Short-tailed Albatross off Oregon: February 22, 2014

[The following account of the sighting of a SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS off Oregon last month was written by Tom Snetsinger, one of our long-time seabird guides. Thanks, Tom!]

February 22, 2014 was an unusual day. It is an uncommon winter day when the seas are calm enough to head offshore in search of birds. It is rare when the date we put on the calendar months earlier coincides with one of those. During our brief orientation, we discussed a few of the rarer species we might encounter: Red-legged Kittiwake, Parakeet Auklet, Laysan Albatross. Guides and passengers bundled up, each day-dreaming of their own quarry, headed out to sea aboard Newport Tradewinds’ Misty.

Each pelagic trip has its own unique rhythm, and good numbers of Ancient Murrelets and Cassin’s Auklets flushing from the front of the boat set the pace for this trip as we worked our way offshore. While the ride was a little rough, and it was hard to pick out all of the features on individual birds, most were able to assemble a satisfactory experience from their collage of sightings. Working our way offshore we encountered few albatross. However, a Laysan Albatross did a fly by close to the boat allowing everyone good views, and this experience set the stage for bigger things yet to come. A couple of jaegers also put on a brief show as they chased a kittiwake, but these were merely the hors d'oeuvres preceding a main course that all of us hoped for but none of us really expected.

We continued west, stopping briefly to chum, which allowed us to brush-up on our gull ID skills and appreciate a couple of Thayer’s Gulls among the larids present, but without many birds, we decided to press on. A distant fishing boat to our southwest drew our attention and encouraged us to head that direction in search of other species. A distant flock of fulmars and the occasional albatross encouraged us onward. Then, cries from the bow erupted. Short-tailed Albatross. SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS! SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS!! LOOK AT THE BILL!! One could almost feel the boat shift as everyone onboard leapt to the starboard side to appreciate the grandeur of this magnificent bird as it sailed by and, turning into the midday sun, flashed its magnificent bubblegum pink bill like a beacon. Not to rest on its laurels, this gorgeous bird joined us a short while later at an impromptu chum stop, where it swam among a dozen Black-footed Albatrosses, dwarfing its chocolate-colored brethren. Reluctantly, we headed back to port, but enjoying the camaraderie of sharing our fresh memories of another 3-albatross day.

Birders live for these moments, and the image of the bird turning into the sun and flashing that bold, huge, improbable, and awesome bill in the midday sun will stick with me for a longtime. I think everyone aboard can appreciate the good fortune in sharing that experience.

[For another report and photos, see this page by passenger Bob Archer.]

Pelagic birding: 2012 in review

The year 2012 was very successful for pelagic birding for The Bird Guide, Inc. in Oregon waters. We had a couple of trips cancel, but we also had several very calm trips--I think we had only one calm trip the previous two years prior to this year, so we felt due. Unlike last year with no rare pelagic species found, we had several rare birds throughout the year in 2012.

The trips and highlights

The March Perpetua Bank trip weathered out and we failed to get more than 3 signed up for a trip in April. Going forward we will probably schedule only special search trips in spring, not general trips. There is just not enough general interest for spring trips, despite the great birds and rarities found over the years. Too much land-based spring birding competition. This seems typical for all West Coast pelagic trip providers.

Horned Puffin

All other public trips for the year filled to capacity. That included our May trip for which we extended the duration to 12 hours to reach 45 miles offshore. Rarities included a HORNED PUFFIN offshore 28 miles. A YELLOW-BILLED LOON was discovered in nearshore waters. We were able to circle both birds with the boats and obtain close views and photos.

Yellow-billed Loon

A private trip in June took a group of home schoolers offshore to see BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES. Such a trip on smaller faster boats are the only way to see albatrosses in a trip of only 5 hours. Other pelagic species included SOOTY and PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, CASSIN'S and RHINOCEROS AUKLETS, 2 TUFTED PUFFINS, and several marine mammals--not bad for such a short trip.

A summer trip in July was set up by the Wings tour company. They had 8 participants and we filled the boat with other public birders. Low numbers of the expected species were seen, including a LONG-TAILED JAEGER.

For the second year in a row we weathered-out on a late July/early August deep water trip. Hot weather inland creates strong north winds and big waves. The trip filled in only a few days when announced in March. So we'll plan again in 2013--this time with a weather date to give us a second chance.

