copyright 2003 Shearwater Journeys

Hello, Seabirders,

On a balmy, sunny day our sold-out boat load of folks departed from Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey for a three hour combination Gray Whalewatch/Seabird Cruise. Prior to our trip, a few of the birders spotted 4 HARLEQUIN DUCKS from the wharf along the inner part of th e harbor. Although most of the participants were locals, folks also hailed from Massachussetts, Kansas, Virginia, and Florida. Some families with budding, young naturalists/birders were also along.

After the normal views of BLACK & RUDDY TURNSTONES, and BRANDT'S COROMORANTS along the Coast Guard Pier Todd McGrath, one of our leaders, spotted a MARBLED MURRELET just on the other side of the Coast Guard Breakwater. Excellent studies were had of this murrelet which is not usually found on the Monterey side of the bay (being more common on the north side of the bay, off Santa Cruz). Leader, Clay Kempf called out the breeding plumage PELAGIC CORMORANTS and several POMARINE JAEGERS! What a great start to our day!

We made stops to see COMMON MURRES, RHINOCEROS AUKLETS, PACIFIC & COMMON LOONS along the drive out to Point Pinos. A small herd of LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHINS road on the bow of our boat for a short while. At Point Pinos, we had excellent views of 3 GRAY WHALES, as they headed on their southbound migration to Baja Mexico.

Our terrific skipper, Tinker, headed off to the north edge of the Monterey Submarine Canyon where he had recently seen large bird flocks. Sure enough, about 5 or 6 miles out, we were surrounded by BLACK-VENTED, SOOTY, and PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES flying over our vessel to retrieve the chum being thrown overboard, many more alcids, and a mass of gulls that included: WESTERN, CALIFORNIA, GLAUCOUS-WINGED, HERRING, THAYER'S, MEW, and HEERMANN'S.

We headed north for a short time, stopped again, and the first of 3 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES flew in for knock-out views. Quite a few CASSIN'S AUKLETS flushed off the bow as we motored along the edge of the canyon. A small concentration of gulls and NORTHERN FULMARS were scavenging on the remains of a large squid. Suddenly, a MANX SHEARWATER flew in off the bow! With everyone on board so elated, it seemed impossible to top our three hour extravaganza of marine delights, but we did! Over 1,000 LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHINS surrounded our vessel just as we were off Cannery Row to squeals of delight and clicks of cameras! Undaunted to find one more bird for the day, Todd McGrath spotted an ANCIENT MURRELET just before we entered the harbor. It was the perfect end to a beautiful introductory trip on Monterey Bay. Short and very sweet, thrilling our participants. The total species list for the day follows.

Upcoming trips from Monterey include: March 2, May 4, July 25; from Bodega Bay to Cordell Bank on May 9 and July 27; and from Fort Bragg to Noyo Canyon on May 11; from Santa Cruz (on Monterey Bay) on June 1. Please join us on April 27 on our trip from Ventura to Santa Cruz Island to see the Island Scrub Jay and to look for Xantus' Murrelets en route. See the complete schedule of trips for 2003.

Spaces are available on all trips.

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19 January 2003 Checklist

GRAY WHALES & WINTER SEABIRDS: SHORT CRUISE OF 3 HOURS

COMMON LOON-22
PACIFIC LOON-220
RED-THROATED LOON-1
RED-NECKED GREBE-2
WESTERN GREBE-3
EARED GREBE-18
NORTHERN FULMAR-35
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-5
SOOTY SHEARWATER-3
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER-1 (Todd McGrath & Debra Shearwater)
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-3
WESTERN GULL-500
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL-35
HERRING GULL-9
THAYER'S GULL-2
MEW GULL-4
CALIFORNIA GULL-100
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE-8
HEERMANN'S GULL-250
POMARINE JAEGER-3
COMMON MURRE-400
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-1500
CASSIN'S AUKLET-40
MARBLED MURRELET-1
ANCIENT MURRELET-1
BRANDT'S CORMORANT-+
PELAGIC CORMORANT+
BLACK TURNSTONE-7
RUDDY TURNSTONE-1

GRAY WHALE-18
LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHIN-1000
REMAINS OF LARGE SQUID-1

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