I got to Boiler Bay Saturday morning in time to watch and feel the brunt of the
storm that swept up the coast on Saturday. I feared that I wasn't going to get
any outside time in the wind and sideways waterfall that buffeted my car as I
sat in the parking lot. However, after an hour or so, the storm began to let
up enough for me to get out an start to watch. Visibility quickly improved.
Almost as soon as the rain stopped, a very large flight of Sooty Shearwaters
could be seen through the blowing mist, streaming by and heading into the wind
from the North to South. The shearwater flight lasted perhaps 30 minutes and
then slowed to a trickle, eventually being replaced by a decent flight of
Pacific Loons and Murres. There were quite a few Pink-footed Shearwaters in
the mix, as wells as two Buller's Shearwaters (perhaps my first ever from
shore), as well as a few Northen Fulmars, but try as I might, I couldn't get a
Black-vented Shearwater to reveal itself. So consider this a negative report
of that species.
At one spot to the southwest of the point, a feeding frenzy developed maybe a
quarter mile offshore looking like a standing wave of birds. This swarm stayed
put for the remainder of my watch there, perhaps most of two hours, and was
still there when I left. In the flock, there were mostly gulls of several
species, but also quite a few transient Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters and
assorted others.
I made a slow-motion video of the action here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCh3TsVHfRU
In real-time, the shearwaters just buzz through like bullets, but in
slow-motion you can see them quite well and appreciate their different flight
styles. It's kind of mesmerizing. The white-bellied shearwater varieties come
and go mostly on the left side. A couple of the clearest are leaving the flock
towards the left at about the 52 second mark.
Good birding,
Skip
--
Skip Russell
Portland, Oregon
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