South Polar Skua Uncommon spring (May-June) and fall (September – early November) migrant (McGrath & Feenstra, 2005). Most frequent in spring (Unitt, 2004). Most often found far offshore at deep water locations like the Tanner and Cortes Banks.
2007: 2 were seen on a Los Angeles Audubon trip to the channel islands on June 5.
2008: 2 seen at the Nine Mile Bank, 11 n. miles off shore San Diego, 10 May were closer to shore than expected (NAB, McCaskie & Garret). 11 on a June 2-5 pelagic trip on Searcher suggests how many may be off our coast each spring (NAB, McCaskie & Garret). One off San Diego 23 Aug (Povey, SDBirds). 5 from Searcher 2-6 Sep.
2009: One from Grande off San Diego 9-10 May. One near the Channel Islands 16 May. One offshore San Diego 21 May. One at Nine Mile Bank San Diego 13 Jul. One from Condo Express off Santa Barbars 25 Jul. 15 from Searcher 7-10 Sep. One from Grande on 3 Oct and 10 Oct were last San Deigo reports for the season.
2010: 3 from Grande May 15-17. 6 from Searcher May 29-31. 3 from Condor Express Jul 31. 5 from Searcher Sep 7-9.
2011: One was reported between the Nine Mile Bank and Thirty Mile Bank San Diego from Grande May 14. Three seen from Searcher May 28-30 - two between the Thirty Mile Bank and San Clemente Island Los Angeles and one 6 miles south of the Coronados Islands, seven miles offshore Rosarito, Mexico.
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| South Polar Skua |
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| South Polar Skua (c) Tom Blackman |
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Pomarine Jaeger Common spring (April – May) and fall (late Aug – early November) migrant (McGrath & Feenstra, 2005). Occasional Poms remain throughout the summer (Unitt, 2004).
2007: 53 2 from Condor Express 21 Apr (eBird). 5 offshore San Diego 31 Mar (McCaskie, SDBirds). 25-30 off Oceanside 10 Mar (Walens, SDBirds). 56 from Condor Express off Santa Barbara 24 Apr (CalBirds). 2 offshore San Diego 4 Sep (Povey, SDBirds).
2008: Six off Oceanside 26 Jan. Five off San Diego from Grande 9 Feb. Seven from Grande 15 Mar. Four from Grande 10-11 May. 9 at "The Butterfly Bank" 80 mi w of San Diego 5 Oct. 19 from Searcher 2-4 Sep. Nine from Grande 4-5 Oct. 17 from Grande 1-2 Nov. One from Grande 22 Nov. One off San Diego 20 Dec (Povey, SDBirds, San Diego CBC). One off Carlsbad 27 Dec (Povey, SDBirds, Oceanside CBC).
2009: One off San Diego on the 25th annual New Year's Day pelagic 1 Jan. 8 off Dana Point Orange 10 Jan. 2 off Port San Luis San Luis Obispo 24 Jan. 6 off Palos Verdes Los Angeles 28 Feb. 8 off Santa Barbara from Condor Express 1 Mar. 2009 San Diego Bird Festival from Grande: 3 on 5 Mar, one on 7 Mar and 3 on 8 Mar. 3 off San Diego 15 Mar. 9 off San Diego 20 Mar. One from Grande off San Diego 4 Apr. 3 from Grande 9-10 May. One from Grande 29 May then absent from San Diego waters until 14 Aug then seen on most SoCal Pelagic trips through the end of November including 27 from Grande 10-11 Oct and 11 from Condor Express 15 Nov.
2010: Three off San Diego on the 26th annual New Year's Day pelagic. Seven on 3 day-trips 4-7 Mar on San Diego Bird Festival. 8 off San Diego & Baja 14 Mar. 3 from Condor Express May 1. 5 from Grande May 5. 1 from Searcher May 29-31. 3 from Condor Express Jul 31. 5 from Grande Aug 16-17. 2 at Nine Mile Bank San Diego Aug 31 (Dave Povey). 35 from Searcher Sep 6-9. 42 from Grande Oct 2-4. 14 from Grande Oct 9. One from Grande Nov 13. 39 from La Jolla (San Diego) 21 Nov (Paul Lehman SDBirds).
