West Coast Pelagic Fiasco

The Pacific Ocean still held numerous species for my Big Year quest. John Vanderpoel had warned me that I needed to take some pelagic trips off Southern California during late summer and that these trips sell out quickly. Indeed I was too late to reserve a spot but I put myself on the waitlist for a trip from San Diego on Sunday, September 10, 2023. I was 15th on the list so not too hopeful. However, a storm was brewing off Tijuana so I was doubtful that the boat would even go. 

I landed late Friday morning, September 8, 2023, at Ontario (west of Los Angeles) and was picked up by my friend Joe Burns.  After birding with me in southeastern Arizona a month earlier, Joe had offered to host me in California if I needed to chase a bird there. The typhoon in late August had brought dozens of Yellow-footed Gull from Gulf of California to the Salton Sea and a few had stuck around. So we drove directly from the Ontario airport a couple hours southeast to Desert Shores, California, once a thriving marina resort but now a ghost town on the shrinking salt lake. No dark-backed gulls there so we drove south along the west side of the lake to the south end where thousands of shorebirds and waterfowl had gathered, but no sign of the gull! We did find a surprisingly large number of Laughing Gull (dozens) in an agricultural field, along with thousands of Ring-billed Gull, White-faced Ibis and a good variety of shorebirds. I thought I caught glimpses of Ruff and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, two potential rarities, but could never get confirming views. After baking in the hot SoCal desert all afternoon, we decided to retreat home to the cool montane San Bernardino National Forest where Joe lives with his wife Barbara in the village of Lytle Creek.  

Upon later review of my photos of the avian throng in this one irrigated field south of the Salton Sea, I noticed that we had overlooked a very rare Glossy Ibis, for which only a handful of prior records exist for Southern California in eBird.  Also later, we heard that Guy McCaskie had spotted a Ruff here the following day, September 9, 2023. The same day, Valentina Roumi had spotted a Yellow-footed Gull at the south end of the lake. 

We could not return to Salton Sea immediately as we had made other plans for Saturday. Joe was busy in the morning and I was in need of extra sleep. But Saturday afternoon, we headed out again in search of year birds. With the storm offshore, we decided to try a sea watch from the coast at Point Dume. Indeed, hundreds of Black-vented Shearwater were visible from the rampart above the beach. Then some seemingly good news arrived. A pelagic trip out of Ventura had a last minute opening for Sunday, September 10, weather permitting. We returned towards Lytle Creek optimistic about finding seabirds the next day. En route, we detoured to downtown Los Angeles to a well known Vaux’s Swift roost site. Arriving at dusk, I expected to find swifts readily, but apparently they had other plans for Saturday night. No swifts. 

My streak of bad luck continued the next morning Sunday, September 10. I arrived on time at Ventura Harbor after driving Joe’s borrowed car for two hours from Lytle Creek, only to learn that the captain decided to cancel due to rough seas! To add insult to injury, the San Diego boat did not cancel that same morning and had one more spot available. Valentina and two other friends (John Vanderpoel and Bill Kaempfer) were aboard that boat. 

Back at Lytle Creek, Joe took me into the National Forest to look for Spotted Owl. It would not be a year bird but I wanted a photo.  No luck. I did get better photos of White-headed Woodpecker along the Vivian Creek Trail. As the day was winding down, Joe suggested another attempt for roosting Vaux’s Swift in nearby San Bernardino. We arrived at a city park at dusk and as we stepped out of the car, a dozen small swifts flew over the park’s pond, right on cue. I snapped a photo for documentation. Finally after a bit of a year bird drought, I had added USA and Territories Biggest Year-Bird number 749. 

I had made plans to meet John and Bill at Salton Sea on Monday, September 11, 2023. Joe and I arrived first at the south end of the lake and readily spotted a massive dark-backed heavy-billed adult Yellow-footed Gull (750), as well as a couple of rare Purple Martin and a small flock of Bank Swallow, also rare according to eBird. We headed to the irrigated field but found nothing unusual there. 

Now that my luck had seemingly changed for the better, I began thinking about my next move. The Gray Gull failure was nagging me. There was a cheap flight headed east from John Wayne airport in Orange County at 6 PM. So Joe and I headed back to Lytle Creek to pack my things. The seabirds would have to wait for another opportunity.