This was the weekend I set aside to look for shorebirds at the coast. I headed to the ocean beaches in Clatsop County. As they were a few weeks before, when I arrived at low tide at Gearhart the beaches were packed with clammers.
Not my favorite way to bird, driving around and in between parked cars and people. I tried to scan the large flocks of Western Sandpiper for rarities.
None found except I spotted one lone Baird's Sandpiper on the back side of a flock, no photo. I drove the 4.7 miles from 10th St to the Sunset exit. I got tired of the crowds and dodging cars, I bailed despite all the birds. I estimated 10,000 Westerns and 3000 Dunlin, One Western every yard over that distance would be 8,300 birds. I am probably low in my numbers. Whimbrel were also scattered about the beach.
After a quick stop at Parking Lot B and C to see if any beaches were empty of clammers, they were not, I headed to the Airport Ponds. They had some warblers singing and Savannah Sparrows out as well. Savannah Sparrows are one of my favorite sparrows: if you see them , you are in a good spot to bird.
I checked out a few spots around the airport with no luck on shorebirds. I decided to head back to Parking Lot C and just wait for the tide to come up and watch the birds stream off the beach. When I got to the jetty, I could see groups of birds on the beach. Things were looking up.
Red Knots were on the beach along with flocks of Dunlin and Western Sandpipers.
Four Red Knots and a Dunlin.
Cape May or Clatsop County? Three Red Knots, two Black-bellied Plover and a Ruddy Turnstone.
I decided this was a Short-billed Dowitcher, no hump and even flank marks. I think I heard it call.
Nice group shot. Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, Black-bellied Plover and Dunlin.
Sanderlings prefer feeding in the waves, rather than the sand. But not as far out as phalarope, which is one shorebird I did not see today.
Birds were flying off the beach up over the jetty and on northward.
Four species flying by. I think the Sanderling is a first-spring bird. Looks like it is still in basic plumage. I was wondering if it molted yet still maintained a basic aspect. I could not relocate it,
Huck needed a break after standing patiently while I watched birds. I went to an empty stretch and let him blow-off steam.
When he is done he goes up to the edge of the dune and drops his stick. I think he is hiding it from other dogs.
After a few cars came and went, most of the birds had left the ocean beach. I walked out to the River Beach and relocated the flocks.
Three different views of Red Knots. The gray rump is a good field mark.
My favorite Red Knot photo of the day. Stocky bird with broad-based wings.
I was scanning the peeps looking for a stint when I saw this plover, it was obviously smaller than the Black-bellied Plover nearby.
Bill looked long for an American and body was not elongated looking due to the longer wings on American. White extending down the sides. I decided it was a Pacific Golden-Plover.
White under-tail coverts. I do not see long wings.
I had to smile when it ignored the aggression from the much larger Black-bellied.
I always hope to spot a Royal Tern that was dragged north with the Caspian Terns in early spring, no luck today.
All black shorebird, I was thinking Spotted Redshank, but went with Turkey Vulture instead :)
I did not ask what was on the menu, I assumed sea lion.
Done with the river, I cut back over to my car, Whimbrel were arriving at the shorebird flats for high tide.
My total shorebird count for the beaches around Parking Lot C and the flats totaled 15 16 for the day: Least Sandpiper (just two) Western Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper (one) Sanderling Dunlin Red Knot Short-billed Dowitcher (plus a few dowitcher flocks, tried for Long-billed) Whimbrel Marbled Godwit (one) Wandering Tattler (one) Greater Yellowlegs Semipalmated Plover Black-bellied Plover Pacific Golden-Plover (one) Wilson Snipe (one) Ruddy Turnstone (thanks to Marcia for noting I forgot the Ruddy when first posted) Great day at the beach. Thanks for visiting.
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
