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Westport Seabirds Pelagic Trips out of Westport, Washington State.
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13/09/2024

Westport Seabirds Trip Report
September 4, 2024
by Jim Danzenbaker

Another glorious day from beginning to end was one of the many highlights for the participants on the Westport Seabirds trip on September 4. 18 participants from as far as Texas and Colorado gathered in the pre-dawn for a memorable trip aboard the Monte Carlo.

After crossing the bar, the birds started flowing and soon we were viewing the staple species of the nearshore water - Common Murres (686 including 122 chicks), Rhinoceros Auklets (44), Red-necked Phalaropes (20), Sooty Shearwaters (7684) from Australia and California Gulls (452). As common as these species are, they are great study subjects as we compare the more sought after species to these. Therefore, all eyes and bins were checking off the field marks in anticipation of birds with slightly different flight behaviors, profiles, and plumages.

With the basics committed to memory, new birds were readily identified including Pink-footed Shearwater (2516) from Chile, Northern Fulmars (7) from Alaska, diminutive Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels (537) and Cassin's Auklets (10) from the Pacific Northwest, and Sabine's Gulls (48) enroute from their high arctic breeding grounds to the Humboldt Current off northern South America. A few striking Buller's Shearwaters (6) from New Zealand also joined the other shearwaters, delighting all aboard. Ever since my first Buller's Shearwater sighting many many years ago off New Jersey (!), I have always appreciated them for their striking plumage, and elegant flight.

I absolutely love a good jaeger, especially good views and we were not disappointed. We were treated to the skua slam on this trip which included all three species of jaegers and South Polar Skua. Strangely, today's first jaeger was a Long-tailed Jaeger (1) followed by my favorite bird, the pirate of the sea, the mighty South Polar Skua (3). I've always said that my favorite words on a pelagic trip (other than, wow, there's a weird albatross over there) is incoming SKUA! So thrilling to see a bird that breeds on the Antarctic Continent! Pomarine (4) and Parasitic Jaegers (2) were recorded but we saw surprisingly few of each of these species.

The next new species that we found encompassed the largest and smallest of the regularly occurring pelagic species. Black-footed Albatrosses (28) from the leeward chain of the Hawaiian Island and Midway, on 6.5 foot wings, thrilled all on board. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen an albatross, I always know that I'm looking at an epic bird made famous in prose and its incredible life history. It's difficult to wrap one's brain around a bird that may not see land for 5 years before returning to its natal colony to continue the circle of life. These were joined by fleeting views of Red Phalaropes (5) low over the water and a single unidentified sterna (Comic) tern. We've been seeing many Arctic Terns earlier in the season and I have a feeling that most birds today were further offshore than earlier rather than already being absent from this latitude. Regardless, we wish them luck on their journey to the edge of the Antarctic pack ice.

A highlight for all was a pair of SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS (2) which were spotted ahead of the Monte Carlo in time for Captain Phil to stop and allow everyone a great opportunity to study this species. I don't think there were any sightings of this all of last year so we were super excited to see them! They come to us from their breeding grounds off Mexico and we were anticipating them as they had been recorded further south. Mission accomplished!

Other highlights were three separate encounters with Flesh-footed Shearwater (3) from New Zealand. The first one was in a flock of several hundred other shearwaters so it was difficult to have everyone see it well. The third sighting was steller with one Fleshie foot on the water with five Pink-foots for a great comparison. I hope these sightings continue for the remainder of the season!

Humpback Whales (6), Dall's Porpoises (1) and Pacific White-sided Dolphins (17) cut the surface but didn't come in for the hoped for bow riding extravaganza. Northern Fur Seals (2 and 4 unidentified) were enjoyed by all. Blue Sharks (6) and several large Ocean Sunfish (20) had all of us looking down as well as keeping our eyes and ears skyward. As with previous trips this season, numerous jumping albacore were fun to see too!

Brown Pelicans, the trifecta of cormorants and numerous gulls from Heermann's to Western greeted us as we motored between the jetties. Our mooring in the Westport marina was under the watchful eyes of bobbing Harbor Seal heads and the Marbled Godwit (420) flock.

Westport Seabirds thanks all of the enthusiastic participants who make these trips a success. Also, thanks to Captain Phil and first mate Chris for their consummate professionalism, natural history knowledge, bright smiles, and ginger cookies! Also,a big thanks to our guides Bill Shelmerdine, Bill Tweit, and your trip reporter.

Even though the Westport Seabirds schedule (http://westportseabirds.com/2023-schedule/) shows all trips as full, it's always a good idea to think of pelagic opportunities for this year (last minute openings happen) and next year!

I hope to see you onboard!

Jim Danzenbaker for Westport Seabirds.

