Subject: [Tweeters] HAWAIIAN PETREL, Westport pelagic trip
Date: Sep 27 20:34:13 2008
From: bruce labar - blabar at harbornet.com


On our last scheduled pelagic trip of the year, we had an unbelievable sighting of a mega rarity for the west coast. A Hawaiian/Galapagos Petrel was observed by almost everyone on board plus photos were taken. This represents Washington's first record. Only California and maybe an Oregon record are the other sightings for the 48 states. We are pretty confident that this is a Hawaiian and not a Galapagos based on our notes and the photos taken. The bird was seen at our chum spot some 40 miles off shore with excellent weather and relative calm seas. Matt Pike and others will try to post these photos as soon as possible on our website. We will also try to get some of our notes posted as well.
Some of the other birds with unoffical numbers that were seen include the following:
Black-footed Albatross-11, Northern Fulmar-10, Pink-footed Shearwater-176, Buller's Shearwater-9, Sooty Shearwater- around 2,000, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel-74, Pomarine Jaeger-23, Parasitic Jaeger-9, Long-tailed Jaeger-4, South Polar Skua-8, Common Murres-435, Cassin's Auklet-643!!!, Rhinoceros Auklet-64.
For the complete list with the offical numbers check our website within a few days.
The leaders for todays trip were Bill Tweit, Scott Mills and myself.
www.westportseabirds.com

Bruce LaBar
Tacoma, WA.
blabar at harbornet.com