Spring Pelagic Birding from Dana Point: A Day on the Water off Orange County
I love spending a day out on the open ocean, scanning every wave for whatever might appear next. Seabirds are usually the main focus, but I never complain when whales, dolphins, or anything unexpected joins the day.
I'd already joined Winter and Fall pelagic trips out of Orange County, so this spring trip filled another season. Now I just need a summer boat to complete the set.
This Spring Tour was on a very cloudy day, with moments of light rain, and not very warm at 50-60 degrees. The weather in SoCal has been so grey this spring, and much cooler than normal most of the time. The water was calm and smooth. Bird activity was fairly slow for much of the day, with long stretches where everyone simply scanned the horizon and waited for the next surprise.
One of the most memorable moments had nothing to do with seabirds. Several migrating warblers arrived looking completely exhausted after crossing open water. A Townsend's Warbler, Hermit Warbler, and Wilson's Warbler all stopped on the boat to rest, with one staying aboard for quite a while before continuing its journey. Watching such tiny birds recover after a long flight made for one of the day's most memorable encounters.
Overall, we saw 33 species in a full eight hours at sea. We left the harbor in Dana Point a bit after 7:00am. Our path took us to the 279 Bank, Crespi Knoll, Lausen Sea Mount, and back to the Dana Point Harbor. The Ocean Institute’s RV Explorer was our ship for this trip. Although it was a slower day on the water, we had some great highlights:
Most of the Red-necked Phalaropes stayed in loose flocks scattered across the water. They're tiny birds in such a huge landscape, but once we found a group there always seemed to be more nearby.
Black Storm-Petrels spent much of the day dancing just above the waves, pattering across the surface as they fed. Most stayed well offshore, but a few came close enough for everyone on the boat to get long looks.
A Brown Booby is always a welcome sight off Southern California. Seeing one perched out on the water gave us plenty of time to enjoy it before we moved on.
My favorite moment of the day wasn't even a bird. It was the thousands of Vellela vellela (By-the-wind Sailors) on the water… and the many Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish) feeding on them! This Mola floated along, and then so slowly just popped its mouth up and slurped up Vellela after Vellela… like picking up little floating snacks!
I was happy that I had a friend on the boat with me, because there was a lot of quiet time between birds! It can be like that on the water, depending on the weather and the time of year. Now all that's left is a summer pelagic.
Enjoy some other photos of the birds from the trip!
