TRIP REPORT: OCTOBER 2, 2011 HALF MOON BAY

Howdy, Birders,

Fantastic seas and weather conditions continued, as reported on Shearwater Journeys' October 1 pelagic trip. This is a report for our 12 hour October 2, 2011 Half Moon Bay departure. Highlights included, greasy-glassy smooth seas, BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, NORTHERN FULMAR, PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER, BULLER'S SHEARWATER, SOOTY SHEARWATER, SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER, ASHY STORM-PETREL, BLACK STORM-PETREL, SURFBIRD, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, RED PHALAROPE, SOUTH POLAR SKUA, POMARINE JAEGER, PARASITIC JAEGER, LONG-TAILED JAEGER SABINE'S GULL, ARCTIC TERN, COMMON TERN, COMMON MURRE, PIGEON GUILLEMOT, XANTUS'S MURRELET, MARBLED MURRELET, CASSIN'S AUKLET, RHINOCEROS AUKLET, TUFTED PUFFIN, HARBOR PORPOISE, NORTHERN FUR SEAL and NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL.
Once again, we encountered squid at the 50 fathom line, where some SOOTY SHEARWATERS, and nearly 2000 COMMON MURRES were feeding. We enjoyed one of the most beautiful days, ever, offshore from Half Moon Bay.
We headed to the Pioneer Canyon, traveling some 38 miles offshore, covering both San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. A WILSON'S WARBLER was over 30 miles offshore in San Francisco County. It was simply a lovely day.
"Young Birder" highlights continued. Above, Jon & Kendall Watkins and below, Cassidy Ruge (left) and Whitney Mortimer. It is so much fun to have youth seabirders — and those young eyes are so sharp! That's leader, Peter Pyle, below, looking through his bins.

Returning to the harbor, I was captured by the mirror-like reflections!

Many thanks to all who came from near and far (England) to join our spectacular day. The leaders on this day were: Peter Pyle, Tristan McKee, Clay Kempf, Abe Borker and Debi Shearwater.

The complete species list for OCTOBER 2, 2011 HALF MOON BAY follows:

SAN MATEO/SAN FRANCISCO/TOTAL

PACIFIC LOON- 6/0/6

COMMON LOON- 1/0/1

WESTERN GREBE- 4/0/4

CLARK'S GREBE- 1/0/1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 3/10/13

NORTHERN FULMAR- 9/38/47

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 8/42/50

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 0/2/2

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 1/9/10

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 60/28/88

SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 3/0/3

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 0/100/100

BLACK STORM-PETREL- 0/1/1

BROWN PELICAN- 20/0/20

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 17/0/17

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 40/0/40

SURF SCOTER- 7/0/7

BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 3/0/3

BLACK TURNSTONE- 16/0/16

SURFBIRD- 12/01/12

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 10/15/25

RED PHALAROPE- 10/5/15

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 0/6/6

POMARINE JAEGER- 0/6/6

POMARINE/PARASITIC- 5/10/15

PARASITIC JAEGER- 4/2/6

LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 5/15/20

JAEGER SP.- 5/15/20

HEERMANN'S GULL- 20/0/20

CALIFORNIA GULL- 35/40/75

WESTERN GULL- 30/30/60

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 1/0/1

SABINE'S GULL- 0/14/14

ELEGANT TERN- 15/0/15

COMMON TERN- 0/3/3

ARCTIC TERN- 0/2/2

COMMON MURRE- 2950/50/3000

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 1/0/1

MARBLED MURRELET- 4/0/4

XANTUS'S MURRELET- 1/0/1

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 10/240/250

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 30/70/100

TUFTED PUFFIN- 0/2/2

NORTHERN PINTAIL- 0/5/5

SNOWY EGRET- 2/0/2

WILSON'S WARBLER- 0/1/1, more than 30 miles offshore

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 100

STELLER'S SEA LION- 1

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 6

NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1

HARBOR SEAL- 1

HARBOR PORPOISE- 2

OCEAN SUNFISH- 15

BLUE SHARK- 4

What a great day— nine species of tubenoses, five species of shearwaters, seven species of alcids and five species of pinnipeds. Many folks on board did the October 1 Monterey trip. This day very nicely compliments that day, adding numerous species of seabirds and marine mammals. In total, those folks ticked a tremendous list of marine life!

Join us on one of our upcoming trips:

OCTOBER 8 departing from MONTEREY

OCTOBER 14 departing from BODEGA BAY

OCTOBER 15 departing from HALF MOON BAY

Shearwaters and auklets forever,

Debi Shearwater