BIRDING PANAMA: CERRO AZUL & CERRO JEFE

Good morning, Birders,

I'm sitting on the balcony of La Estancia B & B on Ancon Hill in Panama City, watching the BLUEGRAY TANAGERS and VARIABLE SEEDEATERS come and go from the feeders, while ORANGE-CHINNED PARAKEETS call across the canopy. I've been told that the monkeys will show up any minute. It's hot, but more than that, it's humid! 

My travel companion, Don Doolittle, and I left San Francisco at midnight on December 2, arriving in Panama City about noon the next day, rented a 4 x 4, and began the search for what remains of Tocumen Wetlands. Major development is happening around the marsh, and the directions for finding it made it pretty sketchy for actually getting there. Later, we found out that we were, in fact, at the marsh. Since the roads became impassable with mud, even for a 4 x 4, we decided to head to the mountains. Best bird at the marsh was RED-BREASTED BLACKBIRD.

In the mountains of eastern Panama, we headquartered ourselves at the Hostal Casa de Campo Country Inn, (www.panamacasadecampo.com) where the very delightful proprietor, Ana Maria, made us feel quite at home. What a treat, falling asleep to the calling TROPICAL SCREECH OWL each night, and waking up to the incessant calls of a HOUSE WREN feeding its youngsters in the nest under the eaves of our balcony. It is very worthwhile to spend the nights in the mountains, rather than down in the city. 

For the next four days, we headed off in different directions, and hiked different trails each day. The first day, we birded the "petite Darien, " as the region of Bayano is known. This was a very dripping wet, pouring rain, soaking us to the skin, day! It was well worth it, as the best bird of the day was a group of about 7 RUFOUS-WINGED ANT-WRENS at Monkey River! A female RUFOUS-CRESTED COQUETTE was just out of this world! I can't even image a male!

During the following days, we hiked some steep trails that were so mud-slicked, we could have been ice-skating! Trails hiked included: Vistamares, Calle Maipo, Rio Mono, Cerro Jefe. We also visited the feeders at Birder's View (www.birdersview.com) many times. This was an extremely busy area for birds, not only at the feeders, but also coming to the vegetation near the home. Don managed to capture images of many of the birds since we had clear, unobstructed views, with beautiful sunlight on the tanagers and euphonias while they feasted on the berries of various plants. Specialties here, and on the trails included: VIOLET-CAPPED HUMMINGBIRD, YELLOW-EARED TOUCANET, STRIPE-CHEEKED WOODPECKER, BLACK-CHEEKED WOODPECKER, BLACK-and-YELLOW TANAGER, OLIVE TANAGER, WHITE-SHOULDERED TANAGER, CRIMSON-BACKED TANAGER, EMERALD TANAGER, SPECKLED TANAGER, BAY-HEADED TANAGER, GOLDEN-HOODED TANAGER, GREEN HONEYCREEPER, LONG-TAILED WOODCREEPER, PLAIN XENOPS, PIED PUFFBIRD, WHITE-NECKED JACOBIN, VIOLET-HEADED HUMMINBIRD, GREEN THORNTAIL, GARDEN EMERALD, RUFOUS-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, BRONZE-TAILED PLUMELETEER, VIOLACEOUS TROGON, BLACK-TAILED TROGON, RUFOUS MOTMOT, and BROAD-BILLED MOTMOT. 

These mountains are a weekend home to many Panamanians who escape the heat of the city for the cooler and breezy climate just an hour from the city. It is also the home for ex-pats from the USA, England, Canada, and Germany. As we made our way from one part of the mountains to another, we would sometimes encounter a few birds in the developed area, but most of the "good" birding is within the national park, which borders the housing area. On our last day, we stopped to look at a hawk, and I noticed a driveway with bird feeders, many bird feeders! Feeling quite bold, we marched up to the front door to meet the owners, Bill & Claudia Ahrens, from the USA. They invited us to enjoy their feeders which we certainly did! Everything seems to eat bananas like crazy and Bill keeps a whole crate-full at the ready. We saw our lifer, BLACK-CHEEKED WOODPECKER here. Thank you, Bill & Claudia!

Finally, we made one more stop at Birder's View, a large house owned by the president of the Panama Audubon Society (www.panamaaudubon.org). The lovely owner told us about a trail with flowering helaconias just below the house. So, we hiked down a good trail to the "helaconia" forest—nearly 100 flowering plants— and saw several WHITE-TIPPED SICKEBILLS! These large, brown hummingbirds, with incredibly recurved bills, literally grasp on to the flowers like a bat, and hang there, feeding! What a treat!

In just a few minutes, we will be flying to Cana with ANCON Expeditions!

Tanagers forever,

Debra Shearwater

NOV 29, 2008: A GREAT DAY FOR SHEARWATERS

Hello, Seabirders,

Shearwater Journeys' last trip of the year took place on November 29th, departing from Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey. It was a great day for shearwaters, with a constant flow of shearwaters in view throughout the entire day, except for a brief period when we went over a shallow shelf that was loaded with CASSIN'S AUKLETS and quite a few ANCIENT MURRELETS. In all, we tallied seven species of shearwaters! (The one day world record is eight species, which Shearwater Journeys holds from two different trips). Topping the list, was a GREATER SHEARWATER spotted and identified by leader Scott Terrill, simultaneously by leader Linda Terrill. The Great Shearwater was not that close to the boat, but most everyone on board managed to see it. I was in the cabin, along with leaders John Sterling and Clay Kempf. I ran out to the stern, and had brief, but great views of the shearwater as it flew away from us. It was a state and county bird for county listing czar, John Sterling. Amazingly, Brian Sullivan managed to get off some good shots with his awesome camera! This is the fifth or sixth Great Shearwater that I have seen in California. I believe that it is the first one that I've seen in November. Another surprise was a single BULLER'S SHEARWATER, somewhat late (latest date that I have seen one is December 1). A distant FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER, single SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER, plenty of PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS and many BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS were also found. Other early winter specialties, ANCIENT MURRELETS and BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES made a nice showing, along with BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES. Very few NORTHERN FULMARS were recorded. And, as is often the case, few cetaceans, save a handful of PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS near the end of the day, bow-riding. No phalaropes were found. 

