September 29, 2013 Trip Report
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Sunday September 29, 2013
On board the Pt Sur Clipper, we had John Mayer as our skipper, Mike Merlo handling deck duties, and Richard Ternullo in the pulpit. For leaders, I was joined by Alex Rinkert, Christian Swartz, Bruce Elliott, and Don Roberson.
We had superb, sunny weather with mild sea conditions for most of the day. We ran SSW and then in towards the Big Sur Coast.
It was very birdy in the early part of the trip when we ran across a good flock of black-vented shearwaters. One small fast-flying bird that gave the impression of "Tree Swallow" flanks and crisp black-and-white contrast turned out to be a Manx Shearwater. A short time later Alex Rinkert called out a flesh-footed shearwater. We finished with 6 species of shearwater. South Polar skua and black-footed albatross rounded out our "must-get" birds of the day. The oddest sighting of the day was a pelagic flock of Marbled Godwits going by 4 miles west of Cypress Pt.
Non-bird sightings were also great. We had lots of jellies, mola mola, blue sharks, and humpback whales. Add an elephant seal, a northern fur seal, and some show-off Risso's Dolphins leaping completely out of the water, and it made for quite an eventful trip.
Birds observed:
Canada Goose Black Oystercatcher
Northern Pintail Black Turnstone
Surf Scoter Surfbird
Eared Grebe Marbled Godwit
Pied-billed Grebe Red-necked Phalarope
Pacific Loon South Polar Skua
Black-footed Albatross Pomarine Jaeger
Pink-footed Shearwater Parasitic Jaeger
Flesh-footed Shearwater Common Murre
Buller's Shearwater Pigeon Guillemot
Sooty Shearwater Cassin's Auklet
Manx Shearwater Rhinocerous Auklet
Black-vented Shearwater Heermann's Gull
Brandt's Cormorant Western Gull
Double-crested Cormorant California Gull
Pelagic Cormorant Elegant Tern
Brown Pelican Rock Pigeon
Great Egret Belted Kingfisher
Snowy Egret American Crow
Black-crowned Night-Heron Brewer's Blackbird
Tim Amaral for Monterey Seabirds
Species mentioned
Double-crested Cormorant · Flesh-footed Shearwater · Black-vented Shearwater · Black-footed Albatross · Pink-footed Shearwater · Red-necked Phalarope · Buller's Shearwater · Brandt's Cormorant · Pied-billed Grebe · Pelagic Cormorant · Northern Fur Seal · Sooty Shearwater · South Polar Skua · Parasitic Jaeger · Pigeon Guillemot · Manx Shearwater · Black Turnstone · Pomarine Jaeger · Heermann's Gull · California Gull · Cassin's Auklet · Risso's Dolphin · Humpback Whale · Brown Pelican · Pacific Loon · Western Gull · Elegant Tern · Common Murre · Surf Scoter · Surfbird