Debi Shearwater's Journeys

**Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

HAWAIIAN COOKIN' AUGUST 12: BODEGA BAY

Howdy, Seabirders,

Those pterodromas just keep on cookin'! On this day, a magnificent HAWAIIAN PETREL joined the many COOK'S PETRELS that we were watching as they darted back and forth across our menhaden oil and beef fat slick. For at least two hours, everyone on board was able to watch these rare gems, as Wes Fritz and Oscar Johnson constantly replenished our slick which broke up in the howling winds and swells. Each time, our skipper repositioned the vessel and the parade of tubenoses continued, as we had close up views of ASHY STORM-PETRELS, FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, and a solitary WILSON'S STORM-PETREL. Hoards of LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, as many as 125 throughout the day, hovered overhead, and sat on the water. Wes talked to the albatrosses, asking them to come in for a "group shot" as the cameras clicked away. Even point and shoot cameras were clicking. Maybe there is such as thing as an "Albatross Whisperer"! If so, that would be Wes. The first COOK'S PETREL was spotted in only 500 fathoms, but most of the birds were over the 1000 fathom line, where the water changed color from the murky brown of the morning to clear blue in the afternoon. We also had a temperature break. There is no reliable time, nor place to find Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels in California. To see them at such close range was marvelous— not to mention the close range shots of all of the Long-tailed Jaegers. We could not be sure if one or two Hawaiian Petrels were involved, as one flew away, the boat drifted, and quite some time later, another/or same Hawaiian Petrel returned.

The morning began with fly-away XANTUS' MURRELETS and BLUE WHALES, and the usual suspects. At the end of our time on the slick, we turned on our heading toward Bodega Harbor. A LAYSAN ALBATROSS was spotted in the distance. In all, we counted 11 species of tubenoses. No question about it— it was a wet, wild, and very satisfactory day!

Many folks traveled a long distance for this trip, hooking up with the two trips from Fort Bragg on August 14 & 16. Unfortunately, both of the Fort Bragg trips had to be canceled due to the boat breaking down. We hope to reschedule these trips, as we are certain that some interesting seabirds will be found on the Fort Bragg trips. Meanwhile, many folks headed up to Humboldt County to search for the Long-billed Murrelets in the harbor. We thank all of the folks who ventured out for this trip, from many states across the USA, as well as from Switzerland.

The success of such a difficult trip depends on many things. I attribute this trip's remarkable success to the following: 25% of the boat consisted of leaders; a skipper who was willing and able to get us out there; and the Magic Brew chum that Wes Fritz brought on board. Leaders on this day were: Peter Pyle, Tristan McKee, Lisa Hug, Sophie Webb, Jon Dunn, Steve Howell, John Sterling, Matt Brady, Oscar Johnson, Wes Fritz, and Debra Shearwater.

The complete species list for AUGUST 12, 2009 BODEGA BAY FOLLOWS:

All birds were in Sonoma County

RED-THROATED LOON- 1

PACIFIC LOON- 5

COMMON LOON- 2

LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 40

NORTHERN FULMAR- 28

*HAWAIIAN PETREL - 1 or 2

COOK'S PETREL- 11

Pterodroma sp.- 3

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 50

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 16

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 60

WILSON'S STORM-PETREL- 1, first of the fall

FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL- 40, first of the fall

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 150

BROWN PELICAN- 2

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- +

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 4

RED-NECKED/RED PHALAROPE- 5

RED PHALAROPE- 2

POMARINE JAEGER- 3

POMARINE/PARASITIC JAEGER- 1

LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 125

HEERMANN'S GULL- 25

CALIFORNIA GULL- 10

WESTERN GULL- 110

SABINE'S GULL- 9

ARCTIC TERN- 4

COMMON MURRE- 500

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 100 (no, that is not a typo)

XANTUS' MURRELET- 2

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 80

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 20

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +

STELLER'S SEA LION- 1

BLUE WHALE- 7

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 12

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLHIN- 20

DALL'S PORPOISE- 6

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

**Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*

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Waiting list available

August 7: Monterey Bay: Fall Seabirds & Albatrosses Trip Report

Howdy, Seabirders,

This is a report of Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trip departing from Fishermans' Wharf, Monterey on August 7, 2009. Once again beautiful sea conditions and warm weather prevailed throughout the day. We headed offshore, about 18 n miles from Point Pinos to the old storm-petrel flock stomping grounds. We crossed into Santa Cruz County for a short portion of the day, with the remainder of the day spent in Monterey County. Highlights of the day included a grand slam on all three species of jaegers: a high-flying TUFTED PUFFIN which circled the boat repeatedly; LONG-TAILED, PARASITIC, and POMARINE, as well as SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES, SABINE'S GULLS, and the other usual characters.

