MEET GREG MILLER ON A SHEARWATER JOURNEYS PELAGIC TRIP

Hello, Birders,

Meet Greg Miller, a central character in the popular book, The Big Year, by Mark Obmascik, on board Shearwater Journeys' Monterey pelagic trips, September 13 and 16. Based on a true story, the book depicts three guys who chase birds all over North America in an attempt to score "the Big Year." Amazingly, Twentieth Century Fox made a movie by the same name which showed last year. Greg was hired to be the bird advisor for the movie which was directed by David Frankel and starred Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. Angelica Houston played the sea-going, Debi Shearwater. Greg was on the set for three weeks and had a chance to meet many of the actors and crew. Lately, I've seen the movie as an in flight movie when flying from the West Coast to the East Coast and on HBO in a motel room. Greg has an incredible sense of humor and is one of birding's finest. Meet Greg on board and he can tell you much, much more. Or, meet Greg on land—

Meet Greg at the Monterey Bay Birding Festival in Watsonville where he will be the keynote speaker, September 15. This festival has many field trips with excellent leaders, workshops and more. Don't miss out. Shearwater Journeys is proud to be the official provider of pelagic trips for the festival. About 70% of the festival attendees partake of at least one pelagic trip. For more information and registration, see this link:

http://www.montereybaybirding.org/index.html

To learn more about Greg Miller, see:

http://www.gregmillerbirding.com/about/

Of course, Greg would be delighted to autograph your copy of The Big Year. So, be sure to bring it along!

Best in birding,

Debi

DEBI SHEARWATER SPEAKING at the 20TH ANNUAL MASS AUDUBON BIRDERS MEETING: MARCH 3, 2012

Howdy, Birders,

If you are anywhere near the hood' stop in to see me at Bentley University, Waltham, MA. I'll be speaking at the MASS AUDUBON BIRDERS MEETING. There is a great line up of speakers. Walk-in registration is available tomorrow. Map and directions here.

Amazingly, on my flight from SFO to Boston, yesterday, the in-flight movie was, "The Big Year!" Hope to see you there!

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

"EMERGENCY" PELAGIC TRIP: OCTOBER 29, 2011 BODEGA BAY WHITE-CHINNED PETREL

Howdy Birders,

For the second time in just a few months, Todd McGrath found a WHITE-CHINNED PETREL (Procellaria aequinoctialis) on October 16, 2011 near the Cordell Bank on a pelagic trip from Bodega Bay. This petrel was sitting on the water, as below, with a flock of NORTHERN FULMARS. Images copyright, Todd McGrath. Please do not use without permission.

This individual petrel is not the same bird as the WHITE-CHINNED PETREL that Todd found on the September 6, 2011 southern California pelagic trip aboard the Searcher. Given these two White-chinned Petrel records, and the two sightings of GREAT-WINGED PETREL (found by Abe Borker August 26, 2011 at Monterey Bay and September 17, at Half Moon Bay, both Shearwater Journeys' trips), and reports of SHORT-TAILED ALABTROSS, I've determined that an "emergency" pelagic trip at Bodega Bay is in order. In addition, other seabirds were abundant at Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank on October 14, 15 and 16. Late October and November are really great times to get out on the ocean. Most of the southern hemisphere breeders have departed, making the unusual or rare seabirds stand out more readily. For instance, every one of Shearwater Journeys' October pelagic trips, from every port, found at least one FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER. Our Half Moon Bay trip on October 16th found four Flesh-footed Shearwaters and a LAYSAN ALBATROSS.

You will need a reservation for the "Emergency" pelagic trip. The trip is guaranteed to run no matter how many people sign up. If the trip sells out, I will post a notice on this blog and on the list serves. The trip will only be canceled if the weather/seas do not allow us to proceed. I will try to call you on your cell phone, if that happens.

EMERGENCY PELAGIC TRIP INFO:

DATE: SAT, OCT 29

PLACE OF DEPARTURE: PORT O'BODEGA, BODEGA BAY

MEETING TIME: 6:30 AM, SHARP

PARKING: FREE

RETURN TIME: APPROX. 5 PM, DO NOT BOOK AN EVENING FLIGHT

BOAT FEE: $230 PER PERSON

RESERVATIONS: Email your name, home address, cell phone to debi@shearwaterjourneys.com and put your check in the mail immediately. After October 25th, do not send checks. You will need to pay at the dock, cash only, if space is still available. You will need to have a reply from Debi for a firm reservation.

PREPARATION: Dress very warmly with waterproof outer layer, if possible. You must wear CLOSE-TOED SHOES. Bring gloves, hats. Bring all food & drink for the day. Take a seasick pill. As with all Shearwater Journeys trip, this is a non-smoking trip. Check in with Debi prior to boarding the boat.

BODEGA BAY MOTELS: Bodega Harbor Inn is usually the least expensive, but not my personal favorite. Inn at the Tides is very nice and seems like it might have a special rate going on at the moment. There's a few others, but not many. Motel rates can be cheaper on Highway 101 in Petaluma. However, if you elect to stay along Highway 101, be sure to allow yourself at least an hour to drive to the boat because you can get lost, get slowed down by dense fog or a small truck pulling a trailer with a boat. For the person who has never been to Bodega Bay before, this option is not the best idea. If you miss the boat, and I will leave on time, you will not receive any refund or credit.