We made it offshore 15 miles on the Charleston, Oregon, Shorebird Festival pelagic trip in late August. We saw the common expected pelagic birds.

Scripps's Murrelet

Calm seas on our September trip allowed us to see a pair of SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS ahead and slow the boat in time to prevent them from flushing away. A couple of SOUTH POLAR SKUAS were also seen. A MINKE WHALE was the first seen in several years.

Seas were calm again on our early October trip. We tracked down a group of factory processor ships working off a ways to our north and headed there. Good plan! We encountered a LAYSAN ALBATROSS among the swarm of birds at the fishing vessels, while overhead a SHORT-EARED OWL flopped around! Our third rarity of the trip occurred about 20 miles west of Yaquina Head with a fly-by female BROWN BOOBY--only Oregon's 5th record.

Brown Booby

Our late October trip found 9 SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATERS and several hundred CASSIN'S AUKLETS.

We planned a "Laysan Albatross search" trip in November with a weather date in December. We needed the weather date. Our trip went out in fairly calm conditions on December 8. We found our target bird--a single LAYSAN ALBATROSS. As expected, we found 20 SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATERS. We missed Ancient Murrelets, which were reported in good numbers by shore-based birders. Of the 5 or so possible rarities were hoping for, but not really expecting, we spotted the least likely--2 PARAKEET AUKLETS flushed from in front of the boat, and an obliging MOTTLED PETREL flew by our chum stop! Both species are new to The Bird Guide's total pelagic species list seen since 1994--over 150 trips!

Mottled Petrel

The birds in 2012 compared to previous years

Arctic nesting seabirds were in alarmingly low numbers during the fall migration. Fall numbers of all 3 JAEGERS were unusually low. Totals for 5 fall trips were 11 POMARINE, 10 PARASITIC, and 1 LONG-TAILED JAEGERS--typically that is what you might expect on one below-average September trip. Amazingly, SABINE'S GULLS, too, were in unprecedentedly low numbers with 30 in July, but only 1 in August and none(!) in September or October. These should be common throughout the fall, perhaps averaging 35+ birds per trip. We had 5 distant unidentified (ARCTIC/COMMON) TERNS in July. One COMMON TERN was on our August Shorebird festival trip. One ARCTIC TERN and 3 COMMON TERNS were spotted on our September trip. Again, very low numbers compared to previous years.

Where were the BULLER'S SHEARWATERS? Our first for the year didn't show up until we saw 4 birds in September, 2 during the early October peak, and 2 on our late October trip. Only 8 total birds on 5 fall trips! We also had one bird on our December 8 trip--very late--but it had an injured wing and could barely fly.

Never common, no Flesh-footed Shearwaters were seen this year (or last year), continuing the trend of lower numbers over the past decade.

The pelagic birding off Oregon in 2012 was truly outstanding!

Short pelagic to see albatrosses

On June 9, 2012 The Bird Guide, Inc. hosted a home school group on a 5-hour pelagic adventure. The goal was to see Black-footed Albatrosses at a most affordable price in the shortest time possible--5 hours.

This is harder than it sounds. Albatrosses feed on the shelf break. Off Newport, Oregon this is offshore at least 20 miles. Our usual boat--which is the largest (55 feet) in Oregon licensed to go far offshore, cruises at about 11 knots (12.1 mph). With at least a half hour in the bay, and perhaps 45 minutes stopped to chum the albatrosses up to the boat, our usual boat didn't allow us enough time to accomplish our goals in 5 hours--in fact, our usual trip took 8 hours and required about 20 minimum passengers. We had only a dozen participants, which would have made our usual boat prohibitively expensive. No, we needed a smaller, faster boat.

We found such a boat with one of our old deck hands who had recently earned his captain's license. This 43 foot boat cruised in excess of 15 knots (16.5 mph). This would get us out over 20 miles and back, plus allow harbor transit time, some near shore time, and chum stop time in a 5 hour trip.

As far as seabird diversity goes, June is probably one of the lowest of the year. Many of our regular fall and spring seabirds are in the Arctic in June where they breed. However, several Oregon seabirds are actually southern hemisphere breeders during December, thus are feeding off Oregon's shore in our summer, but their winter! Our target albatross is one of these birds--they nest in the outer Hawaiian Islands, which are in the northern hemisphere, but keep a breeding schedule identical to all other albatrosses that nest in the southern hemisphere.

Despite this not being a time of spectacular pelagic bird abundance, there were still lots of birds. We saw all expected species except Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel.

Fun birds in the bay included Osprey and Caspian Terns. Three species of cormorants nest around the bridge we traveled under. Western Gulls are the nesting gulls here, though we also saw one Glaucous-winged Gull, too.

Along shore were Pigeon Guillemots, a few Marbled Murrelets, and thousands of Common Murres, which nest nearby on Yaquina Head. There were a few late Common, Pacific, and Red-throated Loons still migrating north. Harbor porpoises put in a brief showing.

Offshore there were scattered Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters. A few Dall's porpoises and Pacific white-sided dolphins came alongside the boat. But all-in-all there were few birds. We did manage to see a few Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets and circled the boat around an obliging Tufted Puffin.

Our chum stop was 25 miles offshore, where we enticed 6 Black-footed Albatrosses up to the boat to the delight of all. Success!

Trip results: Oregon Seabirds: October 22, 2011

Mild seas, but a bit of early drizzle, met birders on The Bird Guide, Inc.'s final trip of the year.

Highlights included two LAYSAN ALBATROSSES and over 130 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES--always a crowd-pleaser!

A kaleidoscope of NORTHERN FULMAR plumages was present among over 600 birds, including several light phase birds.

A couple NORTHERN FUR SEALS presented their classic "jug handle" pose--holding their extremely long hind flippers in their front paws, and looking something like a flower watering jug.

Full trip report is here, including Wayne Hoffman's diving BLUE WHALE photo.

My trip photos.

Plan your next trip to see Oregon seabirds.

Trip results: Perptua Bank: October 8, 2011

Highlights from the 10-hour trip off Newport to the canyon between Heceta and Perpetua Bank included nearly 100 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES and over 300 NORTHERN FULMARS.

FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS are always a treat--and we saw over 30. We were able to compare field marks of RED and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES.

POMARINE JAEGERS were common, with over a dozen seen. Two SOUTH POLAR SKUAS made passes near the boat.

The rarest bird was a vagrant male BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER about 20 miles to sea that followed our boat for a minute or two allowing decent photos!

Trip results are here, including a photo of the rare warbler by Jesse Hampton.

My photos from this trip.

Trip results: Oregon Seabirds: September 24, 2011

We had a nice morning with clouds and wind in the afternoon. The full trip report is here.

Highlights included several South Polar Skuas and good looks at a couple of Tufted Puffins. About 600 Sooty Shearwaters were widely distributed and in near-constant view from a mile offshore to our chum stop 24 miles west of Newport, Oregon.

We spent 10 minutes with 3 Humpback Whales until they sounded.

Overall, typical species with no rarities--a good day!

Trip results: Oregon Seabirds: September 10, 2011

The trip from Newport, Oregon, on Saturday, September 10, 2011, started foggy with fairly large swell, which made the first portion of the trip uncomfortable and relatively birdless. Early in the trip Tim Shelmerdine spotted a XANTUS’S MURRELET in the fog. CASSIN’S AUKLETS fled from the boat during this portion of the trip, and were seen nearly constantly the rest of the way.

The fog burned off about 10:30 AM and immediately albatrosses and fulmars found us and we began our chum stop in 200 fathoms of water about 25 miles due west of Yaquina Head.

We had two SOUTH POLAR SKUAS come right in to our chum and sit down for great photos. Two others were seen at a distance. All three JAEGERS visited us here, as well.

A cooperative TUFTED PUFFIN allowed prolonged views on the return, and two HUMPBACK WHALES were not too far, while others spouted in the distance. Smoother seas and sun comforted us on the return. Near shore the swell was high again and we had rather poor views of MARBLED MURRELETS. Much farther away, 5 ELEGANT TERNS were diving into the breakers near NYE Beach, about 3/4 of a mile distant from us, unfortunately.

A complete trip report is here.

More photos from the trip are here.

For more information, please see The Bird Guide pelagic site.

