Name: Pelagic Bird Watching | Dana Wharf
Brand: Dana Wharf
SKU: 144171
Price: 129.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Pelagic Birding in Dana Point

This six-hour long adventure gives us more time to travel farther offshore in search of pelagic birds, whales, and dolphins. Each trip has a local bird expert on board. At the end of our trips, we recap what we saw and make sure that we log what everyone saw as well.

This trip is the perfect outing for the beginning birder, the expert, or for anyone who just loves the longer adventure.

These six-hour trips are aboard one of our fast, comfortable catamarans and provide optimal viewing of pelagic birds, whales, and dolphins.

Wonder what you will have a chance to see on your Whale Watching trip in Dana Point?

Some of the shore birds are Black oystercatchers, Godwits, Curlew, Willets, Whimbrels, Snowy plovers, Sandpipers, Boobies, Black and Ruddy Turnstones and many more.

Birds of Orange County, California

ARTICLE: Tropical ‘Booby’ birds make rare appearances in Dana Point, Long Beach – OC Register

Birds We Encounter

Red-billed Tropic Bird
Auklets
Blue & Green Heron
Booby Birds
Brant Goose
Brown Pelican
Cormorant
Ducks
Egyptian Geese
Fulmar
Gulls
Jaegar
Loon
Northern-Pintail
Osprey
Oystercatcher
Phalaropes
Shearwaters
Snowey Egret & Great White Egret
Tern
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Common Murre

A little bird told me…

When a baby bird is old enough to fly out of the nest it’s called a fledgling. Fledge means to fly for the first time.
Baby ducks are called ducklings.
Baby geese are called goslings.
Baby owls are called owlets.
Other baby birds are called chicks.

Pelagic Bird Watching Trip Reports

Birding Trip Report: 1.31.2025

Friday, January 31, 2025

	Total Species*	36
	Total Count	257

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	1
2	Black Oystercatcher	2
3	Black Phoebe	1
4	Black Turnstone	2
5	Black-crowned Night Heron	1
6	Black-vented Shearwater	16
7	Bonaparte’s Gul	1
8	Brandt’s Cormorant	18
9	Brown Pelican	111
10	California Gull	5
11	Cassin’s Auklet	6
12	Cocos Booby (Brewster’s, formerly Brown)	2
13	Common Raven	1
14	Double-crested Cormorant	60
15	Glaucous-winged Gull	1
16	Great Blue Heron (Great Blue)	1
17	Great Egret	3
18	Heermann’s Gull	1
19	Northern Shoveler	1
20	Osprey (American)	1
21	Parasitic Jaeger	1
22	Pelagic Cormorant	4
23	Pomarine Jaeger	1
24	Rhinoceros Auklet	25
25	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	20
26	Royal Tern	1
27	Sanderling	1
28	Snowy Egret	7
29	Spotted Sandpiper	2
30	Western Grebe	3
31	Western Gull	44
32	Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)	1
33	Whimbrel (Hudsonian)	1
34	Willet (Western)	3
35	Yellow-crowned Night Heron	2
36	alcid sp.*	2

Birding Trip Report: 5.3.2024

Friday, May 3, 2024

	Total Species*	34
	Total Count	2052

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	5
2	Anna’s Hummingbird	2
3	Barn Swallow	4
4	Black Oystercatcher	3
5	Black Storm-Petrel	20
6	Black-crowned Night Heron	4
7	Bonaparte’s Gull	56
8	Brandt’s Cormorant	60
9	Brown Pelican	563
10	California Gull	13
11	Caspian Tern	3
12	Cassin’s Auklet	6
13	Common Loon	2
14	Common Murre	2
15	Double-crested Cormorant	8
16	Elegant Tern	88
17	Forster’s Tern	6
18	Great Blue Heron	4
19	Heermann’s Gull	27
20	Least Tern	8
21	Mallard	2
22	Pacific Loon	148
23	Pelagic Cormorant	1
24	Pink-footed Shearwater	6
25	Red-necked Phalarope	860
26	Rhinoceros Auklet	13
27	Rock Pigeon	5
28	Scripps’s Murrelet	8
29	Snowy Egret	1
30	Sooty Shearwater	55
31	Surf Scoter	2
32	Tufted Puffin	1
33	Wandering Tattler	3
34	Western Gull	63

