Yesterday?s trip featured a sunny day and relatively calm seas as boatload
of birders headed offshore. Time was spent over Grays Canyon as well as
Willapa Canyon in Pacific County. Highlights:

Watching a commercial fishing boat (fishing for Pacific Whiting) pull up
its nets and the subsequent feeding frenzy of California Gulls, Northern
Fulmars, shearwaters, and Black-footed Albatross.

Scattered flocks of Sabine?s Gulls were over deep water, with 147 being the
day?s total.

It was a two-turnstone day, with a Black and Ruddy Turnstone seen
separately about 20 miles out.

It was the best jaeger show of the year so far, with 2 Pomarines, 8
Parasitic (2 dark morph); 3 South Polar Skuas bombed by.

Other notables were 31 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and a handful each of both
species of phalaropes and Buller?s Shearwaters.



A large male Northern Elephant Seal showed itself far offshore. We
typically see females who don?t have the enormous proboscis, so this was a
treat. Other marine mammals were Humpback Whales, Steller?s Sea Lion, and
Dall?s Porpoise.



Spaces are available this coming Saturday, September 2, with some
availability on other dates as well. See www.westportseabirds.com.