Trip results: Oregon Shorebird Festival pelagic: August 27, 2011

It was a foggy and windy morning for this 5-hour pelagic trip from Charleston, Oregon, for the 25th annual Oregon Shorebird Festival.

Nevertheless, we 33 birders saw nearly all of the expected species for this time of year, albeit, most in low numbers. We also broke out of the sun about 9 miles offshore as the water warmed. This trip went out 12 miles where we stopped to chum in the albatrosses and fulmars to the boat.

I didn't even get out my camera, but passenger Lois Miller put together a nice photo journal of the trip.

August 27, 2011
Aboard Betty Kay of Betty Kay Charters
Captain Kathy, deck hand Bam-Bam

Guides: Tim Shelmerdine, Russ Namitz, Tim Rodenkirk, Greg Gillson

In Coos Bay (0700-0715 hours outgoing and 1145-1200 hours on the return) we recorded these species:

Harlequin Duck 1
Surf Scoter 15
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 1
Brandt's Cormorant 150
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Pelagic Cormorant 3
Brown Pelican 20
Osprey 2
Black Turnstone 10
Red-necked Phalarope 2
Heermann's Gull 30
Western Gull 40
California Gull 5
Common Murre 4
Pigeon Guillemot 8
Rhinoceros Auklet 1

From the bar crossing to 6 miles offshore (0715-0815 hours outgoing and 1045-1145 hours on the return) we recorded these birds:

Red-throated Loon 1
Northern Fulmar 2
Sooty Shearwater 20
Brandt's Cormorant 50
Brown Pelican 5
Red-necked Phalarope 5
Red Phalarope 5
Heermann's Gull 2
Western Gull 10
Arctic Tern 1
Common Murre 25
Pigeon Guillemot 2
Marbled Murrelet 2
Cassin's Auklet 50
Rhinoceros Auklet 8
Tufted Puffin 1

From 6-12 miles offshore (0815-1045 hours) we recorded these birds:

Black-footed Albatross 8
Northern Fulmar 50
Pink-footed Shearwater 15
Buller's Shearwater 3
Sooty Shearwater 5
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 15
Red-necked Phalarope 5
Red Phalarope 30
Sabine's Gull 10
Western Gull 2
Arctic Tern 4
South Polar Skua 1
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Long-tailed Jaeger 15
Cassin's Auklet 30
Rhinoceros Auklet 8

Repositioning Cruise, San Francisco to Vancouver: May 19-21, 2011

Crossing under San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge

Eight Oregon birders met in San Francisco to board the Coral Princess for its repositioning cruise to Vancouver, British Columbia. The ship departed in the afternoon of May 19th, and by dawn on the 20th was off Del Norte, County, California--that state's most northern county. We birders would spend the entire day traversing the entire Oregon coast, getting too dark to see birds just before crossing into Washington State waters.

Because of the shape of the Oregon coastline, the ship was about 35 miles off the southern Oregon coast, and 60 miles off the northern Oregon coast.

Cruise ships are the only reasonable way for birders to get to waters beyond 35 miles of shore--off the continental shelf. Pelagic birding trips using chartered fishing vessels barely reach 30 miles offshore and can only spend an hour or two before heading back to port. Thus, if you want to see deep water specialties (rarities), a cruise is the way to go.

Cruise birding is different from any other kind of birding you may do. It can be highly enjoyable and addicting, but disappointing if you do not know what to expect.



We started under sunny skies, with a bit of wind. Even with a later-than-scheduled departure, we were seeing albatrosses out the window by dinner time.

We awoke at dawn, had some breakfast, and made our way out on the Promenade Deck--Deck 7--which goes all the way around the ship. This particular ship did not have a covered deck on the bow as some ships do. This is an important feature for larger birding groups.



As you can see from the above photo, the birders were huddled out of the wind on the starboard side, amidships, under life boat #5. Water and air temperature were about 50F, wind in our face at 15-20 knots, and ship speed of 22 knots. That is about a 45 mile per hour breeze on the exposed parts of the ship! Nevertheless, the more experienced cruise birders noted that this was the most pleasant conditions of any previous spring trip! Brrr...

There also were fewer overall birds than on previous spring cruises, perhaps due to this later than usual cruise date. Oh, there were still birds aplenty, but many were quite distant. This proved to be a bit of detriment for me, as I will explain.

