Westport Pelagic Feb 27, 2016

After several weather cancellations with both Oregon Pelagic Tours  and Westport Seabirds this February , I finally made it out on the ocean with Westport Seabirds.  The weather was iffy up to Friday.  The forecast improved and the trip was a go.  The bar crossing heading out was the main concern, but with a little good luck and the zig zag exit strategy of the crew on Monte Carlo we made it out with no real big bounce.

The cool part of going offshore were all the Long-tailed Ducks we saw.  I saw two flocks fly by with about six birds each.  One flock had a beautiful male.  This Long-tailed Duck was in the harbor upon our return.

We headed out on a more southerly course than normal, so if the stronger southerly winds arrived in the afternoon, we would have a dry down wave run home. It paid off well, the ocean was not as bad as predicted and the ride home was a nice sleigh ride.

When we arrived at our destination, a canyon about 34 miles off (I think) Leadbetter Point, we started our chum slick.  We quickly gathered a nice group of albatross.  One of the first to arrive was this Laysan Albatross.

The first Laysan left, a question arose when this next Laysan arrived.  Was it the same bird or a different bird.  I think the next set of photos are of the second bird.  These photos were taken 17 minutes later.  For those on the trip, I think this is the second bird:

I know these birds can change their wing shape, and thus the pattern underneath should change as well.  So one bird or two?

After the Laysan Albatross arrived the Black-footed Albatross arrived in numbers.  Usually during the summer and fall their plumage is old and tattered looking.  These alabatross were beautiful in nice fresh plumage.

These pictures do not capture the frenzy at a chum spot.  The motion of the ocean, the rocking of the boat and the dashing around of the birds makes it a fun and challenging event.  Here is my first video attempt that sort of works.  I gave up trying to focus camera manually, I turned off noise to protect the passengers comments and just pointed camera in general direction of the birds.

I also tried to film one flying:

Most gulls offshore were Herring Gulls, not sure what is up with the back gull, its tips are not very black.  The front gull does not look like a full mature gull, note the black in the coverts.

Black-legged Kittiwakes were common, always fun to get pictures of them.

One of these is a Thayer's Gull the other is a Herring Gull.

Will the Thayer's please raise its wing!

A pure Glaucous-winged Gull, they way they are supposed to look:

This one was thought to be a Herring x Glaucous-winged hybrid.  Primary tips too dark for Glaucous-winged, bird not dark enough to have Western in it, tail did not look pure either.

We saw one Short-tailed Shearwater, a few Sooty's a few Sooty\Short-tailed pick'ems  and one Pink-footed!  Strange just seeing one Pink-footed in a chum slick.

I spent all day looking for Parakeet Auklet, none seen, but there were tons of Cassin's Auklets.  So I had great practice watching Cassin's fly away while looking for a Parakeet in the group.  Common Murre were an easy spot and far easier than trying for Cassin's.:

Coming back across the bar, the ocean put on a great show crashing onto the underwater extension off the south jetty.

Dunlin over rocks.

Common Loon, hard to confuse the loons if you can see the bill.  Common have an obvious turn at the gonydal, Pacific Loons have a bill where the top and bottom parts taper down to meet at the tip.

Sorry for a few blurry photos, thanks to Monte Carlo, the crew and the spotters.  I'll post the eBird list when they send it out.  We saw Pacific White-sided Dolphin, Gray Whale, Humpback Whale a few unknown big whales ( no good view of back) ,  Northern Fur Seal and both Sea Lions.

Westport pelagic--inshore, Grays Harbor, Washington, US
Feb 27, 2016 7:05 AM - 7:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip.  Leaders are Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, and Bill Shelmerdine.  This segment includes counts from the jetty end to the outer buoy, three miles offshore.  The bar crossing was fairly rough, winds were calm, sky was a high overcast.  Saw 2 Northern Fur Seal, 1 Harbour Seal and 10 Stellers Sea Lions.
11 species (+1 other taxa)

Brant  6
Surf Scoter  25
White-winged Scoter  15
Long-tailed Duck  2     Two flying into the harbor.
Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  1
Western Grebe  10
Brandt's Cormorant  8
Pelagic Cormorant  2
Common Murre  1
Mew Gull  6
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  X

