August 15, 2010 Trip Report
Archive eBird checklist
Sunday August 15, 2010
Below are three summaries of different portions of the August 15 Monterey Seabirds trip. The first report covers the initial inshore leg, the second covers Monterey County waters, and the third is for Santa Cruz waters. These summaries were adapted from reports by Don Roberson on eBird. The original reports were generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org).
Location: Monterey Bay pelagic – inshore Monterey Harbor to Pt. Pinos (Monterey County)
Observation date: 8/15/10
Notes: Initial leg of Monterey Seabirds trip aboard 'Pt. Sur Clipper,' with Richard Ternullo, skipper; Roger Wolfe, Todd Easterla, Tim Amaral, Matthew Dodder, Bruce Elliott; Jeff Polken, Bill Bousman, and others. Cold & overcast day; fairly calm early but wind picking up by mid-morning to Bft 4-5; patches of sun by afternoon. Route was out to Pt. Pinos, then SW to 8 nmi W of Cypress (wind came up; see separate checklist for all pelagics >1 nmi offshore in Monterey County) then NW to mid-Bay (14 nmi NW to Pt. Pinos) and into SCZ waters (see that checklist) then east to N rim of canyon, east toward Moss Landing, and return across middle to Bay.
Number of species:
13
Surf Scoter 3
Brown Pelican 3
Brandt's Cormorant 50
Pelagic Cormorant 5
Black Turnstone 2
Red-necked Phalarope 2
Heermann's Gull 2
Western Gull 150
California Gull 50
Elegant Tern 3
Common Murre 5
Pigeon Guillemot 3
Rock Pigeon 10
Location: Monterey Bay pelagic (Monterey County)
Observation date: 8/15/10
Notes: See Inshore Notes above for initial leg of trip. Monterey Seabirds trip aboard 'Pt. Sur Clipper,' with Richard Ternullo, skipper; Roger Wolfe, Todd Easterla, Tim Amaral, Matthew Dodder, Bruce Elliott; Jeff Polken, Bill Bousman, etc. Cold & overcast day; fairly calm early but wind picking up by mid-morning to Bft 4-5; patches of sun by afternoon. Route was out to Pt. Pinos, then SW to 8 nmi W of Cypress (wind came up) then NW to mid-Bay (14 nmi NW to Pt. Pinos) and into SCZ waters (see Santa Cruz County checklist below) then east to N rim of canyon, east toward Moss Landing, and return across middle to Bay. Lots of Humpback Whales (25) plus big pods of Northern Right Whale Dolphin, with small numbers Pacific White-sided & Risso's Dolphin.
Number of species:
16
Black-footed Albatross 75 up to 25 sitting around boat at once
Pink-footed Shearwater 500
Sooty Shearwater 5000
Brown Pelican 8 scattered out to 8 nmi offshore
peep sp. 2 probably Leasts -- being chased by LT Jaegers
Red-necked Phalarope 25
Red Phalarope 5
Sabine's Gull 3
Heermann's Gull 10
Western Gull 1000
California Gull 2000
Elegant Tern 12
Parasitic Jaeger 1 subadult; others have nice photos
Long-tailed Jaeger 3 subadults flying high together, then chasing two peeps behind boat; ~7 nmi SW of Pt. Pinos
jaeger sp. 1 ~2 nmi offshore, a Pom/Parasitic type
Common Murre 50 mostly father-juv 'pairs'
Cassin's Auklet 50 consistent with lots of krill in Bay
Rhinoceros Auklet 6
Location: Monterey Bay pelagic (Santa Cruz County)
Observation date: 8/15/10
Notes: See Inshore Notes above for initial leg of trip. Monterey Seabirds trip aboard 'Pt. Sur Clipper,' with Richard Ternullo, skipper; Roger Wolfe, Todd Easterla, Tim Amaral, Matthew Dodder, Bruce Elliott; Jeff Polken, Bill Bousman, etc. Cold & overcast day; fairly calm early but wind picking up by mid-morning to Bft 4-5; patches of sun by afternoon. Route was out to Pt. Pinos, then SW to 8 nmi W of Cypress (wind came up; see separate checklist for MTY waters above) then NW to mid-Bay (14 nmi NW to Pt. Pinos) and into SCZ waters (this checklist for 1.75 hr) then east to N rim of canyon, east toward Moss Landing, and return across middle to Bay. Big flocks of SOSH sitting on water in SCZ along N rim of Canyon.
