THREE PELAGIC BIRDING TRIPS: 33 SPECIES OF OCEAN BIRDS

FINDING SEABIRDS with SHEARWATER JOURNEYS

Pelagic birding is often described as "the last frontier" of birding. I can clearly remember looking at the plates of jaegers, shearwaters, storm-petrels, and alcids in my Petersen Texas Field Guide in 1971! Well, we've come a long way since that time. Nearly four decades of seabirding trips with thousands of birders on board, we have perfected pelagic birding as best as anyone in the world. 

In fact, many other operations have taken inspiration from us!

I always advise birders who are traveling a long distance to reach our seabird-rich area to try to do more than one trip, and from more than one port. So, let's take a look at how that would have played out, had you booked the Shearwater Journeys's August 1 Monterey Bay trip, August 2 Half Moon Bay trip and August 3 Farallon Islands trip departing from Sausalito. 

Below the images, you will find the complete species list for each day. I did not include the rocky shorebirds. 

 As can be seen from the lists, the MONTEREY BAY trip on AUGUST 1 was the best trip for seeing BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS, above! Monterey is always a good place for getting one's feet wet with pelagic birds. It is a good option for the beginning sea birder who wants to learn the differences in flight patterns which are often the first critical clue about a bird. For instance, the Black-vented Shearwater has a faster wingbeat than the Sooty Shearwater. This is hard to "learn" when one sees only one or two Black-vents. But, the Monterey trip had over 100 Black-vents, giving the observer more opportunity to study the flight differences. 

Of the three trips, only the Monterey trip found SABINE'S GULLS. 

Every sea birder dreams of the mega-rare seabirds. Well, they are rare because we rarely see them! 

Hands down, the star seabird of our AUGUST 2 HALF MOON BAY trip was the HAWAIIAN PETREL, above. 

 While Monterey is a great starting point for beginning sea birders, it also remains an excellent place for intermediate and advanced sea birders, as well. Witness the fact that I spotted a HAWAIIAN PETREL on the AUGUST 2, 2013 MONTEREY BAY trip! 

Even before the petrel showed up, we had tallied some "good species."

CRAVERI'S MURRELETS, above, showing dark wing linings and SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS, below, showing white wing linings, are highly sought after small alcids in our area. 

These little treasures were ONLY found on the AUGUST 2 HALF MOON BAY trip. 

Note that Craveri's Murrelets have not shown up in central California for nearly a decade, and may not do so, again. So, if you are looking for this species, in particular, be advised: Get on a Half Moon Bay trip as soon as possible, or one of the Bodega Bay trips: September 1 & 19, this year! Don't wait until next year, as Craveri's Murrelet may not show up!

The Half Moon Bay trips are the ONLY trips were the endangered MARBLED MURRELET, below, is regularly encountered. 

So, by adding the Half Moon Bay departure to the Monterey Bay departure, one can increase the total species list dramatically. 

For our last trip in this sequence, we head to the Farallon Islands, departing from Sausalito. 

Note that we started on the southern central coast in Monterey and are now working our way north.

In addition to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, we seek the cheeky TUFTED PUFFIN, in particular on our AUGUST 3 FARALLON ISLAND trip. We have a 100% success rate for Tufted Puffin on our August Farallon trip, and this one was no different. 

However, we add a bonus bird: the NORTHERN GANNET (the white speck in the image below), which has been at the islands, off and on, for three years! 

 

Not too far from the gannet, a BROWN BOOBY is perched on Sugerloaf, too!

This is another "bonus seabird."

 Most of the trip to the Farallon Islands takes place on the Continental Shelf. After touring the islands, we head to the edge of the shelf, hoping to see shearwaters and Black-footed Albatross, which we do. 

Suddenly, in flies a LAYSAN ALBATROSS, yet another "bonus seabird"!

No one trip tallies as many species of seabirds. 

By doing all three trips, you would have tallied a MEGA-RARE SEABIRD, HAWAIIAN PETREL; other rarities: NORTHERN GANNET & BROWN BOOBY; harder-to-find-seabirds such as SCRIPPS'S, CRAVERI'S & MARBLED MURRELETS; and EIGHT SPECIES OF ALCIDS!

Think about it this way:

When you visit one of your favorite land birding migration spots, be it Cape May, NJ or High Island, TX, you plan to spend more than one day birding there. 

It is, after all, migration — even though you walk the same trails, and look in the same tress, each day is different. 

Well, finding ocean birds works the same way. Plan for more than one day and you will almost certainly add more species! 