The day began and ended with HUMPBACK WHALES. Early in the morning, we radioed the whale watching vessels to let them know about some Humpback Whales just south of Point Pinos. Somehow they missed the whales. A few hours later, we were held hostage by one of the incredible "friendly" Humpback Whales. These whales swim right up to the vessel (motor on, and waiting on idle), repeatedly blowing only a few feet from us, while we try to guess which side of the boat it will appear. As this whale circled us, we could hear the whale watch boats asking where the whales were— well, one was under our boat!

Many thanks to all of our passengers some who traveled long distances from across the USA, as well as France, Belguim, Ecuador, and England. The leaders on this trip were: Jennifer Green, Todd McGrath, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Sophie Webb, Matt Brady, John Hiles and Debra Shearwater.

The complete species list for August 7, 2009 Shearwater Journeys' Monterey Bay trip follows:

Monterey County/Santa Cruz County

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 60/12

NORTHERN FULMAR- 11/6

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 47/9

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 2/0

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 51/9

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 0/1

BROWN PELICAN- 12/0

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 150/0

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 1/0

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 3/0

SURF SCOTER- 1/0

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER- 2/0

BLACK TURNSTONE- 5/0

SANDERLING- 2/0

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 118/74

RED PHALAROPE- 19/1

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 2/1

POMARINE JAEGER- 2/1

PARASITIC JAEGER- 6/1

LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1/0

JAEGER SP.- 4/1

HEERMANN'S GULL- 75/24

WESTERN GULL- 70/15

WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 2/0

SABINE'S GULL- 30/12

ELEGANT TERN- 80/0

COMMON/ARCTIC TERN- 1/0

COMMON MURRE- 70/2

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 13/0

XANTUS' MURRELET- 0/1(hypoleucus)

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 4/4

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 20/16

TUFTED PUFFIN- 0/1

SEA OTTER- +

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 1

NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1

HARBOR SEAL -1

HUMPBACK WHALE- 38, including a "friendly"

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 32

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 4

DALL'S PORPOISE- 6

OCEAN SUNFISH- 1

Shearwaters forever,

Debi

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

**Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

Waiting list available

Monday, August 10, 2009

AUGUST 6, 2009: COOK'S PETREL CHASE TRIP FULL REPORT

Howdy, Seabirders,

This is a full report of the Thursday, August 6 Cook's Petrel chase trip. We departed Fishermans' Wharf, Monterey at 6 am, heading straight offshore to the same area where we had found 91 Cook's Petrels and 3 Dark-rumped Petrels on August 2. Originally, the skipper and I had planned to head southwest. However, the sea surface temperature chart which I was able to obtain, indicated an uphill current to the north. When skipper David Lemon said, "This is where I would go, if I was fishing," that made up my mind. We arrived in "the area" approximately 0915. However, for well over and hour and a half, we saw no signs of any petrels. In fact, we had left most of the seabirds behind us. Finally, Oscar Johnson spotted a COOK'S PETREL at the far distant horizon. This would not do. Finally, in desperation, I decided to stop the boat, and lay out a slick that I was pretty darn sure would not work. There simply was not enough wind for the petrels to be flying, or else, they had up and flew the coop. Just as I was at the stern starting the slick with Wes Fritz's "magic brew, " some of the folks on the bow spotted a flock of birds on the water. Terry Hunefeld called my attention to the flock. Whaoooo! TWENTYTWO COOK'S PETRELS WERE SITTING ON THE WATER RIGHT WHERE I HAD STOPPED THE BOAT!! Okay, we were just a few yards away. Some birders called for the skipper to move the boat toward the flock. In his infinite wisdom, David, made his own decision to let the current carry the boat on its own toward the flock. This turned out to be a brilliant decision! Photographers crammed the bow, and cameras ticked away. Finally, the flock flew off, some of them making a casual pass over the slick at our stern. Every single person on board had excellent views of the petrels. This was, by far, the closest views of any of the trips, and best chance for the photographers to get their shots. Everyone was very happy. I made the decision to spend the remaining time of our trip in the deep offshore waters. Finally, it was time to return to the dock.

Cook's Petrels were hardly the only highlight of the day. Some county birders on board were positively thrilled, since we had crossed into both Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties. Two LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS were the first of the fall season for Monterey Bay. BULLER'S SHEARWATERS; all three jaegers, SOUTH POLAR SKUA, SABINE'S GULLS, ARCTIC TERNS, and XANTUS' MURRELETS were additional highlights. Once again, the marine mammals were not too shabby, either. SEI WHALE (rarely sighted anywhere off Monterey Bay), BLUE WHALES, FIN WHALES, HUMPBACK WHALES, NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS, RISSO'S DOLPHINS, PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS, HARBOR and DALL'S PORPOISES kept us glued to the ocean throughout the day. The day ended with multiple breaching Humpback Whales for most of the last hour's drive home.

