Here's the rest of the post. I'm not sure what happened, but only *part* of
it posted to the Tweeter's Digest a few moments ago. Maybe there is a "cap"
on posts with respect to length? Anyone know? I'll keep 'em shorter next
time. Please accept my apologies. --R-san

-----
...the rest of the story, continued..........

* Red Phalarope -- uncommon, variably scattered small flocks of <10 (high
flock count ~300 26Oct97).

* Pomarine Jaeger -- uncommon (most frequent of the three species).

* Parasitic Jaeger -- uncommon.

* Long-tailed Jaeger -- occasional (least frequent of the three species).

* South Polar Skua -- occasional.
_10Oct97_ -- three, 3552'N, 12220'W (33nm SW Pt. Sur);
_10Oct97_ -- one at shelf break 20nm SW of Point Sur (3603'N, 12203'W);
_21Oct97_ -- one among seabirds attending killer / sperm whale kill;
_25Oct97_ -- one dark morph, 3500'N, 12217'W (67nm SW Pt. Buchon).

* Heerman's Gull -- None offshore. Uncommon to locally common, coastal &
shelf waters only.

* California Gull -- uncommon offshore (usually never more than 2-6 per
day).

* Herring Gull -- occasional offshore by late October (1 or 2 per day).

* Western Gull -- uncommon offshore (usually never more than 5-10 per day).

* Black-legged Kittiwake -- NONE. Significant in that there were no
sightings.

* Elegant Tern -- None offshore, BUT!.....
_14Oct97_ -- 1650 counted at dawn (~0700hrs) inbound San Francisco Bay in
tidal rips between the Golden Gate and Alcatraz. This was the largest
concentration that I've ever encountered anywhere! Outbound through the same
area on 10/15 (1130hrs), those tide rips were gone as were the terns. About
6nm west of the Golden Gate, small tide rips were encountered over which only
~200 Elegant Terns were counted. Other species in these outside rips
included Parasitic Jaeger (10), Heerman's Gull (80), Common Murre (~150),
Western Grebe (~65), and Clark's Grebe (~15).

* Sabine's Gull -- occasional and decreasing.

* Arctic Tern -- uncommon, but mostly gone by end of October

* Common Murre -- occasional.

* Xantus Murrelet (_S. h. hypoleucus_) -- rare? (Occasional?)
_22Oct97_ -- one, 3441'N, 12201'W (68nm W. Pt. Arguello)

* Xantus/Craveri's Murrelet sp? -- occasional, but all total way way fewer
than expected. Sum total probably less than 10 sightings, always in one's
and twos.
Where did they all go? Oregon? Washington? Past cruises in recent years in
those areas suggest that these may be more widespread and not so uncommon in
far offshore waters, 100-300nmiles offshore around the sea mounts off Oregon
and Washington.

* Ancient Murrelet -- rare (at least on this cruise). Only one sighting.
_10Oct97_ -- one, 3606'N, 12155'W (10nm off Big Sur), 500 fathoms.

* Cassin's Auklet -- occasional. Usually in one's and two's, and of all the
alcids on this cruise, the most frequent, albeit still scarce as were all
alcid species.

* Parakeet Auklet -- vagrant (one sighting).
_17Oct97_ -- single winter adult, 3434'N, 12312'W (125nm W Pt. Arguello)

-----

land birds onboard (all off Santa Lucia Escarpment, 50-75nm off SLO / SB Co,
California):
Short-eared Owl -- 22Oct97 (1);
Mourning Dove -- 18Oct97 (1); 25Oct97 (1); 26-27Oct97 (1);
Yellow-rumped Warbler -- 21Oct97 (1); 25-26Oct97 (1);
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco -- 20Oct97 (1);
Brown-headed Cowbird -- 19Oct97 (1); 21Oct97 (2); 26Oct97 (1); 27Oct97(1)
Western Meadowlark -- 21Oct97 (2).
---------------

Richard Rowlett (Pagodroma at aol.com)
~4734'N, 12208'W