Greetings all,
This past weekend's Westport Seabirds Pelagic (2/2/13) ran as a re-schedule from the previous weekend's weathered out trip. We encountered great weather - with sunny skies and seas that were not too rough, at least on the way out - it was a bit more bouncy on the return trip but still decent viewing conditions throughout the day.
The highlights observed were a plethora of Black-legged Kittiwakes ~175, 20 Black-footed Albatross, 1 Laysan Albatross - which was a life/state bird for many on board and a couple of Short-tailed Shearwaters that were seen by a few observers as they kept a distance from the boat. We also had good numbers of Cassin's Auklets ~80 and 32 Ancient Murrelets were also seen, 1 quite well!
Mammals seen were a couple of Northern Fur Seals and 7 Orca - a few were photographed by several participants - 2 of those being identified as members of the resident L Pod.
Highlights inshore included 1 Brown Pelican and 1 immature Glaucous Gull sitting on the pilings of the marina wall.
Full run down of numbers can be found here:
http://www.westportseabirds.com/2013results.pdf
Our next trip is scheduled for April 27 - Last April's trip had 19 Parakeet Auklets - who knows what this April's trip might bring?
To reserve your spot - visit www.westportseabirds.com
For Westport Seabirds,
Cheers and Good Birding
Ryan ShawTacoma WArtshaw80 at hotmail.com