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.