Birding Trip Report: 1.26.2024

Friday, January 26, 2024

	Total Species*	32
	Total Count	490

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	2
2	Anna’s Hummingbird	1
3	Barn Swallow	2
4	Black Oystercatcher	3
5	Black Phoebe	1
6	Black-vented Shearwater	63
7	Bonaparte’s Gull	7
8	Brown Pelican	36
9	Brown Pelican	161
10	California Gull	13
11	Cassin’s Auklet	11
12	Common Murre	5
13	Double-crested Cormorant	10
14	Eared Grebe	1
15	Glaucous-winged Gull	1
16	Great Blue Heron	1
17	Great Egret	1
18	Heermann’s Gull	29
19	Mallard	2
20	Pacific Loon	1
21	Parasitic Jaeger	1
22	Pelagic Cormorant	1
23	Red Phalarope	1
24	Red-throated Loon	1
25	Rhinoceros Auklet	8
26	Royal Tern	5
27	Sanderling	8
28	Scripps’s Murrelet	6
29	Snowy Egret	1
30	Spotted Sandpiper	1
31	Western Grebe	1
32	Western Gull	105

Birding Trip Report: 9.22.2023

Friday, September 22, 2023

	Total Species*	20
	Total Count	3796

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	Black-vented Shearwater	2550
2	Brandt’s Cormorant	9
3	Brown Booby	4
4	Brown Pelican	195
5	California Gull	12
6	Caspian Tern	1
7	Common Tern	24
8	Eared Grebe	1
9	Elegant Tern	108
10	Heermann’s Gull	79
11	hummingbird sp.	1
12	Nazca Booby	2
13	Parasitic Jaeger	13
14	Pink-footed Shearwater	450
15	Pomarine Jaeger	23
16	Red-necked Phalarope	41
17	Sabine’s Gull	2
18	Snowy Egret	15
19	Sooty Shearwater	24
20	Western Gull	242

Birding Trip Report: 5.12.2023

Friday, May 12, 2023

	Total Species*	32
	Total Count	246

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	6
2	Anna’s Hummingbird	2
3	Ashy Storm-Petrel	1
4	Black Storm-Petrel	18
5	Black Turnstone	1
6	Black-vented Shearwater	96
7	Brandt’s Cormoran	6
8	Brown Pelican	90
9	Common Tern	32
10	Double-crested Cormorant	25
11	Elegant Tern	65
12	Great Blue Heron (Great Blue)	7
13	Great Egret	13
14	Heermann’s Gull	40
15	House Sparrow	10
16	Jaeger sp.	1
17	Least Storm-Petrel	2
18	Long-tailed Jaeger	4
19	Mallard	7
20	Osprey (carolinensis)	1
21	Parasitic Jaeger (Dark morph)	2
22	Pink-footed Shearwater	9
23	Pomarine Jaeger	2
24	Red-necked Phalarope	22
25	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	1
26	Royal Tern	1
27	Scripp’s Murrelet	1
28	Snowy Egret	5
29	Spotted Sandpiper	1
30	Western Grebe	4
31	Western Gull	101
32	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	5

Birding Trip Report: 2.3.2023

Today we had a 6-hour pelagic birding trip with the Dana Wharf Whale Watch out of the Dana Point Harbor led by David Pereksta. Leaving the harbor, we ran along the inside of the south end of the outer breakwater and then ran halfway down the outside of the outer breakwater where we saw a few shorebirds.

We left the Dana Point Harbor and ran southwest towards the Crespi Knoll. On our first leg, we encountered a steady stream of Black-vented Shearwaters and a mix of alcids, which were dominated in numbers by Rhinoceros Auklets. As we proceeded to the southwest during our second leg, we crossed the east side of the 279 Bank where we encountered a large mixed flock of shearwaters that included two Pink-footeds and two Sooties.

