MONTEREY BAY, CALIF: AUGUST 23, 2019 REPORT
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DEBRA SHEARWATER
Aug 25, 2019, 4:31:57 PM8/25/19
to Seabird News Google Group
Howdy, SEA Birders,
Shearwater Journeys’ Monterey Bay pelagic trip on Friday, August 23 turned out surprisingly well, despite some confused seas. Highlights included: BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS; BULLER’S, PINK-FOOTED and SOOTY SHEARWATERS; ASHY and BLACK STORM-PETRELS; RED-NECKED PHALAROPES; POMARINE, PARASITIC, and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS; SABINE’S GULLS; ARCTIC TERNS; and the usual alcids. A small pod of BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS were traveling along Cannery Row where the PEREGRINE FALCON was also seen sitting on the red and white radio tower. A large group of 70+ RISSO’S DOLPHINS were just offshore and a few HUMPBACK WHALES continued feeding on the giant schools of anchovies.
Best find, though, were two rafts of about 145 each, of Ashy Storm-Petrels. These are the first rafts that we’ve seen out of Monterey in a few years.
We covered both Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties.
Many thanks to the birders who joined us on this trip. They hailed from 14 different states in the USA. Special thanks to Jeri Langham and Victor Emanuel of Victor Emanuel Nature Tours who have been doing this pelagic trip as part of Jeri’s “Grand California” tour for decades. Thanks to the Shearwater leaders on this day: Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Steve Tucker, and Cooper Scallon.
All seabirds were reported in eBird following pelagic protocol. All cetaceans were reported in Whale Alert.
The complete species list for Shearwater Journeys’ AUGUST 23, 2019 follows:
MONTEREY/SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES
PACIFIC LOON- 1/0
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 12/6
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 40/5
BULLER’S SHEARWATER- 6/0
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 1175/310
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 11/250
BLACK STORM-PETREL- 1/2
BROWN PELICAN- 75/0
BRANDT’S CORMORANT- 290/0
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2/0
SURF SCOTER- 2/0
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 2/0
BLACK TURNSTONE- 2/0
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 130/35
POMARINE JAEGER- 1/0
PARASITIC JAEGER-3/0
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1/0
HEERMANN’S GULL- 25/0
CALIFORNIA GULL- 55/10
WESTERN GULL- 335/20
SABINE’S GULL- 3/1
ELEGANT TERN- 105/0
COMMON TERN- 2/0
ARCTIC TERN- 8/6
COMMON MURRE- 15/3
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 4/0
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 42/9
PEREGRINE FALCON- 1/0
SEA OTTER- X
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- X
HUMPBACK WHALE- 10
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN- 12
RISSO’S DOLHIN- 75
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1
Living the Salt Life,
Debi Shearwater
DEBRA SHEARWATER
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
Celebrating 44 Years of Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys
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