Finally, a pelagic trip this year where the seas were calm and the weather was beautiful! A packed boat of 22 birders and 3 spotters had a very enjoyable day! The trip started at 0530 to allow us to spend more time in deeper water and to visit both Grays Canyon and Willipa Canyon. These outer waters didn?t produce some of the desired birds such as Long-tailed Jaeger or Arctic Tern and really didn?t have a lot activity. The highlight out there were the sightings of two separate groups of Risso?s Dolphins, which we only see perhaps once a year. The main concentration of birds were at several shrimp boats that we encountered at 20-25 miles offshore. With thousands of California Gulls, Pink-footed Shearwaters and a mix of other seabirds, it is always a treasure hunt to find a rarity. At the boats on our return trip, Christopher Warlow spotted a different shearwater that he got us on. It was a Great Shearwater! The bird was on the water and continued to float closer to the boat. Everyone got great looks and lots of photos were taken. This was our second sighting of the year and according to photos that Scott Mills looked at, a juvenile and a different bird than before!
Other highlights included a first of the year sighting of a Buller?s Shearwater and a Short-tailed Shearwater (unfortunately seen only by a couple people).
For information on up-coming pelagic trips, please visit our website at www.westportseabirds.com.
Leaders yesterday were Scott Mills, Michael Donahue and me. Boat personal and spotters were Phil and Chris Anderson.

Totals:

Common Loon-1
Black-footed Albatross-89
Northern Fulmar-419
Pink-footed Shearwater-2148
GREAT SHEARWATER-1
Buller?s Shearwater-1
Sooty Shearwater-5103
Short-tailed Shearwater-1
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel-213
Brandt?s Cormorant-99
Double-crested Cormorant-40
Pelagic Cormorant-50
Wandering Tattler-4, at jetty
Black Turnstone-8, at jetty
Surfbird-2
Red-necked Phalarope-36
Red Phalarope-40
Pomarine Jaeger-1
Common Murre-1718
Pigeon Guillemot-5
Cassin?s Auklet-23
Rhinoceros Auklet-40
Sabine?s Gull-25
Heermann?s Gull-5000
California Gull-2151
Glaucous-winged x Western Gull-1027

Mammal Highlights

Humpbacked Whale-2
Risso?s Dolphin-22

Bruce LaBar
Tacoma, WA