Westport--Offshore waters, Grays Harbor, Washington, US
Feb 27, 2016 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: eBird Pelagic Protocol
7.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip. Leaders are Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, and Bill Shelmerdine. This segment includes counts from the outer buoy, three miles offshore, heading SW to the Pacific County line.  Cloudy skies, swells were 8' from the west, winds were SW at Beaufort 2, and SST was 51F.  Saw four Gray Whales nearshore.
12 species (+2 other taxa)

Surf Scoter  1
White-winged Scoter  2
Long-tailed Duck  12     Two groups flying past us a couple of miles past the outer buoy, a group of 5 and a few minutes later, a group of 7.  Mostly males.
Pacific Loon  1
Western Grebe  2
Northern Fulmar  3     One light and two dark phase.
Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater  1
Pomarine Jaeger  1     One light phase adult with full tail spoons flew past our bow.  Fairly strong neck collar, large wing flash, bulky body, long central tail feathers with twisted blunt tips.  Photo shows winter plumage face pattern.
Common Murre  2000     Abundant.  A mix of breeding and winter plumages.  Several individuals close to the boat were too full to take flight, and simply plowed away from us before diving.
Black-legged Kittiwake  3
Mew Gull  4
Herring Gull  1
Thayer's Gull  1
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  2

Westport pelagic--Offshore Pacific County, Pacific, Washington, US
Feb 27, 2016 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM
Protocol: eBird Pelagic Protocol
18.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip. Leaders are Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, and Bill Shelmerdine. This segment includes counts from the Grays Harbor county line to Willapa Canyon.  Winds were SW Beaufort 3, seas were 8-9' from the west, cloudy skies and SST was 51F.  Marine mammals were surprisingly plentiful, with 30 Pacific White-sided Dolphin, another 75 distant porpoises that were probably also PWSD, one Humpback Whale and one unidentified large whale that had a tall blow and apparently lacked a dorsal fin.
14 species (+2 other taxa)

Pacific Loon  1
Black-footed Albatross  12     Careful count.
Northern Fulmar  6     Dark phase.
Pink-footed Shearwater  1     One crossed our bow.  A large shearwater with mostly white underparts, light underwings with ragged dark borders and dark along the flanks, uniform brownish upperparts.  Too distant to see soft part colors, but flight style was clearly PFSH.
Sooty Shearwater  1
Short-tailed Shearwater  1     One made several close passes to the boat, easily noted the small bill, more rounded head shape, darker underwings, and agile flight.
Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater  2
Pomarine Jaeger  1     Seen from bow by Bruce LaBar and others.
Common Murre  503
Pigeon Guillemot  1
Cassin's Auklet  53     Several had difficulty taking flight, simply flapping over the water to get away from the boat, apparently too full to fly.
Rhinoceros Auklet  12     Most in breeding plumage, some with full plumes.
Black-legged Kittiwake  26
Mew Gull  3
Herring Gull  1
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  3

Willapa Canyon (Pacific Co.), Pacific, Washington, US
Feb 27, 2016 9:40 AM - 11:25 AM
Protocol: eBird Pelagic Protocol
5.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip. Leaders are Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, and Bill Shelmerdine. This segment includes counts from Willapa Canyon, including the hour and 25 minute chum stop at the west end of the canyon.  Saw one large whale (sp.) blow several times about a mile north of the chum site.  At the chum site, we noted lines of small whitish invertebrates on the water, which appeared to be very small Velella when we dipped some up in a bucket.
11 species (+1 other taxa)

Laysan Albatross  2     Photos of the Laysans at the chum stop showed two different birds, based on differences in the thickness of the black rear margin on the underwing.  Seen about 5 minutes apart from each other.
Black-footed Albatross  37     Most were in very fresh plumage, a couple still showing some old feathers on the face.  The albatross at the chum stop were quite aggressive for both suet and fish.  One had a yellow band left, with code AH87, and silver USFWS band right.  Another had a blue band left, and silver right, but could not get the alpha code.
Northern Fulmar  20     One light phase and 19 dark phase.
Pink-footed Shearwater  1     At the chum stop, circled through the area several times over five minutes.
Pigeon Guillemot  1     Single bird in partial breeding plumage flying south.
Cassin's Auklet  3
Rhinoceros Auklet  20
Black-legged Kittiwake  65
Herring Gull  15
Thayer's Gull  1
Glaucous-winged Gull  2
Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  1

