The offshore trip scheduled for Saturday, August 29 had to be re-scheduled due to an unfavorable offshore forecast (mostly resulting from high winds and swell). Fortunately, most participants were able to re-schedule on short notice and the trip was run a day earlier on Friday. It was a good choice as sea and weather conditions were good throughout the day. Almost too good in fact as the very calm conditions at our offshore chum stop did not disperse the chum to any great degree. It was a good stop none-the-less and many species passed through during the stop, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
It was an enjoyable day offshore with no notable misses. Highlights for the day included a Jaeger/Skua slam, the first of the year for us I believe. The "slam" refers to observations of all of the regularly occurring species in the family: South Polar Skua, Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaeger. There were multiple sightings of each, all with reasonably good views. Other highlights included Buller's Shearwaters close to the boat; great views of cooperative Cassin's Auklets and Red Phalarope on the water and close to the boat; plenty of Sabines Gulls (all adults) and Arctic Terns well offshore; and a close pass by a beautiful breeding plumage Tufted Puffin (hard to come by this year) at the chum stop.
And of course there was plenty of other action with all of the regulars present. Black-footed Albatross, Northern Fulmar, Pink-footed, and Sooty Shearwaters, and Fork-tailed Storm Petrels all showed in reasonable numbers. On the return from deep water we did encounter fishing boats with thousands of birds attending, mostly made up of Pink-foots, California Gulls, and Black-footed Albatross. Alcids for the day included Common Murre, Rhinoceros and Cassin's Auklets, Puffin, and a couple of Murrelets. Two murrelets sighted well offshore and flying away from the boat at distance and too far away for positive I.D. were most likely Scripps. A juvenile Marbled Murrelet on the water between the jetty and the boat basin was one of only a few sightings so far this year. And of course there are plenty of Marbled Godwits roosting inside the boat basin. The full list of species will be posted to the Westport Seabirds website.
In addition to the days bird list, there were plenty of other species noted. Blue sharks were plentiful, and a large Mola Mola was observed close to the boat. It was a good mammal day, though not as impressive as last week. The list included Humpback Whale, Killer Whale (a small group, presumably transients), Dall's and Harbor Porpoise, Northern Fur and Harbor Seals, and Steller's and California Sea Lions. Spotters for the trip were Bill Shelmerdine, Bill Tweit, and Gene Revelas. Phil and Chris Anderson conducted boat operations, logistics and customer service. Cheers and hope to see you on the water.
Bill Shelmerdine
Westport Seabirds

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