Tweeters,
Westport Seabirds had pelagic trips scheduled for 9/8, 9/10, and 9/11. In
time (that means I don't know how much time) final trip results and numbers
will be posted on the Westport Seabirds website. A brief summary should
suffice for now. Apologies if the lists are incomplete. Weather was a bit
dicey at times, but two of the three trips made it out to Grays Canyon.
Sadly none of the commercial fishing/ shrimp fleet chose to fish the area,
and we encountered no boats offshore. Nevertheless, most of the regular
species and few good ones were seen, but concentrations of birds often found
at this season were lacking.

Thursday, Sept 8: Bruce Lebar, Gene Revelas and I were spotters. As we
headed out there were some real questions whether we would go all the way
out. A lot of spray and quite a bit of motion was the situation as we ran
out in a fairly good NW swell. With the wind chop it was on the wet side.
Here's a tip, when Bruce doesn't take the bow right away you know that
something is up. The ride back in with more or less following seas was much
smoother, it hardly seemed like the same ocean and really not a bad day to
be out. Most of the regular species were seen, but overall numbers were
down.

Best bird of the day honors would have to go to Flesh-footed Shearwater, a
cooperative bird that was seen by all. On the way in we decided to slow for
a small mixed flock of shearwaters that included Bullers, Pink-footed, and
Sooties. Since we had not gotten many close views of shearwaters on the
water we wanted a group with some variety and good viewing potential. As we
slowly approached the flock Bob Sundstrum called out Flesh-footed
Shearwater, just as it took to the air. Fortunately, the bird quickly
settled back on the water at the fringe of the group. There were some great
views of this often elusive species, and four shearwater species together
and close at hand is always a good deal. Decent views were had of nearly
all of the regulars. Black-footed Albatross and Fork-tailed Storm Petrel
spent time close in at the chum slick. The elegant Sabines Gull made
several showings with at least one bird coming very close to the boat.
Cassins Auklet, were around in rather low numbers. They are often a
challenge to see well, but a few stayed on the water if only briefly. 10 or
so South Polar Skua were seen through the day, always a crowd pleaser.
Pomerine and Parasitic Jeager numbers seemed low. Arctic Tern and
Black-legged Kittiwaker were represented by one bird each. Mammal
sightings were dismal (meaning I don't remember but there weren't many).
Notable misses were Tufted Puffin and Red Phalarope (a few possibles).
Long-tailed Jeager did not make the scene but is often missed in September.

Saturday, Sept 10: Ryan Shaw and I were on the boat, but sadly only
briefly; the conditions did not warrant continuing. Skipper Phil Anderson's
good judgement prevailed and the boat returned to the dock as many have
noted. After seeing some of the thunderstorms in the afternoon, it was a
good day not to be on the water. This was a good day for birding on shore

Sunday, Sept 11: Bruce and I were on a very full boat. Conditions were OK,
but birds were rather sparse for this time of year. Good species variety
and most of the regulars were seen. The birds were quite dispersed which may
have been related to the very unsettled weather of the previous several
days. We did not run into any large flocks of birds, which is quite
unusual. Best bird: Laysan Albatross. Notable misses: Sabines Gull, Red
Phalarope (Bruce and I had one bird), and Long-tailed Jeager (irregular at
this time of year). It was a better mammal day than Thursday with humpback
whale, Dalls and harbor porpoise, and northern fur seal offshore. A nice
treat was some of the most cooperative bow riding by Dalls Porpoise that I
have seen in a long time. See Jason Paulios's earlier post for a good
account of the trip.

Bill Shelmerdine, Olympia
mailto: georn1 at hotmail.com

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