SEARCHER
5-Day Live-Aboard Deep-Water Expedition
Sponsored By: Searcher Natural History Tours
From San Diego to the Channel Islands and Continental Shelf Edge
5 Days On The Pacific Ocean
Monday September 5 to Friday September 9, 2011
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| Hawaiian Petrel Searcher 6SEP2006 (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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| Hawaiian Petrel Searcher 6SEP2006 (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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September SEARCHER trips from 2003-2009 have amassed an amazing list of species seen: Black-footed Albatross, Northern Fulmar, Murphy's Petrel, Cook's Petrel, Hawaiian Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Buller’s Shearwater, Pink-Footed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Black-vented Shearwater, Least Storm-Petrel, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Black Storm-Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope, South Polar Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger, Sabine's Gull, Arctic Tern, Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Xantus's Murrelet, Craveri’s Murrelet, Cassin's Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet.
The deep water expeditions on Searcher find rarities and mega-rarities in deep water along the edge of the continental shelf on nearly every trip. Review the trip logs. The diverse array of birds seen from Searcher is a result of a diverse itinerary - from near-shore to inter-islands to the edge of the Continental Shelf.
For birders signed up for this 5-DAY PELAGIC trip, the Buena Vista Audubon Society will sponsor a field trip to the Salton Sea led by Todd McGrath on Saturday September 4. This trip is limited exclusively to Searcher registrants. Lean more about the day at the Salton Sea.
SEARCHER departs San Diego at noon on Labor Day and spend the day birding our way up the Nine-mile bank and other underwater banks, ridges and canyons. The morning or our second day at sea will find us in the Channel Islands. From there we travel north and west to deeper waters, past Point Conception to Arguello Canyon, Rodriguez Dome.
The third day finds us in 2,000 fathom (2 miles deep) waters where we explore the known pterodroma corridors near San Juan Seamount and other seamounts at and past the edge of the Continental Shelf. We see lots of birds near shore and around the Channel Islands, fewer birds out along the shelf edge - but the shelf edge is where the rarities roam.
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| Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (c) W. Terry Hunefeld |
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| Wedge-tailed Sheearwater (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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The fourth day finds us 40 miles southwest of the Cortez Bank, 150 miles offshore - as far southwest as anyone can get in the ABA area. Extreme vagrants such as Wedge-tailed Shearwater and Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (one seen 2 Oct 2010 in these waters) are regular up to a bit south of mid-peninsula in Baja; August and September is a great time to look for these species in these southern-most ABA waters.
STORM-PETRELS: The 2009 and 2010 autumn Southern California pelagic season were spectacular for storm-petrels. On October 10, 2009 8,000 Black and 1750 Least Storm-Petrels were seen on the Thirty Mile Bank. On Labor Day, 2010, from Searcher we recorded the fourth record of Wilson's Storm-Petrel in San Diego County on the Nine Mile Bank. A few weeks later, a Buena Vista Audubon pelagic trip found a Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel on the Thirty Mile Bank. on 2 Oct 2010 along with a swarm of 10,000 Least and Black Storm-Petrels.
MURRELETS: The southern waters off the coast of San Diego are the best areas in the ABA area to look for Xantus's (both races) and Craveri's Murrelets. This is the best time of year and waters in which to see Craveri's Murrelet . August - October are the best times to find this eluvise alcid in U.S. waters. In fact, SoCal is the only place in ABA waters it can be found these days. We find one or two in most years, however none were recorded in 2010. Four were well seen and photographed from Grande on Oct 4, 2008. The September 2009 Searcher trip recorded a Craveri's Murrelet on the north end of the Nine Mile Bank. Quick looks at a pair were had by a few onboard Grande Oct 3, 2009.
TROPICBIRDS: The 2010 Labor Day week trip on Searcher found 4 Red-billed Tropicbirds. Two were seen from Searcher on the Sept 2008 trip.
In addition to these "Southern Specialties" early September is an excellent time to see the regular assortment of fall migrant seabirds that have made California famous including South Polar Skua, all 3 species of jaegers, Buller's, Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters and Black-footed Albatrosses. We are just beginning to explore this area, and other surprises will likely await. A Bulwer's Petrel was seen September 4, 2003 off San Clemente Island and probably in the Santa Barbara Channel September 5, 2007.
