SEARCHER & The White-chinned Petrel Sept 2011
1,821 views · Published 20 September 2011 · 5:47 · Indexed 4 October 2026
Channel: W. Terry Hunefeld · 2011 · Travel & Events
(SEARCHER) * www.SoCalBirding.com * Video of the 4th N.A record of WHITE-CHINNED PETREL taken in Southern California 6SEP2011 http://socaltripreports.com/?p=331 White-chinned Petrel location: 34°10'4.47"N 120°22'19.07"W 5.5 n (10.5 km) miles N of San Miguel 17 n. miles . (31.7 km) S of Pt Conception (San Diego) The 95-foot live-aboard Searcher departed San Diego's Fisherman's Landing on a sunny, warm Labor Day afternoon, bound for a 5-day pelagic expedition through the Channel Islands, over deep water canyons and along the continental shelf-edge. We headed to the Nine Mile Bank and worked our way slowly north in a zigzag fashion, following the life zones as we found them until the sunset as we were west of Oceanside. The bird of the day was a San Diego County WILSON'S STORM-PETREL at the north end of the Nine Mile Bank, 11 n. miles northwest of La Jolla. Throughout the day we totaled 10 Pomarine and 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 10 Common Terns, 100 Black Storm-petrels. Shearwaters included 157 Pink-footeds, 579 Sooties and 4 Black-venteds. Tuesday morning pre-dawn found us south of Anacapa Island. As we wound our way around Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands we added Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Sabine's Gull, Black Oystercatcher and Northern Fulmar to our lists. On Tuesday afternoon as we were departing the Channel Islands to head west over the continental shelf to the edge. At 3:22 p.m. (16 SEP 2011) Todd McGrath saw, called out, photographed and identified a WHITE-CHINNED PETREL as it came into chummer Adam Searcy's slick. The bird followed Searcher in the wake for several moments allowing all onboard to get great views and photos. Wednesday morning we awoke in deep water about 48 miles WSW of Point Conception, just south Arguello Canyon. We rolled over the 948 spot (affectionately known to L.A. birders as "Mitch's Bank") before working our way south to the Rodriquez Dome. Fun birds throughout the day included 5 SOUTH POLAR SKUA, 7 Buller's Shearwaters, 20 Sabine's Gulls and 8 Black-footed Albatrosses. Our course south towards the San Juan Seamount was in the migration corridor for Arctic Terns (12) and their nemesis, Long-tailed Jaegers (33!). Thursday morning we woke up at the 2000 fathom line (2 miles deep) about 20 miles north of the western edge of the Bell Bank. During the day Adam's chum slick attracted 24 more Black-footed Albatrosses which we enjoyed flying around the boat in varying numbers until dusk. 32 more Long-tailed Jaegers were spotted. To the thrill of participants, throughout the day we totaled 12 RED-BILLED TROPICBIRDS (or as we call them, SEARCHER specialties), many of them circling repeatedly over SEARCHER. 11 of the 12 tropicbirds were seen in the morning in the deep (1000-2000 fathom) waters near the shelf edge north of the Bell Bank. Near the Bell Bank we encountered a pod of 4-6 BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALES in the same area as we saw them from SEARCHER and GRANDE on two deep-water trips pelagic trips in 2010. Full trip report: http://socaltripreports.com/?p=331
