Alvaro's Adventures

20/10/2024

Yesterday was my last pelagic of the season. We have another boat next weekend, but I can't be on that one unfortunately. A great trip to end the season for me, with Laysan Albatross, many Tufted Puffins, and lots of great looks at marine mammals and birds. But it started off with one of the best views we have had this season of Marbled Murrelet. Half Moon Bay is now extremely consistent for this bird, they were not so consistent 10 years back!

15/10/2024

We have two remaining spaces on the Japan in Winter tour (Feb 2025). This is perhaps THE most awesome winter birding destination anywhere, with key bucket list species seen, as well as huge concentrations (cranes, geese, ducks, eagles). We have also included a short 3 hour boat trip to fine Kuril and Spectacled guillemots along with various other alcids, and there are the super landbirds - Japanese Waxwing, Long-tailed Rosefinch, buntings, Green Pheasant. Lots to see - here are the details https://www.alvarosadventures.com/japan-in-winter.html.

10/10/2024

White-throated Swift from Hawk Hill, Marin County, CA the other day. These birds are so weird, they remind me of an Albacore tuna! Seriously, the shape, the fin like wings, and those big and sort of lifeless looking eyes.

08/10/2024

Got lucky with a close Vaux's Swift today! The tail is awesome, and why do swifts and swallows have these points on the secondaries? That must do something. Then check out how it holds its feet.

04/10/2024

The New World Quails have to be some of the most stunning birds in the Americas. Our local one, the California Quail, is common but seldom do they just sit and let you get close. This particularly bold one sat out for me in Half Moon Bay yesterday. You can see that the topknot is made of multiple overlapping feathers! Also check out the forehead feathers with those dark streaks, the nape feathers showing a black edge, and interior section that is gray at base and white at tip. How do they even grow a feather like that? Finally something I had never seen before, that the nostril has a hard lid on it. So cool to see a wonderful local bird close up, and really study it.

01/10/2024

Congratulations on this Award Winning!! awesome work and partnership Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge.

The Council for the Conservation of Migratory Birds has recognized an important NOAA Fisheries partnership to conserve seabirds.

27/09/2024

Humboldt Current Killer Whales are hunting dolphins. Interesting. We will be there doing a pelagic on our Chile tour in November. Would be pretty awesome if we see any, more likely we will find Fin Whales and Dusky Dolphins. We shall see. Hopefully Ringed Storm-Petrels too!

The Humboldt Current’s orcas have yet to be assigned to an ecotype, and their hunting behavior provides clues about where the mysterious population might belong, researchers say.

24/09/2024

Good ol' "carneipes," the meat foot. Well, it translates to Flesh-footed Shearwater, and it can be a rare find except at this time of the year and into October. They show up late in the season, and often where there are whales or a group of Pink-footed Shearwaters. This one came in on our Monterey trip (California) last Saturday. This is one of the few birds not named for a person that may have its name changed in the future. You see, the name is not about the color of flesh (meat), but the color of skin and making white the "standard" which seems inappropriate to say the least. Folks in Australia-New Zealand suggest the new name could be "Sable Shearwater" for the color Sable (very dark shade of brown). The old and boring name is Pale-footed Shearwater. I like the playfulness of "Chocolate Shearwater." In any case, we saw one and we were happy to see it.

23/09/2024

People do not quite get how random pelagic birding can be. Day to day it changes radically. But yesterday was a day of weirdos offshore. Here one of the best comparisons I have ever had, anywhere.... I mean anywhere.... of Clark's and Western grebes!! This about 25 miles offshore in the middle of nowhere. A Townsend's Warbler flew by, both Chimney and Vaux's swift!!, a Merlin, and an unidentified pewee. Nutso. And yes, we do have some open spots on our October trips. Check it out on www.alvarosadventures.com.

18/09/2024

Flying into Paro, Bhutan is the best. So gorgeous, and exciting. There you know you are in good hands as the pilots are so uniquely skilled and trained. I guess in a few years we will be flying in down in the flats, it will be totally different.

Ringed by mountains, Bhutan’s Paro International Airport (PBH) is widely considered one of the most technically difficult plane landings in the world.

17/09/2024

Ok, time to begin looking at the data and realizing that the Jared Diamond story about Rapa Nui is not correct. The culprits that got the trees may have been Polynesian rats. And also we should begin to understand that although their numbers were few, the Rapa Nui made it to Chile, gave the Mapuche chickens before the Spanish ever got there, and took back Sweet Potatoes with them to the islands. This amazing history is being unraveled as we speak, and it is not history - the Rapa Nui and the Mapuche still exist. But it is amazing to contemplate travel of that distance, back before the Spanish ever contemplated anything of this sort.

Scientists turn to ancient DNA to understand the history of Easter Island, a remote island in the Pacific Ocean also known as Rapa Nui.

14/09/2024

All September pelagics are now sold out. We are adding a new date next Friday - Sept 20 heading offshore from Half Moon Bay (Pillar Point Harbor). If you are interested in getting out there this fall, the link is below. The long term forecast is looking good for Friday, although it is some days away so it could change.

