Greetings All

Westport Seabirds had 2 pelagic trips this past weekend on Saturday and
Sunday.

Saturday's trip was a rare event in its own right. It was the first time in
the 31+ years of the seabird census we conduct that we have ever missed
Black-footed Albatross, and totally strike out on Albatross all together.
The ocean was quite rough, with swells of 10 feet and heavy chop at times,
making it difficult to pick up alcids from the water. Wind was much more
brisk on Saturday's trip as well, with a SE direction of 10-15 knots. It
was cloudy for most of the day but overall no rain.

Sunday's trip was redemption of sorts. We only encountered 3 Black-footed
Albatross, but we had a much better alcid day, recording 7 species,
including an adult alternate plumage THICK-BILLED MURRE, only the 6th or 7th
record for Washington State. The ocean conditions were more pleasant with
swells in the 6-8 foot range, but a near absence of chop, with wind in the
0-10 knot range to the SW. Although we had to deal with a constant drizzle
of rain for quite some time, but at least we had a small pod of Dall's
Porpoise Bow-riding to keep the participants cheery.

The List 2/16 2/17
Red-throated Loon 0 11
Pacific Loon 2 32
Common Loon 10 6
Black-footed Albatross 0 3
Northern Fulmar 154 47
Short-tailed Shearwater 1 2
Shearwater Sp. 0 2
Surf Scoter 87 196
White-winged Scoter 18 30
Western Grebe 10 14
Mew Gull 115 145
California Gull 0 1
Herring Gull 36 17
Thayer's Gull 3 0
Glaucous-winged &Western Gull 303 688
Black-legged Kittiwake 237 251
Common Murre 221 304
THICK-BILLED MURRE 0 1
Pigeon Guillemot 0 1
Marbled Murrelet 6 10
Ancient Murrelet 0 6
Cassin's Auklet 42 190
Rhinoceros Auklet 3 59
AMERICAN ROBIN (2mi offshore) 1 0

JETTY/DOCK
Eared Grebe 1 0
Double-crested Cormorant 23 33
Pelagic Cormorant 10 15
Harlequin Duck 2 2
Black Oystercatcher 1 1
Black Turnstone 25 10
Ruddy Turnstone 0 1
Surfbird 2 1

MAMMALS
Harbor Seal 4 20
Harbor Porpoise 0 12
Dall's Porpoise 0 10

Captain: Phil Anderson
Observers/Spotters:
2/16 Bill Tweit, Bruce LaBar, Gene Revelas, Ryan Shaw, Michael Donahue
2/17 Ryan Shaw, Michael Donahue

Cheers and Good Birding

Ryan Shaw Lacey Washington
Rtshaw80 at hotmail.com


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