We also had several flocks of Red Phalaropes, a Pomarine Jaeger, a variety of alcids, and a shark that was likely a mako. We eventually reached the Crespi Knoll where we started our third leg of the trip. We circled the Crespi Knoll but did not find many birds there. A few alcids, shearwaters, and Forster’s Terns but not much else. After circling the Crespi Knoll, we turned back towards Dana Point on the fourth leg of the trip again crossing the 279 Bank to the west of where we crossed it a few hours earlier. Fair numbers of Black-vented Shearwaters and Bonaparte’s Gulls, and a Pomarine Jaeger made a few close passes of the boat.
The fifth leg of the trip started as we left the 279 Bank on our way back to the Dana Point Harbor.

On our ride in we encountered modest numbers of alcids, Bonaparte’s Gulls, and Black-vented Shearwaters. Other wildlife seen during the trip included common dolphins, fin whales, a humpback whale, ocean sunfish, and a few sharks. The day started with 100% cloud cover giving way to partial sun later in the morning, temperatures ranged from 55-64°F, wind was calm from the NE early turning to a moderate breeze from the NW by early afternoon, and seas were low in the morning (1-2’ swells) with a modest rise (2-3’ swells) with the increasing winds later in the morning.

Friday, February 3, 2023

	Total Species*	35
	Total Count	1604

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	2
2	Belted Kingfisher	1
3	Black Oystercatcher	2
4	Black Turnstone	2
5	Black-crowned Night-Heron	2
6	Black-vented Shearwater	986
7	Bonaparte’s Gull	77
8	Brandt’s Cormorant	55
9	Brown Pelican	114
10	California Gull	103
11	Caspian Tern	2
12	Cassin’s Auklet	21
13	Double-crested Cormorant	30
14	Forster’s Tern	20
15	Great Blue Heron	2
16	Great Egret	2
17	Heermann’s Gull	2
18	Herring Gull	1
19	Mallard	2
20	Pacific Loon	2
21	Peregrine Falcon	1
22	Pink-footed Shearwater	2
23	Pomarine Jaeger	2
24	Red Phalarope	44
25	Red-breasted Merganser	1
26	Rhinoceros Auklet	59
27	Rock Pigeon	1
28	Sanderling	4
29	Scripps’s Murrelet	11
30	Snowy Egret	4
31	Sooty Shearwater	4
32	Spotted Sandpiper	1
33	Western Gull	37
34	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	3
35	Yellow-rumped Warbler	2

Birding Trip Report: 8.05.2022

Friday, August 5, 2022

On this extended Pelagic Bird Trip led by Dave Pereksta, we were able to travel to the Crespi Knoll seamount. With the ledges and rock formations, this area attracts a variety of fish and many pelagic birds. Here is a partial list of the sightings from this amazing 6-hour trip ~ Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Long Tailed Jaeger, Black Storm-Petrel, Red Necked Phalarope, Surf Bird, Pink-footed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Black-vented Shearwater, Sabine’s Gull, Heermann’s Gull, Western Gull, Caspian Tern, Elegant Tern, Brandt’s Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Black Oyster Catcher, Great Blue Heron, Yellow Crowned Night Heron. Next Pelagic Bird Trip date to be announced soon so stay tuned.

Birding Trip Report: 4.08.2022

Friday, April 8, 2022

	Total Species*	35
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	Elegant Tern	22
2	Forster’s Tern	1
3	Glaucous-winged Gull	1
4	Great Blue Heron (Great Blue)	4
5	Great Egret	1
6	Heermann’s Gull	1
7	House Sparrow	4
8	Pacific Loon	11
9	Northern Fulmar	5
10	Caspian Tern	2
11	Double-crested Cormorant	5
12	Parasitic Jaeger	11
13	Pelagic Cormorant	4
14	Pink-footed Shearwater	3
15	Pomarine Jaeger	1
16	Red Phalarope	8
17	Red-necked Phalarope	2
18	Red-throated Loon	3
19	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	10
20	Royal Tern	15
21	Sooty Shearwater	3
22	Western Gull	20
23	Whimbrel (Hudsonian)	140
24	White-throated Swift	1