The morning started out auspiciously for me, waking to a dream of a running mountain lion, followed by a real earthquake, and then "pink sky in the morning" on my drive to Monterey. So, it was one of those days where I just "had a feeling." We went south from Point Pinos to the Big Sur Lighthouse, staying mostly 3-4 miles offshore the entire day. I haven't been that far south in a long time. The coastline was just magnificent. There was a northeast wind in the morning of about 10 knots, which laid down completely in the afternoon. Heading south was a great idea, as it turned out.

This trip completes our 2008 year of pelagic trips in California. We would like to thank all of the birders who came from near and far to see the splendors of our special marine life off the California central coast. We hope to see you in the coming year. The leaders on the November 29 trip were: Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Clay Kempf, John Sterling, Jennifer Green, Brian Sullivan, and Debra Shearwater.

Start off the New Year with our January 17th pelagic trip from Monterey. Please note, Debra Shearwater will only be available by email during the month of December. 

The complete species list for NOVEMBER 29, 2008 follows:

RED-THROATED LO0N-1

PACIFIC LOON- 225

COMMON LOON- 10

EARED GREBE- 15

WESTERN GREBE- 15

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 21

NORTHERN FULMAR- 5

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 125

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1

**GREATER SHEARWATER- 1

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 1

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 27

SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 1

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 1250

BROWN PELICAN- +

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- +

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 3

SURF SCOTER- 140

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER- 3

BRANT- 9

BLACK TURNSTONE- 1

POMARINE JAEGER- 9

BONAPARTE'S GULL- 1

HEERMANN'S GULL- 200

MEW GULL- 4

CALIFORNIA GULL- 150

HERRING GULL- 4

THAYER'S GULL- 2

WESTERN GULL- 200

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 15

WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED- 3

BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE- 26

COMMON MURRE- 20

ANCIENT MURRELET- 33

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 320

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 145

PEREGRINE FALCON- 1, on the radio tower on Cannery Row

SEA OTTER- 8

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 50

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 30

BLUE SHARK- 1

Wishing you a joyful holiday season,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

ANTARCTICA, SOUTH GEORGIA, FALKLAND ISLANDS, & WEDDELL SEA

Hello, Adventurers,

I would like to invite you to join Shearwater Journeys, Inc. on a unique, chartered voyage on the Professor Multanovskiy to Antarctica, South Georgia, The Falkland Islands, and into the Weddell Sea to search for Emperor Penguins, January 5-24, 2010. What's unique about it? 

For one thing, a brilliant assemblage of six Shearwater Journeys' leaders will be on board: Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, John Sterling, Clay Kempf, Don Doolittle, and Debra Shearwater. Together we have over 100 years of ocean experience. We know seabirds and marine life! We've been involved in ocean trips for three decades. Each leader will be presenting lectures on such intriguing subjects as cutting edge knowledge of Adelie Penguins and climate change, Flora of the Falklands, Ice, history, geology, marine mammals —as well as fun things, such as Antarctic Jeopardy! (Who ever heard of that?)

Our small group size of 48 means that we offer one of the highest passenger/leader ratio of any voyage to the region— 6 SJ leaders, plus 2 Expedition staff, bringing you a richer experience.

Our itinerary focuses completely on wildlife, the stars of the voyage! We aim to make as many landings as possible for as long as possible, to give you an in-depth experience. 

Our voyage is scheduled at the absolute peak time of the year for wildlife activity— the height of the austral summer when penguins are with chicks.

Traveling with like-minded passengers allows for a more cohesive group.

Observe up to TEN SPECIES OF PENGUINS! We will be venturing into the Weddell Sea, near Snow Hill Island to make a dedicated search for EMPEROR PENGUINS. We will be searching for the single ERECT-CRESTED PENGUIN in the Falkland Islands, as well. By including the Chile pre-trip, add HUMBOLDT PENGUIN and possibly PERUVIAN DIVING PETREL to complete your diving petrel world list!

The voyage begins and ends in Ushuaia, Argentina which makes for a better air fare rate, eliminating the need for an "open jaw" ticket.

Our voyage is one of the best values for travel to the Antarctic region because no commission-earning travel agents are involved. Debra Shearwater, herself, communicates with each and every person. 

After thirtyfive years of ocean experience, and seventeen years of worldwide expedition experience, I have organized one of the best voyages to this region, ever. At this time, we have only 4.5 cabins available: 1 superior ($19895), and three Double Private ($16995), and one sharing female in a Double Private ($16995). If you are a single female, you will not need to find a cabin mate, as one is already available. Rates quoted are per person. Also at this time, we can offer a $1000 per cabin discount, or $500 per person, if booked by January 30, 2009. The night of January 5 at the Hotel Albatros in Ushuaia is included in the expedition fee. Detailed information can be found on the Shearwater Journeys' home page: www.shearwaterjourneys.com. To book your cabin, or for more information, please contact Debra Shearwater by email during the month of December. (I will be in Panama — there's more than seabirds in the world— and will have intermittent email). 

This is going to be a great trip, nothing ordinary about it! Our expedition leader has just returned from Antarctica, where he recently found 20 Emperor Penguins near Snow Hill Island! We are going to rock, big time on this voyage! Be there! 

Here's what Hadoram Shirihai has to say about this voyage: 

"I checked Debra Shearwater's Antarctic Voyage plan and found it to be the most attractive program to these remote wild areas on the planet. Since I have spent some time with Debra at sea, I am confident that she is the best qualified to lead such expedition to the Antarctic waters. What makes Debra different is that she is simply among the best seabird and marine-mammal observers in the world, eager to observe and to learn more about sea-life. She is an excellent organizer, too. Surely, Debra Shearwater's Antarctic Voyage is the best that one could dream about... Highly recommended!"

—Hadoram Shirihai, author of the definitive A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife: The Birds and Marine Mammals of the Antarctic Continent and the Southern Ocean , A & C Black and Princeton University Press).

Penguins & Albatrosses forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

Lincoln's Sparrow

I was delighted to see that a LINCOLN'S SPARROW returned to my backyard today, bathing in the dripper bath.

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

MONTEREY BAY: SEP 22, 2008: LATE REPORT

Howdy, Seabirders,

This is a late report for the Shearwater Journey's pelagic trip September 22, 2008 from Monterey Bay. On rare occasions, a marine mammal sighting will eclipse any seabird sighting. This was the case on September 22. 

