Date: 5/12/25 8:11 pm From: Jonathan Feenstra via groups.io <feenstra...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] LA County, Continental shelf pelagic report: 5/9-5/11
Birders:
We returned to the dock in Mission Bay, San Diego, yesterday morning after a two-night birding trip to the far reaches of the ABA area along the continental shelf (Los Angeles County by nearest point of land [San Clemente Island]). Travelling at night we were able to spend an entire day (5/10/25) along the shelf edge and the deep (3000 fathom) waters.
Seas were relatively gentle with swells 1-2m, some wind, whitecaps but nothing serious, and partly cloudy skies. We started at dawn on the Cortez Flats south of Cortez Bank, proceeded west to the continental shelf drop-off, rode that escarpment southeast, before turning east over the Bell Bank, then north until dark.
It was a great day out there. Highlights included: 2 Hawaiian Petrels, dozens of Cook's Petrels, 2 Red-billed Tropicbirds, 2 Townsend's Storm-Petrels, an unseasonal Least Storm-Petrel, 10-20? (7 at once) Laysan Albatross, Guadalupe Murrelet, hundreds of Red Phalaropes. Birds were with us all day.
This was a pelagic charter organized by Mark Wilson and Van Pierszlowski, so many thanks to them for putting this together and the crew of the Outer Limits for taking an chance on a birding trip.
