By Terry Hunefeld
Birders who enjoy pelagics savor the flavor of the sea touched withthe imminent sense of discovery. When at sea, the sun, the breeze,the swells, the gentle rocking of the boat can put one in trance; a feeling of being at one with the ocean and life itself.
And so it came to be that 85 birders boarded the New Seaforth at 7:50a.m. on a foggy New Year's Day morning for the 26th Annual SDFO pelagic. The guests of honor, Don and Marjorie Hastings, celebrated their 26th consecutive New Year's pelagic trip, and their 85th pelagic trip overall.
With Don and Marjorie seated like a king and queen on the stern, we departed Mission Bay at 8:05 in a pea soup fog, so thick we couldn't even see the bait tanks let alone identify birds on them. To escape the fog bank we headed straight west towards the 178 spot on the north end of the Nine-mile Bank, eleven miles offshore. Our popcorn chum immediately attracted a raucous flock of Heermann's and Western Gulls with a few Californias thrown in and a Glaucous-winged here and there.
A few miles offshore visibility increased to 300 yards and we began seeing our first Black-vented Shearwaters of the day coming to the rear of New Seaforth to check out what all the gull commotion was about. Then there was a Rhinoceros Auklet, then a few Cassin's Auklets, and before we knew it, the skies had cleared.
As we continued motoring towards the Nine-mile bank, things slowed down about six miles offshore. The captain spoke with a few fishermen on the radio and learned there was lots of life being seen at the submarine La Jolla Canyon, so at 9:20 a.m., still a mile short of the 178 spot on the Nine-mile Bank, we turned New Seaforth northeast and headed towards Torrey Pines.
By 9:50 a.m. we were back in the life zone again. A couple of small flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls performed their loosely synchronized choreographed dance up and down over the water, their white leading wing edges flashing in the sun.
Black-venteds whizzed back and forth and around the boat, including one so leucistic that it was first identified as a fulmar. By now the skies were clear, the sky blue, the breeze light, the sun bright. All was well on this New Year's Day at sea, surround by friends, family, the ocean and birds.
Multiple flocks of 5-8 Cassin's Auklets jumped off the water. Rhinoceros Auklets were abundant in one's and two's everywhere. Then the cry of "murrelet!!" came from the bow and the entire boat held its collective breath and cameras clicked as the captain crept up on a pair of Xantus's Murrelets. This species is extraordinarily rare in San Diego waters in winter, being recorded on only two Christmas bird counts in the past 50 years! The black in the face around the eyes distinguished them as the California breeding scrippsi subspecies.
Along the way the participants were also treated to close up views of two ocean sunfish (mola mola) lying on their sides. The fishing crew said that when they're brought aboard that they're as hard and as heavy as concrete.
La Jolla Canyon (the deep water canyon north of La Jolla Cove) was teeming with life. Gulls, Brandt's Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Common Dolphin and even a few bow-riding Pacific White-sided Dolphin were feeding on the bait fish popping the surface all around us.
Of course, it was just a matter of time before we found opportunistic jaegers in all this feeding activity, and sure enough, we found a Pomarine up to no good over the canyon, then two Parasitic Jaegers as we made our way south from La Jolla to Mission Bay making their special brand of mischief.
Just being out to sea – knowing something unusual or spectacular can occur, while expecting nothing – can be addicting. That's the essence of pelagic birding.
Pacific Loon 9
Common Loon 5
Eared Grebe 2
Western Grebe 1
Black-vented Shearwater 175
Brown Pelican 85
Brandt's Cormorant 300
Pelagic Cormorant 1
Bonaparte's Gull 40
Heermann's Gull 250
Western Gull 150
California Gull 50
Glaucous-winged Gull 3
Pomarine Jaeger 1
Parasitic Jaeger 2
Common Murre 2
Xantus's Murrelet 2
Cassin's Auklet 100
Rhinoceros Auklet 43
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