The singular most exciting event was watching six KILLER WHALES, repeatedly tossing a COMMON DOLPHIN sky high some 30-50 feet in the air as they chased, and hunted it! On some of our previous trips, we had seen a mother/calf pair of common dolphins hanging around Cannery Row. They had been reported there for weeks. It is unusual in that common dolphins are usually very gregarious, traveling in herds of hundreds, if not thousands off southern California. Recently, we saw this pair off Point Joe, and away from the nearshore protection (?) of Cannery Row. I do not know if these dolphins were the specific individuals that the killer whales killed on this day. But, it was quite spectacular to see the little dolphin flying through the air, as well as the killer whales also flying sky high! In the end, the killer whales did kill the dolphin, although this was difficult to see. They continued to hang around Monterey Bay for many weeks, mostly near Moss Landing. The common dolphins have not been seen since this day.

I've seen Orcas hunt and kill many creatures— blue sharks, sea lions, rhinoceros auklets, and elephant seals. (For a look at an image that I shot of an orca tossing a young elephant seal in the air on a Shearwater Journey's trip to the Farallon Islands, see Hadoram Shirihai's A Field Guide to the Marine Mammals of the World, page 74). In fact, it was on a Shearwater Journey's May Monterey Bay trip in the 1980's when the very first hunting by killer whales of a young gray and its mother, was ever photographed. At my insistence, a hydrophone was dropped overboard to record the first sounds of killer whales in Monterey Bay! (These sounds can be heard on the DVD, Through the Seasons: An Introduction to the Seabirds and Marine Mammals of Monterey Bay). After nearly three hours of stalking the young, male gray whale, the killer whales finally drowned it. This later became popularized by National Geographic after they videotaped subsequent kills on Monterey Bay.

Killer whales have long been a subject of interest for me. So much so that, beginning in 1978, I collected images from the the photographers who ventured forth on Shearwater Journey's trips from Monterey, Bodega Bay and other ports off central California. Beginning in 1984, I encouraged the Monterey party boat skippers to collect images of killer whales, too. Shearwater Journeys donated hundreds of boat trips that  provided a platform of opportunity for graduate students to obtain marine mammal sightings and photograph killer whales. Through these efforts, we were able to obtain images from more than forty people, spanning 19 years to be included in a photo catalogue of killer whales of California and western Mexico which was published in September 1997 by the U.S. Department of Comerce, NOAA. Thus, the many birders who participated in our trips contributed vastly to our current knowledge of killer whales. 

You can see video footage shot by Manny Vara and hear the sounds of the participants on the September 22 trip at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WufTyNMZNgw. 

Well, of course we did see birds, too! The complete species list follows. Many thanks to the folks who joined us on this very exciting trip. The leaders were: David Vander Pluym, David Wimpfheimer, Luke Cole, Don Doolittle, Oscar Johnson, and Debra Shearwater. Lauren Harter graciously chummed.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 MONTEREY BAY:

PACIFIC LOON- 4

LOON sp.- 1

WESTERN GREBE- 1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 5

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 225

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 28

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 280

SOOTY/SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 2

WILSON'S STORM-PETREL- 4

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 300

BLACK STORM-PETREL- 15

BROWN PELICAN- 70

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 700

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 3

SURF SCOTER- 14

BLACK TURNSTONE- 8

SURFBIRD- 1

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 48

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 2

POMARINE JAEGER- 21

PARASITIC JAEGER- 5

JAEGER sp.- 1

HEERMANN'S GULL- 60

CALIFORNIA GULL- 30

WESTERN GULL- 100

ELEGANT TERN- 100

COMMON TERN- 1

COMMON/ARCTIC TERN- 1

FORSTER'S TERN- 1

COMMON MURRE- 110

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 1

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 80

SEA OTTER- 6

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +

HARBOR SEAL- +

HUMPBACK WHALE- 10

KILLER WHALE- 6

COMMON DOLHIN- 1 or 2

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 17

OCEAN SUNFISH- 3

BLUE SHARK- 1

Shearwaters forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

OCT 17 & 18, 2008 PELAGIC TRIP REPORTS

Hello, Seabirders,

Shearwater Journey's pelagic trips on October 17 from BODEGA BAY and October 18 from MONTEREY BAY were the last trips of the fall season. Both trips were excellent, with good sea conditions, and many seabirds and marine mammals. Highlights of the October 17th trip included: flocks of more than a 100 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, and one Buller's Shearwater standing on wad of bull kelp; 3 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS; a small influx of NORTHERN FULMARS; possibly the last SOUTH POLAR SKUAS of the season; several MEW GULLS; and arriving BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES; a PALM WARBLER about 15 miles offshore in Sonoma County; and several STELLER'S SEA LIONS. County birders enjoyed adding many species to both their Sonoma and Marin County lists. Highlights of the October 18th trip from Monterey Bay included: a CACKLING GOOSE flying over the harbor; flocks of migrating PACIFIC LOONS; 2 or 3 SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATERS; 1 MANX SHEARWATER; 4 BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS; a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER sitting on the water, providing knock out views and photo-ops; arriving BONAPARTE'S GULLS; good numbers of CASSIN'S AUKLETS; and half a dozen KILLER WHALES interacting with CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS and HUMPBACK WHALES. The heavy gale force winds from the northwest cooled the sea surface temperature down to about 55F and was probably part of the influx of fulmars, trickling of kittiwakes, and short-tailed shearwaters. A deep, red tide had formed inside and just outside of the Monterey harbor. Those folks who signed on for both trips accumulated quite a seabird/marine mammal species list!

Our next trips from Monterey with spaces available are NOVEMBER 29 with Clay Kempf, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Jennifer Green, Luke Cole, and Debra Shearwater leading, and JANUARY 17, 2009. Please email Debra Shearwater for a reservation/information.

Many, many thanks to all of the participants who traveled from near and far to join us on our trips this year! We couldn't do it without you! The leaders for October 17th were: Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, John Sterling, Alan Hopkins, David Vanderpluym, David Wimpfheimer, Steve Howell, and Debra Shearwater. The leaders for the October 18th trip were: Clay Kempf, Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, David Vander Pluym, And Debra Shearwater. Lauren Harter was chummer on both trips. Many thanks, Lauren!

