Subject: Heceta Banks, Oregon, pelagic results
Date: Oct 7 22:24:12 1996
From: Greg Gillson - guide at teleport.com


Re: Heceta Banks, Oregon, pelagic trip, October 5, 1996.
Sponsored by: The Bird Guide guide at teleport.com

Following reports of mid-September concentrations of
seabirds including skuas, Flesh-footed Shearwater, and
an incredible Streaked Shearwater, Oregon birders set off
for Heceta Banks, about 30 miles offshore from the central
Oregon coast.

Here is Matt's official trip results for the October 5th
trip to Heceta Banks. I have already contacted participants
with e-mail, apologizing for missing Lane County. Yes, we
stopped short of entering a fog bank; and without a map showing
county lines, we stopped 2 miles short of Lane County. Thus,
all species are for Lincoln County.

In addition to Matt's notes below, I offer the following:

* There were at least 3 Flesh-footed Shearwaters. I had
2 in view at the first stop, then flushed one behind a boat
10 miles away.
* Even with the good communication on the trip, I didn't
know until I read this that there were any kittiwakes. And
Matt must have missed the Thayer's Gull following us on our
return to port.
* The Laysan dilema, outlined by Matt below, may be more
complicated. It is possible there were 2 different birds,
as the bird disappeared for 15 minutes before reappearing.
* Numbers of alcids, as also reported upon in Washington,
are frighteningly low.
* A new high was set for South Polar Skuas. 8 surpasses the
7 recorded Sep 30, 1978.
* A new record was set for Buller's Shearwaters, 290 is
almost double previous reports of 150 from Oct 5, 1985 and
Aug 19, 1972.
* The 3 Flesh-footed Shearwaters ties several previous
sightings, including our trip last month on Sep 21, 1996.
More searching of the literature may find other higher
totals.

Here it is, then.

-greg-

Greg, please check this and forward to OBOL. Thanks, Matt.
===============================================================

Date: Sun, 6 Oct 1996 23:05:54 -0700
From: hunterm at ccmail.orst.edu (Matthew Hunter)
Subject: 5 OCT PELAGIC TO HECETA BANKS

5 OCT pelagic trip from Depoe Bay to Heceta Banks:

This trip ranks easily in the top 3 pelagic trips (possibly #1, of 30+)
I've been on in Oregon's offshore waters since 1980. Highlights were 1
LAYSAN ALBATROSS (* see note at end), 8 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, and 3+
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS,... and 290 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS deserves
mention. The weather was great and we had fantastic views of both rare
and more abundant species. Seas maxed at about 8 foot swells and 2 ft
wind waves sometime in the morning, and receded to about 4 ft swells
and <1 ft wind waves in the latter part of the trip.

We left Depoe Bay at about 0748. At first, seas weren't too bad, but
fog limited visibility to 150-400 ft for the first two hours on our way
to Heceta Banks. At about 29 miles from Depoe Bay towards Heceta
Banks the fog cleared and we had "clear sailing" the rest of the trip.
As we were getting close to Heceta Banks the number of birds on the
seas began to noticeably increase. Our dribble of "chum" off the back
of the boat attracted a fair gathering of birds before we finally
stopped near Heceta Banks, including two SOUTH POLAR SKUAS. Once we
stopped we gathered quite a group of birds with our chum. It was at
that point that the "Laysan" Albatross (* see note at end) showed up,
and a flesh-footed shearwater appeared only a few feet from the
albatross and was viewed by some simultaneously in the binoculars!
Most tubenoses except skuas and storm-petrels were seen at this spot.
On our way back in we stopped by a fishing boat that had quite a few
birds, doubling our totals for most species. On our way back we saw 6
more SOUTH POLAR SKUAS. We also saw a few dark POMARINE JAEGERS that
we scrutinized closely before deciding on jaeger vs skua. In addition,
there were several flocks of from 30-100 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS sitting
on the water. WOW, that was amazing, and beautiful! We were back at
Depoe Bay at 1609.

The following list is my best estimate of total numbers of birds seen.
This report, as usual, is an integration of my own observations as well
as estimates from discussions with other passengers. Particularly
during the middle parts of our trip we had lots of birds following us
for long distances. I've attempted to estimate total unrepeated
individuals, versus adding up numbers for each segment of the trip. (I
would appreciate a response from anyone on the trip that thinks any
numbers are WAY off; thanks).

LOON SP 6
COMMON LOON 2
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS 80 (including one extensively pale individual)
"LAYSAN" ALBATROSS 1 (* see note at end)
NORTHERN FULMAR 240 (about 5% very dark, 5% very light, most
intermediate; some molt noticable on
lighter birds. Darkest birds resembled
flesh-footed shearwaters in dark plumage,
flash under primaries, and contrasting pale
bill, but overall shape of body, bill, and
flight style discernable.)
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER 80
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER 2+ (up to 4)
BULLER'S SHEARWATER 290 (bulk in several groups on way in)
SOOTY SHEARWATER 90
BROWN PELICAN 30
PELAGIC CORMORANT 2
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE 1
SOUTH POLAR SKUA 8 (all were dark birds, imm or dark morph;
none were close enough to look at finer
details of plumage.)
POMARINE JAEGER 22 (about 1/2 adults)
PARASITIC JAEGER (1 possible; reported by a few folks)
LONG-TAILED JAEGER 2 (both imm)
JAEGER SP 2
HEERMANN'S GULL 15 (near shore)
MEW GULL 3 (near shore)
HERRING GULL 7
CALIFORNIA GULL 400 (everywhere)
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL 10 (most near shore)
WESTERN GULL 170 (most near shore)
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE 2 (both adults)
SABINE'S GULL 6 (groups of 1, 2, and 3; most IW plumage)
COMMON MURRE 6 (most near shore)
PIGEON GUILLEMOT 2 (near shore)
CASSIN'S AUKLET 2
RHINOCEROS AUKLET 7
SURF SCOTER 80 (a couple flocks near shore)
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER 12 (a couple flocks near shore)

DALL'S PORPOISE 20+
OCEAN SUNFISH 3

*"Laysan" Albatross: The identity of this bird is in question. There
is no doubt that it was't a black-footed albatross. Believe it or not
several of us are considering whether the bird could have been a
WHITE-CAPPED (SHY) ALBATROSS. While there would have been no question
for those more familiar with these species (or if we could see it
again, now), most of the passengers on the boat were not prepared to
consider any species other than Laysan. The discussion at sea centered
on the extensively bright white underwings with a fairly narrow dark
outline and lack of internal dark markings. Several folks took photos
of the bird, so we should find out soon whether we saw a Laysan
albatross or whether we saw something more unusual than most of us
imagined. I think we may be pleasantly surprised. Either way, we will
have learned a lot about albatrosses in the discussion. More later.

The sea is still a frontier. Come on out with us.

Matt Hunter
hunterm at fsl.orst.


--
Greg Gillson <guide at teleport.com>
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