Pelagic Enthusiasts,
On Saturday, September 15, Oregon Pelagic Tours ran a very successful
pelagic trip to the waters about 30 miles offshore of Newport, Oregon. In
this case, successful means loads of birds, loads of mammals, and nobody
seasick!
Bird highlights were many and included:
GREAT SHEARWATER: 1 which came into a slick amid hundreds if not thousands
of other birds. At one point, it was on the water within about 20 yards of
eager observers. Stunning photos taken and memories etched.
LAYSAN ALBATROSS: 1 at our first chum spot. We certainly didn't have to
stress about finding one since it was in the first flock of albatrosses
that we encountered.
Long-tailed Jaeger: at least 15 which included one stunning full tailed
adult. At each chum spot, there were several Long-tailed Jaegers flying
around, probably having something to do with the next species....
Sabine's Gull: at least 2200 of them! At one chum spot which was near the
fishing fleet, we had about 1500+ Sabine's Gulls in and around the fishing
fleet and the OPT boat. Totally stunning to see so many in one area! Most
were adults but a few young of the year were good to see.
Short-tailed Shearwater: a few were seen but not very well and I think that
some participants may have missed them. Unfortunate that Short-tailed
Shearwaters have shown up early in our area due to adverse conditions in
their favored feeding area in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.
Each boat of the fishing fleet had thousands of birds in its wake which
included Sooty, squeaking Pink-footed, and a few Buller's Shearwaters, very
close Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, and about 300 Black-footed Albatrosses.
Of course, these were joined by hundreds of gulls.
Other expected species were seen including Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets,
Marbled Murrelets, Common Murres (with chicks), both Phalaropes, Parasitic
and Pomarine Jaegers, and a few Arctic Terns!
A big highlight of the trip was the abundance of whales. Wow, we recorded
4 species including:
Fin Whale: 6!
Humpback Whale: 12+ including breaching individuals and a chance to see
whale poop
Minke Whale: 1
Gray Whale: 1
Participant Bob Lockett took excellent photos during the trip and they can
be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nw_birder/albums/72157701257361874
Its exciting too see so much life out there and I hope you are able to sign
up for a pelagic trip soon!
Keep your eyes on the open water, you never know what to expect.
Cheers.
Jim
--
Jim Danzenbaker
Battle Ground, WA
360-702-9395
jdanzenbaker@xxxxxxxxx
