bank 30 Apr. 1130 around the Channel Islands 16 May. 320 at Nine Mile Bank 16 Jun. 520 at Nine Mile Bank 13 Jul. 390 near Channel Islands 8 Sep from Searcher. 2 between San Diego and the Thirty Mile Bank 23 Sep. 1 between San Diego and the Thirty Mile Bank 3 Oct.
2010: 2 offshore San Diego 12 Jan. Three at Nine Mile Bank on 3 day-trips 4-7 Mar on San Diego Bird Festival. One off San Diego 14 Mar. 39 on Nine Mile Apr 8. 235 on Nine Mile Apr 17 from Grande. 137 from Condor Express May 1. 6390 from Searcher May 29-31. 1136 from Condor Express June 12. 1000 by Dave Pove on Nine Mile. 498 from Condor Express Jul 31. 567 from Grande Aug 16. 220 from Searcher Sep 6-9. 4 from Grande Oct 2. 2 from Grande Oct 9. Two at San Diego Nine Mile Bank 8 Dec.
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 with a high count of 3 on Mar 5. 90 were seen between Santa Barbara and the Rodriguez Dome from the Condor Express on Apr 30. 146 were reported between the Nine Mile Bank and Thirty Mile Bank San Diego from Grande May 14. 447 seen from Searcher May 28-30 between the Los Coronados Islands and San Clemente Island.
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| Sooty Shearwater (c) Terry Hunefeld |
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| Sooty Shearwater (c) Thomas Blackman |
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Short-tailed Shearwater Breeds near Australia, disperses to the North Pacific and Bering Sea. Occurs regularly in California waters mid-October to mid-March. (Hamilton, et al, 2007).
2007: Nine 31 Mar at the Nine Mile Bank offshore San Diego (McCaskie, SDBirds, 31 Mar 2007).
2008: One off Oceanside 26 Jan. One off San Diego 9 Feb. One off San Diego 10 Feb. 4 from Grande off San Diego 15 Mar. Up to 3 near the Los Coronados Islands Baja Mex 15-25 Mar (NAB, Erickson, et al). One 13 km off San Diego 12 Apr was late for SoCal waters (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett). One 22 Nov from Grande at the US/Mexican border.
2009: One offshore Dana Point Orange 10 Jan Two - five offshore Port San Luis San Luis Obispo 24 Jan. One offshore Santa Barbara from Condor Express 15 Nov. Two at Nine Mile Bank off San Diego 3 Dec.
2010: Two offshore San Diego near Nine Mile Bank from Grande Nov 13. One seen from shore at LaJolla San Diego Nov 21 and again Nov 22 (Paul Lehman). 3 at San Diego Nine Mile Bank 8 Dec.
2011: Two on the 26th annual San Diego New Year's Day pelagic
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| Short-tailed Shearwater (c) Todd McGrath Nov 22, 2008 |
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| Short-tailed Shearwater (c) Trent Stanley March 15, 2008 |
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Manx Shearwater Winter visitor seen annually off SoCal, more recent sightings over the past decade suggest population increase and range expansion. Most likely Sept – May (Hamilton, et al, 2007). California records scattered throughout the year with most records from fall. Mostly seen in Northern California, but frequency appears to be increasing in SoCal as well (Paul Lehman, per comm). The first record for San Diego was 16 miles offshore Oceanside 28 Apr 2004 (Unitt, 2004).
2005: One seen 4.6 n. miles w of Manhattan Beach26 Feb (Iliff et al, 2008).
2008: One photographed 5 km west of Point Loma San Diego on a San Diego Bird Festival pelagic trip 9 Feb providing the second record for San Diego County (Heindel & Garrett 2008). Two were seen together in the Channel Islands 23 Sep 2007 (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett). Single Manx were seen from shore at Cayucos 19 Oct and Pt. Vicente Los Angeles 4 Aug 2008 (NAB, McCaskie & Garret).
