[Tweeters] Sept. 5 Westport Seabirds Trip

[Cindy McCormack]

Tuesday’s excursion included several familiar faces among the
Pacific-Northwesterners, as well as birders from Utah, Texas, Indiana,
Illinois, and the UK. Everyone seemed excited about the day ahead,
especially with a great forecast. After the orientation, we motored out of
the marina in the dark (no fog!), with only a few ghostly shapes of the
“big guy” gulls flying over.

The light increased enough to see as we approached the bar, with frequent
encounters of SOOTY SHEARWATERS (1010) and COMMON MURRES (218). As we
entered offshore waters, the first FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS (98),
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS (592), and BULLER’S SHEARWATERS (12) made an
appearance. Some of the Buller’s were quite cooperative, remaining on the
water to allow for some comparison with the other shearwaters before taking
flight, showing their striking wing pattern.

We hit the lottery with a lone shrimper (pink shrimp), which had just
brought in its catch as we neared. Numerous small orange fish (young
rockfish) happened to be in the by-catch and were attracting a lot of
attention. Shearwaters, including a few SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER (19),
gorgeous SABINE’S GULLS (92) and loads of BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS (116) were
picking away at the bonanza. This activity also attracted the attention of
SOUTH POLAR SKUAS (3) and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS (9), providing us with
incredible repeat views as they circled around the boat. We had already
encountered several POMARINE JAEGERS (7) and would later find PARASITIC
JAEGER (5) for the coveted Skua Slam!

By the time we stopped for a bit of chumming in the deepwater canyon, many
on board were shedding layers in the warm sun with little wind. With only
light winds, the chum did not attract much. Some distant albatrosses
sitting on the water were quite unimpressed. As one finally ventured over
to investigate, Captain Phil got out his bait fish to entice it close to
the delight of everyone on board as it gobbled down several of the silvery
fish. A few of the other Black-footed Albatrosses finally decided it might
be worthwhile to venture over to check out the activity, but most ended up
rejecting the offerings.

After leaving the deep water, we found the shrimper again and the boat’s
fanbase had increased greatly! They were again pulling in the nets (the
first hauled on deck was reported as 8000 lbs—that’s a lot of shrimp
salad!), which explained the boat’s popularity. One of the banquet
attendees was a big, burly bird sitting amidst a flotilla of shearwaters,
dwarfing them all. A *SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS*! Woo-hoo! This young bird was
in all-dark brown plumage and had the characteristic massive pink bill,
tipped in bluish-gray. Everyone on board got great views of it sitting and
in flight—what a treat!

Phalarope migration seems to be winding down, but we were still finding a
few of both RED-NECKED (11) and RED PHALAROPE (7). It’s always fun to see
these petite birds making a living on the open sea!

Calmer waters made finding BLUE SHARKS (24) and OCEAN SUNFISH (Mola mola)
(14) easier to spot at some distance.

The mammal show was fantastic, with some great close views of PACIFIC
WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN (33), some even performing some aerial acrobatics! A
bonus--NORTHERN RIGHT-WHALE DOLPHINS (12) were traveling with them. A few
observers on the bow called out a pair of distant ORCAS (2) but were
unfortunately not seen again. HUMPBACK WHALES (12) proved to be popular
with several close surfacing views and some spectacular fluke displays.
GRAY WHALE (2), HARBOR PORPOISE (9) and DALL’S PORPOISE rounded out the
cetaceans for the day.

Thanks to the great group of birders, Phil and Chris Anderson, and fellow
spotters Bill Tweit and Gene Revelas—we had some great birding and we
couldn’t have asked for better sea conditions or weather!

For a complete list of species seen on our fabulous trip, check
https://westportseabirds.com/2023-trip-results/

Happy Birding!

Cindy McCormack for Westport Seabirds



*_________________Cindy McCormackVancouver, WAnwbirderatgmailcom*
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