TRIP REPORT: OCTOBER 6 MONTEREY BAY & OCTOBER 7 HALF MOON BAY, 2012

Howdy, Birders,

This is a trip report for Shearwater Journeys's pelagic trips on October 6 departing from Monterey Bay and October 7 departing from Half Moon Bay. After nearly a month of a high pressure system sitting offshore and producing rough seas, we were finally treated to the more typical fall marine conditions. Glorious, flat, calm and sunny skies greeted us both days. We could not have asked for more perfect conditions. The lighting for photography ranged from amazing to stunning. Departing Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, below. All images by Debi Shearwater, copyright. Please do not use without permission. Highlights were many: flocks of hundreds of BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS have entered the nearshore Monterey area; hundreds of ELEGANT TERNS were sitting on the kelp beds off Cannery Row; several hundred RISSO'S DOLPHINS were feeding on squid; stunningly, three KILLER WHALES were feeding on a kill, possibly one of the DALL'S PORPOISES that we had seen only a few minutes earlier. At Half Moon Bay: we started the day with 3 MARBLED MURRELETS just outside of the harbor; a few BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS were close to shore; PACIFIC LOON migration was underway; Steve Tucker spotted a LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE on the glassy seas; one SOUTH POLAR SKUA put on a good show; NORTHERN FULMARS increased in numbers; a TUFTED PUFFIN was a nice addition; BULLER'S and PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS were in flocks, sitting on the water; the "darling" of the day was a single RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH on the fishing nets, and radio antenna; and at the end of the day, Gerry McChesney spotted 3 BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALES at the 1000 fathom line. We traveled 41 miles offshore and made it to 60 F sea surface temperatures!

 Cannery Row, Monterey lit up in the morning light.

 Unusual clouds for this time of year, below.

 Departing from Johnson's Pier, Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay, below, we stop for MARBLED MURRELETS.

 A TUFTED PUFFIN, offshore. The Farallon Islands were quite visible in the distance. 

    

 Flocks of BULLER'S SHEARWATERS provided awesome photo ops, below.

   

Even after 36 years of sea birding, I've never tired of seeing BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, below.

Like a ballerina, a BULLER'S SHEARWATER flies, below.

I'm such a sucker for tiny birds. This "darling" RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH landed on our boat, some 31 miles offshore. It seems that red-breasted nuthatches are everywhere, including offshore, even on a clear day. Here it is looking inside of the handle of a fishing net on the top of our boat. It made several forays toward 9 o'clock, but returned to the boat after each one. Peter Pyle said that he thought the bird was trying to head to the Farallon Islands. Finally, it made the flight, heading toward shore, but Steve Tucker followed it, announcing that it made a left hand turn— straight for the Farallones!

The evening light, returning to the harbor, was breathtaking.

Images not enhanced or altered!

   

We returned at 6:45 p.m. from a beautiful day!

   

Many thanks to all of the local birders, as well as those who traveled from far away. We very much appreciate your business.

The leaders on the Monterey Bay trip, October 6 were: Jim Holmes, Clay Kempf, Abe Borker, Jennifer Green, John Garrett and Debi Shearwater.

The leaders on the Half Moon Bay trip, October 7 were: Gerry McChesney, Christian Schwarz, John Garrett, Steve Tucker and Debi Shearwater.

The complete species list follows.

OCTOBER 6/OCTOBER 7, 2012

RED-THROATED LOON- 0/1

PACIFIC LOON- 15/38

COMMON LOON- 5/5

EARED GREBE- 3/0

WESTERN GREBE- 1/230

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 16/21

NORTHERN FULMAR- 8/26

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 150/85

BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 14/165 (flocks offshore in the warm, tuna water).