The complete species list follows:

OCTOBER 17 BODEGA BAY/OCT 18 MONTEREY BAY 2008:

PACIFIC LOON- 3/40

COMMON LOON- 2/2

EARED GREBE- 5/25

WESTERN GREBE- 5/6

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 9/5

NORTHERN FULMAR- 13/12

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 171/220

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 3/2

BULLER'S SHEARWATER-920/0

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 41/75

SOOTY/SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 3/3

SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 0/2 or 3

MANX SHEARWATER- 0/1

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 0/4

BROWN PELICAN- 25/125

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 50/325

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 3/0

SURF SCOTER- 2/0

CANADA GOOSE- 0/7

CACKLING GOOSE- 0/1

GREATER SCAUP- 4/0

BRANT- 2/0

NORTHERN PINTAIL- 0/3

BLACK TURNSTONE- 1/4

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 0/34

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 6/0

POMARINE JAEGER- 15/6

POMARINE/PARASITIC- 6/2

PARASITIC JAEGER- 0/1

BONAPARTE'S GULL- 0/8

HEERMANN'S GULL- 81/200

MEW GULL- 4/0

CALIFORNIA GULL- 380/180

HERRING GULL- 10/0

WESTERN GULL- 250/370

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 3/0

WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED- 10/0

BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE- 2/0

ELEGANT TERN- 0/27

COMMON MURRE- 250/120

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 5/0

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 33/60

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 35/225

*PALM WARBLER- 1/0, about 15 miles offshore in Sonoma County. It flew toward land.

PEREGRINE FALCON- 0/1, on the radio tower along Cannery Row.

SEA OTTER- 0/12

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 2/225

STELLER'S SEA LION- 7/0

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 1/2

NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1/1

HARBOR SEAL- +/5

HUMPBACK WHALE- 5/20

KILLER WHALE- 0/6

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 16/0

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 0/400

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 50/20

DALL'S PORPOISE- 16/6

OCEAN SUNFISH- 0/2

BLUE SHARK- 1/2

Shearwaters forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

SHEARWATER JOURNEYS' TRIP REPORTS: OCT 9, 11, & 12, 2008

Howdy, Seabirders,

This report covers Shearwater Journey's pelagic trips on October 9, 11, & 12, 2008. The October 9 trip which was set to depart from Bodega Bay was canceled due to a gale warning by NOAA on October 8th at 12:30 p.m. Everyone was refunded their full fare for this trip. Turns out it was a very wise decision. The October 11th trip departed from Monterey as planned since the forecast for Monterey Bay was much better that day. Being half-moon shaped, the bay is somewhat protected from the prevailing northwesterly winds. Highlights of this trip included one HARLEQUIN DUCK in the harbor, 35 WHITE-FRONTED GEESE (!), and a great show of 5 KILLER WHALES with HUMPBACK WHALES near Moss Landing. The October 12th trip departed from Santa Cruz on the north side of Monterey Bay. Highlights included great views of MARBLED MURRELETS just outside the harbor, 25 SURFBIRDS on the jetty, 1 or 2 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, and a great show of RISSO'S DOLPHINS.

We would like to thank all of the participants who traveled with us on these trips. The leaders were: October 11: Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Gerry McChesney, & Ryan Terrill; October 12: Clay Kempf, Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, John Sterling, Don Doolittle, Jennifer Green, Jim Danzenbaker, & Debra Shearwater.

Our last two trips of the fall season are scheduled for October 17 from Bodega Bay with leaders John Sterling, Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, Alan Hopkins, Steve Howell, David Vander Pluym, David Wimpfheimer, & Debra Shearwater, and Lauren Harter, chumming; and for October 18 from Monterey Bay with leaders Clay Kempf, Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, David Vander Pluym, and chummer, Lauren Harter. Spaces are still available on both trips. Our next scheduled trips from Monterey are November 29 and January 17.

The complete species list follows: 

OCTOBER 11 MONTEREY COUNTY/ OCTOBER 12 SANTA CRUZ COUNTY:

PACIFIC LOON- 5/3

COMMON LOON- 0/2

EARED GREBE- 0/20

WESTERN GREBE- 0/102

CLARK'S GREBE- 0/20

WESTERN/CLARK'S- 0/25

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 6/10

NORTHERN FULMAR- 7/6

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 165/180

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1/1or 2

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 38/85

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 105/29

SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 2/0

BROWN PELICAN- 225/125

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 250/75

PELAGIC CORMORANT-2/2

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT-0/1

HARLEQUIN DUCK-1/0

SURF SCOTER- 85/20

WHITE-FRONTED GEESE- 35/0

CANADA GOOSE- 0/6

SNOW GOOSE- 0/1

RUDDY TURNSTONE- 0/1

BLACK TURNSTONE- 6/3

SURFBIRD- 0/25

WILLET- 0/3

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 15/8

RED PHALAROPE- 1/ 2

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 0/7

POMARINE JAEGER- 0/3

POMARINE/PARASITIC- 0/2

BONAPARTE'S GULL- 1/5

HEERMANN'S GULL- 155/85

CALIFORNIA GULL- 150/120

HERRING GULL- 0/2

WESTERN GULL- 155/250

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 2/0

WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED- 10/0

ELEGANT TERN- 6/3

ARCTIC TERN- 1/0

COMMON MURRE- 53/850

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 1/1

MARBLED MURRELET- 0/10

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 45/16

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 60/77

SEA OTTER- 6/27

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 140/+

NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1/1

HARBOR SEAL-3/20

HUMPBACK WHALE- 20/18

KILLER WHALE- 5/0

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 0/7

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 12/18

Shearwaters forever,

Debra Shearwater

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

BODEGA BAY OCT 9 PELAGIC TRIP CANCELED: IMPORTANT NOTICE: GALE WARNING

HELLO, SEABIRDERS

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT NOTICE:

The Shearwater Journey's OCTOBER 9TH PELAGIC TRIP DEPARTING FROM BODEGA BAY TOMORROW, IS CANCELED DUE TO A GALE WARNING. Please contact anyone that you know who might be signed on for this trip, and post on additional lists. 

