The San Diego pelagic trip on June 9th aboard "Grande" out as far as the 30-Mile Bank, and sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society, experienced light winds and very light seas. Best birds of the trip were 2 Craveri's Murrelets, which have now showed up off San Diego already in June for the past four years in a row, a Black-footed Albatross, 3 Leach's Storm-Petrels, good numbers of Ashy Storm-Petrels, and still numbers of Scripps's Murrelets (often gone locally by mid-June). Good looks at almost all the species encountered. The species and numbers seen offshore, beyond 2 miles out, are as follows:
Black-footed Albatross: 1 (very good views near the south end of 30-Mile Bank)
Pink-footed Shearwater: 8 (low)
Sooty Shearwater: 180
Black-vented Shearwater: 75
Leach's Storm-Petrel: 3 (30-Mile Bank)
Ashy Storm-Petrel: 45
Black Storm-Petrel: 450
Pacific Loon: 3 (northbound, basic plumage)
Double-crested Cormorant: 2 (well offshore)
Brandt's Cormorant: 5
Brown Pelican: 14
Scripps's Murrelet: 12
CRAVERI'S MURRELET: 2 (an adult and fully-grown young bird(?) together along inside edge of 30-Mile Bank; photos)
Cassin's Auklet: 130 (good number for June)
Heermann's Gull: 2
California Gull: 1
Western Gull: 110
Least Tern: 6 (including several well offshore at 30-Mile Bank, which seems to be a regular phenomenon)
Elegant Tern: 150
Eurasian Collared-Dove: 1
--Paul Lehman, Bruce Rideout, Dave Povey, Pete Ginsburg, Matt Sadowski, et al., San Diego