BREAKING NEWS: MASSES OF SEABIRDS OFF POINT PINOS, MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA

eBird Checklist 

An eBird Checklist posted this morning by Brian Sullivan, Don Roberson and Rita Carratella from Point Pinos on the Monterey Peninsula had the following seabird highlights:

60 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS

90,000 SOOTY SHEARWATERS

1 BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER

275 BRANDT'S CORMORANTS

4 PELAGIC CORMORANTS

4 PARASITIC JAEGERS

23 COMMON MURRES

 3 PIGEON GUILLEMOTS

**1870 SABINE'S GULLS**

300 ELEGANT TERNS

This is an astounding count of Sabine's Gulls in particular. I can only guess that they must not be finding food offshore, and are searching closer to shore. 

Shearwater Journeys' first pelagic trip of the fall season is this Friday, July 31. 

Leaders: Brian Sullivan, Scott Terrill, Steve Howell, Nick Levendosky, Jennifer Green, Rick Fournier, David Pavlik, Debi Shearwater

If you are in the area, or can make it down to Monterey for this trip, jump on board!! 

Email Debi for details: debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

To see the entire checklist including awesome video by Brian Sullivan, click here. 

 Point Pinos, above, is a wonderful birding spot on the Monterey Peninsula. 

The oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West coast is at Point Pinos.

DO YOU eBIRD?

SHEARWATERS FOREVER,

Debi Shearwater

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

AUGUST 2, 2013: IMAGES OF THE DAY BY BRIAN SULLIVAN

Howdy, Seabirders,

Below, please find more images of the HAWAIIAN PETREL, Pterodroma sandwichensis, by Brian Sullivan, as seen on the Shearwater Journeys' August 2, 2013 pelagic trip. All images, copyright, Brian Sullivan. Please do not use without permission. Brian is an eBird Project Leader. He was a Shearwater Journeys' co-leader on this trip.

It was a splendid day at sea!

Shearwaters & Petrels Forever, 

Debi Shearwater

TRIP REPORT: AUGUST 2, 2013, MONTEREY BAY

HAWAIIAN PETREL: STAND UP FOR SEABIRDS

Howdy, Seabirders,

This is a full trip report for Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trip departing from Monterey Bay, August 2, 2013. The highlight of the day was a HAWAIIAN PETREL which flew within 50 feet of the stern of our boat, allowing everyone on board to have stunning views. These images were capture by David Pavlik who was chumming all day long. He is doing a Photographic Conservation Big Year. eBird Project Leader, Brian Sullivan, was co-leading this trip. He kept hourly records of seabirds from start to finish. It turns out that the Hawaiian Petrel was in BOTH SANTA CRUZ AND MONTEREY COUNTIES — A TWO-FER! Next up, a MANX SHEARWATER (SANTA CRUZ COUNTY), spotted by veteran leader, Clay Kempf, zipped past the stern. Gee, did I mention that I made an announcement in the morning that many shearwaters fly toward the stern, and that this is a good place to watch for them? A single BULLER'S SHEARWATER was spotted amongst the thousands of SOOTY SHEARWATERS. Good numbers of BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES were present throughout most of the day. A few SABINE'S GULLS passed by, but nothing like the numbers on our July 27 trip from Half Moon Bay. All three jaegers were spotted: POMARINE, PARASITIC and LONG-TAILED. In the late afternoon, a single FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL flew into the wake of the boat and a TUFTED PUFFIN was spotted flying off the bow. Along with the more usual fall seabirds and a few HUMPBACK WHALES and dolphins, it was a very lively day, packed full of action. 

This HAWAIIAN PETREL represents the third record for Santa Cruz County. Remarkably, the first Santa Cruz County record was on a Shearwater Journeys' trip, August 2, 2009! This was the year that we saw so many COOK'S PETRELS close to shore. Our August 3, 2011 trip was absolutely fantastic, as well, although no petrels. The surprise on that trip was a nearshore invasion of LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS which had never before been recorded on Monterey Bay. Clearly, early August is a great time to get out on Monterey Bay! Do it!

HAWAIIAN PETREL, above and below. 

