January 23, 2011 Trip Report

Archive eBird checklist

Sunday January 23, 2011

We enjoyed a lovely day on the Monterey Bay on January 23. Granted seabirds were a bit sparse but the Gray Whales put on quite a show. Northern Fulmars have largely evacuated, and we saw only a few. A single Sooty Shearwater was our only other procellarid and oddly enough zero albatrosses (Richard Ternullo reports he hasn't seen one in 3 weeks).

The highlight was the Gray Whales that approached the boat very closely, trying to evade some Risso's Dolphins that seemed to be worrying them. I've served as a naturalist on dozens of Gray Whale trips but this one was the best! Rarely do we get such close interaction from Gray Whales.

I've put a video of our Gray Whale encounter up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. You can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-nOHlVX1fY

We'll be doing another one of these half-day trips on March 20. Hope you can make it.

Coni Hendry took these shots using her little point and shoot digital camera from the bow. The Gray Whale in the upper right photo is completely upside down!

Here are Don Roberson's eBird reports for the day:

Location: Monterey Bay pelagic (MTY Co.)

Observation date: 1/23/11

Notes: Part of Monterey Seabird trip aboard Sea Wolf II with R. Ternullo, skipper; Roger Wolfe, Tim Amaral, Blake Matheson, Jeff Poklen, many Scz Bird Club members. See separate checklist for inshore portion (. This checklist begins heading for S rim of Canyon, than west past Pt. Pinos (~2-4 nmi offshore), then south to Carmel Bay (~1.5 nmi offshore) where we had very close encounters with Gray Whales (~20 Gray Whale all told), plus 50 Grampus. Gorgeous day; calm, sunny; sea state Beaufort 1-3, becoming calmer as day went on.

Location: Monterey Bay pelagic--inshore Mty Harbor to Pt. Pinos (MTY Co.)

Observation date: 1/23/11

Notes: part of Monterey Seabird trip aboard Sea Wolf II with R. Ternullo, skipper; Roger Wolfe, Tim Amaral, Blake Matheson, Jeff Poklen, many Scz Bird Club members. See separate checklist for offshore portion (>1 mile offshore). This checklist is comprised of two portions: 45 min in a.m. off Seaside, looking for inshore alcids & grebes, and last hour of trip, from Cypress Point to harbor, all within 1 mile of shore; also includes Coast Guard jetty (but does not include birds in the harbor). Lovely calm & sunny day.

Number of species:

25

Harlequin Duck 1 ad male off C.G. pier

Surf Scoter 20

Red-throated Loon 2

Pacific Loon 35

Common Loon 7

Horned Grebe 2

Eared Grebe 25

Western Grebe 2

Northern Fulmar 1 1 off Cypress Pt. within a mile of shore

Brown Pelican 15

Brandt's Cormorant 250 have begun courtship display on C.G. pier

Pelagic Cormorant 20

Black Oystercatcher 1 on C.G. jetty; rather scarce on this spot

Black Turnstone 15

Surfbird 1

Sanderling 1

Heermann's Gull 15

Mew Gull (American) 80 including near 'pure' flocks off Otter Pt.

Western Gull 500

Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 2

California Gull 60

Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 1 adult off Seaside

Glaucous-winged Gull 10

Common Murre 40

Pigeon Guillemot 2 both likely first-winter birds

Ancient Murrelet 6 off Seaside; photos of one pair

Rhinoceros Auklet 25 all imms but surprising numbers on such a calm day

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) Roger Wolfe for Monterey Seabirds

Video

Monterey Bay pelagic (MTY Co.)

1/23/11 · 16 species · 1 unidentified to species

part of Monterey Seabird trip aboard Sea Wolf II with R. Ternullo, skipper; Roger Wolfe, Tim Amaral, Blake Matheson, Jeff Poklen, many Scz Bird Club members. See separate checklist for offshore portion (>1 mile offshore) . This checklist is comprised of two portions: 45 min in a.m. off Seaside, looking for inshore alcids & grebes, and last hour of trip, from Cypress Point to harbor, all within 1 mile of shore; also includes Coast Guard jetty (but does not include birds in the harbor). Lovely calm & sunny day.

Monterey Bay pelagic--inshore Mty Harbor to Pt. Pinos (MTY Co.)

1/23/11 · 25 species · 2 unidentified to species

Species mentioned

Black-legged Kittiwake · Glaucous-winged Gull · Brandt's Cormorant · Pelagic Cormorant · Rhinoceros Auklet · Sooty Shearwater · Pigeon Guillemot · Ancient Murrelet · Northern Fulmar · Black Turnstone · Heermann's Gull · California Gull · Cassin's Auklet · Risso's Dolphin · Harlequin Duck · Western Grebe · Brown Pelican · Red Phalarope · Thayer's Gull · Pacific Loon · Herring Gull · Western Gull · Common Murre · Common Loon · Surf Scoter · Gray Whale · Surfbird

Leaders and photographers named in this report: Blake Matheson, Don Roberson, Jeff Poklen, Richard Ternullo, Roger Wolfe, Tim Amaral.