On September 12, 2026, I joined an Island Packers pelagic birding trip out of Ventura Harbor to see the Cocos Booby colony at Sutil Rock near Santa Barbara Island. In recent years, a Blue-footed Booby has been reliably seen on the rock. The booby soon made the rock a major attraction for birders across North America. The trip also included a drop-off for campers and day hikers at Santa Cruz Island. The captain of the boat was Joel Barrett. The organizer/leader was Nick Lethaby. The co-leaders were Dave Pereksta, Todd McGrath (unofficial), Sophie Cameron, and Dave Compton.
Besides an Island Packers Pelagic, it was also a Los Angeles Birders – Students field trip, with field trip leader Jake Xia.
Just after 8 AM, we and a bunch of hikers and campers boarded the boat. We set off fast out from the breakwater, straight towards Santa Cruz Island to drop off the non-birders. The water was quite rough, but the birds were great! We soon saw almost ten Black and Least Storm-Petrels, while hundreds of Black-vented Shearwaters circled the boat. Phalaropes were also putting on a show, with hundreds of Red and Red-necked Phalaropes being flushed from the water around us.
Soon, we arrived at Santa Cruz Island, and the real birding began!
Not long after we departed from SCI, a shark killed a sea lion right as we sailed past. We turned around, and the dead sea lion created a natural chum slick! Numerous Black and Least Storm-Petrels were attracted to the smell and flew all around us.
After viewing the frenzy, we got several Sabine’s Gulls and dozens of Craveri’s Murrelets and Cassin’s Auklets. As we entered the rougher seas, the storm-petrel show of the trip began. Least, Black, Ashy, Leach’s, and even a rare Wilson’s Storm-Petrel gave us a show one by one as they flew like butterflies right at our bow. The storm-petrels all looked almost identical, but each had its own style. Black flew slowly and steadily, flapping deeply and elegantly. The tiny Least Storm-Petrels are incredibly small, as their name suggests, and they also fly fast and zoom like a bee, with their wings flapping intensely. Ashy was browner and had a shallower wingbeat. Then came the white-rumps: Leach’s are not always white-rumped but can be identified by their bounding flight; Wilson’s are distinctive with a short tail and their feet sticking out at the back.
Jaegers also flew over as we watched the storm-petrels fluttering above the waves. One was even later revealed to be a Long-tailed Jaeger!
Around noon, we finally reached Santa Barbara Island and headed straight to the Cocos Booby colony on Sutil Rock just offshore. Surprisingly, the colony was not loud, dirty, and obvious like other seabird colonies, but rather camouflaged and quiet. Without looking carefully, one can barely see any birds on the rocks, but a careful binocular scan reveals hundreds of breeding Cocos Boobies!
As we closed in on the rock, we noticed a Nazca Booby resting on a large rock nearby!
Soon, the trip leader finally got the Bird of the Day, the Blue-footed Booby, in view. It was standing by itself on a grassy cliff edge, and as we got to a better angle, its bright blue feet were revealed! It stood there wandering around, sometimes even looking at us, giving the iconic Galapagos vibe!
After everyone had gotten a good look at this pale and beautifully patterned booby, we decided to circle Santa Barbara Island and check out Anacapa Island since we had finished at Sutil Rock early.
With more Black and Least Storm-Petrels, hundreds of phalaropes, alcids, and shearwaters, we arrived at Anacapa Island for a “brief stop”. As we approached the island, a brown-morph Red-footed Booby flew right across our bow, and ANOTHER followed! Then, we found nine more Cocos boobies very close up on the cliff, along with a juvenile that appeared to be either a Nazca or Masked Booby! As we photographed the boobies circling us, we spent a full hour at the “brief stop”. We definitely turned the “brief stop” into a much longer stop, and made the passengers waiting at Santa Cruz wait quite a while!
After spending too much time out in the ocean already, we sped back to Ventura Harbor, riding the rough seas almost like a roller coaster. As we got off the boat, I had gotten TEN lifers that day and half of the world’s boobies (Four seen today, Cocos, Blue-footed, Nazca, and Red-footed, out of the eight total)!
What a wonderful day of birding and one of the best pelagics I have ever been on!
Photos I took during this trip:
