DADS TAKE THEIR CHICKS TO SEA: JULY 20 HALF MOON BAY PELAGIC TRIP REPORT

This is a trip report for Shearwater Journeys's July 20, 2014 pelagic trip departing from Half Moon Bay. Highlights and surprises included: BLACK-VENTED and FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS; LEACH'S STORM-PETREL; SABINE'S GULL and CRAVERI'S MURRELETS. Offshore conditions were excellent with flat-calm seas for nearly the entire 11+ hour ocean trip where we headed at least 22 miles offshore. Our trip was rounded out with some of the more expected early fall seabirds, and of course, HUMPBACK WHALES. We encountered a lot of OCEAN SUNFISH, and for the first time in almost a decade, we saw many of the delightful BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS. We covered both San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. 

COMMON MURRE: DAD & CHICK, below. 

Image by Beth Hamel, copyright. 

 

This is the time of year when we see many pairs of "Dads & Chicks" — the father COMMON MURRE takes the newly fledged chick out to sea and cares for it for about 10 weeks. They stay together, the chick making a whistling call to the day who returns a guttural call back. 

Funny thing— I realized that we had some "Dads & Chick Birder Pairs" on board!

One of four pairs of "Dads & Chicks" enjoying marine life on Shearwater Journeys's trip. 

This young man ticked off 14 Life Birds! 

Birding begins right in the harbor! We could easily spend hours here! 

WESTERN GULL chicks, above.

Image by Jim Holmes, copyright. 

Just outside of the harbor, we search for the Federally Endangered MARBLED MURRELET, above and below. Images by Beth Hamel, copyright.

At this time of year, they are still in their cryptic alternate, or breeding plumage. 

This tiny alcid, the size of one's hand, breeds deep in the redwood forests. 

 

Turning offshore, I was surprised and thrilled to encounter the beautiful BY-THE-WIND-SAILOR, below. We have not found this delightful little hydrozoan for nearly a decade. 

Image, below, copyright, Beth Hamel. 

BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS are small relatives of the Portuguese Man-of-War. They can carpet the sea at times, almost seeming as if it were possible to "walk on water" on top of them. 

It wasn't long before we encountered the first os seven pairs of CRAVERI'S MURRELETS, below. 

This fly-away view is more typical. However, we can see their very dark backs. These southern breeders have not been reliably reported in central California for many years, possibly a decade. 

Image, copyright, Beth Hamel. 

Usually, we encounter the first BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS once we get over the Continental Shelf. However, the first of 235 albatrosses appeared in only 30-50 fathoms on this day. 

 We headed to a fishing vessel that was pulling its' net, below. 

We counted more than 100 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES sitting on the water around this vessel. Look behind the vessel in this image, and you'll see two of these albatrosses. Raft of Black-footed Albatrosses above, copyright, Beth Hamel. 

A BLAKC-FOOTED ALBATROSS feeding on a Rosy Rockfish. 

Image, copyright, Beth Hamel. 

One of two presumed FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, below, image copyright, Beth Hamel.

Dark morph Pink-footed Shearwaters exist and can easily be confused with Flesh-footed Shearwaters. 

Although Flesh-footed Shearwaters are more often seen from late September through October, they have been recorded every month of the year. 

 LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, below, image copyright Beth Hamel, was a real surprise. 

LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS are abundant far offshore (50-100 miles), but not nearshore (within 25 miles), which is where most one day pelagic trips go. This species is one of the most difficult to find storm-petrels on the West Coast on one day trips. 

Another one of the "Dad & Chick" pairs on this trip, this time with a "Mom," too!

The above family had studied well for this species!

Our Captain gunned the boat, chasing the Leach's Storm-Petrel so that everyone on board had great views, whether at the bow or stern of the vessel. This image by Jim Holmes was shot from the stern of the boat. 

Owing to our southerly route, we did not pass the weather buoy until we were on our way home.

Two CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS are seeking to win the "Darwin Award," having entrapped themselves inside of the buoy bars, seemingly with no way out! We'll check on them on our next trip, July 26!

 

We encountered loads of OCEAN SUNFISH in all sizes from the dinner plate size to large 4-5 footers. 

Many of the sunfish were "breaching," popping out of the water. However, we did see one albacore jump, too!

Image, below copyright Beth Hamel.

This "Dad & Chick," below, hailed form England. 

 

Back in the day — 1976 when I first began pelagic trips, leaders often identified this pair, below, as a "Common Murre and a Murrelet"! In those days, we didn't know that it was the father who took the baby murre out to sea! The chicks are noticeably smaller with smaller bills. We've learned a lot since those first years of pelagic birding, but we're still learning today. This is truly, one of the "last frontiers" of birding!

Image below, copyright Beth Hamel. 

Another "Dad with his chick" below.  Teddy made his first pelagic trip with us three years ago when he was only six years old!

 We saw a few RHINOCEROS AUKLETS, including this adult, below. 

Image copyright, Beth Hamel. 

 SANDY KOMITO & DEBI SHEARWATER, best of buds, below!

SANDY KOMITO of The Big Year fame, did his first West Coast pelagic trips with Shearwater Journeys in 1985! Talk about repeat clients — many return year after year with us! Sandy rarely ticks a pelagic Life Bird, or any new bird for North America. However, he did see a Lifer Hawaiian Petrel which Debi spotted on the August 2, 2013 Monterey Bay pelagic trip!

Drawing on many sources, I made a Plan A for the day's route the night prior. One of the many resources that I use is TERRAFIN's SST (Sea Surface Temperature) charts. In the chart above, the purple route represents, roughly, where we went on this day. We traveled further south than we usually do. Calm seas made that possible. The areas of white on the chart were areas that were covered with fog, preventing a satellite temperature reading. Terrafin is available to anyone, for a subscriber fee. Charts used with express permission from Terrafin.

For most of the day, the SST was between 59.8-61F. We went southwest to about 18 miles off Pescadero, and then up to the Pioneer Canyon, and home. 

BETH HAMEL, photographer, above. 

Our day was completed with views of HUMPBACK WHALES.

Images above and below, copyright Jim Holmes. 

So ended a FABULOUS FIRST TRIP OF THE SEASON!

Our next trips departing from HALF MOON BAY with spaces available are:

JULY 26; AUGUST 2, 16, 17, 23; SEPTEMBER 7, 8, 15, 21, 24; OCTOBER 5, 12.

We thank all the folks who came from near and far to join our trip on this day.

The leaders on this trip were: PETER PYLE, JIM HOLMES, AL DE MARTINI & DEBI SHEARWATER.

THE COMPLETE SPECIES LIST FOR 20 JULY SHEARWATER JOURNEYS, HALF MOON BAY FOLLOWS: 

SAN MATEO/SAN FRANCISCO COUNTIES/HARBOR:

RED-THROATED LOON- 15/1/0

WESTERN GREBE- 20/0

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 195/40

NORTHERN FULMAR- 2/0

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 495/110

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 2/0

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 1380/20

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 3/0

LEACH'S STORM-PETREL- 0/1

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 2/2

BROWN PELICAN- 175/0/600

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 10/0/6

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 1/0/75

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 4/0

SURF SCOTER- 1 in the harbor

BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 4, in the harbor

BLACK TURNSTONE- 4, in the harbor

SURFBIRD- 8, in the harbor

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 390/60

POMARINE JAEGER- 1/0

JAEGER SP.- 5/0

HEERMANN'S GULL- 100/0/25

CALIFORNIA GULL- 120/5

WESTERN GULL- 430/20/145

SABINE'S GULL- 3/0

ELEGANT TERN- 8/0/1200 

CASPIAN TERN- 1, in the harbor

COMMON MURRE- 500/1/2

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 4/0/20

MARBLED MURRELET- 5/2

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 8/0

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 11/1

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 25

STELLER'S SEA LION- 1

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 1

HARBOR SEAL- 1

HUMPBACK WHALE- 10

BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN- 6, just outside of the harbor

HARBOR PORPOISE- 8, just outside of the harbor

DALL'S PORPOISE- 5

OCEAN SUNFISH- 38

ALBACORE (tuna) -1, jumping

BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS- +++

MOON JELLIES- 12

LION'S MANE JELLY- 2

HOPE TO SEE YOU OUT THERE!

SHEARWATERS FOREVER,

DEBI SHEARWATER

MONTEREY SEABIRDS with SHEARWATER JOURNEYS

MONTEREY HAS IT ALL

ESPECIALLY IN THE FALL

Monterey's seabirds are well known, the world over, in no small thanks to Shearwater Journeys which pioneered pelagic seabirding trips here beginning in 1976. For more years than any other individual person or business, Shearwater Journeys has been the single leading seabird company offering the most annual departures for novice and expert seabirders. 

