Hello, Seabirders -

Kick-off

Shearwater Journeys kicked off the New Year with its first pelagic trip of the season on January 13th from Monterey. After days and days of one winter storm after another, the clouds parted, the seas calmed, the sun came out, and we found some seabirds! Beginning in the harbor, where we found a female LONG-TAILED DUCK and male HARLEQUIN DUCK, and our first ANCIENT MURRRELET of the day along Cannery Row, and ending the day with GRAY WHALES and SURFBIRDS on the Coast Guard Jetty, everyone enjoyed a nice day at sea.

33 Years of Trips

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this day was that for only the second time in the 33 years of operating pelagic trips from Monterey, we did not see one single Sooty Shearwater! Bird life was scattered over a huge area. No dense concentrations of feeding seabirds, including gulls, were found. Rather, most of the birds were feeding on anchovies across a wide path of many, many miles. Remarkably few tubenoses were found, with only one BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS. Nine species of gulls, and great views of the alcids and SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATERS were a highlight of the day.Even Gray Whales were not found until the end of the day. Our skipper reported that many of the whale watching trips had been missing Gray Whales completely on their trips during the past several weeks. (This is not food related, since the vast majority of Gray Whales do not feed on migration). Altogether, it was an enjoyable day and great to be out in the sunshine after so many stormy days.

Leaders

The leaders for the January 13th trip included: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Don Doolittle, Brian Sullivan, Sophie Webb, Jennifer Green, & Debra Shearwater. We thank all of the participants who joined us on this day. The complete species list follows.

RED-THROATED LOON-1
PACIFIC LOON-80
COMMON LOON-6
HORNED GREBE-20
EARED GREBE-120
WESTERN GREBE-85
CLARK'S GREBE-25
WESTERN/CLARK'S GREBE-40
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-1
NORTHERN FULMAR-18
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-1
SOOTY/SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER-2
SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER-8
BROWN PELICAN-14
BRANDT'S CORMORANT-450
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT-2
PELAGIC CORMORANT-17
HARLEQUIN DUCK-1
SURF SCOTER-140
LONG-TAILED DUCK-1
BLACK TURNSTONE-9
RUDDY TURNSTONE-1
SURFBIRD-2
BONAPARTE'S GULL-6
HEERMANN'S GULL-35
MEW GULL-6
CALIFORNIA GULL-75
HERRING GULL-12
THAYER'S GULL-5
WESTERN GULL-750
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL-40
WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL-15
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE-3
COMMON MURRE-85
PIGEON GUILLEMOT-1
ANCIENT MURRELET-19
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-90
SEA OTTER-20
CALIFORNIA SEA LION-++
HARBOR SEAL-1
GRAY WHALE-9
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN-6
OCEAN SUNFISH-2
PEREGRINE FALCON-2, on the radio tower on Cannery Row

Monterey

Our next pelagic trips, all from Monterey, are scheduled for: MARCH 2, MAY 11, JUNE 27, JULY 25, AUGUST 15, 22, 29.

Sausalito

Our trips from Sausalito to the Farallon Islands to see the Tufted Puffins are scheduled for August 3 & 10.

Fort Bragg

Trips from Fort Bragg are scheduled for August 8 & 10, and from Bodega Bay, August 1 & 12.

May the New Year bring you great seabirds!

Debi
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
831.637.8527