This area was dominated by a windless, stationary high pressure system until July 28th when a low pressure trough brought high winds. Very high winds were inside of Monterey Bay by noon, August 1st. There is one theory that Hawaiian Petrels ride on the edges of these high pressure systems. This may have accounted for the fact that the sighting was only a little more than 10 miles off Point Pinos, Monterey Bay. Another theory being put forth is that the main food source of Hawaiian Petrels has shifted over the past few decades, bringing the petrels within reach of one day pelagic trips, or even offshore trips up to 70 miles. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of observations on research vessels offshore, have produced extremely few sightings of the petrel in the past couple of decades. Clearly, their population is experiencing a shift in foraging. Their main prey is thought to be squid. And, there is a lot of squid in Monterey Bay and off Half Moon Bay, right now. Who knows, perhaps, we shall see more Hawaiian Petrels this season! See trips, below, for options.

MANX SHEARWATER, below.

POMARINE JAEGER, below.

 SABINE'S GULL, below.

The amazing thing was that the evening prior to this trip, I was perusing the latest issue of Bird Conservation by the American Bird Conservancy. Each page was of great interest to me, but being a seabirder, I first read the article about feral cat predation of adult Hawaiian Petrels. How auspicious that I would actually spot one the next day! If you care about seabirds, please stand up for them and make a donation to the American Bird Conservancy or your favorite seabird conservation organization. This issue is not going away. It has been written about over the years, but this article by Ted Williams is especially poignant. Seabirds need all the help they can get. As a group, no other birds are disappearing faster. 

All seabird images, copyright, David Pavlik, below. Please do not use without permission.

Brian Sullivan, below, identified the Hawaiian Petrel. It was a life bird for him. 

Finally, Sandy Komito, of The Big Year fame, was on board for his third trip in a row! The HAWAIIAN PETREL was a LIFE BIRD for Sandy. He was a very happy fellow. 

Sandy Komito & Debi Shearwater, above.

Many thanks to all of the birders who joined us on this trip, some of them making their first-ever pelagic trip! The leaders for this trip were: Clay Kempf, Brian Sullivan, Jennifer Green, Debi Shearwater and David Pavlik, chumming. The complete species list follows, including the two counties covered. Many thanks to Brian Sullivan for the tally on this trip.

MONTEREY COUNTY/SANTA CRUZ COUNTY/TOTAL

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS - 41/31/72

NORTHERN FULMAR- 1/0/1

**HAWAIIAN PETREL- 1/1/1 Note: the petrel flew from Santa Cruz County to Monterey County

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER - 79/63/142

BULLER'S SHEARWATER - 1/0/1

SOOTY SHEARWATER - 11625/305/119530

* MANX SHEARWATER - 0/1/1

FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL - 1/0/1

BROWN PELICAN - 64/0/64

BRANDT'S CORMORANT - 115/0/115

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT - 1/0/1

PELAGIC CORMORANT - 1/0/1

BLACK TURNSTONE - 2/0/2

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE - 18/12/30

RED PHALAROPE - 1/1/2

POMARINE JAEGER - 4/2/6

PARASITIC JAEGER - 1/0/1

LONG-TAILED JAEGER - 0/1/1

HEERMANN'S GULL - 39/1/40

CALIFORNIA GULL - 25/5/30

WESTERN GULL - 133/13/146

SABINE'S GULL - 2/1/3

ELEGANT TERN - 79/0/79

CASPIAN TERN - 1/0/1

COMMON MURRE - 75/27/103

PIGEON GUILLEMOT - 31/0/31

RHINOCEROS AUKLET - 9/1/10

TUFTED PUFFIN - 1/0/1

SEA OTTER - 8

CALIFORNIA SEA LION - 150

HARBOR SEAL - 2

HUMPBACK WHALE - 5

RISSO'S DOLPHIN - 48

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN - 8

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN - 1

Spaces are available on our upcoming trips:

MONTEREY BAY: AUGUST 9 & 23 & all September, October trips 

HALF MOON BAY: AUGUST 17, 18, 25; SEPTEMBER 8, 9, 16, 22, 28, 29; OCTOBER 6, 27

BODEGA BAY: AUGUST 30, SEPTEMBER 20, OCTOBER 18

Shearwaters & Petrels Forever,

Debi Shearwater

SAN BENITO COUNTY BIRDING: PANOCHE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA & eBird

