[Tweeters] September 22 Westport Seabirds trip report

[Jim Danzenbaker]

Hi Tweeters,

When one arrives at the dock for a pelagic trip, one usually hopes for a
smooth ride with no sea spray, boat rocking, or temporary queasiness.  As
fate would have it, today *was* one of those days.  The *Monte Carlo* departed
Westport marina with flocks of Marbled Godwits zigzagging over the water
that were under the watchful eyes of cormorants, harbor seals, and a
boatload of enthusiastic birders.  We almost didn't realize that we had
transitioned past the jetties and into the open ocean since the water was
so calm - a great change from our trip the previous Friday!

Binoculars were soon focussing on the three species that are commonly seen
on this leg of the trip:  Sooty Shearwaters (222), Common Murres (304), and
Rhinoceros Auklets (34).  A few scoters and loons portended the changing of
the season.  Pink-footed Shearwaters (71) soon joined the Sooty Shearwaters
which provided great comparisons of flight style and plumage differences.
A nice surprise was our first Buller's Shearwater (11) of the day a
bit earlier than anticipated.  A Parasitic Jaeger (3) did a flyby but since
we didn't have a California Gull contingent following our boat, it
continued on. Dall's Porpoises (33) and Pacific White-sided Dolphins (275 -
at one point they seemed to be everywhere) delighted all on board by bow
riding our pressure wave - what a cool thing to watch!  Several Humpback
Whales (22) were 12 o-clock from the *Monte Carlo* and we were pleased to
see that they were joined by a Minke Whale (1) which surfaced twice (which
is about twice as many times as a usual sighting).  They don't call them
slinky Minkes for nothing!

We arrived at the edge of the shelf in good time on a flat calm sea and,
since there were unfortunately no shrimp or other commercial boats to
concentrate the birds, we realized that we had to create the bird flocks
from scratch.  Even though we hardly had any wind at our chosen spot, the
chum did its job thanks in no small part to the number of gulls that spied
a free meal.  These were soon joined by close Northern Fulmars (12),
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels (19), stunning adult and immature Sabine's Gulls
(19) and one Bullers's and Short-tailed (12), Sooty, and Pink-footed
Shearwaters.  The Short-tailed Shearwaters were real standouts and everyone
got soul satisfying views.  We had good views of several Pomarine Jaegers
(with maximum spoonage) as well as a very dark tailless Pom Jaeger (4)
which looked surprisingly similar to a South Polar Skua.  A
Long-tailed Jaeger (1) was seen but not by everyone and it became the
dreaded "we need a better, closer one!".  If you're keeping score, yes, we
achieved skua slam!  All that was wonderful but .... where were the
albatrosses? Finally, we heard the call of "albatross" and we watched
several Black-footed Albatrosses (4) fly in on 6.5 wingspan to check out
the food offerings.  No Westport trip is complete without an albatross.
Whew, glad they found us!

Eventually, Captain Phil pointed the *Monte Carlo* southwestward into
deeper water and we encountered small groups of diminutive Cassin's Auklets
(23) and several Humpback Whales (can one ever get tired of whales - no
way!).  All good things must come to an end but our journey back to shore
had many highlights including several flocks of three South Polar Skuas
(11!) each (no Pink-footed Shearwaters were harmed when one skua went on a
klepto parasitizing rampage).  Could there possibly be a better behavior to
witness? I think not.  Further on, we encountered not one but two winter
plumaged Tufted Puffins (2) which we circled amid the sound of pixels
giving it their all. Red-necked Phalaropes (10) fed on unseen food on the
surface of the glassy calm water.  There was a surprising number of Brown
Pelicans that were heading offshore - hope they knew of the forecasted
incoming storms.

The tally of marine mammals for the day included Humpback (22) and Minke
Whales (1), Pacific white-sided Dolphins (275), Dall's Porpoises (33),
several Northern Fur Seals (4), Guadalupe Fur Seals (2), Harbor Porpoises
(6), and both California (8) and Steller's Sea Lions (12).  Both Blue
Sharks (15) and every size of Ocean Sunfish (19) were seen well including
one sunfish that could only be called *mola mola grande*!  Schools of
Pacific Saury cut the water's surface.  10 species of mammals (including
the in harbor Harbor Seals) were definitely the icing to the pelagic cake!

The jetties extend quite a way's out and they always seem to hold something
interesting.  Today, we found a Surfbird (1), a Wandering Tattler (1) and
some saw Ruddy Turnstone (4).  Three late season Pigeon Guillemots were
seen from the non-jetty side of the boat proving the adage that the new
birds will always be on the side of the boat with the least amount of
people viewing.  Brown Pelicans and all three species of west coast
Cormorants coated the south jetty.  Just when we thought the trip was over,
we entered the harbor and saw the flock of 900 Marbled Godwits murmurating
overhead.  It was magical to see them fly low over the *Monte Carlo* with
attendant Short-billed Dowitchers (25) and two Willets mixed in.  Oh, and
last but not certainly not least, as Scott was giving the summary of
the species and numbers seen, a Black-legged Kittiwake (1) flew over ....
wow, that was a surprise!  Always have your bins ready for use because you
never know what will happen!

Westport Seabirds thanks all of the enthusiastic participants who make
these trips a success.  Also, thanks to Captain Phil and first mate Chris
for their consummate professionalism, natural history knowledge and ginger
cookies! Also, a shout out to Chazz and his banana nut bread and our guides
Scott Mills, Bruce LaBar, and your trip reporter.

Even though the Westport Seabirds schedule (
http://westportseabirds.com/2023-schedule/) shows all trips as full, it's
always a good idea to think of pelagic opportunities for next year!

I hope to see you onboard!

Jim Danzenbaker for Westport Seabirds.
-- 
Jim Danzenbaker
Battle Ground, WA
360-702-9395
jdanzenbaker at gmail.com
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