Wednesday, July 13, 2011

TRIP REPORT: AUGUST 11, 2010 BODEGA CANYON & CORDELL BANK

Howdy, Seabirders,

Well, just to whet your appetite, and since I never published this trip report from last year, I thought that I would do so now. This is a report of Shearwater Journeys' 11 August 2010 trip to Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank. The conditions were excellent, with a Beaufort 2, swell 0, 100% uniformly high overcast skies (the absolute best conditions) and no ground fog!

Highlights of the day included: 2 or 3 LAYSAN ALBATROSSES, 6 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, 300 ASHY STORM-PETRELS, 100 RED PHALAROPES, 300+ LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, 300+ SABINE'S GULLS, 70 ARCTIC TERNS, 1000+ CASSIN'S AUKLETS and one TUFTED PUFFIN. Little did we know that we broke the record for Long-tailed Jaegers for the entire State of California! The marine mammal highlights were no less, topping the list was 4 SPERM WHALES, rarely seen from our coast. Also sighted were: 3 GRAY WHALES, 4 BLUE WHALES, 25 HUMPBACK WHALES and 15 DALL'S PORPOISE.

Shearwater Journeys' first trip of the 2011 fall season, departing from Bodega Bay is AUGUST 17TH. Spaces are still available. Leaders include: Lisa Hug, Wes Fritz and Debi Shearwater. Don't miss out!

We thank the many folks who joined us, from near and far, on our sold out trip. The leaders onf this trip were: Peter Pyle, Steve Howell, Wes Fritz, Matt Brady, Jon Dunn and Debi Shearwater.

The complete species list for the August 11, 2010 Bodega Canyon & Cordell Bank trip follows:

COMMON LOON- 1
WESTERN GREBE- 2
LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 2 or 3
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 100
NORTHERN FULMAR- 100
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 225
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 6
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 1000
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 300
BROWN PELICAN - +
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- +
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 1
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 1
WANDERING TATTLER- 1
BLACK TURNSTONE- 2
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 60
RED PHALAROPE- 100
POMARINE JAEGER- 4
PARASITIC JAEGER- 7
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 300+ A RECORD FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA!
HEERMANN'S GULL- 10
CALIFORNIA GULL- 100
WESTERN GULL- 130
SABINE'S GULL- 300
ARCTIC TERN- 70
COMMON MURRE- 500
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 40
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 1000+
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 35
TUFTED PUFFIN- 1
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 5
STELLER'S SEA LION- 2
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 1
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 3
HARBOR SEAL- 1
GRAY WHALE- 3
BLUE WHALE- 4
HUMPBACK WHALE- 25
SPERM WHALE- 4
DALL'S PORPOISE- 15
OCEAN SUNFISH- 4

Add up all of that wildlife, and you can see that we had a very, very busy day! Not to mention loads of fun and lot of photographs! Hope to see you this August on a Bodega Bay trip!

Shearwaters forever,
Debi Shearwater

No comments: