[birdky] Bodega Bay pelagic

From: "Chris Sloan" <chris.sloan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:29:39 -0500
My crazy work schedule found me in Palo Alto for a few days after Labor Day
weekend.  While there, I happened to check Shearwater Journeys' pelagic
schedule and found that they were running a trip out of Bodega Bay on Friday
the 7th.  It was unlikely that my business dealings would conclude in time,
but, on the off-chance that they would, I made tentative plans to head up
there Thursday night to crash at Steve Howell's place and go on the trip.
As luck would have it, I was able to wrap up in Palo Alto at 10:30 Thursday,
so I headed up and got to Steve's place around 12:30 for a brief night's
sleep before we headed to the dock.

 

I have been on nearly 50 pelagic trips, and this one is hard to top.  The
sea conditions were calm, and the wildlife spectacle made me feel like I was
in a National Geographic video, apparently mostly due to a large krill
bloom.  Highlights were too numerous to list, but included:

 

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (less than ten previous N.A. records; I was lucky to
be standing in the right place (right next to Steve H. and Brian Sullivan
who both spotted it) to see it well, as most participants didn't.)

Numerous Black-footed Albatrosses plus one Laysan

4000+ Ashy Storm Petrels (most of the world population), plus small numbers
of Blacks, Fork-taileds, and Wilson's

Jaegers and skuas behind the boat all day (including all four species at one
time)

160 Sabine's Gulls

2500 Red-necked and 500 Red Phalaropes

Hundreds of Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters

Good numbers of Buller's Shearwaters, plus a few Flesh-footed Shearwaters

Arctic Tern

80 or so Northern Fulmars

3 Tufted Puffins in addition to good numbers of the regular alcids

Breaching Humpback Whales

Blue Whale (huge!!!!)

Stellar's Sea Lion (endangered species)

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things.  I shot over 300 pictures on the day.
Afterwards, Steve and I stopped on the way back to look for a reported
Yellow Wagtail but didn't find it.  I've posted around 50 pics (including a
good number of jaeger and skua shots of different plumages) in a gallery
here:

 

http://csloan.smugmug.com/

 

I did a couple of pelagics out of Hatteras NC over Labor Day weekend (a
planned trip) and will post some photos from that trip soon, as well as a
number of shorebird pics taken on the off day.

 

Regards,

 

Chris Sloan

Nashville, TN
[birdky] Bodega Bay pelagic

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