TRIP REPORT: SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 HALF MOON BAY

MARBLED MURRELET (Brachyramphus marmoratus), copyright, Mark Rauzon.

Howdy, Birders,

This is a trip report for Shearwater Journeys' September 22, 2013 pelagic trip departing from Half Moon Bay. Highlights included 2 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 1 LAYSAN ALBATROSS, a GRAND SLAM of POMARINE, PARASITIC and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, SOUTH POLAR SKUA and the return of MARBLED MURRELETS outside of the harbor, including two calling juveniles. We were especially thrilled to see the Marbled Murrelets which disappeared once the squid fishing vessels showed up in the same are where the murrelets hang out. The squid fishermen moved elsewhere and the murrelets returned. Leader Steve Hampton indicated that the vocalizing juveniles would almost certainly have hatched at one of the local redwood tree colonies. This is good news, indeed! We had an extremely pleasant 11 hour day with good sea conditions throughout. The warm water had moved outside of our reach save for one little bubble of 59 F near the 50 fathom line where Buller's Shearwaters were feeding. Offshore, the SST's hovered around 57 F.  The Flesh-footed Shearwaters were a Big Year tick for two 2013 contenders!

FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER (Puffinus carneipes), copyright, Mark Rauzon.

Many, many thanks to birders who came from near and far to join our trip. The leaders on this day included: Steve Tucker, Adam Searcy, Steve Hampton and Debi Shearwater.
The complete species list for SAN MATEO/SAN FRANCISCO COUNTIES follows:

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 SHEARWATER JOURNEYS HALF MOON BAY
COMMON LOON- 0/3
EARED GREBE- 2/0
WESTERN GREBE- 7/0
LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 0/1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 2/18
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 100/250
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1/1
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 40/70
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 35/85
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 0/25
BLACK STORM-PETREL- 0/10
BROWN PELICAN- +/1
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- +/30
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- +/0
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 6/0
BRANT- 2/0
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 5/0
WHIMBREL- 3/0
MARBLED GODWIT- 12/0
BLACK TURNSTONE- 15/0
SURFBIRD- 8/0
SANDERLING- 8/0
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 0/3
RED PHALAROPE- 0/15
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 0/3
POMARINE JAEGER- 4/10
PARASITIC JAEGER- 1/1
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 0/3
JAEGER SP.- 0/3
HEERMANN'S GULL- +
CALIFORNIA GULL- +
WESTERN GULL- +
SABINE'S GULL- 0/2
ELEGANT TERN- +/+
COMMON MURRE- 352/50
MARBLED MURRELET- 7/0, including two calling juveniles
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 4/14
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +/+, including some offshore herds
STELLER'S SEA LION- 1, at the weather buoy
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 4
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1
HUMPBACK WHALE- 4
HARBOR PORPOISE- 2
DALL'S PORPOISE- 13
SHARK SP.- 1
OCEAN SUNFISH- 7

SPACES AVAILABLE ON UPCOMING TRIPS:

HALF MOON BAY: SEP 28 & 29; OCT 27; NOV 16

BODEGA BAY: OCT 18

MONTEREY BAY: OCT 5, 13, 25

FARALLON ISLAND GREAT WHITE SHARK TRIP: OCT 20

LAYSAN ALBATROSS (Phoebastria immutabilis), copyright, Mark Rauzon.

Images in this post, courtesy Mark Rauzon. Please do not use without permission. To see more images of this day by Mark, click here. To view Mark's complete photo gallery, click here. 

JUMP ON BOARD!

SHEARWATERS FOREVER,

DEBI SHEARWATER

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!