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 75/175

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 320/8

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 0/2

BROWN PELICAN- +/+

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 5/+

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 2/50

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 3/4

SURF SCOTER- 0/1

CACKLING GOOSE- 32/0

BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 2/0

BLACK TURNSTONE- 10/7

SURFBIRD- 7/0

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 20/2

RED PHALAROPE- 3/1

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 1/1

POMARINE JAEGER- 16/5

PARASITIC JAEGER- 8/7

PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1/0

HEERMANN'S GULL- +/+

CALIFORNIA GULL- +/+

WESTERN GULL- +/+

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 0/2

WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 1/2

ELEGANT TERN- 318/16

COMMON MURRE- 130/500

MARBLED MURRELET- 0/3

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 30/110

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 210/45

TUFTED PUFFIN- 0/1

SEA OTTER- +/0

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +/4

NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 0/1

HARBOR SEAL- +/+

HUMPBACK WHALE- 2/1

BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALE- 0/2 or 3

KILLER WHALE- 3 (adult female, calf, possible "sprouter" male/or female)

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 250/0

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 0/12

DALL'S PORPOISE- 1 or 2/0

OCEAN SUNFISH- +/++

BLUE SHARK- 0/1(in the warm water)

*LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE- 0/1 (loads of brown jellies around)

Our last trips of the fall season are as follows: 

SUN, OCT 14 MONTEREY BAY

FRI, OCT 26 BODEGA BAY

SUN, OCT 28 HALF MOON BAY

TUE, NOV 20 HALF MOON BAY

If weather conditions permit, we may head far offshore, especially on the Half Moon Bay trips, hoping for Cook's or Mottled Petrels. This is the time of year when both Parkinson's and White-chinned Petrels have been found. Jump on board with us!

Real birds eat squid,

Debi Shearwater

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

IMAGES OF THE DAY by Bruce Hallett: September 30, 2012

Howdy, Birders,

Shearwater Journeys's pelagic trip to the Farallones Islands on September 30, 2012 was quite spectacular. Nearly all of the wildlife seemed to jump out at us within one hour. Our usual route is to head straight away to the islands. However, as most folks wanted to see some of the offshore seabirds, and as the NORTHERN GANNET was most visible in the afternoons, I decided to head offshore first, and then proceed to the islands. Departing from Sausalito under bright, sunny skies, we had stunning views of the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. Traveling eight miles beyond the North Islands, we reached the edge of the shelf, where Bruce Hallett snapped this image of a BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, below. The action came fast and furiously, as we encountered many shearwaters feeding with some PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS. Amongst the shearwaters, was one MANX. A previously reported Wedge-tailed Shearwater has been "recalled" due to too brief a view in harsh lighting. Suddenly, a large dorsal fin emerged near the vessel and I rapidly called out for our captain to put the boat broadside to the disappearing male KILLER WHALE. Just as suddenly, someone yelled that a fin was right beside our boat. Again, I called for the captain STOP! Another adult KILLER WHALE, along with a female appeared alongside our vessel. Images of this male killer whale, and other images below, are by Bruce Hallett. I also include his comments. All images, copyright, Bruce Hallett. Please do not use without permission.

 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, trying to get airborne.

 Team captain calling in coordinates for an air strike.

 Ever vigilant.

 Raise your hand, if it is your first pelagic trip.

 Let's see Pyle, "You received a C- on your paper on ocean dynamics, so see me later."

 Speaks for itself. Pride of the fleet.

 Longest and fastest pig tail in the West.

 Returning home, under "the bridge."

 Golden Gate Bridge.

 Male KILLER WHALE dorsal fin.

Male KILLER WHALE — all powerful.

What Bruce had to say about the day:

"Thank you for the two pelagic trips that  I went on during the WFO conference-Bodega and the Farallones.  I thought they were well done and obviously you had a great deal to do with that.  Good trip report on line also."

Shearwaters forever,

Debi Shearwater

TRIP REPORT: WESTERN FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS MEETING

WESTERN FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS' MEETING PELAGIC TRIPS with

SHEARWATER JOURNEYS

Howdy, Seabirders,

This is a trip report for Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trips on SEPTEMBER 27 (two boats out of Bodega Bay, including one for photographers), SEPTEMBER 30 (from Sausalito to the Farallones Islands) and OCTOBER 1 ( from Half Moon Bay), 2012. These trips were offered in conjunction with the Western Field Ornithologists' Annual Conference held in Petaluma, CA. Highlights were many and varied, including six species of shearwaters: a light morph WEDGE-TAILED, MANX, FLESH-FOOTED, BULLER'S, SOOTY and PINK-FOOTED; LAYSAN and BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES; NORTHERN FULMAR; five species of storm-petrels, FORK-TAILED, ASHY, BLACK, WILSON'S and LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS; all three jaegers: NORTHERN GANNET, POMARINE, PARASITIC and LONG-TAILED: SOUTH POLAR SKUA; SABINE'S GULL; ARCTIC TERN, RHINOCEROS and CASSIN'S AUKLETS and MARBLED MURRELETS. Please see the trip compilation list, below. 

