This 1/2 day trip will explore the bird-rich Nine-mile Bank from the comfortable 85-foot live-aboard Grande to find seabirds and view migrating Gray Whales as they make their way to the warm lagoons of Baja California to breed and give birth. This majestic, once-endangered species is now making a comeback. Humpback Whales have been seen on our Bird Festival Trips, too.
WOW! On last year's Whales and Seabirds Bird Festival Thursday Pelagic we saw two Mew Gulls and then enjoyed a spectacular treat seen by few birders in SoCal: a Blue-footed Booby circled Grande several times! 2009 Trip Report.
We expect to see two to four species of dolphins (Bottlenose, Common, Pacific White-sided and Risso's) and numerous seabirds including fulmars, 2 or 3 species of shearwaters, 2 species of auklets, murrelets, and jaegers. A SeaWorld marine mammal naturalist will be on board as our "mammal interpreter" along with extremely knowledgeable pelagic birding leaders.
AGE: This trip is appropriate for children 8 years and older.
Bus Departs Marina Village Bird Festival Headquarters: 7:00 a.m. sharp Grande Boarding Time: 7:20 a.m. from Point Loma Sportfishing Landing. Grande Departure Time: 7:30 a.m. Grande Return: 1:00 p.m. Bus Returns to Marina Village Bird Festival Headquarters: 1:30 p.m.
ADVANCE RESERVATIONS: Advance reservations are available by registering for the San Diego Bird Festival.
IMPORTANT DETAILS: Click for important logistic information about the boat, the landing, driving directions, maps, lodging, weather, refund and cancellation policies, on-board facilities, meals and snacks,
HOW TO PREPARE: Click for tips on how to prepare, what to wear, what to bring and when to arrive.
EXPECTED SPECIES: What we see depends on the season, the itinerary and how far from shore we venture. Learn more about what species we will probably see and what species might be seen. We certainly did not expect a Blue-footed Booby last year.
CANCELLATION POLICY: This is a SAN DIEGO BIRD FESTIVAL trip. Prior to registering, please familiarize yourself with your trip's policies regarding reservations, cancellations, refunds and substitutions as well as reviewing driving directions, check-in times, procedures and equipment allowed on the boats.
FOR LOCALS DRIVING TO THE LANDING
LANDING LOCATION: We will board Grande 30 minutes prior to departure at Point Loma Sportfishing Landing, 1403 Scott Street at the corner of Emerson in San Diego 92106. GOOGLE MAP OF THE LANDING:Map and driving directions DRIVING DIRECTIONS TO THE LANDING: http://www.pointlomasportfishing.com/pg/map.php
PARKING: There is a large parking at Point Loma Sportfishing for $5 a day. Enter the lot using the Emerson & Scott entrance and you'll be right at the landing 100 feet inside the parking gate so you can drop off your gear the seek permanent parking. Free parking is available on the residential streets around the harbor, but street parking is very limited in summer months. If the landing parking lot is full, you'll be directed to a lighted off-site self-serve pre-pay parking lot about a block away that has always had space (bring $5 per day in folding money for the lockbox).
GEAR UNLOADING: You may pull into the landing parking lot, unload your gear directly in front of Point Loma Sportfishing and then park in the lot or seek on-street parking. You're not charged if you're in the parking lot for under 30 minutes.
START YOUR DAY STRESS-FREE: We recmmend that you arrive at the landing an hour prior to scheduled departure to allow plenty of time to find the landing, unload or transport gear, obtain a boarding pass at the Point Loma Sportfishing Landing ticket window, sign the manifest, use the landing's restroom, get a cup of coffee, visi with friends and board Grande 30 minutes before scheduled departure. All trips depart on-time without waiting for late-comers. Boarding begins 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure. More tips and hints on our trip preparation page.
WINTER LIMITED PARKING UPDATE: All three landings at the fisherman's waterfront are remodeling during this offseason. This will result in a portion of the parking lot being used as storage for the construction and the day to day landing operations being conducted from temporary office trailers set up in the parking lot. We stongly advise a little more time alloted for customers to find parking on all trips through June 1st.
TRIP LIST FROM THE THURSDAY 2009 BIRD FESTIVAL PELAGIC
A beautiful day at sea on the first of 3 San Diego Bird Festival Pelagic trips.
Highlights included
5 Xantus’s Murrelets in Mexico over the Coronado Canyon 4 northbound Gray Whales so close you could practically touch them 2 Mew Gulls at the harbor mouth, and adult and a first-cycle 9 ghostly fairies dancing a ballet on the water’s surface (Bonaparte’s Gulls) 3 Pom Jaegers A herd of Common Dolphin Close ups of a flock of Black-vented Shearwaters on the water
and. . . . the Bird Of The Day: An adult Blue-footed Booby 32.621203° N -117.330740° W 9.4 km (5.1 n. mi.) sw of Point Loma
WOW! An army of short-beaked "Saddleback" dolphins comes over to investivate Grande on Sunday's March, 8, 2009 San Diego Bird Festival Pelagic Trip. Seen in this movie: Todd McGrath, Steve N.G. Howell, Thomas Blackman. Photographer: W. Terry "Tuna" Hunefeld. Best viewed full screen by clicking the icon near the lower right hand corner of the video beneath the "you" in YOU TUBE. Enjoy!
Black-footed Albatross offshore downtown San Diego 7 Mar 2010 San Diego Bird Festival Pelagic (c) Matt Sadowski
A Blue-footed Booby flew around the boat on the Thursday Bird Festival Trip in 2009 (c) Thomas Blackman 5 MAR 09
Manx Shearwater at March 2009 Bird Festival (c) Steve N.G. Howell
Risso's Dolphin (c) Todd McGrath
Pink-footed Shearwater (c) Thomas A. Blackman
Sooty Shearwater (c) Thomas A. Blackman
Captain James McDaniels is the skipper of Grande
(c) Todd McGrath and Jon Feenstra
This site is owned and operated by the Buena Vista Audubon Society 2202 South Coast Highway, Oceanside, CA 92054 (c) 2007-2010 Buena Vista Audubon Society, Oceanside, California. All rights reserved. All photos copyrighted.
