This is the place for Debra's personal trips and observations,
as well as trip reports from Shearwater Journeys.
In stifling hot Athens, my friend, Don Doolittle and I have been
touring the sites of ancient Greece— the Parthenon, Agoura, and other
places. Birds have been very few, but we each managed a lifer—
Sardinian Warbler for Don and Levant Sparrowhawk for me. We also saw
Blue Rock Thrush and a really neat snake. The sites were amazing. We
are off to Venice, Italy today. Debra
posted by Debra Shearwater at
8:31 PM
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Shearwater Journey's pelagic trip on Monterey Bay today was nothing
short of sensational! It was an action-packed, non-stop, mind-blowing
day of thousands upon thousands of feeding shearwaters, sea lions,
dolphins and humpback whales! The day began with a bang, when we
located both the summering LONG-TAILED and HARLEQUIN DUCKS in the
harbor. The usual suspects were along Cannery Row, including COMMON
MURRES and PIGEON GUILLEMOTS. Once we hit the bell buoy off Pt.
Pinos, the first shearwater of the day flew in— a BULLER'S
SHEARWATER! We knew that we were in for something great, and sure
enough, none of us was disappointed! Only two miles off Point Joe, we
encountered the first of thousands of feeding SOOTY, PINK-FOOTED and
BULLER'S SHEARWATERS along with PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS and
HUMPBACK WHALES. Heading south to Cypress Point, we encountered one
mass of feeding marine life after another. Sometimes, we found flocks
of shearwaters resting on the sea, obviously satiated! When the
flocks of Buller's Shearwaters launched themselves in the air, it was
a like a dreamy ballet. Soon, a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER was spotted
at the stern, coming into the chumming. BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES made
occasional passes, but the larger numbers of this species were found
toward the end of the day. White-sided dolphins were joined by
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPINS, bowriding with their pale chocolate
calves and breaching and tail-slapping. Each new mass of wildlife
produced more Humpback Whales, sometimes breaching. On the fish-
finder, we could see large shoals of anchovies. The shearwaters were
diving and looking in the water for the fish. Finally, I saw a Sooty
Shearwater flying with a large anchovy, with a Pink-footed
Shearwater, calling, in hot pursuit! The Pink-foot won out, and stole
the fish! "Wheep, wheep," calling Pink-foots were very busy. The
dolphin show that had begun at 9:30 am continued until just after 1
pm. On the north side of the outer bay, we began to encounter
scattered ASHY STORM-PETRELS, along with many more RHINOCEROS and a
few CASSIN'S AUKLETS. Then, a flock of nearly 100 Ashys lifted off
the water, and leader Brian Sullivan spotted a single FORK-TAILED
STORM-PETREL amongst them. Returning to the harbor, leader Jennifer
Green brought the boat to a screeching halt for a single XANTUS'
MURRELET which promptly flew to the other side of the earth, as they
usually do! Two NORTHERN FUR SEALS and a single NORTHERN ELEPHANT
SEAL (rare at sea) added to the day, along with two good sized OCEAN
SUNFISH. Meanwhile, overhead, SABINE'S GULLS, and all sorts of
JAEGERS gave the aerial show! It was an exhausting, but thrilling day
to witness this spectacular array of miles and miles of wildlife.
There was never one dull minute!
By any standards, this was a great day. But, it is pretty early in
the fall season to have such a great variety of seabirds, in
particular. The sea surface temperatures ranged from 58-59-61F, with
some good temperature gradients. This is early for these numbers of
Buller's Shearwaters. In most years, as soon as we see high numbers
of Buller's, we usually encounter the Flesh-footed Shearwaters. But,
Fleshy-foots are more easily seen in October. Sea conditions were not
very good for finding the storm-petrels. In recent years, we have not
found storm-petrel flocks in August. With calmer seas, more storm-
petrels might be found. So, it was a day with some major bonuses.
We thank all of the participants on this day! Many photographers were
just delighted with the show! The August 22 leaders were: John
Sterling, Clay Kempf, Brian Sullivan, Jennifer Green, & Debra
Shearwater.
Our next Monterey trip with space available is August 29th. Please
call Linda at 408-353-8036 for a reservation. Leaders for the August
29th trip are Linda Terrill, Clay Kempf, and Jennifer Green.
