There is plenty of space available on the June 14 pelagic trip out of Westport, WA. June has been thought of as a slow time for pelagic birds in the Pacific Northwest, but trips in recent years off Westport and Newport, OR have revealed that there is lots of good stuff offshore. Black-footed albatross, sooty and pink-footed shearwaters are already in good numbers in June, and jaegers, kittiwakes and Sabine's gulls are still migrating north through Washington waters. Last year in mid-June a south polar skua was found off Westport, and one was seen off Newport 2 weeks ago. Trips this time of year should also find fork-tailed storm petrels and maybe even Cassin's auklets or Leach's storm petrels.



Manx shearwater records in Gray's Harbor are clustered between May and July, so this is an ideal time to look for them in the large flocks of sooty shearwaters. Flesh-footed shearwaters records more numerous than usual in 2003, and one was off Newport 2 weeks ago.



Contact Westport Seabirds at: pmand at reachone.com in the next couple of days if you're interested in heading out to sea; the trip may be cancelled Tuesday evening unless more people sign up. Cost is $90. For more information on Westport Seabirds, visit their web site at: www.westportseabirds.com



Mike Donahue

Seattle