Hello, Seabirders,
The undisputed highlight of Shearwater Journey's September 28th pelagic trip from Monterey was at least four species of WARBLERS! In Santa Cruz County waters, a BLACKPOLL warbler flew around the boat. In Monterey County, a HY PALM WARLBER was gently caught by leader, Oscar Johnson, placed in a warm, dark container, and released near Fisherman's Wharf upon our return. Also in Monterey County, was a female type AMERICAN REDSTART. And, finally, the beauty of the day was a HY female, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER which landed repeatedly on the boat, and was photographed! This warbler was a life bird for many on board. The warbler fall out on board our boat matched the fall outs reported along the coast. Other migrants included a male CINNAMON TEAL, a DUNLIN, and a DOWITCHER. An unusual sighting was a very, very large piece of dead squid! This squid was much larger than the Humboldt Squids that we have seen in recent years. Not surprisingly, 8-12 BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALES were sighted within a few minutes. These large toothed whales probably killed the squid, as it is one of their presumed prey items. We also saw large numbers of BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES (47), feeding on the cast off remains of a fishing vessel, along with many PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, and a few BULLER'S SHEARWATERS. Only one BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER was observed. Many, many active feeding flocks of gulls, CALIFORNIA SES LIONS, BROWN PELICANS, BRANDT'S CORMORANTS, and shearwaters were feeding with HUMPBACK WHALES. In spite of excellent conditions, we did not find the storm-petrel flocks, even after searching the recent locations, and past year's locations. The sea surface temperature changed from previous weeks, with some cooler temperatures being recorded: 56-59F. Maybe the storm-petrel flocks moved to the Pioneer Canyon. Hard to say.
We thank all of the participants who traveled from near and far, and the Monterey Bay Birding Festival, for being a part of our day. The leaders were: Jon Dunn, Denise Wight, Jennifer Green, Oscar Johnson, Steve Howell, Don Doolittle, and Debra Shearwater.
October trips are a great time to look for arriving Short-tailed Shearwaters, and unusual/rare shearwaters such as Streaked and Wedge-tailed. Spaces are still available on most of our October trips. The October 12th trip departing from Santa Cruz is SOLD OUT.
Spaces are available on the following trips departing from MONTEREY: OCTOBER 3, 4, 5, 11, & 18; NOVEMBER 29; and from BODEGA BAY: OCTOBER 9 & 17. Please contact Debra Shearwater (below) for a reservation.
The complete species list follows:
SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 MONTEREY BAY PELAGIC TRIP
PACIFIC LOON- 1
WESTERN GREBE- 1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 47
NORTHERN FULMAR- 1
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 500
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 8
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 1
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 125
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 40
BROWN PELICAN- 100
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 500
CINNAMON TEAL- 1, male
BLACK TURNSTONE- 7
DUNLIN- 1
DOWITCHER- 1
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 9
POMARINE JAEGER- 7
POMARINE/PARASITIC- 3
PARASITIC JAEGER- 4
HEERMANN'S GULL- 150
CALIFORNIA GULL- 1700
WESTERN GULL- 500
ELEGANT TERN- 100
COMMON MURRE- 700
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 9
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 700
PEREGRINE FALCON- 1, on the radio tower on Cannery Row
PALM WARBLER- 1 HY
BLACKPOLL WARBLER- 1
AMERICAN REDSTART- 1, female type
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER- 1 HY female
SEA OTTER- 10
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 600
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 3
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1
HARBOR SEAL- 10
HUMPBACK WHALE- 45
BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALE- 8 to 12
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 20
RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 10 to 15
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 110
DALL'S PORPOISE- 19
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1
BLUE SHARK- 1, feeding on the squid carcass
GIANT SQUID CARCASS- 1
MOON JELLIES
EGG YOLK JELLIES
Shearwaters & warblers forever,
Debra
Debra Shearwater
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
831.637.8527
www.shearwaterjourneys.com
*Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*
Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter
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