2010 TRIP REPORT
October 2-4, 2010 56-hour weekend
Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel, Flesh-Footed Shearwater
Sperm Whale, Baird's Beaked Whale
|
|
Best viewed full screen by clicking the icon near the lower
right hand corner of the video (beneath the "You" in YouTube).
|
 |
| California Pelagic Birding Grande Oct 2-4 2010 trip track by Matt Sadowski |
|
|
 |
| California Pelagic Birding Grande Oct 2-4 2010 trip track by Matt Sadowski |
|
|
(San Diego) The Buena Vista Audubon Society deep water pelagic trip aboard Grande spent 2.5 days at sea. Trip highlights include a WEDGE-RUMPED STORM-PETREL, a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER, rafts totaling thousands of Storm-Petrels midway between San Diego and San Clemente Island, Black-footed Albatrosses (including one in San Diego County), a pair of San Diego BROWN BOOBIES, chains of Salp, breaching Baird’s Beaked Whales, a Sperm Whale, Humpback Whales, multiple Blue Whales and feeding Fin Whales.
As we departed Saturday morning (2 OCT 2010) we saw 2 Black Oystercatchers and an "Americanish" hybrid Oystercatcher on the cobbles of Ballast Point. Typical of Common Tern (seldom seen on shore in San Diego) we began seeing dozens of them foraging in the 66.8 degree waters just several miles off shore.
8 Sabine’s Gulls were mixed in with the near-shore terns (unusually close to shore for this species) foraging about 5-6 miles off Point Loma – with another 45 seen as we neared the Nine Mile Bank where we saw our first Black and Least Storm-Petrels (see eBird zone distribution lists below) and 250+ Pink-footed Shearwaters. A strong showing of 230 Common Terns foraging at the Nine Mile was unusual for San Diego waters and more than a thousand Red-necked Phalaropes (with handful of Reds) added to the activity.
A dark-morph Pink-footed Shearwater had everyone hollering “Flesh-footed!” at first, but the bill was not pink and the belly has some light feathers. Common Dolphins chased bait to the surface where pelicans, terns and shearwaters gathered in frenzied feeding swarms. We had a quick and fleeting glimpse of a Minke Whale, being true to it’s “Slinky Minky” moniker of being, well, slinky. Water temp here was up to 68.
Up on top of the Thirty Mile Bank we found a few Ashy Storm-Petrels and scattered Least and Blacks - all heading north just "over the line" into LA county. We followed them to find an enormous swarm of Least and Black Storm-Petrels – encountering rafts totaling about 5,000 storm-petrels (3000 Least, 2000 Black) just a mile "over the line" into Los Angeles County waters. There was a white rumped storm petrel seen and called out (perhaps two) swirling around in the swarm. The “default” would be a Wilson’s or a “Townsend’s” Leach’s, but the bird (or birds) clearly were not Wilson's.
The bird(s) would appear and disappear in the swarm. It did not come in to the oil slick. The bird was so difficult to track that many photographers resorted to a “machine-gun” approach, holding their shutters down and panning the swarm, taking a dozen photos a second. Only after returning to land-based computer monitors were the photographers able to search through hundreds of photos and find the ones with a white-rumped bird and then crop and enlarge the photos. Some of the photos clearly showed a fresh-plumaged WEDGE-RUMPED STORM-PETREL. Photos were circulated to authorities via email to confirm the diagnosis.
Scroll to the bottom of this page for Matt Sadowski’s photos of the Wedge-Rumped. Jon Feenstra's CBRC write-up follows the photos.
Paul Lehman noted: "There MAY have been two (white-rumped) birds present, the other looking more Leach's-like and thus resulting in various amounts of confusion. We also think two different white-rumped birds MAY have been called out at the same time heading in opposite directions. Getting good looks at the(se) bird in a swirling mass of storm-petrels which do not let a boat the size of The Grande get all that close was very difficult - as a result, these photos actually provide much BETTER views than were obtainable in the field!!!"
Continuing west over the San Clemente basin with San Clemente Island looming to our north, we encountered our first Long-tailed Jaegers. Closer to San Clemente Island we saw nine Pom Jaegers and plucked a deceased Greater White-fronted Goose from the surface.
