The forecast seemed a little iffy as we boarded the Monte Carlo Sunday. It called for winds picking up throughout the day, which means a bumpy ride. However, crossing the bar was pretty smooth and the sea looked pretty good ahead. The winds did pickup going from 8 mph to probably 15-16. All in all, not bad with minimum spray and good visibility during the trip. Several fishing boats were encountered but with not the expected masses of seabirds. Our chum spot took a while to get the attention of storm petrels, fulmars and albatrosses.

After a half an hour it picked up with multiple Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, several Northern Fulmars and a few Black-footed Albatross. Then out of nowhere a Laysan Albatross cruised in and hung out in the chum area for 20-30 minutes. It was enjoying the fish that Chris and Phil were throwing. Many photos were taken. Probably the closest a Laysan has come to the boat that I can remember. It had a red band on one leg and the numbers were visible. Scott will send the information to see if was banded in the Hawaiian Islands or from the population off Mexico.

Other highlights include: 2 Scripps Murrelets (Scott and several other birders got good views in flight), 46 Black-footed Albatross, 5 Buller's Shearwaters, 1 Short-tailed Shearwater, 19 Red Phalaropes, 3 South Polar Skuas, 4 Pomarine Jaegers, 1 Parasitic Jaeger. Notable misses were Cassin's Auklets and Sabine's Gulls.

Mammal highlights were: 1 Humpback Whale, 7 Orca (that stayed in front of us for 10 minutes) and 2 Dall's Porpoise.

For information on upcoming trips and to make reservations, please visit our website at www.westportseabirds.com

Spotters for this trip were Scott Mills and myself. Boat personnel, spotters and great hosts were Phi and Chris Anderson.

Bruce LaBar
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