I would like to thank all of the birders who traveled from all over California to make this trip. Special thanks to Wes Fritz, Oscar Johnson, Paul Lehman, Guy McCaskie, Jon Dunn, Larry Sansone, Monte Taylor, Chris Conard, Bruce Barrett, Peter Ginsberg, Terry Hunefeld, David Wimpfheimer, Matthew Dodder, Frances Oliver, Maryanne Steuer, and James Huntington who flew in from Iowa for the trip.

The complete species list for AUGUST 6, 2009 MONTEREY BAY: COOK'S PETREL CHASE TRIP follows:

Santa Cruz County/Monterey County/San Mateo County

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 1/37/1

COOK'S PETREL- 0/17/1

PTERODROMA SP.- 0/0/3

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 0/14/0

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 0/2/1

LEACH'S STORM-PETREL- 0/2/0

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 4/14/9

BROWN PELICAN- 0/6/0

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 0/10/0

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 0/500/0

RED PHALAROPE- 11/18/38

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 0/2/0

PARASITIC JAEGER- 0/2/0

POMARINE JAEGER- 0/3/0

LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1/52/18

JAEGER SP.- 0/5/0

CALIFORNIA GULL- 0/40/0

WESTERN GULL- 0/10/0

SABINE'S GULL- 0/127/1

ELEGANT TERN- 0/2/0

COMMON TERN- 0/2/0

COMMON/ARCTIC- 1/4/11

ARCTIC TERN- 1/9/15

COMMON MURRE- 0/170/0

XANTUS' MURRELET- 0/2s+2h/1

CASSIN'S AUKLET-0/3/0

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 0/53/0

SEA OTTER- +

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +

NORTHERN FUR SEAL-5

*SEI WHALE-1

BLUE WHALE- 2

FIN WHALE- 3

HUMPBACK WHALE- 35

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 5

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 40

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLHIN- 80

HARBOR PORPOISE- 2

DALL'S PORPOISE- 12

OCEAN SUNFISH- 1

BLUE SHARK- 3

Pterodromas forever,

Debi

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/images/mb090802pix.html

**Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

Waiting list available

Sunday, August 9, 2009

SEIZE THE DAY!

Hello, Seabirders,

Images of the COOK'S PETRELS from both the August 2 and August 6 Monterey Bay trips, and other seabirds are now up on the Shearwater Journeys' web site (with thanks to our hardworking web master). Click on photos on the home page, or the links below:

http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/images/mb090806pix.html

Many thanks to the photographers: David Vander Pluym, John Sterling and Larry Sansone. Also, a Google map route of our August 2 trip prepared by Don Doolittle and Jennifer Green is available under the images for that date.

Seize the day!! With so many Cook's Petrels offshore, and sightings of three Dark-rumped Petrels, we are anticipating this coming week's trips with great excitement! Here is an update on those trips—

Wed, August 12 Bodega Bay, departing from Port O' Bodega at 6:30 am. Only 9 spaces are available. Leaders include: Peter Pyle, Tristan McKee, Lisa Hug, Steve Howell, John Sterling and Debra Shearwwater. Wes Fritz will be ladling his "magic brew" overboard.

Fri, August 14 Fort Bragg- SOLD OUT. Leaders include: Lisa Hug, Todd McGrath, Tristan McKee and Debra Shearwater.

Sun, August 16, Fort Bragg- departing Noyo Harbor at 6:30 am. Only 3 spaces are available. Leaders include: Lisa Hug, Todd McGrath, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Tristan McKee, John Sterling and Debra Shearwater.

If you would like to join us on August 12, or 16, please contact me before 9 am on Tuesday, August 11th, below.

We hope to keep on cookin'

Debi

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

**Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

Waiting list available

Friday, August 7, 2009

AUG 7TH: MONTEREY SEABIRD CLASSIC

Howdy, Seabirders,

Monterey seabirding with Shearwater Journeys continued today with our "classic" trip. Highlights included a TUFTED PUFFIN and a XANTUS' MURRELET, hypoleucus, both in Santa Cruz County. All of the seabirds that I have been reporting recently, including 2 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, were found on today's trip, except the Cook's Petrels. A full report will follow.

This was our "normal" trip, running from 7 am until 3 pm. Although we did get to the edge of the area where we have recently seen the Cook's Petrels, we did not find any today. Things have changed: the water is green and not blue, meaning more chlorophyll is present; the sea surface temperature is lower; and the winds picked up ever so slightly (perhaps more than that offshore). It's anyone's guess where the Cook's Petrels could be at this time. Perhaps, they moved north, or offshore beyond our reach. Hard to say. Perhaps, we have a good shot at them this Wednesday on our Bodega Bay trip.

For reservations on the Wednesday, August 12th Bodega Bay trip or Sunday, August 16th Fort Bragg trip, please email me before 9 am on Tuesday, August 11th. The August 14th Fort Bragg trip is SOLD OUT.

Shearwaters forever,

Debi

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527