I attempted to send this message to OBOL last evening, but it apparently did
not go through (operator error).
On Sunday I went out in search of a black-vented shearwater (lifer) like many
other people along the Oregon coast. In the late morning I did a sea watch off
Yachats but didn’t see a single shearwater. I moved up to Cape Perpetual to
get some altitude, but after 45 minutes I still didn’t see any shearwaters.
Lots of gulls, loons, D-c cormorants, and Aleutian cackling geese moving. The
large swell rolling in from the SW garnered my interest so I went down to
Cook’s Chasm on the south side of the Cape around high tide to check out the
action. The prodigious amount of sea foam being produced provided an amazing
spectacle being viewed by many people. The effects were enhanced due to a lack
of wind. One observer stated that the chasm was the world’s largest latte
maker! The texture of the thick, swirling sea foam was mesmerizing. I posted
some photos at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/albums/72157659357621970
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/24707703@N06/albums/72157659357621970> It’s
worth a look.
On my return to Waldport in the late afternoon I checked the sea from Cape
Perpetua again and I did see small numbers of sooty shearwaters headed south.
Lighting was very bad and the birds were far offshore so if a B-v shearwater
was present I probably wouldn’t have seen it.
Roy