More than 60,000 birders and lovers of marine life from all over the world have participated on Shearwater Journeys's trips.

 Your birding trip begins right in the harbor where we may see PIGEON GUILLEMOT, BRANDT'S and PELAGIC CORMORANTS. Along the Coast Guard Jetty, we look for BLACK TURNSTONE, SURFBIRD, WANDERING TATTLER, and perhaps, the first RED-NECKED PHALAROPES in the kelp beds. Let's not forget the CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS piled up on the jetty, or the squeals of a young SEA OTTER!

Large numbers of seabirds, sometimes in the thousands, as these SOOTY SHEARWATERS, below, or even tens of thousands, feed on the nutrient-rich waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary each fall. 

 

This sanctuary is contiguous with the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, forming the largest protected areas in the United States. The main feature at Monterey is the huge submarine canyon which bisects the bay. This canyon is as deep as the Grand Canyon and plays a part in the huger upwelling which brings the cold, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, feeding everything from BLUE WHALES to CASSIN'S AUKLETS. It is one of very few such rich and diverse marine ecosystems in the world. 

Monterey Bay is a terrific starting point for beginner sea birders. The bay is half-moon shaped lending protection from the prevailing northwest winds. This means that we generally have very good to excellent marine weather conditions, especially during fall migration. Veteran sea birders know that Monterey Bay can turn up a MEGA-RARE seabird any day. Just ask SANDY KOMITO for whom the HAWAIIAN PETREL, above, was a LIFE BIRD 

 In addition to seabirds, marine mammals can be quite spectacular in Monterey Bay. A huge variety of whales, including, HUMPBACK, BLUE, GRAY, MINKE, FIN (rarely), BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALES, ORCAS/KILLER WHALES (above), and dolphins: RISSO'S, PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED, NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE and BOTTLENOSE, as well as HARBOR and DALL'S PORPOISES, are often seen on our Monterey Bay trips. We often spot the whales for the whale watching boats!

With loads of food, sometimes tons of food, good weather, a great diversity of seabirds and marine mammals, Monterey Bay is often the #1 destination for birders seeking to tick up a life list. 

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER, above, is found most easily from late September through November. 

SCRIPPS'S MURRELET, above, can show up anytime throughout the fall season. 

We present, below, the 2014 Shearwater Journeys's fall schedule of pelagic trips departing from Monterey. No other organization offers more dedicated seabird trips, nor has the depth of knowledge or decades of experience as Shearwater Journeys. These trips can easily be combined with trips departing from HALF MOON BAY or BODEGA BAY, for a well rounded pelagic experience. It is always best to book more than one trip, from different ports, if possible. Debi Shearwater will be on every trips. By being out there on so many trips that cover such a large area of the Central Coast, Debi can develop a good picture of how and where the seabirds are distributed — something that changes every year, and even within the season. The ALBACORE, September 13th trip which departs from Monterey is a specialty trip. Please note that on all of the trips, we shall not be out of the sight of land, unless it is fogged in. Below, we present 17 trips. You can also view the complete 2013 schedule on our web site. Or, view it in calendar format, here. You can find many past trip reports, here. Generally, Monterey Bay trips head north, while Monterey Seavalley trips head south. However, we always go where we think we'll find the best diversity of seabirds! 

MONTEREY BAY & MONTEREY SEAVALLEY 2014

AUG. 1, FRI.

AUG. 8, FRI.

AUG. 15, FRI.

AUG. 22, FRI.

SEP. 5, FRI.

SEP. 9, TUE.

SEP. 10, WED.

SEP. 11, THU.

SEP. 12, FRI.

SEP. 13, SAT.- ALBACORE: OFFSHORE

SEP. 14, SUN.

SEP. 25, THU.

SEP. 26, FRI.

SEP. 27, SAT.

SEP. 28, SUN.

OCT. 4, SAT.

OCT. 11, SAT. 

DETAILS FOR MONTEREY BAY TRIPS:

DEPARTURE: 7 a.m. Fisherman's Wharf Monterey. Stop at Chris' Fishing Shop on the right hand side as you walk down the wharf. They will direct you to the boat. (Albacore trip departs at 5:30 a.m.)

RETURN: 3:00 p.m. Allow for delays.

