Monterey seabirds delighted and thrilled us on Shearwater Journeys' offshore pelagic trip on September 12th. Highlights included one HAWAIIAN PETREL and 24 COOK'S PETRELS, a single LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, and a STEJNEGER'S BEAKED WHALE which circled our vessel, repeatedly popping up within inches of the boat! We were treated to great views of three FIN WHALES, while the LONG-TAILED JAEGER show continued along with good numbers of POMARINE JAEGERS. As of this date, every one of our trips has had a grand slam on all of the jaeger species, including SOUTH POLAR SKUA. SABINE'S GULLS were found in good numbers. The Hawaiian Petrel was the first pterodroma of the day! We tried to chase it, but could not. So, I stopped the boat to have Wes lay out a slick. At 9:30 am, I spotted the first Cook's Petrels of the day over the slick. In contrast to other trips, nearly every single Cook's Petrel made a close pass at the boat, allowing photographers to get some excellent images! The weather was perfect, as were the seas. We could not have asked for more. A PEREGRINE FALCON was on the radio tower along Cannery Row at the day's end.
Scott Terrill's image of one of the Cook's Petrels on the Albacore trip. Copyright, Scott Terrill, 2009.
Many thanks to the participants who hailed from 14 states, Canada, Germany, England and The Netherlands. Leading this offshore trip were: Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Abe Borker, Wes Fritz, and Debi Shearwater.
The complete species list follows. All records are for Monterey County.
12 SEPTEMBER 2009 MONTEREY BAY OFFSHORE TO THE ALBACORE GROUNDS
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 19
NORTHERN FULMAR- 48
HAWAIIAN PETREL- 1
COOK'S PETREL- 24
PTERODROMA SP. (large)- 1
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 72
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 5
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 385
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL- 1
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 110
BROWN PELICAN- 6
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 250
SURF SCOTER- 2
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 300
RED PHALAROPE- 17
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 5
POMARINE JAEGER- 27
POMARINE/PARASITIC- 2
PARASITIC JAEGER- 12
PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 2
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 93
HEERMANN'S GULL- 90
CALIFORNIA GULL- 125
WESTERN GULL- 200
SABINE'S GULL- 69
ELEGANT TERN- 18
ARCTIC TERN- 4
FORSTER'S TERN- 2
COMMON MURRE- 18
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 42
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 59
PEREGRINE FALCON- 1, along Cannery Row
SEA OTTER- 8
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 15
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 4
HARBOR SEAL- 1
FIN WHALE- 3
HUMPBACK WHALE- 5
STEJNEGER'S BEAKED WHALE- 1
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 8
DALL'S PORPOISE- 25
BLUE SHARK- 1
Our last offshore trip from Monterey to the albacore grounds is October 10th. Spaces are still available.
Pterodromas forever,
Debi
No comments:
Post a Comment