2011: 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 7 on Mar 6. 2011: 19 were seen between Santa Barbara and the Rodriguez Dome from the Condor Express on Apr 30. 3 were reported between the Nine Mile Bank and Thirty Mile Bank San Diego from Grande May 14.
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| Pomarine Jaeger (c) W. Terry Hunefeld |
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| Pomarine Jaeger (c) Tom Blackman |
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Parasitic Jaeger Fairly common spring (mid April – late May) and fall (late August – October); rare in summer (McGrath & Feenstra, 2005). Uncommon to fairly common winter visitor, 2 2 from Condor Express 21 Apr 2007 (eBird).
2008: One 2 Jan at Oceanside Harbor on beach with gulls (Weaver, SDBirds). 6 off Oceanside 28 Jan. One off San Diego from Grande 10 Feb. 2 at Oceanside jetty 11 Feb 2008 (Weaver, SDBirds). 3 from Grande 15 Mar. 3 off San Diego 25 Mar (Povey, SDBirds). None recorded off San Diego Apr - Aug. 5 from Searcher 1-4 Sep. 2 from Grande 4 Oct. 2 off San Diego 13 Oct (Povey, SDBirds). One from Grande 22 Nov. One off San Diego 20 Dec (Povey, SDBirds, San Diego CBC). One off Carlsbad 27 Dec (Povey, SDBirds, Oceanside CBC).
2009: 2 off San Diego on the 25th annual New Year's Day pelagic. One seen off Oceanside 31 Jan. One off Palos Verdes Los Angeles 28 Feb. 2 on 7 Mar and one 8 Mar from Grande during San Diego Bird Festival. Two off San Diego 15 Mar and 20 Mar. Only San Diego records from April - August are one off San Diego 29 May and 2 from Grande 24-25 Aug. 16 from Searcher 7-10 Sep. 5 off Dana Point 19 Sep. 8 of San Diego 23 Sep. 22 from Grande 3 Oct. 8 from Grande 10-11 Oct. One off San Diego 3 Nov. 5 from Condor Express off Santa Barbara 15 Nov. 3 off Oceanside 26 Dec.
2010: One off San Diego 21 Jan. One off Oceanside 30 Jan. Three (one a day) on 3 day-trips 4-7 Mar on San Diego Bird Festival. 8 from Grande on Nine Mile Bank San Diego (4 each day) Feb 12-13. One from Condor Express Jul 31. 6 from Grande Sep 3. 6 from Searcher Sep 6-7. 9 from Grande Oct 2-4. 4 from Grande Oct 9. 3 from Grande Nov 13. 5 from La Jolla San Diego 21 Nov (Paul Lehman SDBirds).
2011: 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 6. One was reported between the Nine Mile Bank and Thirty Mile Bank San Diego from Grande May 14.
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| Parasitic Jaeger chasing an Elegant Tern |
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| Parasitic Jaeger |
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Long-tailed Jaeger Uncommon fall transient (mid August – early October). Rare later in fall and very rare in spring (May). Often seen singly. 9 seen 100 miles offshore near the Cortes Bank on 13 Oct 1971 (Jehl, 1973); 2 near San Juan Seamount 28 Apr 2006.
2007: 2 from Condor Express 21 Apr (eBird). One 21 Apr 100 miles west of San Diego from Searcher.
2008: One 14 mi w of La Jolla San Diego from Searcher was among 13 seen 1-4 Sep on that deep water pelagic. 6 off San Diego from Grande on 1-2 Nov deep-water pelagic.
2009: 3 off San Diego from Grande 9-10 May deep water pelagic. One near the Channel Islands 16 May. 2 off Santa Barbara from Condor Express 25 Jul. 3 from Grande 24-25 Aug. 6 from Searcher deep-water live-aboard off SoCal 7-11 Sep. 2 off San Diego (one 12 miles offshore San Diego and one at the Thirty Mile Bank San Diego) 23 Sep.
2010: One from Grande May 15-17. One 14 miles offshore San Diego Jul 18 (Dave Povey). 7 from Condor Express Jul 31. One from Grande at Thirty Mile Bank San Diego Aug 16. 114 (one in San Diego at the Nine Mile Bank) from Searcher Sep 6-9. 2 from Grande Oct 2-4. One from Grande on Thirty Mile Bank San Diego Oct 9.
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| Long-tailed Jaeger (c) Tom Blackman |
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| Long-tailed Jaeger (c) Matt Sadowski |
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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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