PARKING: Parking can be confusing in this area, as there are two different wharves. Park in the big lot near Fisherman's Wharf. Follow the signs. Take a ticket from the machine upon entering the lot. Stop at Chris' Fishing and let them know you are on the Shearwater Journeys's trip. They will give you a parking coupon which will reduce the cost of parking significantly. Allow at least 10 minutes to park and walk to the shop, more time if you do not know where you are going. Try to check it out the day prior. 

PRICE ADJUSTMENT: Should the pricing increase, an adjustment may be necessary at the dockside, from $5-15 per person, payable in cash only. Do not send payment ahead with your registration. This will only occur if the rate increases. 

FOOD & DRINKS: Please bring all food & drinks, including water in a small day pack. None is available on the boat. 

MOTELS: There are thousands of motels in the Monterey area. However, they can be fully booked, if an "event" is happening — which is often. Booking motel rooms ahead of arrival almost always results in lower rates, as opposed to walking in the door without a booking. Motels in the sleepy town of Pacific Grove are especially nice, with easy public assess to birding Ocean View Blvd. for rocky shorebirds. A bit closer to the wharf (but still requiring a vehicle), any motel on Munras Aveneu is fine. 

RESERVATIONS: Please follow the instructions on the web site for booking. You will receive a return confirmation by mail. 

RATE: $164/person: $199/person for the Albacore trip. 

JUMP ON BOARD!

SHEARWATERS FOREVER, 

Debi Shearwater

Images in this blog post, copyright:

Brian Sullivan, Dave Pereksta, Debi Shearwater

LESSONS for PELAGIC BIRDING FROM SANDY KOMITO

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM SANDY KOMITO

Howdy, Birders,
Following on from the previous post about doing more than one pelagic trip if visiting from outside of the area, I thought I would use SANDY KOMITO as an example. Many birders know about Sandy from reading the book, The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. Or, from the movie, "The Big Year." Actually, Sandy has been on the birding scene for a long, long time. And, he's still going at it, methodically and with patience.
Each person who has ever been on a pelagic trip with me has a little 3 x 5 index card in my file box. This has been my method from the early days, beginning in 1976 of tracking people. Today, the file houses thousands and thousands of cards! Looking at Sandy's card, I can see all of the trips he's ever made with Shearwater Journeys. His first trip was September 13 to 16, 1985. With a date such as that, I know that it was an two night, overnight, offshore trip. It was probably on the old "Condor" out of Santa Barbara. The old "Condor" bears little resemblance to the new "Condor" of today which still operates out of Santa Barbara. I don't remember every trip — it has been far too many days at sea for me, but I hope that Sandy saw some of the seabirds he was searching for on that big trip.
Well, Sandy continued doing trips with me over all these many years so that he has filled up two 3 x 5 cards! One would think that this man must have seen every seabird imaginable with a score sheet like that. Nope.
Birding is a dynamic sport. It seems that there is always something new taking place. Seabirding is no different. Recently, the split of Xantus's murrelet to SCRIPP'S and GUADALUPE murrelets has sent a scurry of birders back to sea. New information and knowledge and range changes have come to the forefront of seabirding, such that we now know that HAWAIIAN PETRELS regularly range off Northern California. The question is: when and where. For Sandy Komito, the Hawaiian Petrel proved to be elusive. He tried in 2010, 2012 and again, this season — all August trips which seems to be one of the best times to hope to see this mysterious and endangered petrel.
Sandy, who lives on the East Coast, did exactly as I have suggested in the previous post — he booked THREE TRIPS! The best bet for finding Hawaiian Petrel is probably the Half Moon Bay trips. Sandy booked July 27 & July 28. Both were great birding trips, excellent days at sea. But, alas! No Hawaiian Petrel. Sandy's third trip was August 2, departing from Monterey. Well, in all honesty, I almost said to him at the dock, "You know, Sandy, we are not going to see a Hawaiian Petrel today." I know better. Every time, I've said something like that, I was proved wrong. And, in this case, I would have proved myself wrong, because, I spotted a petrel — which Brian Sullivan got on, right away — you gotta love the younger birders — HAWAIIAN PETREL!!! HAWAIIAN PETREL!! SANDY WAS ON IT! EVERYONE ON BOARD SAW IT. What an amazing day! And, below, you can see just exactly how happy Sandy was to see not only a new ABA (American Birding Association) bird, but also, a LIFE BIRD. Folks, Sandy Komito does not score life birds in the ABA area very often. Patience and persistence paid off for Sandy, as well as booking more than one trip when coming such a long distance. Later, I was reminded that we also saw a Hawaiian Petrel on exactly the same date in 2009.

