Howdy, Seabirders,
This is a trip report for Shearwater Journeys' September 21, 2012 pelagic trip departing from Bodega Bay. The singular highlight was a HAWAIIAN PETREL spotted by veteran seabirder, Todd McGrath, who unflinchingly and without any hesitation whatsoever, called, "Hawaiian Petrel" as the bird made a rapid, close pass by our boat. Trevor Codlin, who hails from England, was able to remain calm enough in the flash of the moment to capture the images below. All images copyright, Trevor Codlin. Please do not use without permission. The Hawaiian Petrel was in the "usual" spot where we have found so many mega rare seabirds— the edge of Bodega Canyon. It was in Sonoma County and appeared about 11:15 a.m.
In addition to the Hawaiian Petrel, the storm-petrel show was one of the most astounding we've ever encountered. Once we reached the 1000 fathom line, some 27 miles offshore, we began to see a few scattered storm-petrels, a BLACK STORM-PETREL being the first one called. Captain Rick Powers told us that he had seen thousands and thousands of storm-petrels last Sunday. Finally, he "commanded" me to put out the menhaden oil slick, rather than wait! So, I did! Soon a constant parade, like a traffic jam, of hundreds and hundreds and then, thousands and thousands of BLACK, ASHY and FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, along with a handful of WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, covered the ocean. It looked as though the ocean was dancing! I'm sure that there will be more images to come of this. The jaegers put on a pretty good show with all three species being sighted. Numbers of alcids were low, mostly due to the high sea conditions making it too hard to see them.
It was a wild day at sea, but we were in good hands with Captain Rick Powers whom I have worked with since 1980. His vessel, the "New Sea Angler" is just about the best boat we could have for this sort of day. The full trip report follows, below. Many, many thanks to the folks who joined us from near and far on this spectacular day! The leaders on this trip were: Todd McGrath, Steve Howell, Lisa Hug and Debi Shearwater. Please check our schedule for the latest trips with openings.
SONOMA COUNTY FOR ALL RECORDS
RED-THROATED LOON- 1
PACIFIC LOON- 4
EARED GREBE- 20
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 40
NORTHERN FULMAR- 7
**HAWAIIAN PETREL- 1
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 65
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 4
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 50 (low!)
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL- 5
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL- 3000
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 1000
BLACK STORM-PETREL- 1000 (high count for this far north)
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 20
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 3
SURF SCOTER- 2
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 30
RED PHALAROPE- 8
POMARINE JAEGER- 15
PARASITIC JAEGER- 1
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 8
HEERMANN'S GULL- 4
CALIFORNIA GULL- 30
WESTERN GULL- 100
Tern sp.- 1
COMMON MURRE- 85
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 1
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 10
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 2
CALIFORNIA SEA LION-+
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 1
HARBOR SEAL- +
HUMPBACK WHALE- 3
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 200
DALL'S PORPOISE- 18
See you out there!
Petrels forever,
Debi Shearwater
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