The complete species list follows:
AUGUST 22, 2008 MONTEREY BAY
EARED GREBE- 1
WESTERN GREBE- 1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 31
NORTHERN FULMAR- 2
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 975
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 225
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 18,000
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL- 1
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 225
BROWN PELICAN- 150
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 550
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 6
HARLEQUIN DUCK- 1
LONG-TAILED DUCK- 1
BLACK TURNSTONE- 7
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 250
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 1
POMARINE JAEGER- 7
POMARINE/PARASITIC- 2
PARASITIC JAEGER-1
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 4
JAEGER SP.- 2
HEERMANN'S GULL- 50
CALIFORNIA GULL- 30
WESTERN GULL- 200
SABINE'S GULL- 48
ELEGANT TERN- 45
COMMON MURRE- 28
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 12
XANTUS' MURRELET- 1
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 16
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 48
SEA OTTER- 6
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 40
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 2
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1
HARBOR SEAL- 12
HUMPBACK WHALE- 16
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 450
RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 7
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 2200
DALL'S PORPOISE- 4
OCEAN SUNFISH-2
Shearwaters forever,
Debra
Debra Shearwater
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
www.shearwaterjourneys.com
debi@shearwaterjourneys.com
posted by Debra Shearwater at
9:17 PM
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posted by Debra Shearwater at
8:49 PM
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Shearwater Journey's August 12, 2008 pelagic trip to Bodega Canyon
and Cordell Bank was highlighted with amazing views of XANTUS'
MURRELET spotted by leader Gerry McChesney on the water in some
pretty choppy seas! It was a rough day at sea with winds from the
northwest and a fairly consistent sea surface temperature of 52F.
Nevertheless, we did manage to find some scattered ASHY STORM-PETRELS
and a few FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, and had a grand slam on all of
the jaegers: POMARINE, PARASITIC, LONG-TAILED, and a single SOUTH
POLAR SKUA. It was a tough day of seabirding. August trips can be
like that, or, they can be flat calm. Roll the dice!
We thank all of the participants who ventured out on this trip. The
leaders were: Lisa Hug, Alan Hopkins, Matt Brady, Gerry McChesney,
Steve Howell, and Debra Shearwater.
Our next trips from Bodega Bay are OCTOBER 9 & 17. To make a
reservation, please send a check to Debra Shearwater, PO Box 190,
Hollister, CA 95024. You will receive a return confirmation letter
with details of the trip.
The complete species list for AUGUST 12, 2008 BODEGA CANYON & CORDELL
BANK FOLLOWS:
PACIFIC LOON- 1
WESTERN GREBE- 1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 38
NORTHERN FULMAR- 28
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 60
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 25
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL- 4
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 80
BROWN PELICAN- 25
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- +
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 12
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 1
POMARINE JAEGER- 10
PARASITIC JAEGER- 2
PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 18
HEERMANN'S GULL- 25
CALIFORNIA GULL- 50
WESTERN GULL- 50
SABINE'S GULL- 5
COMMON MURRE- 38
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 20
XANTUS' MURRELET- 2
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 18
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 6
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 3
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 16
HARBOR PORPOISE- 2
Spaces are still available on our upcoming trips from Monterey on
August 15, 22, and 29. Please call Linda Terrill at 408/353-8036 for
a reservation.
Shearwaters forever,
Debra Shearwater
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
debi@shearwaterjourneys.com
posted by Debra Shearwater at
7:28 AM
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posted by Debra Shearwater at
10:31 AM
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From: DEBRA SHEARWATER <debiluv@earthlink.net>Date: August 9, 2008 5:46:29 PM PDTTo: Debi Shearwater <debi@shearwaterjourneys.com>Subject: HAWAIIAN PETRELS IN NW CALIFORNIA & OREGONHello, Seabirders,Three sightings of HAWAIIAN PETRELS on Shearwater Journey's August 8, 2008 pelagic trip from Fort Bragg thrilled seabirders with repeated passes as close as 50 feet to the boat! Other highlights of this day included two XANTUS' MURRELETS, sitting on the water providing excellent views of this small alcid that rarely reaches northern California; a BLUE WHALE just outside of the harbor, over 90 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES; great views of CASSIN'S AUKLETS; a grand slam on all three species of jaegers, POMARINE, PARASITIC, and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS; over 550 COMMON MURRES, many with chicks, 55 RHINOCEROS AUKLETS, and other assorted