[obol] Oregon Pelagic Tours 12/5/21 trip -Short-tailed Albatross!
- From: Shawneen Finnegan <shawneenfinnegan@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2021 11:53:59 -0800
After a challenging Fall season that included multiple weathered-out trips Oregon Pelagic Tours (OPT) was due to catch a few breaks and that we did this past weekend. Our season-ending trip, originally scheduled for December 4, was pushed back a day due to gale warnings and rough seas on Saturday. Thankfully, Sunday morning dawned with clear skies and northeasterly winds that tamed what had been an angry ocean the day before. We had a full boat with 31 participants and four guides. The leaders for this trip were Dave Irons, Shawneen Finnegan, David Mandell and Bill Shelmerdine (Tim's brother on loan from Westport Pelagics). Long ocean swells were 7-8 feet and the wind waves were only 1-2 feet throughout the trip, which is about as good as one can expect this time of year. We sailed under mostly sunny skies with a few periods of cloud cover and the northeast winds made for a chilly return leg. While the birding ended up being quite good, it was a very slow day for marine mammals. Aside from expected inshore pinnipeds we saw just one whale spout and had no other cetaceans.
The day got off to a solid start when shortly after pulling away from the dock a textbook first-cycle Glaucous Gull was culled from the swarm of bayfront gulls. In the nearshore waters just outside the jetties we were able to spot about 10 Ancient Murrelets, but unfortunately it was low tide, so the birds were in an area that was too shallow for a close approach. Looking back into the bright morning sun made for less-than-optimal viewing. Modest numbers of southbound loons (mostly Pacifics with a few Red-throateds) and scoters flew past as we made our way towards deeper waters. We encountered our first tubenose–a Northern Fulmar–about four miles out but had no other species of tubenose and just a smattering of fulmars until we were nearly 20 miles offshore. At that point numbers of fulmars kicked up considerably and we had our first albatrosses of the day. Remarkably, the fourth individual albatross that we saw was a Laysan that provided spectacular views as it flew right past the boat.
As we approached the area where we planned our first chum stop, we encountered a large barge being towed. Lots of gulls (unfortunately no boobies) were sitting on the barge, thus we had a pre-built flock to work with. The scent of fish oil quickly attracted more than 100 gulls, 7 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 40+ Northern Fulmars and 25 Black-footed Albatrosses. We also had two Short-tailed Shearwaters that circled close to the boat offering a nice opportunity for study. It was a bonanza for the larophiles on board, with many Herring, several Iceland (Thayer's), a few Short-billeds and the expected menagerie of Glaucous-winged and Glaucous-winged X Western hybrids to sort through.
After about 45 minutes we moved a few miles and then stopped to chum again. It wasn't long before a nice feeding flock assembled. Shortly into this stop Bruce Dugger from Corvallis yelled out the words that everyone aboard hoped to hear..."SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS! Over the next 10 minutes we savored the large chocolate-brown immature with its gleaming bubble-gum pink bill. It made several loops around the boat, including multiple close passes that yielded some incredible photos. For good measure we added another Laysan Albatross at the second chum stop and saw another distant one as we made our way back to port.
Getting THE target bird for a trip is always exciting and this Short-tailed Albatross was a lifer for most on the boat. Three of the last four OPT December trips have turned up this species and the word is getting out. Once announced, December trips fill quickly with birders from all over the country signing up for a chance to see this species. This year we were joined by a foursome from Connecticut and there were others from Florida, South Carolina, Arizona and California on board. We also had Tiffany Kersten from Mission, Texas with us. Tiffany is trying to break the big year record for the Lower 48 and she booked this trip primarily hoping for Ancient Murrelet and Laysan Albatross and daydreaming that she might also get Short-tailed Albatross. A long weekend seeking target birds in the Pacific Northwest netted her six new year birds, including three on our pelagic trip. Her current tally (715) is just ten species away from breaking the current record (724), which was set just last year.
We are already looking forward to the 2022 pelagic season and many more wonderful adventures on the high seas.
Dave Irons and Shawneen Finnegan
Photo by Shawneen
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