Westport pelagic--Offshore Pacific County, Pacific, Washington, USFeb 27, 2016 11:25 AM - 1:00 PM
Protocol: eBird Pelagic Protocol
15.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip. Leaders are Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, and Bill Shelmerdine. This segment includes counts from Willapa Canyon NE to the Grays Harbor county line. Partly cloudy, winds were SW Beaufort 3-4, seas were 9-10' from the west,  and SST was 51F.  Saw 1 Gray Whale and 3 Pacific White-sided Dolphin.
9 species (+2 other taxa)

Pacific Loon  1
Black-footed Albatross  53     Careful count, birds in view for most of the transect.
Northern Fulmar  42     One light phase, and 41 dark phase.
Sooty Shearwater  2
Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater  1
Common Murre  53
Cassin's Auklet  49
Rhinoceros Auklet  12
Black-legged Kittiwake  19
Herring Gull  1
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  11

Westport--Offshore waters, Grays Harbor, Washington, USFeb 27, 2016 1:00 PM - 2:05 PM
Protocol: eBird Pelagic Protocol
15.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip. Leaders are Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, and Bill Shelmerdine. This segment includes counts from the Pacific County line to the outer buoy, three miles offshore.  Winds were SE Beaufort 3, sky was partly cloudy, and seas were 8' from the west. Saw 1 Stellers Sea Lions.
12 species (+2 other taxa)

Surf Scoter  1White-winged Scoter  1
Red-throated Loon  2
Pacific Loon  4
Northern Fulmar  5     Dark phase.
Sooty Shearwater  2
Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater  1
Brandt's Cormorant  1
Common Murre  120
Rhinoceros Auklet  1
Black-legged Kittiwake  7
Mew Gull  7
Herring Gull  1
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  18

Westport pelagic--inshore, Grays Harbor, Washington, USFeb 27, 2016 2:05 PM - 2:50 PM
Protocol: Traveling
7.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip. Leaders are Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, and Bill Shelmerdine. This segment includes counts from the outer buoy, three miles offshore, to the boat basin. Clear skies, winds SE at Beaufort 3, and swells crashing over the outer half of the jetty combined with high tide kept the jetty birdless. Saw 7 Stellers Sea Lions on buoys off the jetty and 50 California Sea Lions on floats in the marina.
25 species (+2 other taxa)

Greater Scaup  6
Lesser Scaup  2
Surf Scoter  50
White-winged Scoter  3
Long-tailed Duck  1     In the boat basin.
Bufflehead  1
Common Goldeneye  1
Red-breasted Merganser  9
Red-throated Loon  1
Pacific Loon  3
Common Loon  6
Horned Grebe  1
Western Grebe  20
Brandt's Cormorant  5
Double-crested Cormorant  28
Pelagic Cormorant  25
Great Blue Heron  1
Long-billed Curlew  1     Single bird roosting on the boat basin wall at high tide.
Dunlin  2000     Several flocks flying along the jetty, at high tide.
Western Sandpiper  5     A couple of birds in the DUNL flocks flying along the jetty.
Common Murre  10
Black-legged Kittiwake  14

Thanks much for the visit!

Westport Pelagic Sept 6, 2015

I went on my fifth pelagic trip of the year yesterday (Sept 6, 2015), this time I went back up to Westport for the third time.  A weak cold front was passing over the area Saturday night.  On Sunday morning as I drove to the marina at 5:15 am a hard rain pounded down on the windshield.  It turned to a light drizzle by the time I got to the marina a few minutes later. I knew the rain was to pass over us early in the day. It still looked like an iffy day for being on a boat outside with binoculars and a camera.  A rain shower washed us all as we listened to the skipper's hopeful speech of the rain stopping soon. We left the harbor as the shower stopped, we did not see any rain on the deck the rest of the day.  I saw a few showers out on the ocean, but none came close to the boat.  It turned into a great day and a fantastic trip.   The lack of any wind offshore kept some of the pelagic birds on the water, but enough shrimpers were out and had nice flocks of birds around them to keep it fun. Once again as last week out of Newport, the jaegers put on a great show.

On the way out, in the early morning light, I was watching a huge bird flying straight towards the boat, the wings looked huge but not nearly big enough for an albatross.  It was flying dead on towards me, all I could see was the round body. Bill T soon yelled out Brown Booby!  I saw it swoop up and sure enough it was a subadult booby. As I fumbled for my camera to get a picture, it was gone.  It was the third booby seen on Westport Pelagic since they started in the 70's.