Hello, Folks,

Below, please find additional information for integrating and merging your previously published Panoche Valley eBird checklists from Brian Sullivan:

Birders

As an addendum to this note, if you have birded Panoche Valley in the past, and have plotted your own personal locations that duplicate some of the newly established hotspots, you can merge your locations (and your data) with the existing hotspots. Here's how:

Go to "My eBird" and then to "Manage my locations". Click 'edit' next to the location you wish to merge. You'll get a map showing your personal location. Click 'Merge', and you'll get a map with the personal location and the existing hotspots. Click on the hotspot that you wish to merge into, click 'merge' and check the box that says 'delete after merging' (this will remove your personal location when the merge is complete). Only perform this operation if your locations are duplicates of these hotspots. eBird always encourages data submissions from precise locations, so in my case, I have a string of point count locations scattered around the valley that are not duplicates of nearby hotspots, and should thus not be merged.

The biggest problem for conducting analysis (and for your lists) is when you combine a single day's worth of birding into one eBird checklist. Then the Long-eared Owls at Mercey Hot Springs are plotted in the wrong place, Lewis's Woodpeckers up on the pass end up on the valley floor etc. So it's always best to be cognizant of where you are, and to try to keep your eBird checklists to more refined geographic areas. I know this is more data entry (lord I know!), but it really adds value to the data you provide to eBird.

Thanks

Brian

San Benito County Birding

Debi Shearwater

SAN BENITO COUNTY BIRDING: Heading to Panoche Valley, California?

Hello, Birders,

Fall and winter are the months when many birders head to Panoche Valley, California to find the specialty birds of the grasslands, including Mountain Plover, Mountain Bluebird, Prairie Falcon, Ferruginous Hawk, Greater Roadrunner, Chukar, Sage Sparrow and more.

If you are birder who uses eBird, and I hope you are, please note that a number of new public locations have been added for reporting your bird records. This is an important update.

Previously, birders, especially those on long field trips, simply dumped all of the records under one location for San Benito (SBT) County, "Panoche Valley." However, upon review, it was found that this dumping included birds seen at Paicines Reservoir, Mercy Hot Springs, etc.

When you enter a checklist in eBird, you are encouraged to be as precise as possible when you plot your location. This has now been made easier with the new public locations, covering the entire Panoche Valley. Precise locations allow eBird to accurately link the location with datasets.

Some special considerations:

COUNTY LINES: Please enter data for the correct county! On Little Panoche Road the Fresno (FRE) County sign is posted, beyond Shotgun Pass. There is no San Benito County sign! Mercy Hot Springs (and therefore, all Long-eared Owl records), is in Fresno County. Panoche Hills BLM lands are mostly in Fresno County. There is a new sign at the kiosk with county lines on it. On Panoche Road, beyond Silver Creek Ranch, the road turns to dirt, or mud, if wet. Panoche Road leads to I-5. At the top of the pass, Jackass Pass, there is a Fresno County sign, but no San Benito County sign. Please pay attention to the county lines when entering data.

MOUNTAIN PLOVERS: Due to the serious conservation status of this species, exact counts should be made. Estimates should not be made.

NEW PUBLIC LOCATIONS are numerous. Please use the location that is most accurate. It might be helpful to look at the map beforehand. Some of the new locations include:

Panoche Hills-BLM-Public Lands- the actual BLM lands. This list should include any birds inside of the entrance to the BLM area.

Panoche Hills -overlook- this is the new kiosk area where you will find a map, toilet & picnic table. This list should include the birds seen along the road up to the kiosk, after turning off Little Panoche Road.

Panoche Road- Jackass Pass-FRE County

Panoche Road- Jackass Pass-SBT County

Panoche Road- Red Rock- this is the area where many birders stop at the large red rock, before entering the valley.

Panoche Road- Summit Pond- the small pond near the Summit, and Summit Ranch.

Panoche Road- MP 6.71- where many birders stop to look for Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Panoche Valley-Griswold Hills - marked by the BLM sign, new kiosk, toilet & picnic table.

Panoche Valley & Little Panoche Road south of Shotgun Pass- this is the Panoche Inn store area.

Panoche Valley-New Idria- the area along New Idria Road, beyond the Griswold Hills

Panoche Valley- Recalde Road- this is the unmarked dirt road. Formerly it had a road sign.