Cruise birding is far different than taking a pelagic birding trip on a chartered fishing boat. Of course, the ship is larger and you can use a scope on the calm decks. Food is included on your cruise price, with many dining rooms. But then, birders mostly want to stay on deck looking at birds during daylight hours, so knowing where the grill and pizza bar are located is important. And you can get a good night's sleep in your stateroom each night, rather than driving to the pelagic trip's port of departure in the predawn hours, as do many birders.

But the main difference between cruise ship birding and pelagic birding trips is how far you are from the birds. The pelagic trip is designed to go where the birds are and even chum them right up to the boat. Frankly, large ships scare birds. And watching from Deck 7, perhaps 40 feet above the water line, gives you about the same experience as a seawatch--watching birds from a coastal headland.

Cruise ship birding is done primarily with a spotting scope. Few birds are within 1/4 mile, or about the length of the ship. Many birds are spotted flying from the boat about 1/2 mile distant and are soon more than 2 miles distant. A scope, then, is essential. And some experience and study is needed to know what birds you are seeing--shape and flight style are essential, as lighting is often poor for picking up plumage colors and patterns.

The Pacific Loons above (one in breeding plumage and one not) were very close (for a cruise ship)--within 1/4 mile of the boat during our way out the San Francisco harbor.

This was of particular trouble for me, as I awoke on the 20th with a screaming headache--perhaps from dehydration during the previous busy travel day. For the first couple of hours it was difficult to even have my eyes open at all. Later, the headache went away, but I decided I would only use binoculars to bird--I didn't want that nauseating headache to return. Staring through my scope with one eye for an entire day, as water streamed constantly by, was a sure way to bring that headache back!

Using "binoculars only" meant that I was unable to identify shearwater-sized birds beyond about a mile and a quarter. I saw far fewer storm-petrels than the other birders (53 compared to 298). I identified no Cassin's Auklets, with about 19 seen by others throughout the day. Those birders using scopes could spot the storm-petrels and Cassin's Auklets out there a mile, and shearwaters out 3 or more miles.



There were numerous Long-tailed Jaegers seen, such as the bird above. This one was about 1/2 mile distant--about as close as they got to the ship.

But my headache didn't mean that I didn't see good birds--because I did!

While still in California waters, 2 Laysan Albatrosses flew by. Then Russ and I identified a Pterodroma by flight style, and a bit later my life Murphy's Petrel swooped up with the same flight style right alongside the boat! I observed 4 more in Oregon waters.

Only Owen Schmidt and Jeff Gilligan independently identified a single Ashy Storm-Petrel in Oregon waters. The light was bad, so they primarily had only flight style and shape to go by, but they did note the all-dark rump. There are about a half dozen sightings of this species in Oregon waters--unfortunately none seen well enough to pass a records committee yet. I think, for storm-petrels in general, a video showing it flying would be more helpful to a bird records committee to accept it than any but a very close series of photos.

Another rarity, a pair of Parakeet Auklets, were identified by Tim Shelmerdine, Russ Namitz, and David Smith. I got a glimpse in a borrowed scope, but couldn't make out any diagnostic field marks before they splashed back down in the water.

Entering Vancouver

Russ Namitz recorded overall numbers for the Oregon portion of the cruise, as follows (my personal sightings in parentheses):
Greater Scaup 1 (1)
Black-footed Albatross 19 (7)
Northern Fulmar 9 (10)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 1 (1)
Pink-footed Shearwater 2 (0)
Sooty Shearwater 1500+ (2336)
MURPHY'S PETREL 5 (4)
ASHY STORM-PETREL 1 (0)
Leach's Storm-Petrel 186 (45)
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 142 (10)
Whimbrel 12 (14)
Red Phalarope 624 (310)
Sabine's Gull 10 (3)
California Gull 1 (0)
Arctic Tern 7 (4)
South Polar Skua 6 (7)
Parasitic Jaeger 1 (1)
Long-tailed Jaeger 67 (43)
Common Murre 1 (0)
Cassin's Auklet 19 (0)
PARAKEET AUKLET 2 (0)
Rhinoceros Auklet 81 (9)

We also saw Northern Fur Seals, Northern Elephant Seal (Russ only), Dall's Porpoises, Humpback Whales, Sei Whale, Pilot Whales, Orcas.