Number of species:
15
Black-footed Albatross 25
Northern Fulmar 3
Pink-footed Shearwater 150
Sooty Shearwater 8000 huge flocks sitting on water at mid-day; hard to estimate. Bill Bousman's conservative estimate for SCZ side was 5000. I feel that was low. There was one briefly-seen partial albino among them.
Red-necked Phalarope 15
Red Phalarope 7
Sabine's Gull 8
Western Gull 300
California Gull 500
South Polar Skua 1 distant
Pomarine Jaeger 2 1 ad with full tail; 1 dark morph subadult (phs)
Parasitic Jaeger 2
Common Murre 20
Xantus's Murrelet (scrippsi) 1 briefly seen in flight; picked out ahead of boat by R. Ternullo & R. Wolfe; small thin black-and-white alcid in flight, consistent with the size/shape/pattern with which I am familiar. Water temps are good for them this August.
Cassin's Auklet 25 lots of krill so lots of CAAU today
Don Roberson and Roger Wolfe for Monterey Seabirds
Monterey Bay pelagic – inshore Monterey Harbor to Pt. Pinos (Monterey County)
| Species | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Surf Scoter | 3 | |
| Brown Pelican | 3 | |
| Brandt's Cormorant | 50 | |
| Pelagic Cormorant | 5 | |
| Black Turnstone | 2 | |
| Red-necked Phalarope | 2 | |
| Heermann's Gull | 2 | |
| Western Gull | 150 | |
| California Gull | 50 | |
| Elegant Tern | 3 | |
| Common Murre | 5 | |
| Pigeon Guillemot | 3 | |
| Rock Pigeon | 10 |
Monterey Bay pelagic (Monterey County)
| Species | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Black-footed Albatross | 75 | up to 25 sitting around boat at once |
| Pink-footed Shearwater | 500 | |
| Sooty Shearwater | 5000 | |
| Brown Pelican | 8 | scattered out to 8 nmi offshore |
| peep sp. | 2 | probably Leasts -- being chased by LT Jaegers |
| Red-necked Phalarope | 25 | |
| Red Phalarope | 5 | |
| Sabine's Gull | 3 | |
| Heermann's Gull | 10 | |
| Western Gull | 1000 | |
| California Gull | 2000 | |
| Elegant Tern | 12 | |
| Parasitic Jaeger | 1 | subadult; others have nice photos |
| Long-tailed Jaeger | 3 | subadults flying high together, then chasing two peeps behind boat; ~7 nmi SW of Pt. Pinos |
| jaeger sp. | 1 | ~2 nmi offshore, a Pom/Parasitic type |
| Common Murre | 50 | mostly father-juv 'pairs' |
| Cassin's Auklet | 50 | consistent with lots of krill in Bay |
| Rhinoceros Auklet | 6 |
Monterey Bay pelagic (Santa Cruz County)
| Species | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Black-footed Albatross | 25 | |
| Northern Fulmar | 3 | |
| Pink-footed Shearwater | 150 | |
| Sooty Shearwater | 8000 | huge flocks sitting on water at mid-day; hard to estimate. Bill Bousman's conservative estimate for SCZ side was 5000. I feel that was low. There was one briefly-seen partial albino among them. |
| Red-necked Phalarope | 15 | |
| Red Phalarope | 7 | |
| Sabine's Gull | 8 | |
| Western Gull | 300 | |
| California Gull | 500 | |
| South Polar Skua | 1 | distant |
| Pomarine Jaeger | 2 | 1 ad with full tail; 1 dark morph subadult (phs) |
| Parasitic Jaeger | 2 | |
| Common Murre | 20 | |
| Xantus's Murrelet ( scrippsi ) | 1 | briefly seen in flight; picked out ahead of boat by R. Ternullo & R. Wolfe; small thin black-and-white alcid in flight, consistent with the size/shape/pattern with which I am familiar. Water temps are good for them this August. |
| Cassin's Auklet | 25 | lots of krill so lots of CAAU today |
Species mentioned
Northern Right Whale Dolphin · Black-footed Albatross · Pink-footed Shearwater · Red-necked Phalarope · Brandt's Cormorant · Long-tailed Jaeger · Pelagic Cormorant · Rhinoceros Auklet · Sooty Shearwater · South Polar Skua · Parasitic Jaeger · Pigeon Guillemot · Northern Fulmar · Black Turnstone · Pomarine Jaeger · Heermann's Gull · California Gull · Cassin's Auklet · Risso's Dolphin · Humpback Whale · Brown Pelican · Red Phalarope · Sabine's Gull · Western Gull · Elegant Tern · Common Murre · Surf Scoter