As much as we would love to show you seabirds, it will not be possible with the weather conditions that are predicted, and will almost certainly materialize. This includes canceling for the WFO, Western Field Ornithologists group on board the boat. We are very sorry to have to make this decision and will be contacting everyone that we can possibly reach at this time. A full refund will be sent to all passengers within 30 days. Thank you for your continued support of the Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trips.

Shearwaters forever,

Debra

The NOAA weather report is as follows: 

POINT ARENA TO PIGEON POINT 20 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE-

824 AM PDT WED OCT 8 2008

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON

TODAY

NW WINDS 20 TO 30 KT BECOMING 25 TO 35 KT BY MID-MORNING.

WIND WAVES 4 TO 7 FT. NW SWELL 8 TO 10 FT AT 10 SECONDS AND S 2

FT AT 15 SECONDS.

TONIGHT

NW WINDS 30 TO 40 KT. COMBINED SEAS 11 TO 15 FT

DOMINANT PERIOD 10 SECONDS.

THU

N WINDS 30 TO 35 KT. COMBINED SEAS 11 TO 16 FT DOMINANT

PERIOD 10 SECONDS.

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

OCTOBER 3, 4, 5, 2008 MONTEREY PELAGIC TRIP REPORT

Howdy, Seabirders,

Three days of seabirding on Monterey Bay with Shearwater Journeys produced quite an array of seabirds. This report covers trips on October 3, 4, and offshore on Oct 5 to the albacore fishing grounds. All trips departed from Fishermans' Wharf in Monterey. Highlights included: 2 PIGEON GUILLEMOTS on October 3 (most guillemots have departed for their wintering area, Queen Charlotte Island), 5 species of shearwaters on October 4, including 325 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 2 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 25 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, and 10 BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS with participants having excellent views of all shearwaters, sitting on the water. Another highlight of the October 4th trip was our first rainfall since March 15th! Living in a Mediterranean climate, we rarely see rain at this time of year. Even so, it did not amount to much, or impact the birding at all. Capping off the three days of seabirding on October 5 the highlights included all of the following in SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 6 XANTUS' MURRELETS  scrippsi, 5 XANTUS MURRELETS hypoleucus that breeds on islands off Baja California, 1800 ASHY STORM-PETRELS, 15 BLACK STORM-PETRELS, and 4 LEAST STORM-PETRELS, 8 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, 13 POMARINE JAEGERS, 9 PARASITIC JAEGERS, and 3 SABINE'S GULLS. Everyone on board had excellent views of the murrelets, while the Baja murrelets gave their distinctive calls! County birders were having a field day! All of these birds were out at the albacore grounds, some 35 miles off Monterey. Fish were jumping! Lots of bait fish and bonita were around. The sea surface temperature was a balmy 64.7F and the water was the deep aqua blue, clear water that both the albacore and murrelets prefer. Murrelets are one of the target species of the albacore trips. The least storm-petrels were a great bonus! It was a great set of trips!

Where the heck did that massive storm-petrel flock of 10,000 birds on September 14th go?? After searching for them on many trips since that date, even on some very calm seas, with zero luck — I believe the mystery has been solved! It has been reported to me from birders who took a cruise ship from Vancouver to Los Angeles that they ran into the storm-petrels far away from where we last saw them! It would seem that it has been confirmed that the storm-petrel flocks are not within reaching distance of Monterey trips.

We would like to thank all of our participants who took part in these three trips. The leaders were as follows:

October 3= Clay Kempf, Jennifer Green, & Debra Shearwater

October 4= Clay Kempf, Brian Sullivan, Oscar Johnson, Adam Searcy, & Debra Shearwater

October 5= Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, David Vander Pluym, Oscar Johnson, Adam Searcy, Ryan Terrill, & Debra Shearwater.

Spaces are still available on the following trips from Monterey: October 11, 18, November 29, January 17; from Bodega Bay: October 9 & 17. 

The complete species lists follow:

OCT 3/ OCT 4, 2008

PACIFIC LOON- 1/0

COMMON LOON- 0/5

WESTERN GREBE- 3/0

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 11/10

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 150/325

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 0/2

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 157/285

SOOTY/SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 1/1

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 0/10

BROWN PELICAN- 80/150

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 300/55

HARLEQUIN DUCK- 0/1, in the harbor

MARBLED GODWIT- 2/0

BLACK TURNSTONE- 0/5

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 9/33

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 1/3

POMARINE JAEGER- 8/23

POMARINE/PARASITIC- 6/4

PARASITIC JAEGER- 2/14

PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED- 0/1

HEERMANNS' GULL- 350/175

CALIFORNIA GULL- 40/500

WESTERN GULL- 120/500

SABINE'S GULL- 0/1

ELEGANT TERN- 38/45

COMMON MURRE- 420/250

PIGEON GUILLEMOT-2/0

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 21/31

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 270/87

PEREGRINE FALCON- 0/1, on the radio tower on Cannery Row

SEA OTTER- 3/5

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 100/++

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 0/6

HUMPBACK WHALE- 14/24

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 0/20

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 0/15

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 80/85

DALL'S PORPOISE- 12/6

OCEAN SUNFISH- 7/10

BLUE SHARK- 3/0

OCTOBER 5, 2008

MTY/SCZ/COUNTIES

PACIFIC LOON- 0/1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 4/7

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 75/22

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 17/2

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 0/1800

BLACK STORM-PETREL- 0/15

LEAST STORM-PETREL-0/4

WEIRD STORM-PETREL-1, with a white belly. Presumed to be an Ashy, unless photos prove otherwise.

BROWN PELICAN- 35/2

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 16/1

RED PHALAROPE- 7/0

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 3/8

POMARINE JAEGER- 9/13

POMARINE/PARASITIC- 0/1

PARASITIC JAEGER- 2/9

PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED- 0/1

HEERMANN'S GULL- 275/8

WESTERN GULL- 475/15

SABINE'S GULL- 12/3

COMMON MURRE- 40/0

XANTUS' MURRELET (scrippsi)- 0/6

XANTUS' MURRELET (hypoleucus)- 0/5

XANTUS'/CRAVERI'S MURRELET- 0/3

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 36/3

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 120/4

HUMMINGBIRD SP.- 1/0

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 60

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 10

HUMPBACK WHALE- 12

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 25

OCEAN SUNFISH- 2

BLUE SHARK- 2

Shearwaters forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

SBT COUNTY: OUT & ABOUT

Hello, Birders,

I made a fast jet around a couple of SAN BENITO COUNTY hot spots, with nothing much new to report. At VISTA PARK HILL in downtown Hollister, things were pretty dead. When the giant lawnmowers turned on, I left. The new place to check here, though, is the Community Garden just down the hill from the entrance to the park. 