So, the trip had a long-desired life bird (Murphy's Petrel), a missed lifer (Parakeet Auklet), and a missed state bird (Ashy Storm-Petrel). These were my three target birds for this trip. Well, I'll get those others another time.

Related previous posts you may find interesting if you are planning such a cruise.

Repositioning cruises (general information):
http://oregonseabirds.blogspot.com/2010/07/repositioning-cruises.html

Seabirds from boats (including cruise ship repositioning trips and costs):
http://oregonseabirds.blogspot.com/2011/02/seabirds-from-boats.html

Virtual seawatch at Boiler Bay, Oregon (viewing seabirds from a cruise ship is similar):
http://oregonseabirds.blogspot.com/2011/02/virtual-seawatch-at-boiler-bay-oregon.html

Trip results: Oregon Seabirds: May 15, 2011

Rarely do birders see Red Phalaropes in breeding plumage on the West Coast. The one notable exception is on May pelagic trips. In the photo above are both Red and Red-necked Phalaropes at sea off Newport, Oregon.

This was our new "Seabirds of Oregon" trip, an 8-hour trip from Newport. The first part of the trip heads over to the scenic Yaquina (ya-KWIN-a) Head lighthouse and seabird colony. This accounted for the majority of Brandt's Cormorants and Common Murres counted. Then we headed offshore, stopping when we encountered numerous seabirds about 22 miles offshore.

We traveled on the boat "Misty" with Captain Rob Waddell at the helm.

Brant 5 (bay)
Greater Scaup 20 (bay)
Harlequin Duck 2 (bay)
Surf Scoter 80
White-winged Scoter 1 (Russ only, crossing bar outgoing, distant)
Red-throated Loon 50
Pacific Loon 157
Common Loon 4
Red-necked Grebe 2 (bay)
Western Grebe 2
Clark's Grebe 1
Black-footed Albatross 62
Northern Fulmar 1
Pink-footed Shearwater 11
Sooty Shearwater 28
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 3
Brandt's Cormorant 405
Double-crested Cormorant 33
Pelagic Cormorant 129
Turkey Vulture 2 (bay)
Osprey 1 (bay)
Semipalmated Plover 1 (Tim only, near Yaquina Head, distant)
Black Turnstone 1 (bay)
Dunlin 2 (bay)
Red-necked Phalarope 205
Red Phalarope 650
Sabine's Gull 20
Western Gull 161
California Gull 56
Glaucous-winged Gull 2
Long-tailed Jaeger 1
Common Murre 40,616
Pigeon Guillemot 203
Marbled Murrelet 11
Cassin's Auklet 24
Rhinoceros Auklet 53
Tufted Puffin 1 (Russ only, near Yaquina Head, distant)
American Crow 1 (bay)
Barn Swallow 2 (bay)
American Robin 1 (bay)

Harbor Seal 5 (bay)
California Sea Lion 1
Steller's Sea Lion 2 (Greg only, on harbor entrance buoy, distant)
Dall's Porpoise 29
Gray Whale 2
Humpback Whale 1

More photos from this trip

Trip results: Perpetua Bank, October 2, 2010

http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/archive/10022010.htm

Saturday, October 2, 2010
11 hours Perpetua Bank trip
From Newport, Oregon, offshore to 32 miles, south 10 miles to Perpetua Bank chum stop, then port

Seas: Fair; mild winds.

Boat: Misty
Captain Robert Waddell
Newport Tradewinds Charter

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

Guides: Greg Gillson, Tim Shelmerdine, Russ Namitz

We had a fun trip offshore from Newport this past Saturday. This was the final pelagic trip of the year.

Highlights include a couple of ANCIENT MURRELETS nearshore on both outgoing and returning segments of our trip. For the second trip in a row, we've had FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS come into our chum slick. On this day, one bird to each slick, about 15 miles (and over an hour) apart. Four SOUTH POLAR SKUAS and a flock of about 400 FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS were nice.

My photos of this trip are at: http://www.pbase.com/gregbirder/20101002_pelagic

There aren't too many bird photos; 5 of the 11 photos are breaching HUMPBACK WHALES! Skies were overcast for most of the day, making viewing conditions excellent in all directions, but making for dull photography...

