[Tweeters] September 30, 2023 Westport Seabirds Trip - Nazca Booby!

[Eugene Revelas]

Hi Tweets –



A group of 16 birders from Washington and Vancouver, B.C. joined us for the
last Westport Seabirds pelagic trip of 2023 on Saturday, September 30th.
A messy forecast of strong northwest winds turned out to be mistaken, and
we enjoyed a wonderful, mostly sunny day offshore with temperatures in the
60’s, a gentle 4-6 ft swell, no spray, and minimal wind waves.  Once on the
outer shelf and in deep water, we had good looks at the expected tubenoses
for this time of year, including Black-footed Albatross, Fork-tailed
Storm-Petrels, Northern Fulmar, and Pink-footed, Sooty, Buller’s, and
Short-tailed Shearwaters.  Gulls observed both inshore and offshore
included Glaucous-winged/Western Gull hybrids, Heerman’s, Herring,
California, and small numbers of Short-billed, Sabine’s, and Black-legged
Kittiwakes.  The Jaeger species seen included Pomarine and South Polar
Skuas, great looks at both.  A few Red and Red-necked Phalaropes were also
seen, as well as a single Common Tern.



We ran into one fishing boat (a shrimper) on the shelf edge and waited
around for them to the pull their net.  This turned out to be a good
decision as birds (mostly California Gulls and a mix of shearwaters)
streamed into the vessel from all directions.   We worked this scene for a
good 45 minutes, when Spotter Scott Mills announced it was time to move
on.   Immediately thereafter, a call of “Laysan Albatross” was heard as a
distant, large, bright white bird with dark wingtips flashed by the
shrimper.   This was soon corrected by a shout of “NAZCA BOOBY!”.   This
was the first sighting of this species on a Westport Seabirds trip.  The
three previous Washington state records, all within the past few years,
have all been in Puget Sound.  The Nazca Booby was incredibly cooperative,
flying and landing within feet of Monte Carlo for 15-20 minutes before we
motored away from it.  The crisp, adult bird was well photographed (see the
Westport Seabirds ebird checklist for photos).



This booby sighting seemed like a fitting end to our 2023 season.
Highlights of which included: Parakeet Auklets in March (3/18); a Manx
Shearwater in May (5/13); Laysan Albatrosses in April (4/22), July (7/26
and 7/29), and August (8/12); Short-tailed Albatrosses in July (7/26) and
September (9/5); a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel in July (7/29); and a Nazca Booby
in September (9/30).  On the mammal front, an amazing 59 Orca were counted
on August 23rd.



The September 30th trip was crewed captain Chris Sabin and first mate Chris
Anderson.  Spotters were Scott Mills, Gene Revelas, and Ryan Merrill.
Finally, Westport Seabirds would like to thank everyone you joined us this
year to make these trips possible and so enjoyable.  Our local customer
base, as well as folks far afar, are a joy to share the ocean with.



Happy pelagic birding to all.

Gene Revelas

Olympia, WA
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