On SANTA ANA VALLEY ROAD, I found a CASSIN'S KINGBIRD. It was sitting on the very top of a telephone pole near a white house with green trim, #1810, with a For Sale sign out front. A corral is just across the street from the house. The kingbird flew to barbed wire fence. Most folks are not aware that Cassin's Kingbirds can be found in small numbers throughout the year. Several WESTERN BLUEBIRDS were also on the wires.

A sub-adult BALD EAGLE was on lower QUIEN SABE ROAD. At PAICINES RESERVOIR, change in shorebirds seemed to be the "biggest" event, with a dozen LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS along the mud flats, and 3 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Two CLARK'S GREBES, RUDDY DUCKS, CANADA GOOSE, AMERICAN WIDGEON, and the usual birds were around. The ADULT BALD EAGLE was sitting in the single, small oak tree on the levee. 

At the BALD EAGLE NEST, location undisclosed, I was surprised to see an ADULT BALD EAGLE near the nest, while two ADULT GOLDEN EAGLES were perched at the top of oak trees nearby. Perhaps the bald eagle was protecting its nest from being usurped by the golden eagles? Sadly, this nest failed to produce young this year after several years of success, producing two young each season. Let's hope that 2009 is a better year— in more ways than one! 

Eagles forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

SMART TUFTED PUFFIN on the SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 MONTEREY PELAGIC TRIP

Hi, Birders,

I hope that you will enjoy this beautiful image by Eric Preston of the TUFTED PUFFIN that was spotted by Shearwater Journey's leader, Linda Terrill! This is the only Tufted Puffin reported this fall from Monterey Bay pelagic trips. These puffins are presumed to nest at the Farallon Islands, about 22 miles off San Francisco, although a nest has never been found.

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

Birding San Benito County: Sep 29, 2008 with Jon Dunn

Howdy, Birders,

Following the Monterey Bay Birding Festival, on Monday, September 29, Jon Dunn and I went to birding in San Benito County for a few hours with the idea of ticking off some county birds for Jon, and of course, having fun. Seems Jon is getting interested in the county birding that is so popular in California. 

We met at VISTA PARK HILL in downtown Hollister, off Hill Street. It was pretty quiet, but we did manage WESTERN TANAGER (2), ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD (10), NUTTALLS' WOODPECKER (2), WESTERN WOOD-PEEWEE (1), BLACK PHOEBE, SCRUB JAY, OAK TITMOUSE, BUSHTIT, NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (4), YELLOW WARBLER (1), CALIFORNIA TOWHEE, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW (1- FOF), EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE, MOURNING DOVE, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

At the HOLLISTER INDUSTRIAL PONDS we found: EARED GREBE (2- FOF), GADWALL, MALLARD, NORTHERN SHOVELER (300), RUDDY DUCK, BLUE-WINGED TEAL (2), AMERICAN KESTREL, SPOTTED SANDPIPER (1), BLACK-NECKED STILT, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPER, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, MARSH WREN (1), CALIFORNIA THRASHER, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, WILSON'S WARBLER, BEWICK'S WREN, and LINCOLN'S SPARROW.

On SANTA ANA VALLEY ROAD, Jon spotted the FOF FERRUGINOUS HAWK. We zipped up SANTA ANITA ROAD to add ACORN WOODPECKER, CALIFORNIA QUAIL and YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE. But, the real show was on lower QUIEN SABE ROAD where a quartet of eagles was fighting over a rabbit kill!! Two BALD EAGLES, one adult, and one possible HY, had the rabbit, but two GOLDEN EAGLES stole the rabbit from them. The adult golden eagle mantled the prey with incredible intensity. Not one of the other eagles dared to come near!

At PAICINES RESERVOIR, we added: CANADA GOOSE (the greater white-fronted geese had left), GREEN-WINGED TEAL, CANVASBACK (1 female), RING-NECKED DUCK (1 male), BLUE-WINGED TEAL (1), RUDDY DUCK, PIED-BILLED GREBE, CLARK'S GREBE, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, GREAT BLUE HERON, GREAT EGRET, TURKEY VULTURE, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, PECTORAL SANDPIPER (1), HOUSE WREN (1), WESTERN BLUEBIRD, WESTERN TANAGLER (1), SONG SPARROW, BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, HOUSE FINCH, and LESSER GOLDFINCH. While we were at the reservoir, two delightful ladies, Shirley Murphy and Caroline Rogers, pulled up. They were also out birding, and we exchanged notes. 

At SOAP LAKE in the northern part of the county, we found: GADWALL, MALLARD, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, SNOWY EGRET (1), NORTHERN HARRIER (1, HY), AMERICAN COOT, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (1), KILLDEER, AMERICAN AVOCET, BLACK-NECKED STILT, GREATER YELLOWLEGS (21), LESSER YELLOWLEGS (1), LEAST SANDPIPER (50), LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (23), BURROWING OWL (1), SAY'S PHOEBE, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, WARBLING VIREO (1), VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, MARSH WREN, CHIPPING SPARROW (1), SAVANNAH SPARROW, SONG SPARROW, and VIRGINIA RAIL.

It was a pleasure to spend the day birding my home patch with Jon.

Have fun,

Debi

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

TUFTED PUFFIN STAR: SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 TRIP REPORT

Howdy, Seabirders,

The September 28th Shearwater Journey's pelagic trip from Monterey started out with some dense fog, that lifted by 10 a.m. with great visibility for the remainder of the day. The singular highlight of the day was TUFTED PUFFIN that leader, Linda Terrill spotted sitting on the water. Everyone on board had great views, and the photographers were delighted. This represents the only fall sighting of a tufted puffin for Monterey Bay. (Although, our trip to the Farallon Islands in early August always records them, as they are presumed to breed on the islands). We saw most of the fall migrants, including five species of shearwaters: 180 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 1 or 2 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 20 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, 330 SOOTY SHEARWATERS, and 3 to 5 BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS. The large, mixed feeding groups of both whales, dolphins, sea lions, and seabirds continued.