Species list:

Northern Pintail 20
Green-winged Teal 2
Greater Scaup 1
Surf Scoter 139
White-winged Scoter 33
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Red-throated Loon 1
Pacific Loon 3
Common Loon 18
Red-necked Grebe 1 (bay)
Western Grebe 10
Black-footed Albatross 39
Northern Fulmar 37
Pink-footed Shearwater 111
Flesh-footed Shearwater 2
Buller's Shearwater 21
Sooty Shearwater 50
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 400
Brown Pelican 36
Brandt's Cormorant 46
Double-crested Cormorant 35 (bay)
Pelagic Cormorant 72
Red-necked Phalarope 99
Red Phalarope 16
Sabine's Gull 21
Heermann's Gull 4
Mew Gull 2 (bay)
Western Gull 48
California Gull 155
Herring Gull 6
Glaucous-winged Gull 3 (bay)
Common Tern 1
South Polar Skua 4
Pomarine Jaeger 12
Parasitic Jaeger 16
Common Murre 60
Pigeon Guillemot 6
Marbled Murrelet 4
Ancient Murrelet 5
Cassin's Auklet 60
Rhinoceros Auklet 40
Tufted Puffin 2

Ocean Sunfish 10
Humpback Whale 4
Gray Whale 1
Harbor Porpoise 1
Dall's Porpoise 8
Pacific White-sided Dolphin 8
Steller's Sea Lion 8
California Sea Lion 10 (plus 100+ on breakwater in bay)
Harbor Seal 3 (bay)
Northern Fur Seal 1

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

Trip report: 29 April – 2 May, 2010: Long Beach, CA to Vancouver, BC

[I received the report below from Ryan Merrill and pass it on for your enjoyment (or envy).]


Gadflies Galore
Offshore Seabird Survey – Repositioning Cruise, MS Amsterdam
Long Beach, CA to Vancouver, BC
29 April – 2 May, 2010

Kevin Aanerud, Todd Hass, Ryan Merrill, Adam Sedgley, and Michael Willison
Joined part of the time by Don & Sandi McVay, and Randy Bjorklund


We went on a Holland America cruise from Long Beach to Vancouver which included two days offshore. The sold-out ship was the 780-foot, 1,380-passenger MS Amsterdam. Seas were quite rough the first day, with 18-27 foot swells and 35+kt winds. Many on the ship were sick, but the birding, for those of us who were able, was wonderful. With the conditions and layout of the ship, our group-size worked well. It would have been difficult to find a calm viewpoint with many more people, though in calmer conditions it wouldn’t be an issue. Viewing was from 60-80 feet above sea level with binoculars and telescopes.

We completed consecutive 20-minute surveys during daylight hours of the two days spent offshore. On Day One we were 30-45 miles offshore, from San Luis Obispo to Point Arena. On Day Two we were 30-60 miles offshore, from southern Oregon to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The transect data will be entered into eBird for anyone who is interested in more specific locations of the birds. Documentation of review species will be sent to the appropriate committees.

Two day totals:

