copyright 2003 Shearwater Journeys

Fellow, Seabirders:

After spending a night in Bodega Bay, my friend, Don Doolittle, and I birded our way north to Fort Bragg for the trip there on September 21. The drive along Highway 1 north to Fort Bragg is very beautiful. We made stops at Salt Point State Park to see the Pygmy Nuthatches. Along the Mendocino coast we stopped at Point Arena Cover and Lighthouse, Miner's Hole Road, and the Navarro River. Some of the highlights included: a possible Blue-headed Vireo, Warbling and Hutton's Vireos, Yellow, Townsend's and Wilson's Warblers, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Wrentit, Bushtit, Winter Wren, and Anna's Hummingbird.

On September 21 we departed from Noyo Harbor for the north coast. My plan was to head up to Shelter Cove, Humboldt County. We never made it there. Instead, we were side-tracked by so many birds that we just got bogged down. We got out into the "shearwater zone." It was quite busy with many flocks of shearwaters sitting on the water, or actively feeding at the surface. We picked up Sooty, Pink-foots, and Buller's. The Buller's were especially fantastic. Sea surface temperatures were running cool, just as in Bodega ~ 51-54F. One of our passengers from The Netherlands who was on his fifth trip with us, spotted the first of three TUFTED PUFFINS for the day! We headed up Noyo Canyon to try to find some jaegers, skuas, and terns. Accomplished all objectives and we were only 15 miles offshore. So, I turned us back toward shore, staying in the shearwater zone. Just short of Shelter Cove, Linda Terrill spotted a THICK-BILLED MURRE in a flock of several COMMON MURRES! Everyone on board had excellent views. Folks were taking lots of photographs. Our skipper, Rick Thornton, did a terrific job handling the boat. Finally, I decided that I should get my camera out, and shoot some pics. Just as I was all ready, the murre dived. Waiting for it to come up, some large bird flew into the flock of gulls that had been following our boat. It didn't register at first, but then, both Matt Brady and Ryan Terrill yelled out, "BROWN BOOBY!!" I raised my camera and snapped off 3 frames before the booby disappeared. It was quite a moment. We searched for the next hour, circling around, putting out an oil slick, but the booby was never seen again. Both the booby and the murre were first county records for Mendocino County. In any case, it taught me that the shearwater zone is, once again, the place to be! We put in a very long day, not returning to the dock until almost 7 pm. Oh, the seas were just fine, having laid down since the Friday trip.

The full list for the September 21 trip from Fort Bragg follows:

Common Loon-1
Pacific Loon-4
Black-footed Albatross-55
Sooty Shearwater-250
Short-tailed Shearwater-4
Pink-footed Shearwater-390
Buller's Shearwater-2130
Flesh-footed Shearwater-1
Northern Fulmar-23
BROWN BOOBY-1
Pomarine Jaeger-7
Parasitic Jaeger-12
Long-tailed Jaeger-13
South Polar Skua-3
Glaucous-winged Gull-1
Western Gull-300
California Gull-210
Heermann's Gull-3
Sabine's Gull-1
Arctic Tern-7
Common Tern-2
Common Murre-250
THICK-BILLED MURRE-1
Rhinoceros Auklet-105
Cassin's Auklet-330
Tufted Puffin-3
Red-necked Phalarope-22
Red Phalarope-44
Black Turnstone-12
Wandering Tattler-1
Humpback Whale-2
Blue Whale-1
Pacific White-sided Dolphin-60
Northern Right Whale Dolphin-4
Northern Elephant Seal-1
California Sea Lion-4
Blue Shark-2

We spent the night in Fort Bragg, which is always a good idea after these trips. The next morning we birded Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, which had a nice assortment of rocky shorebirds: Black Oystercatcher, many Surfbirds and Black Turnstones, 1 Red-throated Loon, a Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoters, Red-necked Phalaropes, and Common Murres. In the willows we found Song, White-crowned and Savannah Sparrows, Orange-crowned Warbler. A flock of 24 American Pipits flew overhead. We went off to Lake Mendocino, where we found 2 White Pelicans, Horned, Eared, Pied-billed, and Western Grebes. In the oaks were Acorn Woodpecker and Red-breasted Sapsucker. In Lake County, we did not see as many birds since the temperatures were soaring. But, a wonderful flock of Mountain Quail crossed in the dirt road that we were following. The male stood still in the middle of the road for quite some time! What a way to end this birding trip.

See you out there!
Debi
---

Click on the Murrelet to find out how to reserve a trip.