2009: One was photographed several miles off Palos Verdes 28 Feb on a Los Angeles Audubon pelagic. Two from Grande on a San Diego Bird Festival pelagic trip about 5 km west of Pt Loma San Diego on 7 Mar (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett). One 22 Oct off the Palos Verdes Pen (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett).
2010: One at Piedras Blancas May 1 (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett). One reported in the San Pedro Channel by Kimball Garrett 7 Nov (LACoBirds) (NAB, McCaskie and Garrett).
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| Manx Shearwater (c) Matt Sadowski |
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| Manx Shearwater (c) Steve N.G. Howell; San Diego Bird Festival March 7 2009 |
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Black-vented Shearwater Abundant fall and winter visitor (Sept – May) off the coast of San Diego where much of the population can often be found in early winter. Most abundant Sept – December, but its movements vary from year to year (Unitt, 2004). Thousands often counted from shore, especially La Jolla Cove, in November/December.
2008: 3500 offshore from Point Loma 19 Jan (Hunefeld, SDBirds); only 3 weeks later only 7 total seen from Grande on 2 Bird Festival pelagics 9-10 Feb. 331 off Oceanside 26 Jan, then virtually absent from San Diego Feb - mid July with 0-4 reported from 10 day trips. 110 off San Diego 26 Jul (Povey, SDBirds). 161 off San Diego 23 Aug (Povey, SDBirds). 370 off San Diego 30 Aug (Povey, SDBirds). 75 off San Deigo from Searcher 1 Sep. 529 off San Diego 6 Sep (Povey, SDBirds). 250 off Dana Point 20 Sep. 75 off San Diego 22 Sep (Povey, SDBirds). 2500 from Grande day trip 4 Oct. 600 offshore San Diego 13 Oct (Povey, SDBirds). 300 from Grande 1 Nov.650 from Grande day trip 22 Nov. 77 offshore on San Diego CBC 20 Dec (Povey, SDBirds). 171 offshore on Oceanside CBC 27 Dec (Povey, SDBirds).
2009: 175 on the San Diego New Year's Day pelagic. 100 off Dana Point 10 Jan. 93 off San Diego 28 Jan. 300 off Palos Verdes 28 Feb. 44 off San Diego 5 Mar, 18 on 7 Mar and 17 on 8 Mar from Grande on San Diego Bird Festival pelagic day trips. 0-5 reported from 18 pelagic trip the balance of Mar - Aug. 9 from Searcher 7 Sep. 161 off San Diego 19 Sep. 320 off San Diego 23 Sep. 1030 off San Diego 3 Oct from Grande day trip. 65 from Grande 10 Oct. 650 off San Diego 3 Nov. 250 off San Diego 23 Nov. 430 off San Diego 3 Dec. 543 on the Oceanside CBC 26 Dec.
2010: 50 on the 26th annual New Year's Day Pelagic off San Diego. 215 off San Diego 12 Jan. 175 off Oceanside 30 Jan. 38 on 3 day-trips 4-7 Mar on San Diego Bird Festival. 105 off San Diego & Baja 14 Mar. 46 at Nine Mile Bank Apr 8. 6 from Grande Apr 17. 1 at Nine Mile Bank July 7 and 2 on Jul 31. 2 from Searcher on Sep 6. 44 from Grande Oct 2. 765 from Grande Oct 9. 14 from Grande Nov 13. 2000 from shore La Jolla San Diego Nov 21 (Paul Lehman, SDBirds). Two near shore Pt Loma 8 Dec.
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| Black-vented Shearwater (c) Thomas Blackman |
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| Black-vented Shearwater (c) Trent Stanley |
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Newell's Shearwater One caught in Del Mar San Diego 1 Aug 2007 is the first N.A. record (NAB, McCaskie & Garrett).
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| Newell's Shearwater (c) Robin Baird |
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| Newell's Shearwater (c) Robin Baird |
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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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