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Sequoia Audubon pelagic tour spots White-chinned Petrel off Half Moon Bay

October 19, 2009
Sequoia Audubon pelagic tour spots White-chinned Petrel off Half Moon Bay

Photo by M. Jobling

Sequoia Audubon Society ran their first ever pelagic out of Half Moon Bay, San Mateo on Sunday, Oct. 18th and spotted a White-chinned Petrel, which if accepted is a new record for California! Everyone on the boat had looks and were able to study the features of the species. The bulky structure, short tail, large body, big belly of the bird were noticeably different from a Flesh-footed Shearwater (which was also seen). The previous week, in a pelagic trip run by the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, three species of albatross were seen (Black-footed, Laysan, and Short-tailed.)  Additional photos can be found on Alvaro Jaramarillo's website.