Greetings,

This past Sunday, I drove down to Monterey to go on an 8-hr pelagic trip aboard the Pt. Sur Clipper, as a chummer, with the Monterey Seabirds Co.

The 3 hour drive down from Palomarin went fast as this was my first pelagic trip of the season, so I had many wonderful things to look forward to, or, in reality, hoped to look forward to. Upon arriving in Monterey I looked out over the ocean and realized that sea conditions were going to be fairly decent for the day, however, it was not the sea conditions that I was concerned about, but rather the rain which was forecasted to hit us on and off throughout the day.

Checking into the docking area, I realized that the boat was going to be rather full with birders and photographers. With recent reports of Killer Whales hunting in the bay, and recent sightings of Horned Puffin, Laysan Albatross, as well as Ashy and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, it was no surprise that the boat was loaded! The excitement in the crowd was very evident as everybody was anxious to get on the boat and see some seabirds! But, this trip was not going to be a joy-ride for myself as I was on board to work as one of the boat’s chummers. But that was ok, because no matter how much I reeked of anchovies by day’s end, I was on board for free, and I was going to see some of my favorite creatures on Earth at one of my favorite places on Earth…Monterey Bay.

Shortly after departing the dock our trip had officially begun and we were already seeing some great birds in the harbor just a few hundred meters from shore before we even officially entered the bay. The best birds for me in the harbor were a pair of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES feeding on the hull of the General Pershing at close distance. The two birds, which appeared to be females in gorgeous alternate (breeding) plumage, were feeding on the algae and barnacles that had attached themselves to the hull of this boat. Other good birds within the harbor included Pigeon Guillemots as well as the colony of Brandt’s Cormorants which nest on the breakwall just above the California Sea Lions.

Once we rounded the breakwall, this is where I first started getting to work, and within a few minutes we had dozens of gulls following the boat. Success! Having a flying armada of gulls behind the boat is one of the easiest ways to bring sought after pelagic birds in for close looks. What happens is the albatross or jaeger flying in the distance sees the commotion of the gulls, and immediately thinks that food is nearby. Once they decide that they often come in, if anything for a closer look. Of the gulls following our boat, most were of the expected Western variety, however, there were a few juvenile HEERMANN’S GULLS looking for scraps of chum as well, unfortunately these slender and beautiful chocolate-brown gulls would not follow the boat for very long.

As we headed south, no more than 1 mile from shore, our next good birds encountered included a single ANCIENT MURRELET, and a single PACIFIC LOON in breeding plumage. Both of these birds were a bit skittish, and would not stay up for very long between dives, but I feel that the looks we had were great, and that these were some of the better birds (particularly the murrelet) for many of the observers on board.

After spending some time with these two “divers”, we decided to finally head offshore, where we hoped we would start finding some of the tubenoses, birds that really capture the essence of what it is like to be a seabird. Our first hour or so of motoring out, unfortunately, was fairly slow. Yet, this was a good time for this to happen as everybody on board was interested in getting to know each other, and I often used that time to talk to the leaders to learn more about birding in Monterey Bay. In fact, this is one of my favorite aspects of birding with this company…the great leaders they place on board! All are very knowledgeable, and very willing to help out. Leaders for this trip included Roger Wolfe, Todd Easterla (and his son who was a chummer), Dan Singer, and Don Roberson. Each of these leaders is experienced birders in their own right, and to have all of them on one boat is really a fun experience. For more information on the leaders, click here:

http://montereyseabirds.com/SeabirdTripLeaders.htm

But before any of us could get too settled in, a new bird would show up to spark someone’s interest. Whether this was the first CASSIN’s or RHINOCEROS AUKLETS of the day or the first SOOTY SHEARWATER skimming the waves, the boat would slow down to that much anticipated pace that hinted at something worth looking at. However, we didn’t find all the birds we observed for sometimes the birds found us! And this was the case with the first BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS that came in to investigate the great chumming efforts that I was putting out along with Todd’s son. In fact, it was Todd’s son who spotted it first, announcing it to the boat with a hearty 13 year old yell of “Albatross…behind the boat!” Everybody swung around, and it was hard to miss the incredible sight of such a large, graceful bird gliding effortlessly over the waves on bowed wings.