07/09/2024

Westport Seabirds Trip Report
August 31, 2024
by Cara Borre

Westport Seabirds said farewell to a fabulous August on Saturday, August 31. We left the dock at sunrise with mild temps amid a curtain of fog. Captain Phil took a northwest tack heading for a lone shrimp boat in the distance. Ghostly apparitions of Sooty Shearwater and Common Murre would occasionally materialize out of the fog to hold our attention during the morning journey. Well out to sea, the fog eventually lifted, and we would spend the rest of our day in bright sunshine, progressively shedding layers as it heated up.

A couple hours in we spotted a large raft of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel. As we approached Phil announced over the boat’s speakers, “Look out for Wilson’s Storm-Petrel coming down the left side of the boat”. In a flash the rare black storm-petrel with a bright white rump zipped down the Monte Carlo’s left side before it quickly sailed out of sight. Unlike our resident Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, who makes its home in the North Pacific ocean, Wilson’s Storm-Petrel ranges all the world’s oceans, though they are rare up here in the North Pacific. We’re having great luck with this species lately with the number of sightings in the last two weeks rivaling the numbers seen in the previous 3 decades! We had our first South Polar Skua of the day shortly after the storm-petrel excitement marking the first of 13 sightings in total for this species.

Continuing our voyage, adding Pink-footed Shearwater along the way, the shrimper finally appeared on the horizon. As we grew closer, we could see we would be in for a treat as there was a good collection of birds around the vessel. With a bounty of bird activity both in the sky and on the sea, it was difficult to choose where to begin to look. Black-footed Albatross, by far our most common albatross, is always an exciting species to see and we were treated to 25 of them on the water and flying by. Looking skyward, It was hard to ignore some 125 Sabine’s Gull flying about the boat then moving to the surface to pick up scraps of shrimp. We could distinguish a few juveniles along with the gorgeous black-headed adults. Among the many Sabine’s in flight, we soon picked out several terns and counted 15 Arctic and at least one Common Tern in this large group.

Understanding this was the only boat we were likely to encounter during our trip, we circled it and the birds on the water several times, lingering to scan the vast flocks of shearwater. Pink-footed Shearwater (400 at boats) held the majority for the tubenoses with 700 total birds to sort through. Sooty Shearwater, and its look-a-like Short-tailed Shearwater were both present in about equal, but small numbers. We were lucky to see a few Buller’s Shearwater fly by, but even luckier to spot 1 or 2 resting on the water within the horde of Pink-foots. Luck and perseverance can also produce a Flesh-footed Shearwater within these flocks this time of year and indeed we would find one, capping off five species of shearwater all within this relatively small area surrounding the shrimp boat. We also had several Northern Fulmar and large flocks of Red-necked Phalarope in the vicinity.

A large group of birds around a boat like this is bound to attract jaegers. Just as the tubenoses are attracted to the fishing boats by the smell of their haul, jaegers or skuas, as they are also known, are attracted to the concentration of birds they see around these boats. Jaegers coerce food from gulls, terns, and shearwaters. They chase these birds and intimidate them into dropping or regurgitating their food item which the jaeger quickly scoops up. We had 2 South Polar Skua and two each of Long-tailed and Pomarine Jaeger at the boat. One of the Long-tailed Jaegers entertained us by a demonstration of its flight prowess as it repeatedly maneuvered to catch an evasive moth.

With time well spent at the boat, we began the journey back to Westport, skipping our chum stop as the shrimp boat had produced excellent viewing and photo opportunities. We always pause for anything interesting on the way back such as great looks at 2 very cooperative Cassin’s Auklet diving and surfacing several times as we watched. We had a group of 3-4 South Polar Skua on the water that all lifted up when we approached giving us even better looks at this species. We stopped several times offshore to scan the shearwater flocks on the water and were able to pick out Buller’s Shearwater a couple more times and found another Flesh-footed Shearwater attempting to blend in with its more common cousin Pink-footed Shearwater.

We had a great showing from a couple of close Humpback Whale who surfaced and simultaneously “fluked” right in front of us. The mammal highlight though, was a less commonly seen Minke Whale who surfaced several times allowing everyone to get good views.

With the coast in sight we were greeted by huge flocks of Sooty Shearwater. We usually end our trips with a seasonal search for rock shorebirds on the Westport Jetty, and with the sun baking our starboard side, we found a cooperative Wandering Tattler. The Marbled Godwit flock was on the rocks at the far end of the marina and Phil brought us in close where we spotted 2 Bar-tailed Godwits within the flock of 800 birds, as well as a couple of Willets and a few Short-billed Dowitchers.

Captain Phil Anderson and First Mate Chris Anderson hosted a great group of Northwest birders, many who enjoyed their first pelagic birding trip, but I bet not their last. Scott Mills, Bruce LaBar and I were the bird spotters with helpful assists from a couple of pelagic veterans and friends.

Hope to sea you out there!

Cara Borre

25/08/2024

Westport Seabirds COMBINED Trip Reports
August 14 & 15, 2024
by Jim Danzenbaker

I was lucky and felt privileged to be on the Westport Seabirds trips on August 14 and 15. I think the combined total of 36 passengers plus 5 guides who were on at least one of these trips probably felt the same. Although every pelagic trip is special in its own way, these two trips had superlatives sprinkled throughout the day and included the birds, marine mammals, and insanely calm weather!