wildlife.THE STORY:Well, its been in the news— 8-8-08 was supposed to be a very lucky day! Indeed it was for the folks who journeyed on the Shearwater trip that day from Fort Bragg. Billed as a "Search for Mega-rarities," we departed Noyo Harbor at 7:10 am with many a seabird veteran, and a few folks who were making their very first pelagic trip, ever. I announced in the morning that the recent, strange southernly storms may have created what I dub, The Great Southerly Push"— a movement of warm water from southern California, in finger-like streams to central (Monterey and environs) and sometimes, northern California (Fort Bragg), and even into Oregon. The marine forecast was for great sea conditions, and practically no wind from the north, any north! This presented a rare opportunity for us to travel south with no fears of being "creamed" on our return trip to the harbor by the prevailing northwest winds! Yippee! However, the very lack of wind, meant, in my opinion, that we had little chance of encountering any Pterodromas. And, so I announced that folks should not plan on any Hawaiian Petrels on this day! Maybe, better luck on our Sunday trip. But, perhaps, we could find some murrelets. I gave instructions for the proper calling of murrelets, meaning, "murrelets on the water," or "murrelets flying."As we headed out of the harbor to a well known past fishing haunt, Casper Heights, Al De Martini bellowed out, "BLUE WHALE!" Turning the boat around, we followed this giant leviathan for several minutes. It seemed to be traveling and not feeding. Trouble is, it was traveling in the wrong direction for us. So, we resumed our track to the Caspers. The Caspers are three high knolls or pinnacles which attract fish. Leader Clay Kempf, dubbed them the "Casper Heights." It was immediately apparent when were within shouting distance of the "heights" as the shearwater numbers increased dramatically. The sea surface temperature was a very chilly 51.3F. I held out little hope for murrelets in such cold water. I was to be proved wrong, and it would not be the last time I would be proved wrong on this day! The holler came from the stern of the boat, " XANTUS MURRELET ON THE WATER!" Sure enough, at N39.07.25/W124.03.76 in 51.6F water, a sweet little Xantus was on the water for all to see.Conditions were so great, that I decided to take a hunch and head to a "Life" canyon for me—Navarro Canyon off of Point Arena. This area of ocean has practically never been explored by any seabirders. On one past trip from Fort Bragg, I headed south, but I do not think that I reached this canyon. On the famous trip from Bodega Bay to Fort Bragg, overnighting in Fort Bragg, and returning to Bodega Bay (a once-only trip), we found the first North American record of an ADULT WHITE-CAPPED ALBATROSS! But, we did not make it to Navarro Canyon on that trip because the weather was so bad that we could not get more than 8 miles offshore. So, this would be the first birding trip, ever to reach Navarro Canyon!!Looking at the chart in the wheelhouse with our skipper, we descended down a steep canyon wall some 22 miles offshore. This pleasant day gave way to one seabird after another, with jaegers flying in to check out the masses of BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES following our boat. When we reached the Point Arena weather buoy, a large structure, a BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD flew off the buoy and to our boat! I began to ponder where the heck to lay out a menhaden oil slick, and I kept thinking, "a little further, a little more down the canyon slopes." On deck, leader Lisa Hug and I were casually discussing this. I told Lisa of my plan to head downhill to deeper water. She asked if that would be good for anything-- any good seabirds, and I replied, well, it might if we wanted to see a pterodroma! Just about at that very moment, a tubenose flew within 50 feet of us, and whoaaa! It was the first HAWAIIAN PETREL OF THE DAY!! Running up to the bow, we locked our bins onto the bird, and followed it for 5 minutes before we could no longer see it. Immediately, I stopped the boat, and dumped out the oil. The petrel never returned. We were at: N39.06.05/W123.08.71, with a sea surface temperature of 54F. This petrel was in view from 11:06 until 11:11 am, by my watch. We estimate that we were 22 miles north off Point Arena lighthouse. Not only had we hit some great underwater topography, but also a good sea surface temperature break. In all the pandemonium, it is a miracle that no one stepped on the cowbird who was constantly underfoot, picking up crumbs of popcorn and such!After all of that drama, and a great many "high fives" and broad smiles all around, we continued on our way. Ted and Chris Koundakjian logged a life bird that they have been searching for on many boat trips for the past several years. Ted estimated that this was his 161st pelagic trip with Shearwater Journeys! It didn't matter what we saw after this mega-rarity!! Well, ever the persistent one, I did tell stories of a few rare pelagic trips where we recorded TWO mega-rarities in one day. At 12:47 pm, the call went out again—HAWAIIAN PETREL!! This one seemed to fly thru the wake, and up the side of the boat. We were at N39.11.69/W124.11.36, some 5 miles from the previous sighting. Sea surface temperature was now a whopping 55.9F. This individual also flew within 50 feet of the boat. I dumped oil immediately, but it did not return. Whew!The