Sunday morning (3 OCT 2010) before dawn we had Townsend’s, Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers coming to Grande’s lights along with a Lesser Nighthawk and Burrowing Owl, cowbirds and a probable pipit and Common Yellowthroat. We laid a slick at dawn over the edge of the shelf at the 1200 fathom line in 62 degree water and left it for 3 hours to do a loop (Arctic Terns) and returned with Black-footed Albatrosses in tow to watch Pomarine Jaegers and 3 species of storm-petrels (Least, Black and Leach’s) in the slick.
We spent the remainder of the day motoring southeast along the shelf edge drop-off between 1000 and 2000 fathoms, zigzagging our way from shallow to deep water, recording nominate, Chapman’s and Townsend’s Leach’s Storm-Petrels along the way and more Xantus’s Murrelets of the southern breeding hypoleucus race.
Throughout the day we enjoyed Mola Mola, leaping sharks, schools of albacore tuna, an Elephant Seal, Humpback Whales, 6 Blue Whales, 5 Guadalupe Fur Seals, breaching Baird’s Beaked Whales and a life mammal for most, a SPERM WHALE and, at dinner time, Northern Right Whale Dolphins.
On Monday morning (4 OCT 2010) we arrived at the Thirty Mile Bank at dawn and put out a chum slick, immediately attracting a dozen Pom Jaegers to fight over the beef fat. Crossing into San Diego County to follow the edge of the Thirty Mile Bank south, a pair of Brown Boobies shot by and circled Grande 23 miles west off Point Loma and 1.5 miles north of the Mexican border. A few miles later as we began crossing the San Diego Trough we picked up a San Diego BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS and nearing the Nine Mile Bank a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER was well photographed just 13 miles WSW of Point Loma, 2 miles north of the Mexican border.
|
 |
| California Pelagic Birding Grande Oct 2-4 2010 trip track by Matt Sadowski |
|
|
|
2-Oct |
3-Oct |
4-Oct |
Total |
| Common Loon - Gavia immer |
-- |
-- |
1 |
1 |
| Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Black-footed Albatross - Phoebastria nigripes |
-- |
5 |
1 |
6 |
| Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus |
341 |
3 |
84 |
428 |
| Flesh-footed Shearwater - Puffinus carneipes |
-- |
-- |
1 |
1 |
| Sooty Shearwater - Puffinus griseus |
2 |
-- |
2 |
4 |
| Black-vented Shearwater - Puffinus opisthomelas |
166 |
-- |
1 |
167 |
| Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Leach's Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma leucorhoa |
1 |
78 |
-- |
79 |
| Ashy Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma homochroa |
3 |
-- |
-- |
3 |
| Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania |
2,036 |
45 |
185 |
2266 |
| Least Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma microsoma |
3,006 |
4 |
15 |
3025 |
| Brown Booby - Sula leucogaster |
-- |
-- |
2 |
2 |
| Brown Pelican - Pelecanus occidentalis |
150 |
-- |
-- |
150 |
| Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus |
400 |
-- |
1 |
401 |
| Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus |
5 |
-- |
-- |
5 |
| Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias |
3 |
1 |
-- |
4 |
| Great Egret - Ardea alba |
15 |
-- |
-- |
15 |
| Snowy Egret - Egretta thula |
15 |
-- |
-- |
15 |
| Osprey - Pandion haliaetus |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| American x Black Oystercatcher (hybrid) - Haematopus palliatus x bachmani |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Black Oystercatcher - Haematopus bachmani |
2 |
-- |
-- |
2 |
| Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus |
2 |
-- |
-- |
2 |
| Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus |
-- |
1 |
-- |
1 |
| Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus |
1,058 |
18 |
175 |
1273 |
| Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius |
7 |
7 |
1 |
15 |
| phalarope sp. - Phalaropus sp. |
5 |
6 |
5 |
16 |
| Sabine's Gull - Xema sabini |
53 |
2 |
2 |
57 |
| Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni |
515 |
-- |
1 |
515 |
| Western Gull - Larus occidentalis |