Birding Trip Report: 1.14.2022

Friday, January 14, 2022

	Total Species*	38
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	5
2	Anna’s Hummingbird	2
3	Belted Kingfisher	1
4	Black Oystercatcher	2
5	Black-crowned Night-Heron	1
6	Black-vented Shearwater	1125
7	Bonaparte’s Gull	57
8	Brandt’s Cormorant	27
9	Brown Pelican	131
10	California Gull	35
11	Caspian Tern	1
12	Cassin’s Auklet	50
13	Common Loon	1
14	Double-crested Cormorant	60
15	Eared Grebe	2
16	Egyptian Goose	2
17	Great Blue Heron	6
18	Great Egret	4
19	Heermann’s Gull	4
20	House Sparrow	5
21	Northern Fulmar	2
22	Osprey	1
23	Pacific Loon	1
24	Pelagic Cormorant	2
25	Pink-footed Shearwater	2
26	Pomarine Jaeger	1
27	Rhinoceros Auklet	117
28	Rock Pigeon	10
29	Royal Tern	3
30	Scripps’s Murrelet	12
31	Snowy Egret	8
32	Spotted Sandpiper	1
33	Surf Scoter	1
34	Western Gull	53
35	White-crowned Sparrow	5
36	Willet	1
37	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	1
38	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)	1

Birding Trip Report: 9.17.2021

Friday, September 17, 2021

	Total Species*	32
	Total Count	483

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	5
2	Barn Swallow (American)	6
3	Black Oystercatcher	3
4	Black Storm-Petrel	3
5	Black Turnstone	2
6	Black-vented Shearwater	30
7	Brandt’s Cormorant	22
8	Brown Pelican	49
9	Caspian Tern	1
10	Common Tern	10
11	Craveri’s Murrelet	6
12	Cassin’s Auklet	21
13	Double-crested Cormorant	26
14	Eared Grebe	8
15	Elegant Tern	13
16	European Starling	8
17	Great Blue Heron (Great Blue)	7
18	Great Egret	6
19	Heermann’s Gull	26
20	Long-tailed Jaeger	1
21	murrelet (flushed before ID)	2
22	Osprey (carolinensis)	2
23	Pelagic Cormorant	2
24	Pink-footed Shearwater	62
25	Pomarine Jaeger	2
26	Red-necked Phalarope	12
27	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	5
28	Snowy Egret	11
29	Sooty Shearwater	5
30	Western Grebe	2
31	Western Gull	145
32	Willet (Western)	1

Birding Trip Report: 5.14.2021

Friday, May 14, 2021

	Total Species*	27
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	2
2	Barn Swallow	4
3	Black Storm-Petrel	7
4	Black Tern	1
5	Black-crowned Night-Heron	1
6	Brandt’s Cormorant	4
7	Brown Pelican	340
8	Caspian Tern	4
9	Cassin’s Auklet	2
10	Double-crested Cormorant	10
11	Elegant Tern	95
12	Forster’s Tern	1
13	Glaucous-winged Gull	1
14	Great Blue Heron (Blue form)	3
15	Great Egret	3
16	Heermann’s Gull	60
17	Least Tern	1
18	Osprey	2
19	Pacific Loon	4
20	Parasitic Jaeger	1
21	Pink-footed Shearwater	4
23	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	2
24	Royal Tern	8
25	Snowy Egret	2
26	Sooty Shearwater	3550
27	Western Gull	240

Birding Trip Report: 3.19.2021

Friday, March 19, 2020

	Total Species*	29
	Total Count	362

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	American Crow	10
2	Anna’s Hummingbird	2
3	Barn Swallow	5
4	Black Oystercatchers	1
5	Black Turnstone	1
6	Black-bellied Plover	6
7	Black-vented Shearwater	11
8	Bonaparte’s Gull	53
9	Brandt’s Cormorant	29
10	Brown Pelican	89
11	Double-crested Cormorant	60
12	Eared Grebe	2
13	Elegant Tern	12
14	Forster’s Tern	34
15	Great Blue Heron (Blue form)	2
16	Great Egret	3
17	Heermann’s Gull	6
18	House Finch	2
19	loon sp.	1
20	Masked Booby	1
21	Osprey (carolinensis)	1
22	Parasitic Jaeger	3
23	Royal Tern	1
24	Sanderling	1
25	Scripps’s Murrelet	4
26	Snowy Egret	2
27	Western Gull	16
28	Whimbrel (Hudsonian)	2
29	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)	2