third sighting of HAWAIIAN PETREL came at 2:04 pm, some 12 miles from the second sighting at N39.18.77/W124.04.53, about 12 miles off Mendocino. Sea surface temperature was 55.8F and the depth was 2066 feet. This time, the petrel flew off rather quickly, making photography impossible. However, some of the passengers on board were able to obtain images of petrel #1 and petrel #2. We hope that these images might help us to learn whether we are dealing with one individual petrel, or two, or three. It seems extremely unlikely that we could be so lucky as to run into the same individual petrel three times in one day, over the course of our long travels.Coming home, we encountered another XANTUS' MURRELET, on the water, sitting next to a CASSIN'S AUKLET. This was a great comparison. The Xantus was at N39.20.37/W123.58.95. Sea surface temperature was down to 53.6F. We were impressed with the numbers of Cassin's Auklets on this trip. It is no coincidence that Cassin's Auklets and a Blue Whale were both recorded on this day, as both are krill feeders.Exploring Navarro Canyon was a great idea. Heading south was a great idea (although, bear in mind that all of the previous records of Hawaiian Petrels from Fort Bragg have been on trips that headed north). The Great Southerly Push seems to have materialized, in that we had 'fingers" or "streams" of warm water currents. Whether these currents and the the fact that we were over a steep, deep canyon attracted the Hawaiian Petrels, remains to be determined. Certainly, Fort Bragg pelagic trips offer one of the best opportunities to find Hawaiian Petrels anywhere on the California coast. I've also seen Hawaiian Petrels as many times on Bodega Bay trips that visit Bodega Canyon. Navarro Canyon needs much more exploration, and I fully intend to do this!We doodled along the kelp beds on our return to the harbor, hoping for one of the small, rare alcids, but found none. We had nice views of many HARBOR PORPOISES and PIGEON GUILLEMOTS. Nevertheless, all on board were thrilled with this wonderful day of seabirding on a "mega-rarity search" trip, that actually found a mega!!My friend, Sophie Webb, who is working on the ORCAWALE (see previous blog report at www.shearwaterjourneys.com) research cruise, reported a HAWAIIAN PETREL on August 7 and another sighting of HAWAIIAN PETREL on August 8, both off of OREGON. We are unsure if records of Hawaiian Petrel exist for Oregon. Sophie also reported seeing BLUE and SEI WHALES.We thank all of the seabirders who joined us on the August 8, 2008 pelagic trip from Fort Bragg. Shearwater Journey's leaders for this day were: Lisa Hug, Clay Kempf, Al De Martini, and Debra Shearwater.It is possible to join us on the August 10 Fort Bragg pelagic trip, if you live relatively close to town. We meet at 6:30 am in Noyo Harbor for a 7 am departure on the Trek II. We also have spaces available on the August 12 Bodega Bay pelagic trip. We meet at 6:30 am in Port O' Bodega for a 7 am departure on the New Sea Angler. You might try emailing me, if you are interested in either of these trips.The complete species list for our fantastic trip is below:AUGUST 8, 2008 FORT BRAGG PELAGIC TRIP MEGA-RARITIES:BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 94NORTHERN FULMAR- 25**HAWAIIAN PETREL- 1 to 3PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-68SOOTY SHEARWATER- 350BROWN PELICAN- 48BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 100+PELAGIC CORMORANT- 6SURF SCOTER- 1BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER- 16BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 1WANDERING TATTLER- 1WHIMBREL- 2MARBLED GODWIT- 1BLACK TURNSTONE- 1SANDERLING- 1RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 85POMARINE JAEGER- 2POMARINE/PARASITIC JAEGER- 1PARASITIC JAEGER- 3LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 7Jaeger sp.- 2HEERMANN'S GULL- 40WESTERN GULL- 150WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 1SABINE'S GULL- 2ELEGANT TERN- 3CASPIAN TERN- 1COMMON MURRE- 550PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 35XANTUS' MURRELET- 2XANTUS/CRAVERI'S MURRELET-3, get-away birdsCASSIN'S AUKLET- 150RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 55BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD-1, HYCALIFORNIA SEA LION- 12STELLER'S SEA LION- 1NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 3NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 1HARBOR SEAL- 2BLUE WHALE- 1RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 12HARBOR PORPOISE- 28DALL'S PORPOISE- 32SALMON SHARK- 1OSPREY- 15Today, was a lovely day on shore in the Fort Bragg and Mendocino area. The weather is perfect! Tomorrow morning when we meet for the next pelagic trip, I'm sure we shall discover where folks went birding today and what was found. This is a great area for birding! I only managed a couple short hours of birding with my friends, Les & Cindy Lieurance. It seems like it was a great day for migrating Orange-crowned Warblers. The highlight of the day for me, though, was a family of five RIVER OTTERS that Les spotted at 10 mile bridge, just north of Fort Bragg. It was delightful to see them swimming across the river, and eating, and going up the river bank.See you tomorrow morning for more adventures at sea,DebraShearwater Journeys, Inc.PO Box 190Hollister, CA 95024831/637-8527www.shearwaterjourneys.com
posted by Debra Shearwater at
8:57 PM
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