RESTAURANTS: No restaurants are open early enough in the morning for the boat trip. None of the motels serves breakfast early enough, either. Be sure to plan for your breakfast. Some motel rooms have refrigerators and/or microwaves. The Pelican Plaza Deli and gourmet grocery store can make you a good sandwich for the boat trip, but you'll need to arrive before they close on Friday night. My favorite restaurant for dinner is the Sandpiper.

Keep in mind that Shearwater Journeys' two November trips have spaces available: November 22 departing from Half Moon Bay and November 27 departing from Monterey Bay.

Shearwaters & Auklets & Procellaria Petrels Forever,

Debi Shearwater

AKA: Annie Auklet as played by Angelica Huston in the 20th Century Fox movie, "The Big Year" now playing at theater near you!

TRIP REPORT: OCTOBER 8, 2011 MONTEREY BAY

Howdy, Birders,

Good sea conditions and lots of seabirds greeted the participants of Shearwater Journeys' October 8, 2011 pelagic trip at Monterey Bay. Highlights of this day included: one extremely co-operative LAYSAN ALBATROSS, one distant FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER, 45 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS (more than on recent trips), 4 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, showing well for the photographers, the first of fall BONAPARTE'S GULL, and at least five KILLER WHALES FEEDING ON A KILL— the frosting on the cake at the end of the day. Birding was great, immediately upon leaving the harbor, with two PIGEON GUILLEMOTS near the Coast Guard jetty. The RISSO'S DOLPHINS were still present, but most of the seabirds feeding on squid had dispersed. Things change! We headed south along the 110 fathom line because we kept encountering flocks of feeding shearwaters. However, after several miles, I decided to head offshore, hoping for a skua. Sure enough, as soon as we stopped to look at and photograph the BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES near the boat, the first of several SOUTH POLAR SKUAS circled overhead! We were already having a great day when the call came over the radio that some KILLER WHALES were feeding on an animal they had killed only 6 miles away. So, the frosting on the cake was watching these killer whales at the end of the day! More posts will be forthcoming about this. Stay tuned!

Typical of feeding KILLER WHALES, many seabirds will feed on the scraps that reach the surface. In my image, below, you can see a BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS and a PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, following the two killer whales.

After watching and photographing these Killer Whales for a solid hour, we had to head back to the harbor. They also appeared to be finished feeding, as they formed a "chorus line" and headed away from us.

See Abe Borker's images of this trip. Many thanks to all of the great folks who joined us on this trip. The leaders on this trip were: Todd McGrath, Abe Borker, Wes Fritz, Ben Thompson, John Sorensen and Debi Shearwater.

The complete species list for OCTOBER 8, 2011 MONTEREY BAY follows:

All birds in Monterey County.

PACIFIC LOON- 5

COMMON LOON- 1

LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 1

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 20

NORTHERN FULMAR- 30

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 110

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 45

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 110

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 5

BROWN PELICAN- 6

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 4

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2

SURF SCOTER- 17

BLACK TURNSTONE- 12

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 75

RED PHALAROPE- 15

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 4

POMARINE JAEGER- 7

PARASITIC JAEGER- 5

BONAPARTE'S GULL- 1

HEERMANN'S GULL- +

CALIFORNIA GULL- +

WESTERN GULL- +

COMMON TERN- 12

COMMON MURRE- 400

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 2

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 200

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 60

SEA OTTER- 2, mother with pup

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 250

HARBOR SEAL- 1

KILLER WHALE- 5 or 6 (2 males, 1 young)

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 30

OCEAN SUNFISH- 3

Join us on our OCTOBER 14th trip departing from BODEGA BAY and our OCTOBER 15th trip departing from HALF MOON BAY. Please reserve no later than 8 am on October 13th by calling Debi at: 831-637-8527; debi@shearwaterjourneys.com.

Shearwaters and Auklets forever,

Debi Shearwater

AKA: "Annie Auklet" as played by Angelica Huston in the movie, "The Big Year" opening on October 14th at a theater near you!

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER: SEP 9, 2011

Howdy, Birders,

I forgot to include the FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER (Puffinus carneipes) in my recap of the September trips. This bird was seen on the September 9, 2011 Monterey Bay trip. The image below was made by John Schwarz, copyright. It is a difficult shearwater to photograph, as they are often flying by. Flesh-footed Shearwaters breed on the Chicken Islands, Mercury Island and other New Zealand islands. They eat squid and fish. This species is not common. In fact, we call it a "one in 10 trip shearwater," meaning that one generally needs to do at least 10 trips to observe this shearwater. Peter LaTourette has some nice images of this species, here.

Shearwaters forever,

Debi Shearwater

AKA "Annie Auklet" as played by Angelica Huston, in the 20th Century Fox movie, "The Big Year" opening October 14th in a theater near you!