Birding Trip Report: 1.10.2020

On this trip we also assisted with a Masked Booby trail release from the Wetlands and Wildlife center in Huntington Beach, they had been rehabbing what they though was a Blue Footed Booby but later learned it is a masked Booby – ultimately the bird was not quite ready and his feathers were not waterproofed enough so they had to take him back to the center we are hoping for a later release- because of this cool release encounter we did not get to go out to the usual 14 mile bank Birding area, instead we went south off San Onofre Power plant.

We saw:

Friday, January 10, 2020

	Total Species*	25
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	Masked Booby ( in a crate for release )
2	Heermann’s gulls
3	Ring-billed gulls
4	California gulls
5	Bonaparte’s gulls
6	Western gulls
7	Forster’s terns
8	Common loon	1
9	Brandt’s cormorants
10	Double-crested cormorants
11	Yellow-crowned night herons	3
12	Black-crowned night herons
13	Great Egrets
14	Forster’s Tern
15	Great Blue Heron
16	Great Egret
17	Great blue herons
18	Sanderlings
19	Black turnstone	1
20	Brown pelicans
22	Crows
23	Snowy egrets
24	Osprey	2
25	Black oystercatchers	2

Birding Trip Report: 10.4.2019

Today at Dana Wharf Whale Watch. Today was the 4-hour Birding trip. We searched the shoreline of the island and saw crows, pigeons and other common birds. We then searched the inside of the breakwater and found a Great Egret, a Great Blue heron, at least six Black Oyster-catchers, Western gulls, Brown Pelicans, adult and juvenile Herrmann’s gulls and other juvenile gulls. We headed for the 14-mile bank. We spotted a small pod of common dolphins. We saw very few birds until we got out near the bank. We spotted what we thought at first was three gulls standing on a kelp paddy. As we got closer one of the birds, to our surprise was a rare adult Nazca Booby. We got closer but if few off about a hundred yards ahead of us and landed on the water. We followed and got close to it, but it finally flew away. We found nothing on the bank so we headed down the coast parallel to the shore. We saw a pair of Aukletts in the distance but they disappeared when we got closer. We were seeing an occasional California gull. Captain Frank also spotted at a distance an Elephant seal floating with its head up. We tried to get closer but it sank out. Then Bernardo spotted a Parasitic Jeagar flying some distance to our left but we could not follow it. Then Frank spotted the floating carcass of a sea lion. There was a gull standing on top of it and two Northern Fulmars floating in the water next to it, and a third Fulmar was flying away from us off the bow. One was a light phase bird. On the 12:00 P.M. trip on the Ocean Adventures we spotted a pod of common dolphins above and a pod below the harbor. On the 2:00 P.M. trip we again saw common dolphins above the harbor. On the 5:00 P.M. trip we had a huge pod of common dolphins off of the harbor. They were first moving inshore and then turned up the coast. It was a beautiful day, especial in the morning with the offshore Santa Ana winds.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

	Total Species*
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
IN HARBOR:
1	blue herons	2
2	great Egret	3
3	snowy	8
4	western gulls	15
5	heerman’s	8
6	rock pigeons	20
7	crows	8
8	brown pelicans	10
9	yellow-crowned night heron	1
JETTIES:
10	black oystercatchers	6
11	great egret	1
12	blue herons	3
13	western gulls	20
14	Heerman’s gulls	8
15	Brandt’s cormorants	7
16	double crested	10
17	Brown Pelicans	40
NEWSHORE:
18	western gulls	6
19	California gull	1
20	black-vented shearwaters	2
22	heerman’s gulls	1
OFFSHORE:
23	Nazca booby	1
24	western gulls	25
25	common tern	1
26	Craveri’s murrelets	2
27	Parasitic Jaeger	1
28	Northern Fulmars	3
29	Sooty shearwater	1
30	black-vented shearwaters	6

Birding Trip Report: 8.30.2019

We had a pretty spectacular pelagic birding trip aboard Dana Wharf’s Ocean Adventures out of Dana Point Harbor last Friday. Conditions were perfect with smooth seas and clear skies; some fog was present but far enough not to be a factor. We checked the inside and outside of the breakwater, then headed pretty much straight to the 14 Mile Bank, traveled east parallel to the coast for a while and then returned to Dana Point.

