
In this Monday, Nov. 27, 2017 photo provided by Mark Girardeau and Dana Wharf Whale Watching, a rare Nazca Booby is seen at the harbor in Dana Point, Calif
At Dana Point on Monday, Robin Lowe was on a mission — to get a glimpse of a rare bird said to be hanging out near local waters far from its home on the Galapagos Islands.
"I'm still smiling ear to ear," she said after seeing the Nazca Booby casually hanging out with pelicans on a jetty. "To be able to see it today, it's hard to grasp the words. I'm just so thrilled to be able to see this. It's once in a lifetime. Here it was in our backyard, in the Dana Point harbor."
Bird-watching enthusiasts flocked to the Orange County harbor clutching binoculars and long lenses hoping to see the Nazca Booby.
The bird was spotted in Newport Beach two weeks ago, then by a deckhand on the fishing boat
Sum Fun on Sunday, and again Monday on the rock jetty where boaters enter and exit the harbor, said Donna Kalez, manager of Dana Wharf Whale Watching.
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