WHITE-CHINNED PETREL (Procellaria aequinoctialis), HALF MOON BAY, SAN MATEO, CA.

Oct 18, 09. - Alvaro Jaramillo

I set this up quickly just to get some imagery out to folks who are interested in this record. We saw the bird just off the continental Shelf on a Sequoia Audubon Society pelagic trip out of Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. It is the first record from California, pending acceptance by the CBRC, and only the second for the ABA area. It was a fantastic and exhilirating trip the second great bird out of Half Moon Bay in a week!

In flight you can see the bulky shape, bull necked look and rather short and pointed tail. The body is all blackish-brown with a darker head. Most importanly it has a yellow bill all the way to the tip, and each bill plate is neatly outlined in black. There is a tiny white patch on the chin.

Below - on the water, again look at that powerful bill with the black outline to each bill plate. The tip is yellow, not black like the similar Westland and Parkinson's Petrels. A tiny white chin patch is visible.

Another view of this awesome bird!