RED-FOOTED BOOBY & IT'S A WRAP
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DEBRA SHEARWATER
Oct 22, 2018, 6:56:06 PM10/22/18
to Seabird News Google Group
Howdy, SEABirders,
Shearwater Journeys’ last pelagic trip of the 2018 fall season was yesterday, October 21, departing from Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey, California.
The highlight of the day was when Linda Terrill spotted a RED-FOOTED BOOBY about 12:27 p.m. in Santa Cruz County! It was a thrilling moment for everyone on board, especially Jim Lomax (who, I am certain did not think he would tick a new bird for Santa Cruz County!)
Linda spotted the booby in a small flock of feeding gulls and pelicans. It made a speedy pass by our boat, flying off in a direction which made it impossible for us to chase it because of the choppy seas. (Yes, a beautiful marine forecast was predicted all week-long until the very morning of our trip! It wasn’t awful, just a very annoying, small “chop on the top.” I’m just now looking at the leaders’s report and they called it “squirrelly.”) Quite a few birders looking for new ticks for Santa Cruz County were on board— and, very happy. The Red-footed Booby was a life bird for some folks.
A few images were made of the Red-footed Booby which will hopefully be submitted to the California Bird Records Committee. Jim Gain made a nice photo album of the trip which includes some shots of the booby:
Other seabird highlights included: BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, NORTHERN FULMAR; SOOTY, BULLER’S, PINK-FOOTED and BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS; SOUTH POLAR SKUA; POMARINE and PARASITIC JAEGERS, arriving BONAPARTE’S GULLS; COMMON MURRE, RHINOCEROS and CASSIN’S AUKLETS, and a single TUFTED PUFFIN.
Cetaceans included humpback and blue whales, and Risso’s Dolphins.
It was a very, very fun day out on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary!
This trip concludes our fall season of pelagic trips. Shearwater Journeys will have a full fall season of trips for 2019, including trips to the Farallon Islands, and trips departing from Monterey and Half Moon Bay. As most folks know, at the conclusion of the fall 2019 season, I shall be retiring— after 44 consecutive years of California pelagic trips. To receive the 2019 schedule after the first of the New Year, sign up on our advance list email group at this link:
Many thanks to all of the birders, locally and from out-of-state, who participated on this trip. The leaders were: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Jim Holmes, Sahas Barve, and Debi Shearwater.
The complete species list for OCTOBER 21, 2019, Shearwater Journeys’ Monterey Bay pelagic trip follows, below, with Monterey/Santa Cruz Counties.
COMMON LOON- 8/5
EARED GREBE- 1/0
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 2/12
NORTHERN FULMAR- 9/10
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 67/260
BULLER’S SHEARWATER- 5/75
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 34/80
SOOTY/SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER- 11/3
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 12/3
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 0/1
**RED-FOOTED BOOBY- 0/1
BROWN PELICAN- 76/1
BRANDT’S CORMORANT- 85/3
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 2/0
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 1/0
SURF SCOTER- 18/0
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 14/0
RED-NECKED/RED PHALAROPE- 1/0
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 0/2
POMARINE JAEGER- 1/6
PARASITIC JAEGER- 2/1
BONAPARTE’S GULL- 20/205
HEERMANN’S GULL- 7/3
CALIFORNIA GULL- 36/200
HERRING GULL- 0/2
WESTERN GULL- 62/85
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 0/1
ELEGANT TERN- 10/2
COMMON MURRE- 160/175
CASSIN’S AUKLET- 45/4
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 710/160
TUFTED PUFFIN- 1/0
PEREGRINE FALCON- 1 on the radio tower along Cannery Row
BLUE WHALE- 3
HUMPBACK WHALE- 4
RISSO’S DOLPHIN- 25
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1
Many thanks to everyone who participated on our fall season!
Looking forward to seeing you next year.
Seabirding for Science,
Debi Shearwater
DEBRA SHEARWATER
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
Celebrating 43 Years of Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys
Siberia’s Forgotten Coast & Spoon-billed Sandpiper- 25 June - 9 July 2019
Galapagos Islands: 30 October - 12 November 2019
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