The primary focus of Searcher Expeditions is to ensure everyone aboard sees all the regional bird specialties. A special effort is made to find rare species on every trip (see list below), and we always encounter and take time to study marine mammals. The luxury of 4 days at sea with 3 days in deep water allows us to enjoy natural wonders few people ever experience.
The beauty of Searcher is that we can spend full days - from sunrise to sunset - birding. After two days birding up the coast and around the Channel Islands, our focus shifts to exploring life zones in deep waters 120 mile or more offshore where southern hemisphere birds are usually found only by research ships. No day trips venture this far.
As we venture out further to hunt for rarities we expect to see birds that most birders have never seen. And there is always the tantalizing possibility of seeing a mega-rarity - a bird with fewer than 10 accepted records in all of California - a bird that birders only whisper about. Thev're been seen before on Searcher trips. What will we see on this trip? There's only one way to find out....
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| Craveri's Murrelet (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird (c) Todd McGrath |
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| We expect to study 3 subspecies of Leach's Storm-Petrel |
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| Leach's Storm-Petrel (c) Steve Howell 31 JUL 2010 |
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| Leach's Storm-Petrel (c) Steve Howell 31 JUL 2010 |
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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS:
Occurrence and identification
of the Leach’s Storm-Petrel
(Oceanodroma leucorhoa) complex
off southern California
(click the PDF icon at the right)
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For birders signed up for the 5-DAY PELAGIC trip, the Buena Vista Audubon Society will sponsor a field trip to the Salton Sea led by Todd McGrath on September 4. This trip is limited exclusively to Searcher participants. Lean more about the day at the Salton Sea.
At 7 p.m. following Sunday's Salton Sea field trip, all Searcher participants are welcome to join Todd in the breakfast room of the Ramada San Diego Airport Inn on Rosecrans near Fisherman's Landing in San Diego for a one-hour presentation and orientation to the Pelagic Birds of Southern California. This presentation is free of charge, sponsored by Searcher Natural History Tours.
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DEEP WATER LIFE ABOARD SEARCHER
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Best viewed full screen by clicking the icon near the lower right hand corner of the video (beneath the "You" in YouTube).
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Video of the Sept 2009 Trip
by Paula Theobold |
Best viewed full screen by clicking the icon near the lower right hand corner of the video (beneath the "You" in YouTube).
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| Art Taylor and Celia Condit |
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ADVANCE RESERVATIONS: Advance reservations are $1075 for the Labor Day 2010 Expedition and include all meals, snacks, beverages. Reservations for Searcher expeditions are handled by Searcher Natural History Tours, owned by nature-loving Art Taylor and Celia Condit. Call Celia for reservation information about the trips at (619) 226-2403 or visit the Searcher Natural History Tours website.
Read what they say about Searcher: True Stories |
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| Cook's Petrel (c) Todd McGrath |
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| Buller's Shearwater (c) W. Terry Hunefeld |
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(SEARCHER, September 2003) Surrounded by the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, land was nowhere in sight. Through the shimmering haze, a speck moved on the horizon. The speck grew larger and turned into a “shearwater.” Todd McGrath, never taking his binoculars from his eyes, called to the bridge, “Stop the boat!”
We were on a quest for rare seabirds aboard the Searcher, a 95-foot live-aboard natural history boat, exploring seldom birded regions near the edge of the continental shelf. Todd studied the distant bird while murmuring to himself, "It doesn't look quite right… (pause)… what is it?... (pause)… probably just a Pink-footed, but… no… it just doesn't look right…"
As the bird drew nearer, Steve N. G. Howell (who was photographing the bird from the lower deck) shouted, “Look at the rump!” There was a pause as Todd studied the bird – then he thundered, "DARK-RUMPED PETREL! DARK-RUMPED PETREL!" The pterodroma approached, flew directly to the boat, took a look at us and looped back the way it had come. Everyone aboard had a good look at this mega-rarity – one of a handful of sightings of Dark-rumped (Hawaiian) Petrels off the coast of California. I get goose bumps just writing these words as I recall the electricity of that moment.
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| Cook's Petrel (c) Todd McGrath |
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| September 2008 - Observing Black-footed Albatrosses and Buller's Shearwaters in the wake from Searcher's top deck |
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| Bulwer's Petrel (c) Göran Ekström |
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| Bulwer's Petrel (c) Göran Ekström |
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| (c) Todd McGrath and Jon Feenstra |
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