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| Craveri's Murrelet from Grande (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird (c) Todd McGrath |
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SEARCHER
5-Day Live-Aboard Deep-Water Expedition
Sponsored By: Searcher Natural History Tours
From San Diego to the Channel Islands and Continental Shelf Edge
5 Days On The Pacific Ocean
Monday September 6 to Friday September 10, 2010
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September SEARCHER trips from 2003-2009 have amassed an amazing list of species seen: Black-footed Albatross, Northern Fulmar, Murphy's Petrel, Cook's Petrel, Hawaiian Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Buller’s Shearwater, Pink-Footed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Black-vented Shearwater, Least Storm-Petrel, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Black Storm-Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope, South Polar Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger, Sabine's Gull, Arctic Tern, Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Xantus's Murrelet, Craveri’s Murrelet, Cassin's Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet.
The deep water expeditions on Searcher find rarities and mega-rarities in deep water along the edge of the continental shelf on nearly every trip. Review the trip logs. The diverse array of birds seen from Searcher is a result of a diverse itinerary - from near-shore to inter-islands to the edge of the Continental Shelf.
We depart San Diego at noon and spend the day birding our way up the Nine-mile bank and other underwater banks, ridges and canyons. The morning or our second day at sea will find us in the Channel Islands. From there we travel north and west to deeper waters, past Point Conception to Arguello Canyon, Rodriguez Dome.
The third day finds us in 2,000 fathom (2 miles deep) waters where we explore the known pterodroma corridors near San Juan Seamount and other seamounts at and past the edge of the Continental Shelf. We see lots of birds near shore and around the Channel Islands, fewer birds out along the shelf edge - but the shelf edge is where the rarities roam.
The fourth day finds us 40 miles southwest of the Cortez Bank, 150 miles offshore - as far southwest as anyone can get in the ABA area. Extreme vagrants such as Wedge-tailed Shearwater and Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel are regular up to a bit south of mid-peninsula in Baja; August and September is a great time to look for these species in these southern-most ABA waters.
STORM-PETRELS: The autumn Southern California 2009 pelagic season was a spectacular one for storm-petrels. Our October 3, 2009 trip found nearly 2000 Black and Least Storm-Petrels at the Nine Mile and Thirty Mile Banks. We also saw nearly 700 Common Terns and a dozen Sabine's Gulls. That incredible trip also logged 2 or 3 Blue Whales, Risso's and White-sided Dolphin and Elephant Seals. A week later, on October 10, 2009, we recorded 8,000 Black and 1750 Least Storm-Petrels from Grande and enjoyed a close interaction with a Humpback Whale on the Nine Mile Bank -- all that after a Brown Booby shot over Grande just 5 miles off shore.
MURRELETS: The southern waters off the coast of San Diego are the best areas in the ABA area to look for Xantus's (both races) and Craveri's Murrelets. The best time to find Craveri's is Aug - mid October. The September 2009 Searcher trip recorded a Craveri's Murrelet on the north end of the Nine Mile Bank. Four were well seen and photographed from Grande on Oct 4, 2008. Glimpses of two elusive birds were had by a few from Grande on Oct 3, 2009.
In addition to these "Southern Specialties" early September is an excellent time to see the regular assortment of fall migrant seabirds that have made California famous including South Polar Skua, all 3 species of jaegers, Buller's, Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters and Black-footed Albatrosses. We are just beginning to explore this area, and other surprises will likely await. A Bulwer's Petrel was seen September 4, 2003 off San Clemente Island and probably in the Santa Barbara Channel September 5, 2007.
The primary focus of Searcher Expeditions is to ensure everyone aboard sees all the regional bird specialties. A special effort is made to find rare species on every trip (see list below), and we always encounter and take time to study marine mammals. The luxury of 4 days at sea with 3 days in deep water allows us to enjoy natural wonders few people ever experience.
The beauty of Searcher is that we can spend full days - from sunrise to sunset - birding. After two days birding up the coast and around the Channel Islands, our focus shifts to exploring life zones in deep waters 120 mile or more offshore where southern hemisphere birds are usually found only by research ships. No day trips venture this far.