Panoche Valley-Shotgun Pass- the pass itself, where chukar is frequently seen.

Panoche Valley- Silver Creek- the area where mountain plovers have most consistently been found.

This does make for a quite a few checklists! If you have any questions, please contact me off the list. I hope to see you in Panoche Valley! It is one heck of a birding place, as well as a recognized IBA, Important Bird Area of global significance. As such, it deserves all of the detailed attention it can garner. Thank you for your assistance and eBird input!

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

San Benito County Birding

SAN BENITO COUNTY BIRDING: NOVEMBER 1, 2011 AN EVENING WITH RAPTORS

Howdy, Birders,

This evening, November 1, the San Benito Raptor Show was incredible! From 4:25 pm until 5:16 pm, I birded along SANTA ANA VALLEY ROAD. Highlights were the continued presence of a great number and variety of raptors as reported in my October 31 blog post. This evening, though 10 FERRUGINOUS HAWKS and 4 GOLDEN EAGLES were in one single field, alone! Also, an adult female PRAIRIE FALCON was hunting and perched on a telephone pole. See eBird reports, below.

Luckily, I decided to shoot up JOHN SMITH ROAD. Good thing I did, as I encountered a tractor actively discing the field nearest to the intersection with Santa Ana Valley Road. Below, is an image of the tractor towing the disc-like devise. I'm sure this has a name in the farming business, but I do not know it. Actually, in this image, you can see two Ferruginous Hawks, in flight, just above the cab of the tractor.
Below, is a view of the field from John Smith Road. The small white dots on the ground are Ferruginous Hawks. Many Ravens were following the tractor, too.
Below, white dots blown up a little. My regular camera, an old Canon 20D with a 100-400 image stabilizing lens wasn't working. (Operator error, I'm sure). So, I used my little Lumix camera. Bring a spotting scope for closer views of the raptors, although they do fly around, and it is possible to get some outstanding views and images!

A gorgeous rufous/dark morph Ferruginous Hawk, below.

Ferruginous Hawks are my most favorite hawks in the world. Ravens are another favorite. And, my absolute most favorite BIRD in the world is the GOLDEN EAGLE! (Yes, it is not a seabird). These three birds were the first three birds on my yard list when I moved to Hollister nearly 18 years ago!

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

San Benito Birding

Below, are my eBird lists:

Santa Ana Valley Road, San Benito, US-CA
Nov 1, 2011 4:25 PM - 5:16 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Comments: This area has a concentration of raptors due to discing by the farmers which is disturbing the ground squirrels. Many of the raptors can be found in one single field near the intersection of Santa Ana Valley and John Smith Roads. For instance, in that field alone, I saw 10 Ferruginous Hawks and 4 Golden Eagles. However, I birded the other areas along a 5 mile stretch of Santa Ana Valley Road. Most of the White-tailed Kites are along the section closest to Fairview Road. It was sunny, light breeze, 73F. I also saw: 1 feral cat, 9 feral/wild pigs, all full grown. 6 native black-tailed deer.
19 species

Turkey Vulture 1 On the ground, in the road, consuming roadkill.
White-tailed Kite 2
Northern Harrier 3 Mostly hunting on the far hillsides, not in the fields.
Red-tailed Hawk 8
Ferruginous Hawk 10 Absolutely spectacular to see this large, gray headed, white breasted, regal raptors sitting on the ground, waiting to snag a ground squirrel. All 10 were in one single field. One adult was close enough to age due to its rufous legs, feathered to the toes.
Golden Eagle 7 Most individuals were on the ground, and I could not age or sex, as they were too far away.
American Kestrel 9
Prairie Falcon 1 Hunting and sitting on a telephone pole near mailbox #5250/5238. Look on the line that runs perpendicular to Santa Ana Valley Road.
Mourning Dove 24
Say's Phoebe 1
Loggerhead Shrike 5
Common Raven 107
Western Bluebird 3
White-crowned Sparrow 24
Red-winged Blackbird (California Bicolored) 320
Western Meadowlark 37
Brewer's Blackbird 456
House Finch 12

