San Diego Short-tailed Shearwater Hunt 13 Nov 2010 Grande
829 views · Published 19 November 2010 · 6:33 · Indexed 4 October 2026
Channel: W. Terry Hunefeld · 2010 · Travel & Events
www.SoCalBirding.com for full trip report. It was a perfect day: 68 degrees and 60 mile visibility, evidenced by being able to see the dome of Palomar Observatory easily with binoculars and by naked eye once you knew where to look for it. It looked for all the world like an enormous gleaming white marble on top of Palomar Mountain. We followed the Nine Mile down across the Mexican Border where we saw our first SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER of the day. Over the deep Coronado Canyon trench we counted 185 Cassin's Auklets and spotted a Rhinoceros Auklet as a half-dozen Pacific White-sided Dolphins cavorted. Throughout the day over the canyon and Nine Mile Bank, several murrelets were spotted at great distances, too far away to accurately identify with any confidence. Nearing the Coronados Islands a Brown Booby flew by -- we counted 39 BROWN BOOBIES on the islands including 2 downy white chicks. We also found 5 Black Oystercatchers on the rocky shores and counted 10 Elephant Seals hauled up on the beach on the "backside" of Middle Island. As we departed the islands on our return trip to San Diego via the Coronado Canyon and Nine Mile Bank, a female HARLEQUIN DUCK (4th Mexican record) blasted by, seen by 2 leaders and one participant. A SAN DIEGO SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER came up behind Grande when we were heading in to San Diego from the Nine Mile Bank.