Smart Birding!

SEABIRDS SIGHTED ON SHEARWATER JOURNEYS'S

AUGUST 1, 2, 3, 2014 TRIPS

MONTEREY/HALF MOON BAY/FARALLON ISLANDS

1. RED-THROATED LOON- 0/2/0

2. PACIFIC LOON- 0/1/0

3. WESTERN GREBE- 0/0/100

4. LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 0/0/1

5. BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 27/53/12

6. NORTHERN (PACIFIC) FULMAR- 9/9/6

7. **HAWAIIAN PETREL- 0/1/0

8. PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 84/310/30

9. SOOTY SHEARWATER- 21783/1935/400

10. BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 161/3/0

11. BROWN PELICAN- 71/335/10

12. ** NORTHERN GANNET- 0/0/1

13. **BROWN BOOBY- 0/0/1

14. BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 1321/50/2020

15. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 2/60/9

16. PELAGIC CORMORANT- 5/2/10

17. RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 158/17/15

18. RED PHALAROPE- 3/0/0

19. PARASITIC JAEGER- 1/2/5

20. HEERMANN'S GULL- 29/2/32

21. CALIFORNIA GULL- 30/2/32

22. WESTERN GULL- 273/100/550

23. SABINE'S GULL- 2/0/0

24. ELEGANT TERN- 114/290/75

25. CASPIAN TERN- 3/0/0

26. COMMON MURRE- 461/280/1520

27. PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 12/12/325

28. MARBLED MURRELET- 0/2/0

29. SCRIPPS'S MURRELET- 0/2/0

30. CRAVERI'S MURRELET- 0/6/0

31. CASSIN'S AUKLET- 3/5/20

32. RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 6/4/12

33. TUFTED PUFFIN- 0/0/23

MARINE MAMMALS:

1. SEA OTTER- 15/0/0

2. CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 250/30/ 400

3. STELLER'S SEA LION- 0/0/30

4. NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 0/0/400

5. HARBOR SEAL- 5/0/85

6. HUMPBACK WHALE- 1/6/2

7. RISSO'S DOLPHINS- 21/0/2

8. HARBOR PORPOISE- 0/12/8

9. DALL'S PORPOISE- 21/0/0

OTHER:

1. OCEAN SUNFISH- 12/10/18

2. BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS- +

Our trips are set up so that they can be combined, doing trips from different ports and working in the same direction from north to south (not back tracking). If you travel any distance to do find seabirds on the West Coast, your biggest expenses are getting here and staying here. Take in as many trips as you can while you are here.

Once, two Cornell Lab of Ornithology staff signed up for every single trip on Shearwater Journeys's schedule for the month of September. They LOVED seabirds and were rewarded with a STREAKED SHEARWATER on the last trip!

You might wonder if I take my own advise. YES, of course I do. 

When I last visited Kaikoura, New Zealand, another seabird mecca, I signed up for SIX trips! 

GET OUT THERE! 

SEPTEMBER IS USUALLY THE VERY BEST MONTH FOR SEABIRDS!

SHEARWATERS FOREVER, 

DEBI SHEARWATER

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

All images, copyright, various.

Please do not use without permission.

IMAGES OF THE DAY BY BRYAN HIX: AUGUST 2, 2014 HALF MOON BAY

Another beautiful set of images from Shearwater Journeys's August 2, 2014 Half Moon Bay pelagic trip by BRYAN HIX. One might get the idea that photographers love to come on our trips! As previously reported, this one of those days when pelagic birding was at its finest. I think the images reflect that. 

BRYAN HIX, above.

PIGEON GUILLEMOTS nested at Pillar Point Harbor. 

PARASITIC JAEGER, the commonest jaeger inshore. 

 

SOOTY SHEARWATER, above. Flocks have been seen from shore lately.

RHINOCEROS AUKLET, above, breeds on the nearby Farallon Islands.

SCRIPPS'S MURRELET, above, a highly sought after species.

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, above, a common visitor during summer and early fall. 

HAWAIIAN PETREL, above and below, a mega-rare seabird!

HAWAIIAN PETREL, below, as it flies around our vessel for all to see!

NORTHERN (PACIFIC) FULMAR which came to our chum slick. 

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, a common fall visitor.

MARBLED MURRELET, found just outside of the harbor!

All images by Bryan Hix.

Please do not use without permission.

LIFE IS GOOD — AT SEA ON SUCH A DAY AS THIS!

PETRELS FOREVER,

DEBI SHEARWATER

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

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