Overall numbers of birds were low again, but we had a nice variety. We saw very few birds from about four miles out to the bank. And the bank itself was completely deserted. But soon after leaving the top of the bank things began to happen. First, we found a small flock of storm-petrels that allowed a relatively close approach and allowed us to compare Ashy and Black Storm-petrels side by side, noting the difference in size and color. Next, we had the only pair of alcids for the day, a pair of Scripps’s Murrelets that also allowed a relatively close approach but made a point of only showing us their tail ends. When they took flight, we were able to see the dark underwing and I called them Craveri’s based on that. Later examination of my photos revealed that the underwing only appeared dark because of heavy molt.

The first of seven Sabine’s Gulls was an apparent second-year bird sitting on a kelp paddy. When it took flight, we were able to see the striking upperwing pattern. We then entered an area with close to 100 of Common Terns, with our first sighting being of a flock of nine sitting on the water in that front-heavy way that terns have. Two jaegers were in the same area, and although one was originally identified as a Parasitic, photos revealed both to be Long-tailed Jaegers. We also found a Red Phalarope that stayed close to a Red-necked Phalarope both on the water and in flight allowing for a nice comparison.

In the harbor at the beginning of the trip, we had most of the expected species, including one Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and one each Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, Black Turnstone, Spotted Sandpiper, and Willet, in addition to a half dozen Black Oystercatchers.

Friday, August 30, 2019

	Total Species*
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	Red-necked Phalarope	13
2	Red Phalarope	1
3	Scripps’s Murrelet	2
4	Parasitic Jaeger	1
5	Long-tailed Jaeger	2
6	Sabine’s Gull	7
7	Heermann’s Gull	15
8	Western Gull	85
9	Common Tern	80
10	Elegant Tern	65
11	Pink-footed Shearwater	3
12	Sooty Shearwater	1
13	Black-vented Shearwater	87
14	Ashy Storm-petrel	4
15	Black Storm-petrel	7
16	Brandt’s Cormorant	40
17	Brown Pelicans	15

Birding Trip Report: 7.26.2019

Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching ran the second of what we hope will become monthly four-hour pelagic birding trips out of Dana Point on Friday, 26 July. Conditions were wonderful: calm seas with a gentle swell and good visibility in spite of some fog in the distance. We left the dock and checked out the entire length of the breakwater along the inside before heading pretty much straight to the 14 Mile Bank.

We were planning to head to the San Clemente Pier first where Capt. Frank had spotted a subadult Nazca Booby the day before. I canceled that part of the trip because I thought that the bird we had found on the breakwater was the same individual but closer examination of the photos later revealed that there are two Nazca Boobies in the area. Our bird was sitting near the edge of the breakwater among Brown Pelicans, Heermann’s Gulls, and Brandt’s Cormorants, about 150 meters from the end. While we were watching it, the bird jumped to the outside edge of the breakwater. We left the bird at approximately 08:30; when we returned at 11:50 it was sitting by itself on the very top of the breakwater, about 250 meters from the end.

We covered about 30 miles offshore and found extremely low numbers of birds but a pretty nice diversity. We had very good looks at a Red Phalarope that allowed nice comparisons with nearby Red-necked Phalaropes; we had great looks at a flock of six Cassin’s Auklets that flew across our bow, and had okay looks at a Parasitic Jaeger and unsatisfactory looks at a Pomarine jaeger and a Common Murre. We also had three Pink-footed Shearwaters, a species that we missed on the previous Saturday’s Sea and Sage pelagic.