​ 2024 Trip Dates Please enroll in our mail list to be up to date on all our trips. ​ Confused on what trip to take? See our Picking a Pelagic Trip page. We have discounted pricing for...

10/09/2024

One of the highlights from yesterday's pelagic off Half Moon Bay. Although Leach's Storm-Petrel breeds on the Farallon Islands, they forage in very deep waters that we cannot access on a day long pelagic. Ironically then, we seldom see this local breeder! But yesterday a gorgeous juvenile went by right in front of the boat. This may mean that later September and October will be good for this species, given that numbers historically have been better later on in the season. We shall see.

07/09/2024

Ok, manifests ready for tomorrow's pelagic. We are set, time to go to sleep and hope that the fog is not a problem. In the meantime, I am pondering how this has been the year of the Arctic Tern. Hundreds of them, and very few Common Terns thus far. It makes you realize how they must rely on tuna to bring fish such as Pacific Saury to the surface in order to feed on their way south. This year has also been a year of albacore. And the places where the terns are, is where the fish bite. This one is a juvenile Arctic Tern.

06/09/2024

Guadalupe Murrelets yesterday on our Half Moon Bay pelagic! First I spotted one in the distance, we stopped and unfortunately only a few people could get on it before it flew. People were bummed, a miss of a good bird really hurts, particularly when some right next to you are seeing it. Yet, the unlikely happened. Minutes later I saw a pair and we were able to stop right at the perfect distance for all on the boat to see this really rare seabird. We seldom see them here as they need warm water and are at depth, the right conditions for us do not happen all that often. This may be about the 6th time we have found them on our trips, and several were last year. Seeing them is one thing, seeing them super well as we did yesterday was astoundingly lucky. The thin bill, slightly raised tail and extensive white on the face are the identifying features.

02/09/2024

So much to say about the pelagics this weekend. Half Moon Bay continues to be awesome offshore with record number (over 700) Arctic Terns, two Laysan Albatross, Nazca B***y !!! Northern Gannet and lots of marine mammals. Bird of the day today from Monterey was a pod of Killer Whales. More later as I am tired after two back to back pelagics. It was also fantastic for Sabine's Gulls this weekend. We are out again from Half Moon Bay on Thursday and the forecast looks great. Book here if you would like to come -https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2024.html

31/08/2024

Spot the Steeler’s Sea Lion

31/08/2024

This is real, we are heading offshore tomorrow into 65F (18C) water tomorrow. We have NEVER had water this warm here ever. This could be interesting for birds/whales, we shall see. We are going out of Monterey on Sunday, and from Half Moon Bay on Thursday. https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2024.html

29/08/2024

I actually like cowbirds. Birders tend to ignore them, in particular very little attention is given to their plumage variations (Brown-headed Cowbird) except perhaps in areas where Shiny Cowbirds are possible. Juveniles can be attractive to my eyes and at least in California they seem to come in two general flavors. There are the very yellow toned, buffy birds and the more gray toned "dusty" birds. My thought over the years, has been that the yellow toned ones are more likely to be females, and the dusty ones more likely to be males. I am not sure I am right, it could be random. Brown-headed Cowbirds show sexual size dimorphism, males are noticeably larger than females with bigger bills, and thicker legs. Females can be tiny in California, often almost disappearing in with sparrows given their small size. To my eye, the small juveniles tend to be yellowish ones. I also don't know if the variation exists in other populations of Brown-headed Cowbirds to the east? One way to determine if this is a real pattern would be to look at molting juvenile cowbirds, and see if the yellowish ones tend to molt in brownish-gray feathers (female) vs the dusty birds molting in black feathers (males). Even common birds give us questions. Photos taken yesterday of a yellow and a dusty Brown-headed Cowbird in Half Moon Bay, California.

26/08/2024

This is a Red-winged Blackbird in molt in my backyard. Now there is an interesting factoid that you can see here. Some will know this, but it is sort of obscure. Anyone?

25/08/2024

More info on the Killer Whales and Humpbacks on the Farallons we**am the other day.

25/08/2024

More later, but yesterday's pelagic out of Half Moon Bay was outstanding. The density of birds continues, and the marine mammal show is about as good as it gets. The bird star of the show yesterday was Buller's Shearwater, once we get the eBird lists processed we will see how many we estimated but it may have been our best day yet for Buller's. Flocks of hundreds on the water, and some birds coming super close to the boat, just awesome. We did find a nice flock of Ashy Storm-Petrels, all three jaegers and Skuas, Blue and Fin Whales, hundreds of Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Northern Right Whale Dolphins, Guadalupe Fur Seal.... crazy day. We go back out from Half Moon Bay, and Monterey next weekend. Don't miss a year when it is fantastic birding offshore like this year, great years do not happen all the time. https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2024.html

22/08/2024

Our Spain tour page for spring 2025 is up. A wonderful trip with fantastic birding, a little wine, and nice Spanish food. Right in the window of northbound migration in the Strait of Gibraltar. Short boat trip to see some of the seabirds and perhaps even dolphins and whales!!
https://www.alvarosadventures.com/spain1.html