Wednesday, May 6, 2015

More Brown Boobies

These are my last photos of birds from the March 8 pelagic trip off San Diego. Over the last 8+ years, Brown Booby has gone from rare to expected just offshore north to at least Los Angeles, I guess.

Brown Booby
Adult female Brown Booby. At sea off San Diego. March 8, 2015. Greg Gillson.
Breeding on Baja's Los Coronados Islands since 2002, they have really increased. These islands are only 15 miles south of San Diego. 25-30 birds were seen regularly on trips there 2009-2011. Pelagic trips from San Diego staying in US waters can expect to see 3-8 birds or more.

Last September on a San Diego Pelagic trip I saw 3 Brown Boobies. Then from shore at Point La Jolla in December I spotted 8 birds at quite a distance. A January 1 pelagic trip this year yielded 4 birds. And the March 2015 trip had at least 7 different birds, including 5 on the 2 mile buoy. The trip just completed (I did not attend) on April 25th had 17 birds!

Brown Booby
Immature male Brown Booby.
Brown Booby
Adult male Brown Booby.
Brown Booby
Immature Brown Booby.

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