Hi Tweets,

Just a quick report from last weekend's Westport Pelagic Trips. Terry
Wahl stayed home nursing a broken wrist... Bill Tweit led. I went out
Sunday. The seas were a bit rough but not too bad and both days turned
out real nice.

Common Loons a few near the jetties
Pacific Loons ditto, with one fine alternate plumaged fly-by
Western Grebes ditto (Bill had a Clark's in the channel Saturday, his
first for the west side)
Black-footed Albatross 50+
N. Fulmar 100+, mostly dark
Pink-footed Shearwater 15+
Flesh-footed Shearwater 3-4+ (apparently different individuals, nice...)
Buller's Shearwater 200 Sunday, 500 Saturday (a fine show)
Sooty Shearwater 100+ (way down)
Short-tailed Shearwater 1 seen well, 3+ others flew by, we think
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 3
Brown Pelicans still about 150+ plus present, ca. 20% ad.
all three cormorants at the jetties & inside
Harlequin Duck 1 femme on the jetty
Surf Scoter 500+ just off the jetty
White-winged Scoter ca. 6-8
Black Turnstone 25+ Westport Marina
Surfbird 100+ Westport Marina
Red-necked Phalarope 1 juv. (that's all!)
Pomarine Jaeger 20+ (mostly sub-ads & juv. and ratty, all light phase)
Heermann's Gull 50+, at jetties & inside
California Gull 300+
Herring Gull 2+ ads...
"big guys" 50+ (various GW, GW x Western, & Western)
Black-legged Kittiwake 25, on jetty & in outer channel
Sabine's Gull 1 winter ad.
Common Murre 50, just off shore
Pigeon Guillemot 3, in channel
Cassin's Auklet 200+
Rhinoceros Auklet 20


A comment on the "Pochard": I studied the description and compared it
point for point for Redhead, Pochard, & Canvasback in my waterfowl of the
world book and don't see why it's not a Redhead. The bill lacked the
distinctive pale "saddle" of the Pochard, eye-color is quite broadly
overlapping and not likely distinctive in a young bird, and it seemed to
boil down to the perception that the bill & head shapes were
"intermediate" between Redhead and Canvasback. Am I missing something?

Gene Hunn.