As we venture out further to hunt for rarities we expect to see birds that most birders have never seen. And there is always the tantalizing possibility of seeing a mega-rarity - a bird with fewer than 10 accepted records in all of California - a bird that birders only whisper about. Thev're been seen before on Searcher trips. What will we see on this trip? There's only one way to find out....
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| Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (c) W. Terry Hunefeld |
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| Wedge-tailed Sheearwater (c) Steve N.G. Howell |
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DEEP WATER LIFE ABOARD SEARCHER
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Best viewed full screen by clicking the icon near the lower right hand corner of the video (beneath the "You" in YouTube).
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EXPERT SEABIRDING LEADERS will be aboard this trip.
Check-in Time: 10:30 a.m. Labor Day Sept 6
Boarding Time: 11:00 a.m.
Departure Time: 12:00 p.m. sharp
Return: 6:30 a.m. Friday morning Sept 10
ADVANCE RESERVATIONS: Advance reservations are $1075 and include all meals, snacks, beverages. Reservations for this trip are handled by Searcher Natural History Tours (619) 226-2403 or the Searcher Natural History Tours website
IMPORTANT DETAILS: Click for important logistic information about Searcher.
HOW TO PREPARE: Click for tips on how to prepare, what to wear, what to bring and when to arrive.
CONVENIENT SAN DEIGO LODGING: Maps and lodging recommendations: Inexpensive San Diego lodging options
INCREDIBLE SPECIES-SEEN LIST: Visit the Searcher website for bird lists of every trip since we began in 2003. Learn more about what species we will probably see and what species might be seen.
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Video of the Sept 2009 Trip
by Paula Theobold |
Best viewed full screen by clicking the icon near the lower right hand corner of the video (beneath the "You" in YouTube).
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| Art Taylor and Celia Condit |
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ADVANCE RESERVATIONS: Advance reservations are $1075 for the Labor Day 2010 Expedition and include all meals, snacks, beverages. Reservations for Searcher expeditions are handled by Searcher Natural History Tours, owned by nature-loving Art Taylor and Celia Condit. Call Celia for reservation information about the trips at (619) 226-2403 or visit the Searcher Natural History Tours website.
Read what they say about Searcher: True Stories |
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| Cook's Petrel (c) Todd McGrath |
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| Buller's Shearwater (c) W. Terry Hunefeld |
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(SEARCHER, September 2003) Surrounded by the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, land was nowhere in sight. Through the shimmering haze, a speck moved on the horizon. The speck grew larger and turned into a “shearwater.” Todd McGrath, never taking his binoculars from his eyes, called to the bridge, “Stop the boat!”
We were on a quest for rare seabirds aboard the Searcher, a 95-foot live-aboard natural history boat, exploring seldom birded regions near the edge of the continental shelf. Todd studied the distant bird while murmuring to himself, "It doesn't look quite right… (pause)… what is it?... (pause)… probably just a Pink-footed, but… no… it just doesn't look right…"
As the bird drew nearer, Steve N. G. Howell (who was photographing the bird from the lower deck) shouted, “Look at the rump!” There was a pause as Todd studied the bird – then he thundered, "DARK-RUMPED PETREL! DARK-RUMPED PETREL!" The pterodroma approached, flew directly to the boat, took a look at us and looped back the way it had come. Everyone aboard had a good look at this mega-rarity – one of a handful of sightings of Dark-rumped (Hawaiian) Petrels off the coast of California. I get goose bumps just writing these words as I recall the electricity of that moment.
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| Cook's Petrel (c) Todd McGrath |
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| September 2008 - Observing Black-footed Albatrosses and Buller's Shearwaters in the wake from Searcher's top deck |
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| Bulwer's Petrel (c) Göran Ekström |
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| Bulwer's Petrel (c) Göran Ekström |
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| (c) Todd McGrath and Jon Feenstra |
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