340 |
1 |
52 |
393 |
| California Gull - Larus californicus |
1 |
-- |
9 |
10 |
| Herring Gull - Larus argentatus |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Common Tern - Sterna hirundo |
251 |
-- |
7 |
258 |
| Arctic Tern - Sterna paradisaea |
-- |
19 |
-- |
19 |
| Common/Arctic Tern - Sterna hirundo/paradisaea |
2 |
4 |
-- |
6 |
| Forster's Tern - Sterna forsteri |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Royal Tern - Thalasseus maximus |
5 |
-- |
-- |
5 |
| Elegant Tern - Thalasseus elegans |
16 |
-- |
10 |
26 |
| Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus |
13 |
11 |
18 |
42 |
| Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus |
11 |
1 |
4 |
16 |
| Long-tailed Jaeger - Stercorarius longicaudus |
2 |
-- |
-- |
2 |
| jaeger sp. - Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) |
8 |
12 |
1 |
21 |
| Xantus's Murrelet - Synthliboramphus hypoleucus |
-- |
6 |
-- |
6 |
| Cassin's Auklet - Ptychoramphus aleuticus |
15 |
1 |
8 |
24 |
| Rhinoceros Auklet - Cerorhinca monocerata |
-- |
2 |
-- |
2 |
| Rock Pigeon - Columba livia |
10 |
-- |
-- |
10 |
| Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Burrowing Owl - Athene cunicularia |
-- |
1 |
-- |
1 |
| Lesser Nighthawk - Chordeiles acutipennis |
-- |
1 |
-- |
1 |
| American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
| Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia |
-- |
2 |
-- |
2 |
| Townsend's Warbler - Dendroica townsendi |
-- |
1 |
-- |
1 |
| Wilson's Warbler - Wilsonia pusilla |
-- |
1 |
-- |
1 |
|
| Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel |
| All photos (c) Matt Sadowski |
by: Jon Feenstra
Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel
October 2, 2010, approximately 12:30 PM
Just west of the 30 Mile Bank, Los Angeles County
The WRSP was seen while on a BVAS pelagic trip aboard Grande en route to the Contintental Shelf. We made a pass over the 30 Mile Bank where birders earlier in the week had encountered a large raft of storm-petrels (9000 birds: majority Least and minority Black). We found the storm-petrels (an estimate of about 5000 birds: 3000 Least, 2000 Black) in several tight rafts. A white-rumped bird was detected in their midst. It was difficult to follow and we were not seeing it more than we were seeing it, with brief views from at least 200m. The flock was wary and flushed at our approach. We reached an agreement that it was probably a white-rumped morph of “Townsend’s” Leach’s Storm Petrel (O.l. soccoroensis) based upon small size, appearance, flight and behavior unlike Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, and probability. It was upon reviewing photos that the field identification was questioned and the likelihood of Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel became apparent.
Description: The bird was immediately recognizable from the thousands of other storm-petrels by possessing a gleaming white rump. It was only slightly larger than the nearby Least Storm-Petrels and much smaller than the nearby Black Storm-Petrels. Coloration was similar to the accompanying dark storm-petrels (except the rump) though an obvious pale carpal was visible on the upper wing in most light conditions – a feature not shared with the other storm-petrels. Flight was snappier than either Least or Black with shallower strokes – not unlike the flight of “Townsend’s” Leach’s Storm-Petrel, though probably less jumpy. The legs and feet were not visible in flight. The “wrap-around” of the white rump onto the undertail was not visible in the field.
|
| eBird Species List by Region and County |
10/2/10 SATURDAY
**********************************
San Diego Bay--northwest
Transit from the dock out to the open ocean past the bait docks. The American-ish Oystercatcher was on ballast point with the 2 Blacks. It was sleeping the entire time. it showed a white belly and a scaly line of demarcation with the black hood. White was also visible on the side of the rump and uppertail - but the extent was not visible. It was photographed by several.
Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis 1
Brown Pelican - Pelecanus occidentalis 82
Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus 400
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 4
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 3
Great Egret - Ardea alba 15
Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 15
Osprey - Pandion haliaetus 1
American x Black Oystercatcher (hybrid) - Haematopus palliatus x bachmani 1
Black Oystercatcher - Haematopus bachmani 2
Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus 2
Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa 1
Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni 400
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 150
Forster's Tern - Sterna forsteri 1
Royal Tern - Thalasseus maximus 5
Elegant Tern - Thalasseus elegans 16
Rock Pigeon - Columba livia 10
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 1
Nearshore pelagic (SD Co.)
Transit from Pt Loma to the 9 Mile bank. Common Terns were making a notably strong presence and the Sabine's Gulls were particularly close to shore: the first one was not long after leaving SD Bay. Sea <1m, 68 F, wind <10knots.
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 5
Black-vented Shearwater - Puffinus opisthomelas 38
Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus 5
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 2
Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus 50
Sabine's Gull - Xema sabini 8
Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni 25
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 10
California Gull - Larus californicus 1
Common Tern - Sterna hirundo 60
Elegant Tern - Thalasseus elegans 1
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 1
jaeger sp. - Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) 2
Cassin's Auklet - Ptychoramphus aleuticus 4
Nine Mile Bank (SD Co.)
Sea 1m, 68 F, wind <10knots. Many of these birds were present in a single feeding flock on the 9 Mile Bank. We did a few jogs over the bank to follow the flock.
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 255
Black-vented Shearwater - Puffinus opisthomelas 43
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 16
Least Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma microsoma 4
Brown Pelican - Pelecanus occidentalis 65
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 1
Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus 1040
Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius 5
Sabine's Gull - Xema sabini 45
Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni 100
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 150
Common Tern - Sterna hirundo 230
Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus 2
jaeger sp. - Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) 1
Cassin's Auklet - Ptychoramphus aleuticus 15
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 1
Thirty Mile Bank (SD Co.)
Sea <2m, 68 F, wind <10knots. A few individuals in this list are from the transit from the 9mile bank to the 30 mile bank. Most were on the 30 mile bank. A huge raft of storm-petrels was just west of the 30 mile bank in LA County waters.
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 20
Sooty Shearwater - Puffinus griseus 2
Ashy Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma homochroa 3
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 16
Least Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma microsoma 2
Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni 15
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 14
California Gull - Larus californicus 1
Common Tern - Sterna hirundo 21
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 2
Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus 2
San Clemente basin (LA Co.)
Sea 2m, 68 F, wind 10knots. The storm-petrels were in one big swarm just west of the 30 mile bank. After leaving the swarm we went west over the north end of the SCL Basin. The Wedge-Rumped S-P was with the swarm - not very well seen. The white on the rump did not appear to extend onto the undertail (as in Wilson's and Wedge-rumped). The feet did not project beyond the tail. Hi-res photo processing revealed the bird to be a Wedge-Rumped.
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 46
WEDGE-RUMPED STORM-PETREL 1
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 2000
Least Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma microsoma 3000
Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus 3
Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius 2
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 6
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 1
Common/Arctic Tern - Sterna hirundo/paradisaea 2
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 2
Long-tailed Jaeger - Stercorarius longicaudus 2
jaeger sp. - Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) 7
Offshore--San Clemente Island vicinity (LA Co.)
sea 2m, 68 F, wind 10knots. Transit along the southwestern end of SCL Island a few miles off.
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 20
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 4
Brown Pelican - Pelecanus occidentalis 3
Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus 15
phalarope sp. - Phalaropus sp. 5
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 20
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 9
**********************************
10/3/10 SUNDAY
**********************************
Offshore--trench east of San Juan Seamount (VEN Co.)
Sea 2-3m, 62 F, wind 15 knots. The land birds were around the boat pre-dawn - seen & heard by some. We laid a slick on the shelf edge (between 1000-1500 fathoms) left it for three hours as we did a loop to the northwest (to 2000 fathoms) then returned to it - most of the numbers of seabirds were around that slick after the 3 hour detour.
