[Tweeters] Westport Seabirds Trip Report Saturday, September 16, 2023

[Cara Borre]

Westport Seabirds closed out a challenging weather weekend offshore with a
very successful trip Saturday, September 16, despite some squirrely seas.
Our bar crossing and the trip out involved some moderate waves and swells,
but it was the quick frequency of the waves, more than the height, that
created a bumpy ride.  Thankfully, as is typical, the trip back was much
smoother.

We did not have a fishing boat to target so we headed toward the edge of
Grays Canyon in search of whatever adventure the ocean had in store.  Sooty
Shearwater and Common Murre were the first “pelagic species” we
encountered.  The further offshore we got, our numbers of Pink-footed
Shearwater increased to overtake the Sooty numbers.

Time passed on our slow progression west and we happened upon a dragger
fishing boat that had a good number of gulls around it.  This is where we
caught sight of our first Black-footed Albatross.  We lingered and chummed
a bit near the boat and added Northern Fulmar, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel,
and worked on improving our shearwater tally.  This time of year we have
the best chance at seeing 5 of our 6 possible shearwaters, and as luck
would have it, on this less than ideal day for spotting birds, we managed
to see several Short-tailed Shearwater, had a couple near passes in flight
from two Flesh-footed Shearwater, and several looks at Buller’s Shearwater,
with one quite cooperative bird circling and finally landing not far from
the boat.

We had glimpses of several phalaropes, both Red-necks and Reds, but only in
flight as they were difficult to see on the water under these sea
conditions.  We did manage good looks at two Sabine’s Gull on the water
resting near some floating kelp, as well as a couple of birds in flight.

We had excellent looks at several South Polar Skuas throughout the day
including a killer view of a close fly by while we were chumming.  Our only
other “skua” for the day was Pomarine Jaeger who presented an equally
stunning appearance at close range flying by sporting “full spoons” on the
tail.

In addition to Common Murre, our alcid tally included the highly sought
after Tufted Puffin with nice views on the water, Rhinoceros Auklet, and
less than desirable looks at distant flying Cassin’s Auklet.

Our fabulous mammal year continued with appearances from Gray Whale and a
very cooperative Humpback Whale.  We watched this whale for well over 2
minutes repeatedly surfacing and breathing before taking its departing dive
and displaying its fluke.  We had sightings of both Guadalupe and Northern
Fur Seals which allowed us to contrast the differences in head shape and
digit length of the hind flipper.  Guadalupe has a longer, dog-like snout
and shorter digits on the hind flipper.  We had Dall’s Porpoise join the
boat briefly for excellent looks as they rode our bow and a crowd pleasing
appearance of a large pod of Pacific White-sided Dolphins who accompanied
us for quite some time, bringing a group of gulls and Pink-footed
Shearwater flying above our procession.

If all that wasn’t enough, the rarest bird of the day came just before we
brought the Monte Carlo back to the marina, when spotter Ryan Merrill
called out “Yellow-billed Loon”.  Captain Phil quickly brought the boat
around and we examined the large loon, with the long, yellow bill, tipped
skyward ever so slightly.  Photographers likely got their closest ever
pictures of this rare species, while others added an unanticipated lifer,
or state bird, to their lists.

Our voyage was masterfully captained by Phil Anderson aided by First Mate
Chris Anderson. Spotters including Scott Mills, Ryan Merrill, and me.
Thanks to the hardy group of birders who joined us for this experience.

Hope to sea you out there!

Cara Borre

Gig Harbor
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