Hello, Seabirders,

I thought that nothing could top the Shearwater Journey's September 7th pelagic trip from Bodega Bay, but the SEPTEMBER 14TH trip comes very close! The seas were so flat calm that the ocean acted as a mirror, reflecting the seabirds, whether in flight or sitting on the water. Images from the photographers of that day show "mirrors" of the seabirds. It was a dreamy trip from start to finish.

We headed out to BODEGA CANYON and traveled outside the CORDELL BANK. The storm- petrel flock eluded us until we searched in one small area of fog. They were hanging out, or better put, under the cover of a small fog bank.

Highlights

Highlights were many: 2 XANTUS' MURRELETS on the water gave knock-out views for all on board; 2 TUFTED PUFFINS did the same; 250 JAEGERS, all three species in total; 110 SABINE'S GULLS; 500 CASSIN'S AUKLETS along with 5 BLUE WHALES; 150 BLUE SHARKS; 95 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES; 300 NORTHERN FULMARS; 2 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS; 600 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS; 8 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS; 5 FORK-TAILED STORM- PETRELS; 40 BLACK STORM-PETRELS; and 2800 ASHY STORM-PETRELS. The rarest bird of the day was a DARK MORPH PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER.

Krill

It appears that the winds of August generated some upwelling and krill production based on the presence of the blue whales, the high numbers of Cassin's Auklets, and the high numbers of blue sharks - all krill feeders. The water changed color from a soupy dark green, to a much clearer aqua-blue in the areas where these animals were found. The murrelets were also found in this clear water along with jumping Pacific Saury. It was nice to see blue whales again after being mostly absent for the past two years in northern California. While we saw scattered storm-petrels for several hours, finding the flocks made seeing the fork-tails and blacks especially easy. Fulmars are obviously arriving from the north. The jaeger migration was just spectacular! There was absolutely no wind and no swell. The ocean looked like glass!

Leaders

We thank all of the birders who joined the Shearwater Journey's leaders on this trip: Lisa Hug, John Sterling, Alan Hopkins, Alvaro Jaramillo, Peter Pyle, Gerry McChesney, Don Doolittle, & Debra Shearwater. Some leaders and participants added county birds to their Sonoma and Marin County lists.

Upcoming Trips

Our next trips from Bodega Bay with spaces available are: SEPTEMBER 30 & OCTOBER 19th. That Wedge-tailed Shearwater is out there somewhere!

Our next trips from Monterey with spaces available are: SEPTEMBER 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29 (ALBACORE); OCTOBER 5, 6 (ALBACORE), 7, 12, 13, 14 (ALBACORE), 20. On our October 20th trip from Monterey, Bob Ramer will be joining the Shearwater leaders for a "boat ride down memory lane." Bob & Debi started some of the first pelagic trips from Monterey Bay in 1976.

Southern Oceans Charter

Meet all of the Shearwater Journey's Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falklands leaders on the October 7th trip: Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Clay Kempf, Luke Cole, Don Doolittle, and Debra Shearwater will lead a charter trip in January 2010.

Species List

The complete species list for the SEPTEMBER 14, 2007 BODEGA BAY PELAGIC TRIP follows:

COMMON LOON-3
EARED GREBE-1, offshore
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-95
NORTHERN FULMAR-300
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-600, ONE DARK-MORPH
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER-2
BULLER'S SHEARWATER-4
SOOTY SHEARWATER-610
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL-8
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL-5
ASHY STORM-PETREL-2800
BLACK STORM-PETREL-40
BROWN PELICAN-14
BRANDT'S CORMORANT-350
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT-2
PELAGIC CORMORANT-3
SURF SCOTER-2
LEAST SANDPIPER-1
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE-250
RED PHALAROPE-30
POMARINE JAEGER-100+
PARASITIC JAEGER-10
LONG-TAILED JAEGER-40
JAEGER sp.-100
HEERMANN'S GULL-10
CALIFORNIA GULL-300
WESTERN GULL-75
SABINE'S GULL-110
COMMON MURRE-300
PIGEON GUILLEMOT-10
XANTUS' MURRELET-2
XANTUS/CRAVERI'S MURRELET-1
CASSIN'S AUKLET-500
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-43
TUFTED PUFFIN-2
CALIFORNIA SEA LION-200
STELLER'S SEA LION-3
NORTHERN FUR SEAL-5
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL-18
BLUE WHALE-5
HUMPBACK WHALE-6
HARBOR PORPOISE-4
DALL'S PORPOISE-3
OCEAN SUNFISH-4
BLUE SHARK-150
PACIFIC SAURY-2 SCHOOLS
MOON JELLIES-1000'S


SHEARWATERS FOREVER,


DEBRA SHEARWATER
PO BOX 190
HOLLISTER, CA 95024
831/637-8527