I went on my third pelagic trip of the year last Saturday (5/20/17) out of Westport, WA (Westport Seabirds). It was by far the most pleasant trip of the year. On and off sunny skies and a gentle breeze set the stage for a great trip. Albatross usually show up by 8:30 am on these trips, nothing magical about that time, just leave at 6 am cruise off shore and you hit their home at 8:30. On Saturday, 8:30 came and went, finally we spotted a Black-footed. My streak of always seeing an albatross continues. At one spot we had a Laysan Albatross fly by, it did not stop at our chum, apparently it had a place to go. It is separated from other black and white albatross by the smaller size, the black back that extends down the back a bit (forming a white U), and..
a variable smudgy underwing and a pink bill with a nice blue tip.
Lots of Red Phalarope were seen. It is easy to separate these from Red-necked in breeding plumage even at a great distance, Red have dark bellies,
while Red-necked have white bellies and the white cheek.
One very cooperative Tufted Puffin was spotted.
Pink-footed Shearwater were common farther off shore. They molt their wings Apr-Aug, non breeders molt earlier. I spent the day trying to see which primaries were being molted. Shearwater, like others, shed their inner primaries all at once. So I think this bird just started its molt since I do not see any new primaries poking out from the coverts yet.
Most of the birds I studied were the thousands of Sooty Shearwater we spotted. Here I think I see the new inner primaries growing in, those darker feathers on inside of the gap. Once molt reaches the middle primaries, the coverts are shed. This creates that bold white wing stripe, those are the bases of exposed feathers.
I think this one just started on the inner primary molt.
When I saw this bird, I thought I had found a bird with no molt, so I was thinking a first-year bird. But when I looked at the photo, I think I see new middle primaries? So this one is well into its molt, I think I see new coverts growing in as well. If I read things write, a bird this far along might be a non-breeder or a second-year bird? All this molt stuff might be complete bull, trying to figure it out myself. In any case there is always lots of interesting things to look for on these trips. I thought I saw other birds with no molt, but no good photos obtained.
Two Parasitic Jaegers did a fly-by for us.
My goal on these trips was to find a petrel offshore, none seen this year. A nice plus on Saturday's trip were all the mammals we saw. I can't recall when we saw them first, but I would guess from 20ish miles offshore out to 35 miles or so offshore, the ocean was packed with whales and dolphin. So while scanning the skies for a petrel, the mammal show kept me entertained.
You can see the hump where the dorsal fin sits on this Humpbacked Whale.
Pacific White-sided Dolphin were everywhere, out enjoying the day.
I am always amazed at how stream-lined they are, they can come a good ways out of the water without actually breaking the surface.
One of my favorite beasts is the Northern Right Whale Dolphin. they have a beautiful white patch on their underside.
And, like whom they are named after, the Northern Right Whale, they lack a dorsal fin.
At one point I spotted some high dorsal fins in the water, I thought small Orca, but they seemed a tad small. Risso's Dolphin is the other option.
Some were resting on the surface, they stayed in an eerie pattern, I felt like I was watching a sea monster from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Their backs and bodies become scarred from their fellow dolphin's teeth or from the squid that they feast upon. The older they get, the paler they get. That is an older one in front.
We saw well over 100 of these amazing dolphin. Their dorsal fin usually remain dark.
They always have very striking patterns on their bodies.
Overall the boat (Monte Carlo) traveled 87 miles, I did not see a tern until mile 86.999, just as we were getting back to marina. Common Tern.
Thanks to the boat, the crew, Phil and Chris, and the spotters, Bill, Bruce, Scott and Mike. Will post ebird results once they are done. Thanks for the visit. Ochocos next weekend then Malheur in 9 days!
Oregon Pelagic Tourshad a very successful April deepwater trip this past Saturday. I was looking forward to the trip in hopes of finding a Pterodroma (that means winged runner) petrel off the Oregon coast. We stopped for our first chum at 220 fathoms, about 33 miles out, if I recall. We then went out to the 1000 fathom line, about 50 miles out.
At the fist stop we had a Laysan Albatross fly in. I was trying to get a photo of its wings to try and age it based on the article by Peter Pyle in the recent Birding magazine. Turned out I did not get any great shots.
This was my best effort. I need to see if the different patterns on this wing show different aged feathers in the secondaries that allow us to age the bird. A project for a rainy day.
At the second stop we had a nice collection of Black-footed Albatross and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel. That was it, nothing else until a Northern Fulmar decided to stop by. Until... we were all hanging out at the back of the boat. I was on the downwind, sunny side of the boat. I was looking for any bird making its way up the scent trail. My eyes were getting lots of sun glare so I took a break and looked up wind and down sun across the deck of the boat (looked north). I saw a flash of white as a bird veered up into the air. I got my glasses on the bird and it looked large bodied, and about Sooty Shearwater in wingspan, I was thinking I had a very white bellied shearwater until I saw the narrow wings and longish tail. By this time I was moving across the deck. I yelled petrel, and I think most of the rest of the birders saw the bird. I was trying to eliminate petrels in my head. I think Jim D and Tim S both yelled out Hawaiian Petrel at about the same time. I could see its boldly patterned underwing and its face pattern of white forehead and a black cap. I noticed the whole bird had a very overall bold pattern to it. I did not get a photo as the bird veered west and went out in front of the boat. I guessed bird to be 150-200 yds away, but I accept the 100 yrd estimate.
I did notice the bird appeared in complete plumage, no wing molt. A Galapagos Petrel would be more likely to be in wing molt this time of year.
According to the OBRC records and the Washington records, this is the most northern record of a HAPE in April, the April 30th date ties the earliest record in the year for the two states. If accepted, it will be the 8th for Oregon. There do seem to be a few records on eBird where a report was never submitted, but not many. Most of those are from much farther offshore.
One of the other passengers, Stephen Rossiter , was kind to allow me to share his pictures on my blog. Thanks Stephen!! I am trying to gather reports from other passengers to submit the details to the OBRC.
He cropped this from the above photo:
My main problem was I got seasick for the fourth time in a row, I have sailed for years as a youngster and never had any issues. Even on earlier pelagics, I was perfect. Something must be falling apart in my ears, age sucks.. but better than the alternative.
Thanks to Enterprise, its crew and our guides, Russ N, David M, Jim D, Tom S and the fearless leader Tim.
Thanks for visiting. If I get anymore photos, I will add to this blog.
eBird reports as submitted by Tim and edited by myself for birds I actually saw. Newport pelagic--Yaquina Bay, Lincoln, Oregon, US Apr 30, 2016 6:00 AM - 6:20 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) Comments: Oregon Pelagic Tours spring deepwater pelagic aboard Enterprise. 16 species
Harlequin Duck 1 Red-breasted Merganser 3 Common Loon 1 Brandt's Cormorant 20 Double-crested Cormorant 65 Pelagic Cormorant 40 Black-bellied Plover 40 Wandering Tattler 3 Whimbrel 8 Sanderling 1 Dunlin 30 Western Sandpiper 1285 Pigeon Guillemot 60 Western Gull 60 Caspian Tern 3 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 4 Newport pelagic--northwest route 0-5 miles offshore, Lincoln, Oregon, US Apr 30, 2016 6:20 AM - 6:53 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) Comments: Oregon Pelagic Tours spring deepwater pelagic aboard Enterprise. 14 species (+2 other taxa)
Surf Scoter 3 Red-throated Loon 1 Pacific Loon 7 Common Loon 6 Sooty Shearwater 33 Brandt's Cormorant 1 Brown Pelican 2 Western Sandpiper 18 shorebird sp. 5 Common Murre 140 Rhinoceros Auklet 1 Tufted Puffin 1 Western Gull 10 California Gull 1 Glaucous-winged Gull 1 gull sp. 6
Newport pelagic -- NW route (combined locations), Lincoln, Oregon, US Apr 30, 2016 6:53 AM - 10:20 AM Protocol: Traveling 28.0 mile(s) Comments: Oregon Pelagic Tours spring deepwater pelagic aboard Enterprise. Mammal: northern fur seal (seen by few). Jellies: velella velella (by-the wind sailors). 15 species (+2 other taxa)
Pacific Loon 1 Common Loon 3 Black-footed Albatross 29 Northern Fulmar 2 Pink-footed Shearwater 7 Sooty Shearwater 135 Red-necked Phalarope 2 shorebird sp. 10 Common Murre 54 Cassin's Auklet 1 Rhinoceros Auklet 8 Bonaparte's Gull 1 Western Gull 20 California Gull 24 Thayer's Gull 2 Seen by few. Glaucous-winged Gull 10 gull sp. 48 OPT Chum Stop #1 4/30/16, Lincoln, Oregon, US Apr 30, 2016 10:20 AM - 10:50 AM Protocol: Stationary Comments: Oregon Pelagic Tours spring deepwater pelagic aboard Enterprise. 33 miles offshore; 220 fathoms. 6 species
Laysan Albatross 1 Black-footed Albatross 10 Northern Fulmar 1 Pink-footed Shearwater 1 Sooty Shearwater 6 Herring Gull 5 Newport pelagic -- NW route (combined locations), Lincoln, Oregon, USApr 30, 2016 10:50 AM - 12:20 PM Protocol: Traveling 17.0 mile(s) Comments: Oregon Pelagic Tours spring deepwater pelagic aboard Enterprise. Traveling offhore, past Windy Island to 1000 fathoms. 6 species (+2 other taxa)
Black-footed Albatross 20 Northern Fulmar 1 Hawaiian Petrel 1 First spotted by Bob Archer. Soared to within 100 yards of boat before veering away. Good views obtained by most. Soaring flight with no flapping. Large pterofdroma petrel with long wings showing a prominent wrist. White underparts, with dark wing tips and leading edge, especially near wrist. Fresh plumage, brownish above with dark cap extending down to dark cheek, white forehead. Observed1:28 pm, 50.4 miles offshore. GPS: 44.82883, -125.23883. Pink-footed Shearwater 1 Sooty Shearwater 2 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 50 Newport pelagic -- NW route (combined locations), Lincoln, Oregon, USApr 30, 2016 2:00 PM - 5:33 PM Protocol: Traveling 45.0 mile(s) Comments: Oregon Pelagic Tours spring deepwater pelagic aboard Enterprise. Return to 5 miles from shore. Mammals: Pacific white-sided dolphin, northern right whale dolphin. Jellies: velella velella (by-the wind sailors). 7 species (+1 other taxa)
After several weather cancellations with both Oregon Pelagic Tours and WestportSeabirds 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)
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
