Date: 5/2/24 7:33 pm From: Jonathan Feenstra via groups.io <feenstra...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Santa Monica Bay, 5/2/24: SPSkua, Black Tern
LA Birders:
I was on a private boat today in Santa Monica Bay and basically ended up doing a loop from Marina Del Rey to Redondo Canyon, north along the escarpment to Santa Monica Canyon and back to the Marina.
A singular highlight was a South Polar Skua just inside the shipping channel off the mouth of Redondo Canyon. This might be the furthest inshore I've encountered this species in SoCal (though I know it happens). Another irregular bird offshore today in Santa Monica Canyon was a Black Tern grimly perched atop a floating loon corpse.
There actually weren't many birds, but diversity was good with a few each of Sooty Shearwater, Pink-footed Shearwater, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets, Scripps's Murrelets, and other usual pelagic sundries. Guadalupe Fur Seals and abundant Velella velella jellyfish were also out there.
