Thursday, September 16, 2010

TRIP REPORT: SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 BODEGA BAY

Howdy, Seabirders,

Yup, another fantastic Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trip— this time, departing from Bodega Bay, offshore to Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank. This trip covered both Marin and Sonoma Counties. The seas were a bit bouncy in the early morning. Fog had engulfed the coast, as we departed at 6:50 am from Port O' Bodega. First up, a single male ORCA surfaced near our vessel. Everyone on board got great views. As we approached Bodega Canyon, the fog parted. Beyond the canyon, we reached 58F sea surface temperature, and the fog pushed out even more. The single highlight of the day was a COOK'S PETREL spotted by Steve Howell, as it zoomed past Wes Fritz's oil slick behind the boat. Since it was not foggy at that moment, everyone who was at the stern of the vessel was able to see the bird well. (About one third of the folks on board this sold out trip) This Cook's Petrel was in Marin County. Small rafts of storm-petrels were spotted, and others flew up to Wes' oil slick. Notably, both WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS and FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS made an excellent showing for all on board, especially great for the photographers. The jaeger show, over the slick was not too shabby, either! 150 LONG-TAILED JAEGERS! The fog disappeared by early afternoon, and we could see whale spouts in every direction— half a dozen BLUE WHALES, about 30 humpback whales. Two XANTUS' MURRELETS were spotted once we hit the temperature break. A TUFTED PUFFIN circled the vessel, and another one was spotted, sitting on the water. Great photo ops. Finally, on the way home, the captain took us over to see the half dozen summering GRAY WHALES off Bodega Head. We could see the crowds of people on the cliff, watching the whales, as well. Peter Pyle spotted an early, fly away, ANCIENT MURRELET, first of the fall season. It was a long, successful and smashing day for both seabirds and marine mammals!

We thank the many participants who came from near and far for this pelagic trip. The leaders were: Steve Howell, Peter Pyle, Lisa Hug, Wes Fritz, and Debi Shearwater. Once I receive some photographs, I will post them.

The complete species list follows:

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 BODEGA CANYON & CORDELL BANK
PACIFIC LOON- 1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 30
NORTHERN FULMAR- 21
COOK'S PETREL- 1 (adult male)
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 50
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 8
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 60
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL- 2
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL- 4
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 350
BLACK STORM-PETREL- 5
BROWN PELICAN- 2, offshore
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 100
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 10 (1 offshore)
SURF SCOTER- 2, in harbor
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER- 1, in harbor
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 25
RED PHALAROPE- 30
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 4
POMARINE JAEGER- 12
PARASITIC JAEGER- 8
PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 2
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 150
JAEGER SP.- 4
HEERMANN'S GULL- 100
CALIFORNIA GULL- 120
WESTERN GULL- 200
WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 1
SABINE'S GULL- 6
ELEGANT TERN- 35
COMMON TERN- 2
ARCTIC TERN- 2
COMMON MURRE- 1000
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 20
XANTUS' MURRELET- 2 (scrippsi)
ANCIENT MURRELET- 1
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 30
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 200
TUFTED PUFFIN- 2
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 2, offshore
GRAY WHALE- 6
BLUE WHALE- 5
HUMPBACK WHALE- 30
KILLER WHALE- 1, adult male
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 30
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPIN- 16
DALL'S PORPOISE- 5
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1
SALMON SHARK- 1

UPCOMING TRIPS: A few spaces are still available on our September 17 trip departing at 7 am from Huck Finn Sportfishing Center, El Granada, Half Moon Bay. This new port is turning out to be extremely productive for seabirding. There is a lot of food, right now. Also, this port presents the nearest very warm water break, over 60F! Spaces are also available on our September 27; October 2 and 11 Half Moon Bay departures. From Monterey, we have spaces available on September 24 and 26; October 3, 9, 17. Please email me: debi@shearwaterjourneys.com, if you would like to make a reservation. I can only be reached by email at this time.

Shearwaters forever,
Debi Shearwater

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