TRIP REPORT: OCTOBER 8, 2011 MONTEREY BAY

Howdy, Birders,

Good sea conditions and lots of seabirds greeted the participants of Shearwater Journeys' October 8, 2011 pelagic trip at Monterey Bay. Highlights of this day included: one extremely co-operative LAYSAN ALBATROSS, one distant FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER, 45 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS (more than on recent trips), 4 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, showing well for the photographers, the first of fall BONAPARTE'S GULL, and at least five KILLER WHALES FEEDING ON A KILL— the frosting on the cake at the end of the day. Birding was great, immediately upon leaving the harbor, with two PIGEON GUILLEMOTS near the Coast Guard jetty. The RISSO'S DOLPHINS were still present, but most of the seabirds feeding on squid had dispersed. Things change! We headed south along the 110 fathom line because we kept encountering flocks of feeding shearwaters. However, after several miles, I decided to head offshore, hoping for a skua. Sure enough, as soon as we stopped to look at and photograph the BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES near the boat, the first of several SOUTH POLAR SKUAS circled overhead! We were already having a great day when the call came over the radio that some KILLER WHALES were feeding on an animal they had killed only 6 miles away. So, the frosting on the cake was watching these killer whales at the end of the day! More posts will be forthcoming about this. Stay tuned!

Typical of feeding KILLER WHALES, many seabirds will feed on the scraps that reach the surface. In my image, below, you can see a BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS and a PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, following the two killer whales.

After watching and photographing these Killer Whales for a solid hour, we had to head back to the harbor. They also appeared to be finished feeding, as they formed a "chorus line" and headed away from us.

See Abe Borker's images of this trip. Many thanks to all of the great folks who joined us on this trip. The leaders on this trip were: Todd McGrath, Abe Borker, Wes Fritz, Ben Thompson, John Sorensen and Debi Shearwater.

The complete species list for OCTOBER 8, 2011 MONTEREY BAY follows:

All birds in Monterey County.

PACIFIC LOON- 5

COMMON LOON- 1

LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 20

NORTHERN FULMAR- 30

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 110

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 45

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 110

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 5

BROWN PELICAN- 6

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 4

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2

SURF SCOTER- 17

BLACK TURNSTONE- 12

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 75

RED PHALAROPE- 15

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 4

POMARINE JAEGER- 7

PARASITIC JAEGER- 5

BONAPARTE'S GULL- 1

HEERMANN'S GULL- +

CALIFORNIA GULL- +

WESTERN GULL- +

COMMON TERN- 12

COMMON MURRE- 400

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 2

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 200

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 60

SEA OTTER- 2, mother with pup

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 250

HARBOR SEAL- 1

KILLER WHALE- 5 or 6 (2 males, 1 young)

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 30

OCEAN SUNFISH- 3

Join us on our OCTOBER 14th trip departing from BODEGA BAY and our OCTOBER 15th trip departing from HALF MOON BAY. Please reserve no later than 8 am on October 13th by calling Debi at: 831-637-8527; debi@shearwaterjourneys.com.

Shearwaters and Auklets forever,

Debi Shearwater

AKA: "Annie Auklet" as played by Angelica Huston in the movie, "The Big Year" opening on October 14th at a theater near you!