Black-footed Albatross - Phoebastria nigripes 4
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 3
Leach's Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma leucorhoa 25
Leach's Storm-Petrel (leucorhoa) - Oceanodroma leucorhoa leucorhoa 9
Leach's Storm-Petrel (Dark-rumped) - Oceanodroma leucorhoa chapmani/soccorroensis 13
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 34
Least Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma microsoma 4
Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus 1
Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus 16
Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius 2
phalarope sp. - Phalaropus sp. 5
Sabine's Gull - Xema sabini 1
Arctic Tern - Sterna paradisaea 19
Common/Arctic Tern - Sterna hirundo/paradisaea 4
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 9
Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus 1
jaeger sp. - Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) 8
Xantus's Murrelet (hypoleucus) - Synthliboramphus hypoleucus hypoleucus 4
Cassin's Auklet - Ptychoramphus aleuticus 1
Rhinoceros Auklet - Cerorhinca monocerata 2
Burrowing Owl - Athene cunicularia 1
Lesser Nighthawk - Chordeiles acutipennis 1
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 2
Townsend's Warbler - Dendroica townsendi 1
Wilson's Warbler - Wilsonia pusilla 1
Offshore--shelf west of San Nicolas (VEN Co.)
Sea 2-3m, 62 F, wind 15 knots. Transit along shelf south along 1000 fathom line. We ended the day on a slick on a high spot of 280 fathoms WSW of San Nic. The Townsend's Leach's was probable - a white-rumped morph seen briefly.
Black-footed Albatross - Phoebastria nigripes 1
Leach's Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma leucorhoa 19
Leach's Storm-Petrel (leucorhoa) - Oceanodroma leucorhoa leucorhoa 2
Leach's Storm-Petrel (chapmani) - Oceanodroma leucorhoa chapmani 9
Leach's Storm-Petrel (soccoroensis) - Oceanodroma leucorhoa socorroensis 1
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 11
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 1
Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus 2
Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius 5
phalarope sp. - Phalaropus sp. 1
Sabine's Gull - Xema sabini 1
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 1
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 2
jaeger sp. - Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) 4
Xantus's Murrelet (hypoleucus) - Synthliboramphus hypoleucus hypoleucus 2
**********************************
10/4/10 MONDAY
**********************************
Thirty Mile Bank (SD Co.)
Sea 1-2m, 68 F, wind 10 knots. We started at dawn with a slick at the north end of the 30 mile bank (near where the storm-petrel swarm was present on 10/2). Most of the birds were present there. we then went south along the bank near Mexico and cut east (Brown Boobies and BF Albatross were there).
Black-footed Albatross - Phoebastria nigripes 1
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 29
Sooty Shearwater - Puffinus griseus 1
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 85
Least Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma microsoma 15
Brown Booby - Sula leucogaster 2
Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus 1
phalarope sp. - Phalaropus sp. 5
Sabine's Gull - Xema sabini 1
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 32
California Gull - Larus californicus 5
Common Tern - Sterna hirundo 7
Elegant Tern - Thalasseus elegans 10
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 13
Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus 2
jaeger sp. - Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.) 1
Cassin's Auklet - Ptychoramphus aleuticus 2
Nine Mile Bank (SD Co.)
Sea 1m, 68 F, wind 10 knots. Transit over the south end of the 9 mile bank. the FF Shearwater was with a few PF Shearwaters on the west side of the bank.
Common Loon - Gavia immer 1
Pink-footed Shearwater - Puffinus creatopus 55
Flesh-footed Shearwater - Puffinus carneipes 1
Sooty Shearwater - Puffinus griseus 1
Black-vented Shearwater - Puffinus opisthomelas 1
Black Storm-Petrel - Oceanodroma melania 100
Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus 165
Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius 1
Sabine's Gull - Xema sabini 1
Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni 1
Western Gull - Larus occidentalis 20
California Gull - Larus californicus 4
Pomarine Jaeger - Stercorarius pomarinus 5
Parasitic Jaeger - Stercorarius parasiticus 2
Cassin's Auklet - Ptychoramphus aleuticus 6
Prepared by:
Jonathan S. Feenstra Ph.D.
Pasadena, CA 91105
feenstra@alumni.caltech.edu
|
|
