Rare masked booby sighted off Southern California coast, hundreds of miles from natural home

By ERIKA I. RITCHIE |

PUBLISHED: May 15, 2018 at 5:41 am | UPDATED: May 15, 2018 at 5:43 am

DANA POINT — As Mark Tyson watched a flock of seagulls chase a larger white bird, he knew the latter was something he had never seen before. And, he thought, if he was right, the large seabird was hundreds, if not thousands, of miles outside of its typical range.

On Sunday, May 13, Tyson, a naturalist on Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari, was out on a whale-watch trip four miles off Strand Beach when he spotted a group of common dolphins feeding on fish. Seagulls were hovering above hoping to share in some of the spoils when Tyson, of San Juan Capistrano, caught a glimpse of the unusual seabird.

“I realized I’d never seen that type of bird before,” he said. “It was a masked booby, which is extremely rare here. Every time the seagulls would dive down for a fish, you’d see the booby on the water and he would immediately be chased with the fish he caught.”

A masked booby, with a body typically three inches larger than that of a California seagull, is most commonly found in tropical oceans. It’s territory is below the 30th parallel near Baja and in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Reward Offered for Info in Shooting of Brown Pelican

by Chris Clarke

March 24, 2015 1:30 PM

Someone shot a pelican in Southern California recently, and a bird rehab organization is offering $5,000 for information that leads to the shooter's arrest and conviction.

According to the International Bird Rescue, an injured male brown pelican that could not fly was captured in Redondo Beach March 12. Redondo Beach Animal Control brought the pelican to International Bird Rescue, where staff determined via X-ray that a bullet had shattered its ulna.

International Bird Rescue veterinary staff operated to repair the fracture and clean shrapnel from the wound, but though vets are guardedly optimistic, the bird's survival is by no means certain. Injuring brown pelicans is a violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, with fines of up to $2,000 and two years' imprisonment possible for a single offense.

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CRUELTY TO BIRDS: Reward offered in mutilation of pelican

Posted: Apr 22, 2014 8:09 PM GDTUpdated: Apr 22, 2014 9:25 PM GDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A bird rescue organization says a pelican found with its pouch slashed will undergo surgery in Southern California.

The International Bird Rescue says authorities have offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who mutilated the California brown pelican.

The wounded bird was found April 16 near Bayshore Park in Long Beach.

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Environmentalists, Bird-Watchers Outraged After Valley Wildlife Refuge Nearly Leveled

Eventually meant to improve a Van Nuys wildlife reserve, a federal plan first nearly leveled it

Some members of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society were so sickened by what they saw that they had to leave.

Bird-watcher Kris Ohlenkamp chokes up just thinking about what happened to the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve in Van Nuys.

He made himself enter the property after learning it had been, to his mind, turned into a wasteland.

"I had a responsibility to go on," Ohlenkamp said.

More than 50 acres of habitat that harbored migratory birds – and bird-lovers – were practically leveled this month as part of a federal plan meant to eventually restore the area.

But the way the aggressive way the plan was carried out came as a surprise to local environmentalists and bird-lovers who frequent the area within the city of Los Angeles' Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area.

The city's parks department boasts that the site is a "haven of rest for wildlife and humans alike, a welcome oasis in an urban setting."

Ohlenkamp called it "a premier birding site in Southern California."

Continued:  http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Environmentalists-Outraged-Wildlife-Refuge-Leveled-Sepulveda-Basin-Army-Corps-185113801.html