April 16, 2011 Trip Report
Archive eBird checklist
Saturday April 16, 2011
As you will see from Don Roberson's eBird report below, the weather was less than ideal. Unseasonal thick fog made seeing birds or marine mammals a challenge.
To the rescue came a male transient type Killer Whale that wanted to get up close and personal with us. He appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to parallel us, coming in close and touching the boat. Some of the folks at the rail reached out and were just a few inches shy of touching his six foot tall dorsal fin!
It was an incredible experience for all of us on board.
While I was trying to figure out why my video camera wasn't working our deckhand Mike Merlo managed to shoot these videos with his phone!
http://www.youtube.com/user/merlo83177#p/u/1/6MD8ZWZEFto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahx45S8CRug
Here is Don Roberson's eBird report for the day:
Observation date: 4/16/11
Notes: Monterey Seabirds trip with John Mayer skipper; with R. Wolfe, B.G. Elliott, John Sterling, leaders; Blake Matheson, the Sterling family, Don Glasco, et al. Very foggy day in MTY (this list) but sunshine at N rim area in SCZ, where we stopped for a half-hour to enjoy very close interactions with a large male Orca (see separate checklist). Some light chop, small swell, actually improved as day went on. This checklist excludes inshore birds (Location: Monterey County
Number of species:
13
Pacific Loon 6
Black-footed Albatross 1 mid-Bay, right near MTY/SCZ line but while we were still in fog
Sooty Shearwater 8
Pelagic Cormorant 1 alt plumaged bird in flight at 9.5 nmi offshore, heading N towards Santa Cruz. This is exceptional and suggests either migration or cross-Bay movement
Red-necked Phalarope 8
Red Phalarope 5
Bonaparte's Gull 5
Western Gull 100
California Gull 50
Herring Gull (American) 2 1 ad, 1 1st-cycle
Thayer's Gull 1 1st-cycle
Common Murre 150
Rhinoceros Auklet 10
Number of species:
10
Pacific Loon 2 spring migrants, alt pl
Common Loon 1 spring migrant, alt pl
Black-footed Albatross 2
Sooty Shearwater 7 1 persistently coming to chum
Bonaparte's Gull 40
Western Gull 25
California Gull 175
Herring Gull (American) 1 ad
Common Murre 80
Rhinoceros Auklet 5
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) Roger Wolfe for Monterey Seabirds
Video
Monterey County
| Species | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Loon | 6 | |
| Black-footed Albatross | 1 | mid-Bay, right near MTY/SCZ line but while we were still in fog |
| Sooty Shearwater | 8 | |
| Pelagic Cormorant | 1 | alt plumaged bird in flight at 9.5 nmi offshore, heading N towards Santa Cruz. This is exceptional and suggests either migration or cross-Bay movement |
| Red-necked Phalarope | 8 | |
| Red Phalarope | 5 | |
| Bonaparte's Gull | 5 | |
| Western Gull | 100 | |
| California Gull | 50 | |
| Herring Gull (American) | 2 | 1 ad, 1 1st-cycle |
| Thayer's Gull | 1 | 1st-cycle |
| Common Murre | 150 | |
| Rhinoceros Auklet | 10 |
Santa Cruz County
| Species | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Loon | 2 | spring migrants, alt pl |
| Common Loon | 1 | spring migrant, alt pl |
| Black-footed Albatross | 2 | |
| Sooty Shearwater | 7 | 1 persistently coming to chum |
| Bonaparte's Gull | 40 | |
| Western Gull | 25 | |
| California Gull | 175 | |
| Herring Gull (American) | 1 | ad |
| Common Murre | 80 | |
| Rhinoceros Auklet | 5 |
Species mentioned
Black-footed Albatross · Red-necked Phalarope · Pelagic Cormorant · Rhinoceros Auklet · Sooty Shearwater · Bonaparte's Gull · California Gull · Red Phalarope · Thayer's Gull · Pacific Loon · Herring Gull · Western Gull · Common Murre · Killer Whale · Common Loon