On SEPTEMBER 27th, two boats departed from a very foggy Bodega Bay harbor. Dense, cold fog would continue throughout the day, sometimes pushing back far enough to view more seabirds. One of these boats was a dedicated photographers' special trip, while the other boat was our regular seaworthy vessel, the "New Sea Angler." BLACK STORM-PETREL, below, was the first storm-petrel of the day. Shearwater Journeys' September 21 trip to Bodega Canyon recorded near-record numbers of black storm-petrels. However, the fog prevented us from finding those huge rafts of thousands of storm-petrels. Martin Meyers images from this day, are below. Copyright, Martin Meyers. 

 A CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, below, in Peter Pyle's hands, landed on the vessel. 

 A RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH found the only piece of wood on the upper structure of the boat.

 The long-line vessel, CAPTAIN COOK was dropping its' line.

 On September 30th we departed from the Clipper Yacht Harbor for the Farallones Islands on board "Outer Limits." The morning was bright and sunny at the harbor. However, the islands were enshrouded in fog. The NORTHERN GANNET was still coming to Saddle Rock in the afternoons. So, I hatched a plan with the captain to head offshore to the Continental Shelf, first thing rather than after visiting the islands. We were about 8 miles off the North Islands, when leader Peter Pyle spotted an unusual shearwater with a scaly back and long, wedge-shaped tail. He managed to swing his camera up to grab a couple shots of a light morph WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER. The vast majority of the folks on board did not see this shearwater, including me. We were in an area with loads of marine life— Pacific White-sided Dolphins and many shearwaters, South Polar Skuas and a few Black-footed Albatrosses. Peter Pyle has seen more birds than anyone else on the Farallon Islands and on this date he added THREE new birds to his list: Northern Gannet, Eurasian Collared Dove and Ruddy Duck! Go Peter!!

 WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER, above. MANX SHEARWATER, below. Both images, copyright, Peter Pyle.

 Suddenly, someone spotted a tall dorsal fin of a male ORCA. As the captain was about to position the boat for photographs, two more ORCAS appeared nearer our vessel. Many of us managed to obtain images of the second male and a female. (Orca photographs may come later). Seconds later, Peter Pyle spotted a MANX SHEARWATER, images above and below. Many birders on board did see this rare shearwater. Finally, we had a report of a GREAT WHITE SHARK ATTACK in progress at the islands. So, we high-tailed it to the spot, but when we arrived it was over. Apparently, it wasn't much of a show. However, the NORTHERN GANNET sitting on Saddle Rock was a big hit!

October 1 found us gathered at Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay, although many birders skipped this trip to chase the reported COMMON CUCKOO at Watsonville. After viewing several MARBLED MURRELETS just outside of the harbor, we headed offshore to the Pioneer Canyon where we found clear, blue 59 F water. The entire day was clear and quite warm. It was 100 F many places onshore! We enjoyed a nice day at sea, working our way back to the 100 fathom edge.

Shearwater Journeys thanks all the birders who came from near and far, to make these trips so successful. We hope to see you, again. Many thanks to Western Field Ornithologists for connecting with us, as well.

The leaders for these trips were as follows:
SEP 27, BODEGA BAY: PETER PYLE, SCOTT TERRILL, LINDA TERRILL, JIM DANZENBAKER, LIST HUG, DEBI SHEARWATER
SEP 27, BODEGA BAY PHOTOGRAPHER'S TRIP: VINCE ORSINI
SEP 30, FARALLON ISLANDS: PETER PYLE, RUSS BRADLEY, ANNIE SCHMIDT, DEBI SHEARWATER
OCT 1, HALF MOON BAY: PETER PYLE, SCOTT TERRILL, LINDA TERRILL, DEBI SHEARWATER

The complete species lists for all four trips can be found below. It shows how doing more than one trip can add immensely to one's seabirding experience. The weather could not have been more different between all three dates!