We thank all of the trip participants who traveled from near and far, and the Monterey Bay Birding Festival for its support of this trip. The leaders were: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Jim Danzenbaker, Oscar Johnson, Don Doolittle, Steve Howell, and Debra Shearwater. 

Spaces are still open on all of our October trips, except the October 12th trip from Santa Cruz which is sold out. Spaces are available on the November 29th trip.

The complete species tally follows:

SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 MONTEREY BAY

PACIFIC LOON- 10

COMMON LOON- 2

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 29

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 180

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1 or 2

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 20

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 330

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 3 to 5

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 3

BLACK STORM-PETREL- 1

BROWN PELICAN- 100

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 300

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2

BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER- 5

BLACK TURNSTONE- 8

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 45

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 5

POMARINE JAEGER- 9

POMARINE/PARASITIC- 2

PARASITIC JAEGER- 4

JAEGER SP.- 2

HEERMANN'S GULL- 150

CALIFORNIA GULL- 70

WESTERN GULL- 300

SABINE'S GULL- 3

ELEGANT TERN- 70

COMMON MURRE- 800

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 2, in the harbor

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 15

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 180

TUFTED PUFFIN- 1

SEA OTTER- 3

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 400

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 2

HUMPBACK WHALE- 30

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 100

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 420

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 220

DALL'S PORPOISE- 12

OCEAN SUNFISH- 2

Shearwaters forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

PELAGIC WARBLERS: SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 TRIP REPORT

Hello, Seabirders,

The undisputed highlight of Shearwater Journey's September 28th pelagic trip from Monterey was at least four species of WARBLERS! In Santa Cruz County waters, a BLACKPOLL warbler flew around the boat. In Monterey County, a HY PALM WARLBER was gently caught by leader, Oscar Johnson, placed in a warm, dark container, and released near Fisherman's Wharf upon our return. Also in Monterey County, was a female type AMERICAN REDSTART. And, finally, the beauty of the day was a HY female, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER which landed repeatedly on the boat, and was photographed! This warbler was a life bird for many on board. The warbler fall out on board our boat matched the fall outs reported along the coast. Other migrants included a male CINNAMON TEAL, a DUNLIN, and a DOWITCHER. An unusual sighting was a very, very large piece of dead squid! This squid was much larger than the Humboldt Squids that we have seen in recent years. Not surprisingly, 8-12 BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALES were sighted within a few minutes. These large toothed whales probably killed the squid, as it is one of their presumed prey items. We also saw large numbers of BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES (47), feeding on the cast off remains of a fishing vessel, along with many PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, and a few BULLER'S SHEARWATERS. Only one BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER was observed. Many, many active feeding flocks of gulls, CALIFORNIA SES LIONS, BROWN PELICANS, BRANDT'S CORMORANTS, and shearwaters were feeding with HUMPBACK WHALES. In spite of excellent conditions, we did not find the storm-petrel flocks, even after searching the recent locations, and past year's locations. The sea surface temperature changed from previous weeks, with some cooler temperatures being recorded: 56-59F. Maybe the storm-petrel flocks moved to the Pioneer Canyon. Hard to say.

We thank all of the participants who traveled from near and far, and the Monterey Bay Birding Festival, for being a part of our day. The leaders were: Jon Dunn, Denise Wight, Jennifer Green, Oscar Johnson, Steve Howell, Don Doolittle, and Debra Shearwater. 

October trips are a great time to look for arriving Short-tailed Shearwaters, and unusual/rare shearwaters such as Streaked and Wedge-tailed. Spaces are still available on most of our October trips. The October 12th trip departing from Santa Cruz is SOLD OUT. 

Spaces are available on the following trips departing from MONTEREY: OCTOBER 3, 4, 5, 11, & 18; NOVEMBER 29; and from BODEGA BAY: OCTOBER 9 & 17. Please contact Debra Shearwater (below) for a reservation.

The complete species list follows:

SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 MONTEREY BAY PELAGIC TRIP

PACIFIC LOON- 1

WESTERN GREBE- 1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 47

NORTHERN FULMAR- 1

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 500

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 8

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 1

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 125

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 40

BROWN PELICAN- 100

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 500

CINNAMON TEAL- 1, male

BLACK TURNSTONE- 7

DUNLIN- 1

DOWITCHER- 1

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 9

POMARINE JAEGER- 7

POMARINE/PARASITIC- 3

PARASITIC JAEGER- 4

HEERMANN'S GULL- 150

CALIFORNIA GULL- 1700

WESTERN GULL- 500

ELEGANT TERN- 100

COMMON MURRE- 700

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 9

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 700

PEREGRINE FALCON- 1, on the radio tower on Cannery Row

PALM WARBLER- 1 HY

BLACKPOLL WARBLER- 1 

AMERICAN REDSTART- 1, female type

BAY-BREASTED WARBLER- 1 HY female

SEA OTTER- 10

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 600

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 3

NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1

HARBOR SEAL- 10

HUMPBACK WHALE- 45

BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALE- 8 to 12

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 20

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 10 to 15

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 110

DALL'S PORPOISE- 19

OCEAN SUNFISH- 1

BLUE SHARK- 1, feeding on the squid carcass

GIANT SQUID CARCASS- 1

MOON JELLIES

EGG YOLK JELLIES

Shearwaters & warblers forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

Oh, So Sweet— Pelagic Bay-Breasted Warbler

Hello, Birders,

Here she is — a sweet hatch year, female BAY-BREASTED WARBLER that landed on our Monterey Bay pelagic trip on September 28, 2008. She perched on the upper rails of the vessel allowing Don Doolittle to capture these alluring images. She had personality plus!

BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, MONTEREY COUNTY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 IMAGE BY DON DOOLITTLE, copyright 2008.

Showing off her "bay sides." IMAGE BY DON DOOLITTLE, copyright, 2008.

