SoCalBirding.com

The beauty of live-aboard boats is that we can spend full days - from sunrise to sunset - birding in comparative luxury.  Cold?  Warm up with a cup of hot chocolate in the galley.  Hot?  Grab a Coke in the air conditioned salon.  Tired?  Hit your bunk for a 15 minute nap.  Hungry?  You never go hungry on a pelagic trip!  Wondering what makes that a Manx Shearwater instead of a Black-vented?  Consult one of the friendly, expert leaders or the extensive birding and sea mammal library in the salon. 

The focus of Searcher 5-day expeditions and Grande 2-day deep water weekend trips are two-fold:  (1) to travel through bird-rich life zones to find California "specialties" and (2) to explore life zones in deep waters 100 mile or more offshore where southern hemisphere birds are usually found only by research ships.  No day trips venture this far.  After exploring waters 5 - 50 miles from shore, we venture out further to hunt for mega-rarities - birds with fewer than 10 accepted records in all of California - the birds people whisper about.  What will we see? 

Rarities and Mega-Rarities seen on chartered pelagic seabirding trips in southern California since 2003 include Hawaiian Petrel, Cook's Petrel, Murphy's Petrel,  Bulwer's Petrel, Streaked Shearwater, Tristram's Storm-Petrel, Ringed Storm-Petrel, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird, Red-TAILED Tropicbird and Craveri's Murrelet. If we see even one of the rarities, it's a good day.  If we see a mega-rarity, we'll be very lucky because none are probable. Our what will we see page offers four methods of determining the probability of seeing any particular species.   

The Pacific Ocean is a vast, virtually unexplored frontier, enormous beyond comprehension, replete with seldom seen and little understood birds. 

The secret to finding these rare birds (like Laysan Albatross, Red-billed Tropicbird, Murphy's Petrel, Cook’s Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater) and mega-rarities (Short-tailed Albatross, Hawaiian Petrel, Stejneger's Petrel, Mottled Petrel, Bulwer's Petrel, Streaked Shearwater, Red-tailed Tropicbird) is to be out there, in deep water life-zones, with knowledgeable leaders who know where and when to look, following temperature and current breaks, . . .  chumming. . . .  watching. . . .  waiting. . . .

Waiting. . . .  deep water pelagic birding is always an exercise in patience.  The high number and rich diversity of seabirds found near-shore, at the Nine-mile Bank or around the Channel Islands are not found at the Cortez or Tanner Banks, the San Juan Seamount or the continental shelf edge.  In the land of pterodroma, tubenoses may be spaced 30 - 45 minutes apart; the further out, the fewer birds.  This is where mega-rarities roam; the very term mega-rarity implying what is in store: they are seldom seen. 

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 -- or, it can bore the hell out of you.  Birders who enjoy deep water pelagics savor the meditative aspect of nothing while anticipating the possibility of discovery - always being okay with the discovery of little or nothing -- zen.

Those of us who have it in our blood and go out again and again know with absolute certainty that it's just a matter of time until that Stejneger's flies by.  Just being out there -- knowing that something spectacular can occur while expecting nothing - can be addicting.  That's the essence of deep water pelagics; it's definitely not for everybody, but if you want to experience a totally relaxed and dream-like state of mind, this is one place to find it -- and when you see your life Murphy's Petrel, Short-tailed Albatross or Red-tailed Tropicbird, you'll understand. . . .

                                                                                                                                                 --  Terry Hunefeld