Debi Shearwater & Sandy Komito

So, the reader might well wonder if I take my own advise. You betcha! A few years ago, I went "Back East" as we say, to see some spring pelagic birds. I booked seven trips with Brian Patteson. Of those seven trips: one had very rough weather, one had very calm seas and five had medium seas. Out of seven trips, I saw black-capped petrel on every trip, herald petrel on four trips, and Fea's Petrel (one bird) on one trip. My seven trips netted me a very nice seabird list. Another time, I returned to the East Coast for winter seabirding with my good friend, Paul Guris. I booked the only two trips See Life Paulagics had during the time I was there. One trip was weathered out. So, I was happy to have the second trip which was a huge success. 

There you have it!

See you out there

Shearwaters Forever,

Debi

Hawaiian Petrel image by Brian Sullivan from August 2, 2013

Please do not use without permission

TRIP REPORT: JULY 28, 2013 HALF MOON BAY

THE BEEF BETWEEN

DEBI SHEARWATER & SANDY KOMITO

This is a (serious) trip report for Shearwater Journeys' July 28, 2012 pelagic trip departing from Half Moon Bay. Highlights included: LAYSAN ALBATROSS, BULLER'S SHEARWATER, FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL, POMARINE, PARASITIC and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS; SABINE'S GULL; MARBLED and SCRIPP'S MURRELETS; BLUE and HUMPBACK WHALES; NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS, and, er, Debi pulling the knife.

Compared to our trip the day prior, July 27th, the northwest wind was blowing a bit, but not a lot. It was just enough to get the Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels up close and personal behind our boat. Sandy Komito of The Big Year fame was on board for his second trip in a row. He didn't complain one bit about stopping for forty three HUMPBACK WHALES the day before. Just kidding! We tried really hard for Cook's and Hawaiian Petrels, making it all the way to the Pioneer Canyon. But, none were found. It seems that the conditions are not right for Cook's Petrels at all this year. Far offshore (100 miles) trips by another birder, have turned up few Cook's. However, what I suspected was that the marine weather was setting up for us to make a "hit" on Hawaiian Petrels. The only problem was that the "setup" had just begun on this day. The conditions did in fact, materialize — on August 2 at Monterey Bay — where we did see a HAWAIIAN PETREL! Life Bird for Sandy Komito and many of the folks on board. If you didn't see the movie, "The Big Year" check it out. It stars Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. Angelica Huston plays Debi Shearwater in the movie and she pulls a knife on Owen Wilson who plays Sandy Komito. No, it never happened in "real" life. 

It was a great day at sea. The leaders on this day were: Al DeMartini and Debi Shearwater, with Ross Schaefer chumming. Many thanks to all of the birders who joined us. 

The complete species list follows, with SAN MATEO/SAN FRANCISCO COUNTIES:

LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 0/1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 13/30

NORTHERN FULMAR- 0/3

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 130/400

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 0/2

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 350/250

FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL- 0/3

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 11/70

BROWN PELICAN- 300/100

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 4/0

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2/0

BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 2/0

WANDERING TATTLER- 1/0

BLACK TURNSTONE- 6/0

SURFBIRD- 5/0

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 300/100

RED PHALAROPE- 2/5

POMARINE JAEGER- 0/2

PARASITIC JAEGER- 0/3

PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 0/4

LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1/4

HEERMANN'S GULL- 75/0

CALIFORNIA GULL- 30/4

WESTERN GULL- 145/60

SABINE'S GULL- 30/100

CASPIAN TERN- 1/0

ELEGANT TERN- 250/0

COMMON MURRE- 310/75

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 11/0

MARBLED MURRELET- 7/0

SCRIPP'S MURRELET- 2/0

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 2/4

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 4/3

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 3

HARBOR SEAL- 1

BLUE WHALE- 2

HUMPBACK WHALE- 7

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 20

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 55

HARBOR PORPOISE- 2

To say that we had a lot of fun on our first three trips this season is an understatement! Sandy Komito and I had a blast hamming it up for the photographers, trying to create a "beef" where there is none!

Hope to see you out there!

Shearwaters 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