Tweeters,

Yesterday was the final Westport Seabirds trip of the season. Here is a
brief summary of what we saw. Official trip reports will be posted to the
Westport Seabirds website. Thanks to all of the participants that helped
make this a fun and productive season offshore.

Spotters for yesterday's trip included Scott Mills, Mike Donahue and I; and
of course skipper Phil Anderson and Chris Anderson. Weather and sea
conditions were ideal; it was one of those days that was perfect for picking
up things like alcids on the water at a distance. We had a 5 shearwater
day, though Short-tailed was seen by only one or two folks (unfortunately I
was not among them). Highlights (at least form a bird perspective) would
probably have to be the great looks we had of Flesh-footed Shearwater (2),
and South Polar Skua (20+). A single Xantus's Murrelet was seen by just a
couple of people as it zipped past. We also had great looks at Bullers at
several points, and many Pink-foots were found and seen well. The numbers
of Sooty Shearwaters I thought were quite low (a few hundred); though Scott
reminded me that numbers really drop off in the offshore areas at the
beginning of October, and that the number was not all that low.

The trip went about 35 miles offshore, where we set out a chum slick. Under
such calm conditions the chum was not terribly effective. Unfortunately we
did not encounter any fishing boats offshore and as a result did not
encounter any really large flocks, but we did have good numbers of dispersed
bird activity, and small flocks of birds once we reached the inner edge of
Grays Canyon. At that point we encountered good numbers of Cassin's and
Rhinoceros Auklets, along with our first Black-footed Albatross, Fork-tailed
Storm Petrels, and Sabine's Gulls. The area around the Canyon and shelf
edge had good diversity and a lot of dispersed bird activity. A green-winged
teal on the water beyond 30 miles briefly threw us for a loop as we
scrambled to determine what this unusual pelagic species might be as it
circled within a group of Northern Fulmar and Pink-footed Shearwaters. It
was a pretty good day to sort though jeagers, with plenty of Pomerines in a
good variety of plumages, and a number of Parasitics at times close to the
boat. We missed Long-tailed, although that is not unusual this late in the
season.

The trip back in added a single Tufted Puffin (seen well by all) and better
looks at Flesh-footed (on the water) and Bulllers Shearwaters. Perhaps the
most unusual thing to me was a South Polar Skua standing on a log,
surrounded by a single species group of about 40 Pink-footed Shearwaters.
It seemed just a little like sleeping with the enemy, but perhaps it is
better to know exactly where the threats are. Probably the biggest miss for
the day was a complete lack of Black-legged Kittiwakes hum. The trip was
also good in terms of the non-bird species as well. We had several close
encounters with Hump-backed Whales, several Northern Fur Seals and Harbor
Porpoise, 2 Elephant Seals, and several Blue Sharks and Mola Mola (one of
which was really large and accommodating). Well it has been another great
year offshore, thanks to all that participated.

Bill Shelmerdine
Olympia
Mailto: georn1 at hotmail.com

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