SEP 27/SEP 27PHOTO/SEP30/OCT 1, 2012

COMMON LOON- 0/0/1/2
WESTERN GREBE- 0/0/10/16
CLARK'S GREBE- 0/0/2/0
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 25/70/3/6
LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 0/2/0/0
NORTHERN FULMAR- 2/0/1/2
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 70/80/50/140
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 0/0/0/1
*WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER- 0/0/1/0, LIGHT MORPH
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 9/20/75/9
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 50/50/75/75
*MANX SHEARWATER- 0/0/1/0
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL- 0/2/0/0
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL- 11/1/0/1
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL- 0/1/0/0
BLACK STORM-PETREL- 30/0/5/1
*NORTHERN GANNET- 0/0/1/0
BROWN PELICAN- +/+/30/155
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 1500/+/25/95
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 0/0/8/42
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 8/+/2/2
SURF SCOTER- 0/0/1/1
RUDDY DUCK- 0/0/1/0
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 0/0/1/1
BLACK TURNSTONE- 0/0/2/4
SURFBIRD- 0/0/0/3
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 8/0/0/4
RED-NECKED/RED PHALAROPE- 0/20/0/0
RED PHALAROPE- 7/0/30/10
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 2/14/6/10
POMARINE JAEGER- 7/2/10/16
PARASITIC JAEGER- 0/0/0/
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 5/2/2/1
HEERMANN'S GULL- 30/+/20/55
CALIFORNIA GULL- 80/+/50/150
HERRING GULL- 0/0/1/0
WESTERN GULL- 100/+/200/285
SABINE'S GULL- 7/50/5/0
ELEGANT TERN- 2/+/10/20
ARCTIC TERN- 0/0/0/1
COMMON MURRE- 115/+/125/328
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 70/50/100/600
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 40/20/30/17
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH- 1/0/0/0
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER- 1/0/0/0
AMERICAN COOT- 1/0/0/0
SNOWY EGRET- 2/0/0/0
EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE- 0/0/5/0
PEREGRINE FALCON- 0/0/0/2, over the harbor
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 11/+/+/+
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 2/0/+/0
GRAY WHALE- 0/0/2/0
HUMPBACK WHALE- 1/0/0/2
ORCA- 0/0/3/0
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLHIN- 25/0/75/
HARBOR PORPOISE- 1/0/10/0
DALL'S PORPOISE- 8/0/0/5
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1/0/2/0

Spaces are available on the following trips: 
OCT 6, MONTEREY 
OCT 7, HALF MOON BAY
OCT 14, MONTEREY BAY
OCT 26, BODEGA BAY
OCT 28, HALF MOON BAY
NOV 20, HALF MOON BAY

SHEARWATERS FOREVER,

DEBI SHEARWATER

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

IMAGES OF THE DAY by Isaac Sanchez: September 23, 2012

Howdy, Seabirders,

Say what? Yep, that there is a BURROWING OWL, some 26 miles offshore. Actually, it is not all that uncommon, as they often land on at the Farallon Islands. Please enjoy Isaac Sanchez's images, below. Isaac hails from Texas and is on a mission to photograph as many bird species as possible. Please do not use these images without permission. 

A BURROWING OWL, above and below, that tried to land on our radio antenna!

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, below.

 RHINOCEROS AUKLET, below.

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, an elegant flier, below.

 POMARINE JAEGER, above and below.

 SCRIPPS'S MURRELET, above and below, recently a split from Xantus's Murrelet.

 These murrelets, again, below, are often very shy of boats. When they fly, it is often to the end of the Earth— or so it seems!

 CASSIN'S AUKLET, below, also known as the "starlings of the sea" as they are very common breeders at the Farallon Islands.

 CASSIN'S AUKLETS, below in flight, feed on krill. 

 The elegant, BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below.

 BLACK--FOOTED ALBATROSS, below.

 SABINE'S GULL, below, a High Arctic breeder.

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS in flight, below.

 A duo of PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, below.

 SOOTY SHEARWATER, below. Its numbers are declining.

 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, below, showing its two-toned bill.

 BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below, showing its dark cap and wedge-shaped tail.

 BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below, undersides are gleaming white.

 The lovely, BULLER'S SHEARWATER, below, follows tuna.

 SOUTH POLAR SKUA & PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, below. Notice the beefiness of the skua's chest! 

 The all powerful, all mighty, SOUTH POLAR SKUA, below.

  SKUAAAA!

 Nearshore, at the end of the day, a father (right) and his chick, COMMON MURRES. 

JOIN THE FUN!

SHEARWATERS FOREVER,

DEBI SHEARWATER