Shearwaters & warblers forever,

Debra

Debra Shearwater

Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

PO Box 190

Hollister, CA 95024

831.637.8527

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

www.shearwaterjourneys.com

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

Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter

SANTA CRUZ/MONTEREY BAY PELAGIC REPORT: SEP 26, 2008

Howdy, Seabirders,

Shearwater Journey's pelagic trip today, departed on a spacious, new
boat from the Yacht Harbor in Santa Cruz. It was a very birdy day
with some very distinct highiights, among them: knock-out views of a
LAYSAN ALBATROSS which flew straight in from the bow, circled the
boat, and sat on the water, a terrific show for all. Not to be
outdone, at least 17 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES were also found. Five
species of shearwaters included: 350 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 2 FLESH-
FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 15 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, 1000 SOOTY SHEARWATERS,
and 17 newly arrived, BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS. A grand slam on the
jaegers produced, POMARINE, PARASITIC and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS. The
star of the alcid show was 10 MARBLED MURRELETS off of West Cliff
Drive. Four HARBOR PORPOISES, our smallest cetacean, were spotted
while watching the murrelets. HUMPBACK WHALES were no less
spectacular, with feeding frenzies of shearwaters, BROWN PELICANS,
BRANDT'S CORMORANTS, and CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS. Many happy moments
were spent with the bow-riding NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS and
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS many of them with calves in a herd of
nearly 1000 animals.

We thank all of the participants, and the MONTEREY BAY BIRDING
FESTIVAL (www.montereybaybirdingfestival.org) and the leaders: Jon
Dunn, Alan Hopkins, Jennifer Green, Steve Howell, David Suddjian,
Steve Gerow, and Debra Shearwater.

Spaces are still available on all of our October trips, including a
few on the trip that departs from Santa Cruz on October 12th. Please
email Debra Shearwater, debi@shearwaterjourneys.com for reservation
information.

The complete species list follows:

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 MONTEREY BAY FROM SANTA CRUZ

RED-THROATED LOON- 2
PACIFIC LOON- 2
COMMON LOON- 1
EARED GREBE- 3
WESTERN GREBE- 28
LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 17
NORTHERN FULMAR- 1
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 350
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 2
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 15
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 1000
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 17
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 12
BROWN PELICAN- 200
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 200
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 50
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2
SURF SCOTER- 4
WANDERING TATTLER- 1
BLACK TURNSTONE- 40
SURFBIRD- 20
SANDERLING- 20
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 1
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 7
POMARINE JAEGER- 6
POMARINE/PARASITIC JAEGER- 3
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1
HEERMANN'S GULL- 200
CALIFORNIA GULL- 1000
WESTERN GULL- 1000
ELEGANT TERN- 300
COMMON TERN- 2
COMMON MURRE- 1000
MARBLED MURRELET- 10
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 45
SEA OTTER- 20
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 500
HUMPBACK WHALE- 17
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 300
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 700
HARBOR PORPOISE- 4
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1, large one

Shearwaters forever,
Debra Shearwater
831.637.8527
debi@shearwaterjourneys.com
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024

SIX SPECIES OF SHEARWATERS: Monterey Bay, September 25, 2008

Howdy, Seabirders,

The highlight of today's Shearwater Journey's pelagic trip from
Monterey was SIX SPECIES of SHEARWATERS: 450 PINK-FOOTEDS, 1 FLESH-
FOOT, 22 BULLER'S, 2500 SOOTYS, 1 or 2 MANX, and 3 BLACK-VENTED
SHEARWATERS. SOUTH POLAR SKUAS put on a great show, as did the BLACK-
FOOTED ALBATROSSES. As on most days at sea, the seabirds were
distributed in patches, but what great patches they were! Toward the
end of the day, we encountered one massive flock of feeding
shearwaters, pelicans, cormorants, and sea lions.

Our next trips with spaces available from Monterey are OCTOBER 3, 4,
5, 11, 18; NOVEMBER 29; JANUARY 17. Spaces are still available on our
OCTOBER 9 & 17 trips from BODEGA BAY. Please email Debra Shearwater
for a reservation.

We thank the many participants who joined us today, and the leaders:
Jon Dunn, Jim Danzenbaker, Brian Sullivan, Steve Howell, & Debra
Shearwater.

The complete species list follows:

SEPTEMBER 25, 2008 MONTEREY BAY

PACIFIC LOON- 7
COMMON LOON- 1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 26
NORTHERN FULMAR- 2
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 450
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 22
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 2500
MANX SHEARWATER- 1 or 2
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 3
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 9
BROWN PELICAN- 150
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 200
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2
HARLEQUIN DUCK- 1, on the far side of the Coast Guard Breakwater
BLACK TURNSTONE- 6
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 12
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 11
POMARINE JAEGER- 9
POMARINE/PARASITIC JAEGER- 5
PARASITIC JAEGER- 4
JAEGER SP.- 3
HEERMANN'S GULL- 100
CALIFORNIA GULL- 2000
WESTERN GULL- 500
SABINE'S GULL- 1
ELEGANT TERN- 30
COMMON TERN- 2
COMMON MURRE- 200
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 1
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 85
PEREGRINE FALCON- 1, on the radio tower on Cannery Row
SEA OTTER- 10
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 300
HARBOR SEAL- 10
HUMPBACK WHALE- 22, some breaching
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 40
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 180
DALL'S PORPOISE- 18

Shearwaters forever,

Debra Shearwater
debi@shearwaterjourneys.com
831.637.8527
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024

BREAKING NEWS: WANDERING ALBATROSS

Hi, there, seabirders,

With great excitement, I am relaying a report from Sophie Webb of a WANDERING ALBATROSS which was seen today from the research vessel, McArthur II, 280 miles west of San Jose, California, and 249 miles west south west of Point Arena, California. It is being reported as the same bird that was seen in Oregon by Greg Gillson. It is possible that some photographic images were obtained. 

It could happen here---

Albatrosses forever,

Debra Shearwater

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

831.637.8527

The story to come: ORCAS throwing COMMON DOLPHIN to Neptune!

In this spectacular image, one of four ORCAS is tossing a COMMON
DOLPHIN to Neptune, prior to killing it as seen on the Shearwater
Journey's Monday, September 22, 2008 pelagic trip on Monterey Bay,
California. Stay tuned for the full story and more images.
Image copyrighted by Debra Shearwater.