Yesterday I travelled to San Diego to take the birding festival pelagic trip.  The primary possibility for an ABA lifer on the trip was Scripp’s murrelet, and we had them many times in great light at close range both on the water and in flight.  The trip was overall on modest swell with only moderate wind waves and one more NO-SEASICKNESS trip behind me.

The highlight of the trip for many birders was a Manx shearwater picked out of a large flock of Black-vented shearwater.  This is one of two birds on my life list that I really wanted better views to feel as good about them.  The other is Lawrence’s goldfinch, and I’m hoping to get a better look at one sometime on this SoCal vacation.

After the pelagic I made two stops looking for the LAGO, both unsuccessful, but  at the second stop, just about at sunset, I looked up and noted a kettle of hawks.  My initial thought was that they must be Swainson’s hawks, and on closer look I believe that most of the birds were SWHA with a few RTHA mixed in.  I think in the photo below most of the hawks are Swainson’s but the one furthest to the right is a Red-tailed.  ANy comments?