[Tweeters] Westport Seabirds Trip Report August 26, 2023

[Cara Borre]

Westport Seabirds had another successful trip Saturday, August 26th
offering a bounty of birds and pelagic wildlife to members of the Yakima
Valley Audubon Society and a few others from around the state and globe.

The trip began, as most do this time of year, motoring past the marina
Marbled Godwit flock at dawn.  Exceptionally smooth seas produced excellent
viewing conditions as we traveled westward past Pigeon Guillemot,
Rhinoceros Auklet, Common Murre and Sooty Shearwater.  Throughout the day
we saw small flocks of phalaropes transitioning to basic plumage.  Most
were Red-necked, but Reds were present as well with one individual allowing
long looks and photos as it bobbed on the water.  With migration upon us,
we saw a couple Common Tern, an Arctic Tern, and a few Sabine’s Gull.  It’s
not uncommon during migration to see a wayward passerine find its way to
the boat, but we logged a whopping nine individuals including Brown-headed
Cowbird, Wilson’s and Yellow Warbler and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

In late August we stand a fairly good chance of seeing each of the three
jaeger species, as well as South Polar Skua, and we achieved this triumph
pelagic birders call the “skua slam” despite low numbers of these birds
overall.  This is also a time of year where it’s not unusual to have huge
flocks of tubenoses to sift through looking for the rarer species.  What is
unusual is to have those huge flocks present without the benefit of fishing
vessels concentrating them for us.  We saw impressive flocks of Sooty and
Pink-footed Shearwater as well as Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel.  We also had a
smaller flock of Northern Fulmar and managed to pick out some Short-tailed
Shearwater from the sea of Sootys.  Perhaps not surprising with a lack of
wind and fishing boats was a low yield of only three Black-footed
Albatross, though we were treated to several groups of offshore Brown
Pelican filling the big bird void.

Calm sea conditions bring excellent opportunities for alcid spotting and
this trip was no exception.  We had phenomenal numbers and views of
Cassin’s Auklet as well as a cooperative Tufted Puffin still in resplendent
breeding plumage that we lingered to admire.

What the day brought us in birds, it perhaps topped in mammals.  Common
pinnipeds included California and Steller’s Sea Lions, and Harbor Seal,
while Guadalupe Fur Seal and two Northern Elephant Seal sightings rounded
out the unusual finds.  Our excellent cetacean year continued with
sightings of Harbor and Dall’s Porpoise, Humpback and Fin Whale, and a
Pacific White-sided Dolphin event that was likely the highlight of the trip
for many.  We estimated a mammoth group of over 1100 animals feeding and
jumping in a wide area of ocean accompanied by four times as many birds.
We idled and attempted to take in the scene.  It was one of those
magnificent problems a nature enthusiast feels fortunate to have every now
and then, like watching a migration fall out, or a mud flat full of
shorebirds, where do I begin…? Fortunately Captain Phil helped our dilemma
and slowly throttled forward so passengers could decide to look forward, on
either side, or behind us and watch the dolphins.  Whether you chose to
watch them closely underwater moving through our wake or porpoising
alongside us 100 yards in all directions, there wasn’t a bad spot on the
boat.

Thanks to a great group for joining Captain Phil Anderson, First Mate Chris
Anderson, spotters Scott Mills, Bruce LaBar, and me.

Hope to sea you out there!


Cara Borre

Gig Harbor
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