Greater Scaup – 3
Pacific Loon – 2
Laysan Albatross – 1 – Lane County, OR
Black-footed Albatross – 53
Northern Fulmar – 52
Murphy’s Petrel – 61 – mostly off OR but seen in all three states. They generally approached the ship more closely than the Cook’s Petrels did. The white chin was seen on many of them, as was the prominent M pattern on the back and the silvery under-wing flash that extended up the trailing edge of the wing toward the secondaries.
Dark Pterodroma sp. – 10, two were not Murphy’s but neither was identified to species. One “menacing”, “big-boned” bird off CA we watched for 15+ seconds while it soared 60-100 feet above sea level, it was amazing to watch despite not knowing its identity, and the only bird we saw above the horizon line the entire first day. The other was off OR and bulkier than Murphy’s, but other than being quite dark, no plumage characteristics were seen despite watching for several arcs.
Mottled Petrel – 2, Grays Harbor County, WA, Kevin, Todd & Adam saw.
Cook’s Petrel – 232 – the first, last, and most abundant species of the first day. Seen on every twenty-minute transect!
Hawaiian/Galapagos (Dark-rumped) Petrel – 2 – CA, one seen fairly well by all and identified as such in the field. The other was observed as a large white-bellied, dark-backed gadfly petrel – distant photos of it show coloration consistent with Hawaiian/Galapagos including dark cap and nape.
White-bellied Pterodroma sp. – 2 – large, consistent with Hawaiian
Pink-footed Shearwater – 26
Sooty Shearwater – 195
Short-tailed Shearwater – 3 – OR & WA
White-bellied tubenose sp. – 6 – three were possible Manx Shearwaters
Dark tubenose sp. – 7
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel – 45 – 40 were in a raft at dusk off WA
Leach’s Storm-Petrel – 363 – all but 4 were off OR & WA
Ashy Storm-Petrel – 2 – Dark-rumped storm-petrels that appeared to be this species. Ryan saw the first one close and well for 5+ seconds. Kevin saw the second briefly but well, while Todd, Adam, and Ryan just glimpsed this bird. Both Grays Harbor County, WA
Red-necked Phalarope – 6
Red Phalarope – 1732
Phalarope sp. – 82
California Gull – 2
Herring Gull – 5
Western Gull – 41
Glaucous-winged Gull – 1
Gull sp. – 18
Sabine’s Gull – 322
Arctic Tern – 13
Pomarine Jaeger – 7
Parasitic Jaeger – 8
Long-tailed Jaeger – 19
Jaeger sp. – 7
Common Murre – 4
Cassin’s Auklet – 72
Parakeet Auklet – 26 – CA, OR & WA
Rhinocerous Auklet – 176
Tufted Puffin – 4 – CA & WA
Alcid sp. – 46 – 20 were likely Parakeets, 9 were likely Rhinos

The big mammal highlight was a group of six Baird’s Beaked Whales off Lincoln County, OR. Other mammals include Fin Whale (OR), Sperm Whale (OR), Humpback Whale, Short-beaked Common Dolphin (near Long Beach), Dall’s Porpoise, Bottlenose Dolphin (Long Beach Harbor), Killer Whale, and Northern Fur Seal.

Trip results: Perpetua Bank, October 3, 2009

Feeding frenzy; Black-footed Albatrosses and Northern Fulmars.

Our final trip of 2009 was well attended and a great success. Most of our guides joined this trip to help spot birds and explain ID to our guests.

We didn't have any rarities on this trip, but we were surprised to see Brown Pelicans diving into the sea for food up to 12 miles from shore.

A couple of miles outside Perpetua Bank (125 degrees west) we encountered a small mid-level hake trawler that had just pulled in its nets. Most of the albatrosses and fulmars were here. Despite being gorged on bycatch, they scrambled over each other to take our chum offerings. The adult albatrosses bleated their complaints like sheep and the younger albatrosses whistled their begging calls. Simultaneously, the fulmars were giving their poultry-like excited "guck, guck, guck" calls. It reminded me of my childhood on my grandfather's farm....

A few photos from the trip gradually are being placed on my pBase photo site.

Trip list:
Greater White-fronted Goose 45
Cackling Goose 75
Northern Pintail 300
Green-winged Teal 8
Surf Scoter 250
White-winged Scoter 100
Red-breasted Merganser 2 (seen by few)
Common Loon 8
Pacific Loon 5
Red-throated Loon 3
Western Grebe 1
Black-footed Albatross 350
Northern Fulmar 750
Pink-footed Shearwater 65
Sooty Shearwater 100
Short-tailed Shearwater 4 (seen by few)
Buller's Shearwater 40
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 8
Brown Pelican 750
Double-crested Cormorant 15
Brandt's Cormorant 80
Pelagic Cormorant 60
Whimbrel 1
Red Phalarope 10
Red-necked Phalarope 35
Heermann's Gull 45
Mew Gull 8
California Gull 65
Herring Gull 5
Western Gull 45
Glaucous-winged Gull 7
Sabine's Gull 4
Common Murre 80
Pigeon Guillemot 7
Marbled Murrelet 8
Cassin's Auklet 180
Rhinoceros Auklet 70
South Polar Skua 3
Pomarine Jaeger 1 (seen by few)
Parasitic Jaeger 1 (seen by few)

Humpback Whale 1
possible Blue Whale (distant spouts only) 2 (seen by few)
Harbor Porpoise 3
Steller's Sea Lion 8
California Sea Lion 3
Harbor Seal 30

Ocean Sunfish 5