Monterey Bay
September 1, 2002 Report
by Debi Shearwater
The September 1, 2002 pelagic trip from Monterey Bay was a fantastic day of
seabirding something to look at all day long, excellent sea conditions, some
specialty seabirds, and terrific marine mammals. Although we began the day
with foggy conditions, it did not prevent us from finding many of the
seabirds right from the get-go.
The two HARLEQUIN DUCKS were still in the
harbor, SURFBIRDS and BLACK TURNSTONES along the jetty, ELEGANT TERNS along
Cannery Row, and shearwaters were abundant. It was heartening to find flocks
of ASHY STORM-PETRELS along the 200 fathom line. One partial albino Ashy
Storm-Petrel was spotted by Debra Shearwater. It had a white rump and white
feathers in the wings. Only 18 BLACK STORM-PETRELS were found, but everyone
on board had ample time to study the differences in the flight patterns and
field marks of the two species of storm-petrels. Shearwater Journeys'
long-time leader, Clay Kempf, spotted 2 XANTUS' MURRELETS of the HYPOLEUCUS
race, and excellent studies were had of this hard-to-find species. One of
the SOUTH POLAR SKUAS flew directly over the boat, circling us. The leaders
were: Clay Kempf, Mike Rogers, Jennifer Green, Denise Wight, and Debra
Shearwater. The complete list follows.
Our next boat trips with spaces available are:
from Monterey
Sep 8
(leaders: Clay Kempf, Luke Cole, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Mike
Danzenbaker, Debra Shearwater)
Sep 27 (leaders: Luke Cole, Jennifer Green,
Debra Shearwater)
Oct 4 (leaders: Steve Howell, Mike Danzenbaker, Luke
Cole, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater)
Oct 6 (leaders: Steve Howell, Clay
Kempf, Luke Cole, Debra Shearwater)
Oct 12 (leaders: Scott Terrill, Linda
Terrill, Clay Kempf, Denise Wight, Debra Shearwater)
Oct 19 (leaders: Scott
Terrill, Linda Terrill, Clay Kempf, Mike Rogers, Debra Shearwater)
from Santa Cruz
Sep 28 (leaders: Al DeMartini, Clay Kempf, Jennifer Green)
Oct 13 (leaders: Jennifer Green, Ted Chandik, Scott Terrill, Clay Kempf, Debra
Shearwater)
from Bodega Bay
Oct 14 (leaders: Alan Hopkins, Lisa Hug, Luke
Cole, Al Jaramillo, Debra Shearwater)
The following trips are SOLD OUT: Sep 13, 14, 15, 29, and Oct 5.
The best
weekend for out-of-state birders is Oct 12, 13, 14. Spaces remain open on
all of these trips.
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-40
SOOTY SHEARWATER-3,600
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-60
BULLER'S SHEARWATER-12
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER-1
ASHY STORM-PETREL-1,800
BLACK STORM-PETREL-18
POMARINE JAEGER-8-9
POMARINE/PARASITIC-1
PARASITIC JAEGER-2
PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED-1
LONG-TAILED JAEGER-3
SOUTH POLAR SKUA-2
WESTERN GULL-+
CALIFORNIA GULL-+
HEERMANN'S GULL-+
SABINES GULL-35
ARCTIC TERN-10
COMMON TERN-1
ELEGANT TERN-18
COMMON MURRE-30
PIGEON GULLIMOT-3
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-24
CASSIN'S AUKLET-1
XANTUS MURRELET-2 (HYPOLEUCUS)
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE-30
RED PHALAROPE-7
SURFBIRD-2
BLACK TURNSTONE-6
MARBLED GODWIT-2
HARLEQUIN DUCK-2
BLUE WHALE-8
HUMPBACK WHALE-16
DALL'S PORPOISE-6
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN-40
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN-8
RISSO'S DOLPHIN-16
LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHIN-350
HARBOR SEAL-+
CALIFORNIA SEA LION-+
SEA OTTER-1
Click
on the Murrelet to find out how to reserve a trip.