This was called a Short-tailed Shearwater.  I was watching it wondering if it fit the mold for one when the call was made.  It did look more compact than a Sooty. Head looked hooded. Slender bill, cute looking.

Feel free to add any helpful comments.

Hooded look and it seemed to have extensive pale secondary coverts.

Not sure if I am seeing a shorter neck but hard to tell on a sitting crouched bird.

Short-tailed , same bird.

Same bird.

Same bird.

Here are ones I thought were Sooty.  Bill seems to vary in thickness in these birds.

  Slight more slope to head.  Long looking on water.

This one looked very slender billed and round in the head, but not compact, was thinking it could be female if not Short-tailed.  Longer tail in comparison to wing. Tough birds to id.

Update: After studying more photos and comments from folks I trust, this is  a Short-tailed.  This one was just outside harbor, taken  at 3:13 pm.  Very pleased I found it as we motored along.

Pomarine Jaegers were seen a few times, I think a few sightings were the same bird. The bold undertail covert barring is seen in young Long-tailed and Pomarine, Parasitic are not as contrasting. 

The dark malar area that shows off the pale bill  is also a sign of an immature Pomarine. 

The barring on the flanks and broad wings are Pomarine.

The lack of any serious wind offshore kept the big pelagic birds on the water,  They simply sit and wait for some wind so they can easily move about the ocean.  It takes about 7-10 knots of steady wind to give them the advantage of dynamic soaring, something I still have plans for a blog topic.

Calm days are good for Storm-Petrel viewing, lots of Forked-tail and a few Leach's were seen.

Here is a group of albatross chilling until the wind kicks up.  These flocks are always exciting to approach hoping for a rarity.

I fully expect to see a Shy Albatross off the Oregon or Washington coast very soon. Splitting out the three species of this albatross helps if you can describe the sections of the bill.  The Shy group have different colors and shades on the various parts of the bill in young and adult birds.  So there are six combos to learn. To be prepared I have been training my eyes to pick apart a bill (for too many years now :)), here are the parts on a Black-footed.  As you can see I have figured out how to label photos with cool arrows, let the fun begin.

Always fun to see a Black Turnstone on the rocks.  With a Wandering Tattler on the jetty, a three rock peep day.

A resting Short-billed Dowitcher.

Three Short-billed Dowitchers and  a Westernish Gull.

I think I was the last person on the boat to see these Surfbirds,



 Phil turned the boat around and went back to the Surfbirds so we could all have a good look. Thanks much!

Thanks to Monte Carlo and Phil and Chris for getting us out and back while avoiding the rain. And thanks to the spotters Bill, Gene and Scott.  

BTW: The Black Turnstone is in the very top left corner, asleep. :)

All the normal suspects were seen,  scanned the horizons for a Laysan, none seen.

Ebird lists as provided by Bill, thanks for all the work!

Westport pelagic--inshore, Grays Harbor, Washington, US
Sep 6, 2015 6:35 AM - 7:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip.  Leaders were Bill Tweit, Scott Mills and Gene Revelas.  Overcast skies.
9 species (+2 other taxa)

Surf Scoter  2
White-winged Scoter  3
Sooty Shearwater  1100
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel  5
Red-necked Phalarope  4
Common Murre  14
Heermann's Gull  5
California Gull  26
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  9
Common/Arctic Tern  4
Elegant Tern  9     A small flock flying west with the stream of Sooty Shearwaters in the channel.  Noted white foreheads, black crown markings, grayish pattern underwing and upperwing.

Westport--Offshore waters, Grays Harbor, Washington, US
Sep 6, 2015 7:00 AM - 10:05 AM
Protocol: Traveling
27.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip.  Leaders were Bill Tweit, Scott Mills and Gene Revelas.  Transect from the outer buoy to Grays Canyon, including a check of one shrimp trawler fishing south of Grays Canyon.  Cloudy skies that cleared as we headed west, winds were SW switching to W, Beaufort 2-3, seas were W 4'.  Sea surface temperature was 58-61F.  Three Pacific White-sided Dolphin and 2 Ocean Sunfish.
23 species (+4 other taxa)

