John called from San Diego to report on his pelagic on the Grande, August 13th-15th. The seas were a bit high on Tuesday, otherwise, not bad. Glad I wasn't there!
John saw four storm petrels - Ashy and Least - not great looks but good enough, Leach's and Black- good views. He also got the Sooty and Pink-Footed Shearwater, the Red-Billed Tropicbird and half of the split Xantu's Murrelet - the northern half, Scripp's Murrelet. Unfortunately, though several were spotted, John didn't get to see the southern half, Guadalupe's Murrelet. I checked out the pictures in Sibley, looks like the difference between Clark's and Western Grebes. I do not like pelagics! Besides sea-sickness and LONG periods of no birds, I don't like depending on the on-board experts to spot and identify the pelagic birds. Referencing my last blog, they did NOT see the Cook's Petrel!
John had a whole half of an afternoon to drive home! What to do! So he drove over to the Salton Sea and got the Yellow-Footed Gull! If you want to go back in the archives, you can read his attempt to see the Yellow-Legged Gull back in January. I think the entry is titled 'Watching all the Gulls go by'. Seems ages ago.
John is up to 623!
I am glad to hear that some people he encounters on trips actually enjoy reading my blog. I enjoy writing it.
John will be back late tonight. There is a nasty immigration checkpoint near the Salton Sea that can take a long time to clear. A few days to plan and then we will be off, or not, on a car trip.
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