September 22, 2013 Trip Report
Archive
Sunday September 22, 2013
For this Monterey Seabirds' pelagic trip we had aboard the Pt. Sur Clipper, Mike Merlo and Richard Ternullo from Monterey Bay Whale Watch crew and Seabird leaders Tim Amaral, Alex Rinkert, Rod Norton, and Blake Matheson.
We started with calm seas and decent visibility, so we headed west to reach a water break offshore, as is often the case, about 20+ miles off Pt. Pinos. We skirted the coastline both on the way out and on the way back, with the intent of finding a blue-footed booby because of all the reports that were coming in, but alas, it was not to be. On the other hand, we had a heck of a day. We had good sightings of black-footed albatross, Buller's shearwater, and jaegers (check out Jeff Poklen's photo at right). And our best birds were ashy storm-petrel and tufted puffin.
To wrap the day up, near the beaches of Moss Landing, we had one of the most amazing feeding frenzies ever seen on a Monterey Seabirds trip. It was like watching a 4th of July fireworks show but with 8-10 humpback whales lunge-feeding cascades of silvery anchovies while 70 sea lions and 2000 birds churned the sea and sky. For photos, see the Monterey Seabirds Facebook page.
Birds observed:
Pacific Loon Pomarine Jaeger
Black-footed Albatross Parasitic Jaeger
Pink-footed Shearwater Common Murre
Buller's Shearwater Pigeon Guillemot
Sooty Shearwater Cassin's Auklet
Ashy Storm-Petrel Rhinocerous Auklet
Brandt's Cormorant Tufted Puffin
Pelagic Cormorant Sabine's Gull
Brown Pelican Heermann's Gull
Great Blue Heron Western Gull
Great Egret California Gull
Black Turnstone Glaucous-winged Gull
Surfbird Common Tern
Red-necked Phalarope Elegant Tern
Red Phalarope Belted Kingfisher
Tim Amaral for Monterey Seabirds
Species mentioned
Black-footed Albatross · Pink-footed Shearwater · Red-necked Phalarope · Glaucous-winged Gull · Buller's Shearwater · Brandt's Cormorant · Ashy Storm-Petrel · Pelagic Cormorant · Sooty Shearwater · Parasitic Jaeger · Pigeon Guillemot · Black Turnstone · Pomarine Jaeger · Heermann's Gull · California Gull · Cassin's Auklet · Humpback Whale · Brown Pelican · Red Phalarope · Sabine's Gull · Tufted Puffin · Pacific Loon · Western Gull · Elegant Tern · Common Murre · Common Tern · Surfbird