Friday, July 26, 2019

	Total Species*
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	Red-necked Phalarope	6
2	Red Phalarope	1
3	Pomarine Jaeger	1
4	Parasitic Jaeger	1
5	Cassin’s Auklets	6
6	Common Murre	1
7	Heermann’s Gull	1
8	Western Gull	15
9	Royal Tern	1
10	Black Storm-petrel	17
11	Pink-footed Shearwater	3
12	Sooty Shearwater	25
13	Black-vented Shearwater	1

That is 91 birds of 14 species. Additionally, we had Least Tern and Brandt’s Cormorant closer to shore and a flyby flock of 12 Whimbrels. The only shorebird on the breakwater other than Black Oystercatchers were a couple of Black Turnstones.

Birding Trip Report: 9.18.2020 Morning Trip

Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching Pelagic Bird Watching Tour—Birds seen around the harbor and jetties as we were leaving the harbor for a half-day pelagic bird trip with the Dana Point Whale Watch. We left the dock and went up the channel towards the Ocean Institute before turning back to the mouth of the harbor and running the outer breakwater. A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was nice.

18 species seen:

Friday, September 18, 2020

	Total Species*
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	Egyptian Goose	1
2	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	8
3	Black Oystercatcher	3
4	Black Turnstone	1
5	Spotted Sandpiper	2
6	Willet (Western)	2
7	Heermann’s Gull	35
8	Western Gull	90
9	Caspian Tern	3
10	Brandt’s Cormorant	6
11	Double-crested Cormorant	8
12	Brown Pelican	35
13	Great Blue Heron (Blue form)	7
14	Snowy Egret	2
15	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	1
16	American Crow	2
17	Northern Rough-winged Swallow	2
18	Barn Swallow (American)	1

Birding Trip Report: 9.18.2020 Afternoon Trip

Half-Day pelagic birding trip with Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching. We left the harbor and headed out to the Lausen Knoll. We saw a few offshore species en route, but then found flocks of shearwaters and other pelagic species on the knoll. Highlights included a Brown Booby, Sabine’s Gull, Black Storm-Petrels, Pink-footed Shearwaters, and Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers. We also had several pods of common dolphins. Weather was sunny, clear, 68F, winds S 2 mph, 2-3′ swells.
16 species seen:

Friday, September 18, 2020

	Total Species*
	Total Count

# Species	*Type*	*Count*
1	Red-necked Phalarope	4
2	Pomarine Jaeger	2
3	Parasitic Jaeger	1
4	Sabine’s Gull	1
5	Bonaparte’s Gull	5
6	Heermann’s Gull	6
7	Western Gull	15
8	Caspian Tern	2
9	Common Tern	1
10	Elegant Tern	10
11	Black Storm-Petrel	3
12	Pink-footed Shearwater	6
13	Black-vented Shearwater	280
14	Brown Booby (Brewster’s)	1
15	Brandt’s Cormorant	4
16	Brown Pelican	6

Bird skimming the ocean surface with wings outstretched.

Two brown pelicans resting on large rocks.

Flock of birds flying over calm water surface.

Two birds near a railing, one perched and one flying, with people and a building in the background.

Seagull flying with wings outstretched over hazy background.

Seabirds resting on rocks with one bird in flight above them.

Osprey in flight against a clear blue sky.

Duck swimming on blue water with gentle ripples.

Bird in flight against clear blue sky, wings spread wide.

Seagull perched on a rock by the water with blurred boats in the background.

Six images of a white egret among branches, preening and displaying feathers.

Egret perched on a branch surrounded by leaves, looking upwards.

Bird in flight over the ocean with wings spread.

A dark bird flying over water with wings stretched out.

Two brown pelicans flying over ocean water.

Bird extends wings on seaweed in blue ocean waters.

Small bird with striped feathers standing on a dock beside water.

A dark cormorant swimming in rippled water.

Man in jacket and cap on boat with binoculars, cloudy sky background.

David

David is an Avian biologist with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management where he studies the effects of offshore oil and gas production on birds and bats of the Pacific coast of the U.S. and Hawaii. Before coming to BOEM, he spent 16 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Throughout his 35 year long career he has studied imperiled bird species including Snowy Plovers, Piping Plovers, Least Terns, Ospreys, Spotted Owls, Ivory-billed woodpeckers and many more.

Pelagic Bird Watching

Quick Details

Pelagic Birding in Dana Point

Birds We Encounter

A little bird told me…

Pelagic Bird Watching Trip Reports

David

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