John Smith Road, San Benito, US-CA
Nov 1, 2011 5:30 PM - 5:44 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments: A farmer was actively discing the field closest to the intersection with Santa Ana Valley Road. The Ferruginous Hawks and Ravens were actively following the discing operation. This is a tractor that pulls a device with round disc-shaped plow-like thingys on it. I'm sure it has a name, but not being a farmer, I do not know the name of it. This is an area that was formerly a wet land. It was drained, illegally, I'm told. Short-eared Owl should be looked for in this area, as they occurred during winters when the wetland was present.
7 species (+1 other taxa)

White-tailed Kite 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Western) 5
Ferruginous Hawk 3 One incredible rufous/dark morph. The other two were light morphs.
American Kestrel 1
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Savannah Sparrow 8
White-crowned Sparrow 30
blackbird sp. 1400 These two flocks (about 700 each) could have been composed of a lot of starlings. They were swirling, high in the sky a long way off. I have not ever seen these large flocks in this area before, although I have not birded here in the late evening for some years.

Paicines Ranch Reservoir Today

Howdy, Birders,

Felt like a sunset drive, late this afternoon, so I headed to my favorite "patch," Paicines Ranch Reservoir in San Benito County. The last 4 or 5 times I've been there, a two year old, female BALD EAGLE has been actively and successfully hunting waterfowl. It has been disappointing to see the numbers of ducks in steady decline. This afternoon, however, the picture had changed. One of the first birds I spotted was an adult, male BALD EAGLE sitting in the oak grove on the west side of the reservoir. A nice raft of COMMON MERGANSERS and CANVASBACKS had returned. LEAST SANDPIPERS were feeding on the nearest shoreline to the parking lot. I scoped around and enjoyed my chai. For the first time this year, I spotted a male NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER in the small oak at the pullout. Then, I noticed that the bald eagle was not in the oaks. Shortly, I spotted him on the ground at the little patch of a mud bar on the east side. He was just standing there with his feet in the water. Maybe he needed to wash them? I looked around a bit more. Saw a WHITE-TAILED KITE hovering over the fields. A MERLIN zipped by. Suddenly, I noticed that the eagle was no longer alone! Twentyfive LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS had landed across from the eagle on the mud bar. Well, I felt for certain that he would snatch one of those dowitchers, especially after watching the female from the previous visits hunting so voraciously. Heck, I had even seen a prairie falcon kill and eat a coot one morning, recently. So, I didn't want to take my eyes off the eagle. But, I had to switch from sunglasses to regular glasses as it was getting darker. Next time I looked at the eagle, the dowitchers were filing right past him, one by one! I mean, come on. What were they thinking— plastic eagle! I guess he tilted his head because they suddenly realized he was the real deal, and flew off, lickety split! Whew!

Just about that time, Rick Whelen from Manteca drove up. We chatted for a few minutes. He was just coming from Panoche Valley where he had found all of the usual suspects. However, he reported that he also found a SAGE SPARROW and a SAGE THRASHER up at the Panoche BLM lands. It sounded like these birds were not too far from the new toilet facility. Both of these species were missed on the Panoche Valley CBC.

As it was getting darker, I left Paicines for Quien Sabe Road. Just at the junction of Quien Sabe and Airline Highway, I saw and heard a male GREAT-HORNED OWL in the big eucalyptus tree.

And, tomorrow? Why it's off to my patch, again, hopefully for latte with the bald eagle and friends,

Happy dowitchers,

Debi Shearwater

The eBird list for Paicines Ranch Reservoir is below:

Location: Paicines Reservoir

Observation date: 1/28/11

Notes: 59F. Clear. Nice sunset.

Number of species: 24

Gadwall 28

Mallard 7

Northern Shoveler 6

Northern Pintail 5

Green-winged Teal 8

Canvasback 200

Common Merganser 150

Ruddy Duck 8

Double-crested Cormorant 1

Great Egret 1

Snowy Egret 1

White-tailed Kite 1 Hunting in the field on the west side of the reservoir.

Bald Eagle 1

Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Flew into the solitary willow tree, just at dusk.

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Merlin 1 Flying, overhead. Did not stop.

American Coot 12

Killdeer 3

Greater Yellowlegs 3

Least Sandpiper 8

Long-billed Dowitcher 25

Nuttall's Woodpecker 1 In the tree near the parking lot.

Black Phoebe 2

blackbird sp. 450 Going to roost on the high tension wires on the west side of the reservoir.

House Finch 2