Trip results: Perpetua Bank, Oregon, 11 September 2010

http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/archive/09112010.htm

Pelagic trip report:
Saturday, September 11, 2010
11 hours
From Newport, Oregon, to 30 miles west of Newport, then south 10 miles to the seaward slope of Perpetua Bank.

Seas: gentle seas, winds 10 knots.

Boat: Misty
Captain Robert Waddell
Newport Tradewinds Charter

The Bird Guide, Inc.
http://thebirdguide.com/

Guides: Greg Gillson, Tim Shelmerdine, Shawneen Finnegan, Russ Namitz, David Mandell

A great trip with good seas, soft breeze, and lots of birds and marine mammals in view constantly throughout the day.

Highlights included high numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters, Buller's Shearwaters, Sabine's Gulls, South Polar Skuas, and Humpback Whales. The Flesh-footed Shearwater views (photo above) were better than any we've had in 10 years. Alcid numbers were low.

Cheryl Welchel posted photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vgswallow16/

My photos: http://www.pbase.com/gregbirder/20100911_perpetua

Species list:

Green-winged Teal 1
Surf Scoter 60
White-winged Scoter 7
Red-throated Loon 2
Black-footed Albatross 135
Northern Fulmar 45
Pink-footed Shearwater 2300
Flesh-footed Shearwater 1
Buller's Shearwater 225
Sooty Shearwater 75
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 80
Brown Pelican 12 (bay)
Brandt's Cormorant 100 (40 in bay)
Double-crested Cormorant 25 (bay)
Pelagic Cormorant 40 (20 in bay)
Wandering Tattler 2 (jetty)
Black Turnstone 2 (jetty)
Surfbird 8 (jetty)
Red-necked Phalarope 60
Red Phalarope 8
Sabine's Gull 250 (all adult except for 2-3 juvenile)
Heermann's Gull 15 (bay)
Mew Gull 5 (bay)
Western Gull 120 (70 in bay)
California Gull 120 (40 in bay)
Glaucous-winged Gull 1 (bay)
Olympic Gull (Glaucous-winged x Western) 5 (bay)
Common Tern 5
South Polar Skua 12
Pomarine Jaeger 18
Parasitic Jaeger 2
jaeger (undetermined species) 3
Common Murre 120 (most parent/chick pairs)
Pigeon Guillemot 15
Marbled Murrelet 10
Cassin's Auklet 15
Rhinoceros Auklet 15

Gray Whale 2
Humpback Whale 20
Pacific White-sided Dolphin 20
Dall's Porpoise 8
Harbor Porpoise 20
Northern Fur Seal 2
Northern Elephant Seal 2
California Sea Lion 170 (150 in bay)
Steller's Sea Lion 8
Harbor Seal 8 (bay)

Blue Shark 2
Salmon Shark 1
Soupfin Shark 2
Ocean Sunfish 7

Greg Gillson
The Bird Guide, Inc.
greg@thebirdguide.com
http://thebirdguide.com

Trip results: August 14, 2010 Perpetua Bank

Saturday's pelagic trip went out of Newport, Oregon in somewhat foggy and cool conditions (55F).

Typical early fall seabirds included good numbers of FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, and SABINE'S GULLS. Other August specialties included LONG-TAILED JAEGERS and ARCTIC TERNS.

It is now possible to use web-based AIS to locate commercial fishing vessels the morning of our trip to see if any are in range. On this day we located 2 hake fishing boats exactly on our Perpetua Bank chum stop location, so headed there first. Most of the albatrosses and fulmars were here. After an hour or so with no new birds we headed out to 400 fathoms just west of 125W, about 40 miles west of Waldport.

Trip guides were Tim Shelmerdine, Tom Snetsinger, Shawneen Finnegan, Russ Namitz, and Greg Gillson.

Surf Scoter 20
White-winged Scoter 6
Red-throated Loon 1
Pacific Loon 5
Black-footed Albatross 200
Northern Fulmar 75
Pink-footed Shearwater 55
Sooty Shearwater 20
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 110
Pelagic Cormorant 80
Brandt's Cormorant 100
Double-crested Cormorant 15
Brown Pelican 8
Bald Eagle 1
Wandering Tattler 1 (seen by few)
Black Turnstone 6
Surfbird 4
Red-necked Phalarope 300
Red Phalarope 1 (seen by few)
California Gull 50
Western Gull 50
Sabine's Gull 40
Heermann's Gull 10
Arctic Tern 3
Common Murre 250
Pigeon Guillemot 30
Marbled Murrelet 11
Cassin's Auklet 2
Rhinoceros Auklet 10
Pomarine Jaeger 1
Parasitic Jaeger 2
Long-tailed Jaeger 5

Northern Fur Seal 1
Northern Elephant Seal 1
Steller's Sea Lion 3
California Sea Lion 2
Harbor Seal 3

Blue Shark 1
Salmon Shark 1
Ocean Sunfish 2

Some photos:

Birders watching albatrosses

Red-necked Phalarope

Black-footed Albatross

Black-footed Albatrosses and Northern Fulmars