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SAN DIEGO BIRD FESTIVAL 8 HOUR BOAT TRIPS - SPONSORED BY SWAROVSKI OPTIKS

These 8-hour pelagic trips will take us to the alcid, jaeger & tubenose-rich Nine Mile Bank where we spend 5 hours in San Diego waters before crossing the international border into Mexico en route to the booby-rich Los Coronados Islands to observe perhaps two species of oystercatchers and marvel at the large cormorant, pelican and Brown Booby nesting colonies

We'll be aboard the comfortable 85-foot live-aboard Grande observing hundreds of seabirds and marine mammals and view migrating California 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.

THESE TRIPS ARE SETTING SOCAL RECORDS:  Participant's on these trips see rare happenings of birds at sea.  the 2009 Bird Festival saw something that has never happened in SoCal before or since:  we found two Manx Shearwaters (very rare in California!).  To top it off, we had a Blue-footed Booby circling the boat!   In 2010, just south of the Mexican Border, a Laysan's Albatross flew by and we saw Black-footed Albatrosses on two of the three trips!  2009 trip report.   2010 trip report. 

We often see three or four species of dolphins (Bottlenose, Common, Pacific White-sided and Risso's) and numerous seabirds including fulmars, shearwaters, auklets, murrelets, and jaegers.  This is also a good time of year to find three species of loons, three species of cormorants, five to six species of gulls.

On our way out of the harbor we'll motor slowly by the San Diego live bait tanks for close-ups of several dozen lounging sea lions, several hundred Brandt's cormorants, several species of gulls, and dozens of egrets and herons.  Then we'll check Ballast Point where Black Oystercatchers and a Long-tailed Duck hung out the entire winter of 2009-2010 and were seen from Grande on this trip at the 2010 Bird Festival.   

Rarities:  An adult Blue-footed Booby circled Grande 4 times on one of our Bird Festival Trips on March 5, 2009.  An  immature Blue-footed Booby was seen with the Brown Booby colony on the Los Coronados Islands on our Grande October 4, 2008 trip.   A Masked Booby was seen on the 10 Feb 2008 Bird Festival trip. 

After exploring the birds and sea mammals at the Nine Mile Bank, we'll turn south and cross the border into Mexico.  The rugged yet scenic Islas Coronados are situated in Mexican waters within sight of much of San Diego. The steep-sided islands are an important sanctuary for birds and sea life. 

At the islands, the captain will put Grande right up next to the steep cliffs for excellent opportunities to see rocky shore birds such as Black and American Oystercatchers, Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone and Surfbird.  Peregrine Falcons are often seen at the islands; on one of our 2008 trips, we were trying to identify a sparrow flying over the water when a Peregrine stooped and snared dinner right in front of us!   

While at Mexico's Coronados Islands we'll observe immense breeding colonies of Brandt's Cormorants, Western Gulls and Brown Pelicans.  We'll sift through the Brown Booby colony on Middle Rock and try find the elusive Blue-footed and Masked Boobies that have been seen off and on for the past four years. 

On these trips we often see migrating Gray Whales, Fin Whales and Humpback Whales plus multiple pods of dolphins, as well as snoozing Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions. We'll also peek around the back of Middle Island to see if there are any of the once-thought-extinct Elephant Seals. 

Upon our return to San Diego harbor the captain will put Grande right up next to the Zuniga Jetty to look for rocky shore birds such as Black and American Oystercatchers, Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone and Surfbird. 

AGE:  This trip is appropriate for children 10 years and older.