Northern Pintail  9
Black-footed Albatross  22
Northern Fulmar  45     One light phase.
Pink-footed Shearwater  245
Buller's Shearwater  7
Sooty Shearwater  163
Short-tailed Shearwater  1
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel  47
Leach's Storm-Petrel  2
Brown Booby  1     First spotted at 0720 near horizon to south of us as a large bird with long wings, approximately 5 miles due west of the outer buoy off Grays Harbor or 8 miles offshore.  Flew towards us and was quickly recognized as a booby, passed by length of boat so all participants got good look before it flew off.  Seen as close as 75m with good lighting due to high overcast and good viewing conditions since seas were moderate at that point, with light wind from S (Beaufort 2).   Solitary, much larger than nearby Pink-footed Shearwater.  Long wings, tail and large head and beak readily apparent.  Typical booby flight with deep downward wing beats.  Uppersurface was solid dark brown, including collar and rump.  Head and neck were same dark brown color,   Somewhat raggedy line terminates brown on upper breast at shoulders.  Lower breast and belly were whitish, with some darkening on undertail coverts.  Underpart color was a dirty white, as were the underwing coverts which also showed extensive dark margins and some dark intrusion onto coverts.  Beak was a dark gray with some apparent lightening near base.  Feet not seen.  Bird was in heavy flight feather molt, showing significant gaps in the middle primaries and the inner secondaries.

Westport--offshore waters Grays Canyon, Grays Harbor, Washington, US
Sep 6, 2015 10:05 AM - 11:35 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip.  Leaders were Bill Tweit, Scott Mills and Gene Revelas.   Waters over Grays Canyon, including checking a longliner and a chum stop.  Sea surface temperature was 61F.  Winds were W Beaufort 3, seas were 4' W, and clear skies.  Two Humpback Whales and one Blue Shark.
11 species

Black-footed Albatross  235
Northern Fulmar  41     One light phase.
Pink-footed Shearwater  36
Sooty Shearwater  10
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel  54
Red Phalarope  2
Pomarine Jaeger  2
Long-tailed Jaeger  4
Cassin's Auklet  4
Sabine's Gull  8
California Gull  39

Westport--Offshore waters, Grays Harbor, Washington, USSep 6, 2015 11:35 AM - 2:35 PM
Protocol: Traveling
30.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip.  Leaders were Bill Tweit, Scott Mills and Gene Revelas.   Eastbound counts from Grays Canyon to the outer buoy.  Sea surface temperatures were 61F offshore, cooling to 57F nearshore.  Winds were NW Beaufort 3 offshore, switching to S Beaufort 3-4 nearshore.  Checked four shrimp boats north and east of Grays Canyon.  One Dall's Porpoise, 25 Pacific White-sided Dolphin, one Northern Fur Seal, one California Sea Lion and 12 Ocean Sunfish.
19 species (+1 other taxa)

Black-footed Albatross  18
Northern Fulmar  59     Two light phase.
Pink-footed Shearwater  503
Buller's Shearwater  6
Sooty Shearwater  1921
Short-tailed Shearwater  1
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel  61
Leach's Storm-Petrel  1
Brown Pelican  1
Red-necked Phalarope  1
Red Phalarope  6
South Polar Skua  1
Pomarine Jaeger  3
Common Murre  179
Cassin's Auklet  14
Rhinoceros Auklet  14
Sabine's Gull  40
California Gull  969
Herring Gull  23
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  47

Westport pelagic--inshore, Grays Harbor, Washington, USSep 6, 2015 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
7.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Westport Seabirds pelagic trip.  Leaders were Bill Tweit, Scott Mills and Gene Revelas.  Overcast.  Final leg from the outer buoy in to the boat basin.  One Harbor Seal, 2 California Sea Lions and 6 Stellers Sea Lions.
22 species (+2 other taxa)

White-winged Scoter  1
Red-throated Loon  1
Pacific Loon  2
Sooty Shearwater  3700
Brandt's Cormorant  21
Double-crested Cormorant  35
Pelagic Cormorant  60
Brown Pelican  1200
Great Blue Heron  1     In boat basin.
Wandering Tattler  1
Marbled Godwit  500     Roosting in boat basin.
Black Turnstone  3     In boat basin.
Surfbird  2     In boat basin.
Short-billed Dowitcher  4     In boat basin.
Common Murre  118
Pigeon Guillemot  1
Heermann's Gull  80
Western Gull  X
California Gull  190
Glaucous-winged Gull  X
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  X
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  450
Caspian Tern  1
Peregrine Falcon  1     Flyover in boat basin.



Thanks for visiting.