This Albatross in fact would not be the only one on the day, and at times up to 7 could be observed at anyone time. Quite often these amazing birds would land directly behind the boat, and if we stopped for long enough would swim to within 5 feet of the boat picking up scraps of fish and squid! At one point I was looking towards the bow (front) on the starboard (right) side of the boat, when I happened to look down over the railing to see an Albatross within arm’s reach of myself. “Holy $#*%, where’s my camera?” was all that I could mutter as I went scrambling to find my point and shoot digital to get an image of such an amazing bird so close.

But as amazing as these tubenoses are, they certainly could not steal the show entirely, and many of their seaward cousins made brief appearances to do their best to vie for our attention. SOOTY SHEARWATERS raced around the boat, and at times so did their larger relative the PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER. Another tubenose that came around on at least 3 occasions was NORTHERN FULMAR. This bird actually was one of my favorites of the trip because it has taken me so long to see them, that now when I observe them on any trip, I HAVE to soak in the spectacle. The first fulmar that I found was one of intermediate color (they come in different color variations), and was a medium-gray. However, the next two got progressively lighter, until the 3rd individual was extremely pale in color, and was nearly white on the body with an extremely pale mantle. This was a bird that I wish I had a better camera on board to photograph! So amazing…
Other birds on the open water included both RED-NECKED and RED PHALAROPES. We actually found several small flocks of Red Phalaropes (up to 30) feeding on the vegetation that floated on the surface of the water at a convergent line. Many of the Red Phalaropes were females in the height of their breeding plumage, and they suddenly became one of the sharpest birds that I have ever observed in my life time! It is amazing to think that these birds will soon be off of the ocean and on the Tundra where duller looking males will take a reversal in roles and care for their young.
But the day was not all about birds. We did see some mammals too, included in which were about 5-6 Humpback Whales, and a few small pods of Risso’s, Bottlenose, Pacific White-sided, and Northern Right-Whale Dolphins. California Sea Lions, Northern Fur Seals, and California Sea Otters were also observed, but just like the cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and birds they were in reduced numbers from what I normally have observed.

By this point in the trip however, bird numbers were going down too and we were hitting the expected lull in the trip, but what had increased was the amount of rain falling from the sky. There is just something that is so bleak to be on a boat, surrounded by water, and to be getting soaked from the sky above and not from the billions of gallons that surround you.

The birds that were noticeably absent on the trip included flocks of Sabine’s Gulls, and Arctic Terns which often bring along with them Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers which kleptoparasitize (steal), their food. One Pomarine Jaeger was observed on the boat; however I had the misfortune of not being able to locate the bird once it was called out. Other misses that I was hoping to see (chances were slim) included Laysan Albatross and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel.

But as expected, I feel the trip was fun for all of those on board. Like they say “a bad day of birding is better than a good day of work”. I work with birds, and sometimes I still have to agree! Our last highlight of the day came as we were making our final approach back to the harbor when we found a few large flocks of Sooty Shearwaters rafted up on the water. As we approached, a lot of them took flight, and we had hundreds, if not thousands of birds to look through. The only real birds of note were a few extra Pink-footed Shearwaters cruising around with the Sooties. There was at least one dark shearwater that had the potential of being a Short-tailed Shearwater, showing the pushed in forehead that is one of the diagnostic features separating it from the Sooty, however, the look at the bird was brief, thus not allowing for a positive ID.

After getting back to the dock and getting out of my wet, fishy clothes, I did my typical routine and found a place to eat on Fisherman’s Wharf. A cup of New England style Clam Chowder and a Smoked Salmon Sandwich were enough to satiate a long day of work on the ocean before my drive home. What followed was a 3 hr drive back to Bolinas, and the Palomarin Field Station. Fortunately, the sun had yet to go down, allowing me to drive in at least some good sunlight to help my tired eyes stay awake, but the best part about the sun staying up so long was it allowed me to enjoy a beautiful sunset from Panoramic Hwy overlooking Bolinas Lagoon, and the Pacific Ocean 20 minutes from my place. It was hard to describe the feelings of looking out over the ocean as it prepared to settle into darkness where many of these wonderful creatures I had just been observing were still at, struggling to survive, yet thrilling observers whenever given the chance.

Good Birding,
~Chad (05/25/2006)