This trip report won't follow the conventional hour by hour travelogue but will be a comparison of observations between August 14 and 15 (numbers in parens) by groups of birds and mammals. Not all species seen on the trips are mentioned.

The weather on both days was pretty much flat calm with no wind chop so viewing conditions were excellent. Both days were under a high overcast sky (with some light drizzle on the 14th) giving way to mostly sunny conditions, in other words, perfect conditions for those wanting to avoid mal de mer! We generally followed the same route on both days and encountered one shrimp boat on the 14th with about 150 birds in attendance.

Those seafaring wanderers, the tubenoses, were well represented on both trips. Sooty Shearwaters from Australia put in a great showing (2,889, 736) on both days. Most of these were within about 5 miles of land and were in fairly good sized flocks seen both on the way out in the morning and upon return in the afternoon. Presence of large flocks indicates how rich these waters are and we hope it continues. Pink-footed Shearwaters from Chile continue to be seen in lower numbers than usual (99, 108) but this is probably because of their propensity to be around the fishing fleets which were off Canon Beach, Oregon on these two days. When this fleet heads north, Pink-foots are sure to follow. The season's first Buller's Shearwaters from New Zealand arrived on the 14th with 2 but the number grew to 18 on the 15th. So wonderful to see this species again - my favorite shearwater and, by what I was hearing from fellow passengers, a favorite of others too! Single Short-tailed Shearwaters were encountered on both days but just fleetingly which kept us wanting another view. Northern Fulmars (5, 4) were recorded on both days in their usual fairly low numbers for mid summer but also because of the lack of a nearby fishing fleet. Just watch the trailers for Deadliest Catch and you'll see the propensity of fulmars to hang out around fishing boats! Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels (35, 337) had an interesting spike from one day to the next. Most of the birds on the 15th were in fairly compact rafts and were birds with no discernable molt. I concluded that these were probably all young of the year birds as I think most if not all adults are currently undergoing molt. This has to be confirmed though. Black-footed Albatross from the leeward chain of the Hawaiian Islands and Midway were higher on the 14th compared to the 15th (85, 63) probably due to the one shrimper that we encountered on the 14th that had 50 albatrosses behind it. Amazing to think that these birds are on multi day foraging runs and the young birds probably won't see land for 5+ years!

Alcids were highlighted with the expected throngs of Common Murres (671, 2,739) within 5 miles of the coast with Rhinoceros Auklets (63, 167) also in attendance. A few murre chicks were also seen. Offshore waters yielded an increase in the number of Cassin's Auklets (16, 199). Many of these were close and easy to observe and were obviously successful in feeding as they bounced along the water ahead of the Monte Carlo. I think the increased number on the 15th can be partially attributed to the ripple free water so one could spot auklets a mile away! Although missed on the August 14 trip, we found two Tufted Puffins on the 15th. Always a crowd pleaser and today was no different.

Gulls, terns and jaegers are always a highlight for me and we were blown away by their showing on both days. Strikingly plumaged adult Sabine's Gulls (16, 71) were seen well and were accompanied by the season's first juveniles. These birds are migrating through from their high arctic breeding grounds to the Humboldt Current off Ecuador, Peru, and northern Chile. They have a long way to go! The mega highlight for me were the number of Arctic Terns that we encountered on both days (96, 156). The number seen on the 14th was a daily high for Westport Seabirds which stood for 24 hours until the 15th! These were not birds seen at a distance but ones that flew close by us (some vocalizing) including right overhead so all field markas were seen well. At one point on the 15th, it seemed like every floating inanimate thing in the water had an Arctic Tern on it and when there wasn't anything to perch on, groups of terns lit on the water's surface. Truly magical! This species, en route from the high arctic to their wintering grounds on the edge of the Antarctic pack ice, are migration champions and make other species, in contrast, seem like locals! With the number of Arctic Terns and Sabine's Gulls that we encountered, we knew there would be Long-tailed Jaegers too and we weren't disappointed. We marvelled at no less than 9 Long-tailed Jaegers in a loose flock on the 14th and 4 on the 15th. Some of these were vocalizing as they knifed through the sky chasing each other (when they weren't klepto parasitizing the Arctic Terns). What a show! Sturdy Pomarine Jaegers (6, 6) with maximum spoonage were seen well on both days but we weren't so lucky with Parasitic Jaegers with only one found on the 15th. South Polar Skua (aka: SKUAAAA), were seen on both trips with 1 cooperative individual (many pixels spent) on the 14th and 4 on the 15th. Any day with a skua is a good day (unless you are a gull or a shearwater).

Phalaropes put in a respectable showing with Red-necked being the expected common species (107, 115) followed by Red (32, 11). Some unidentified phalaropes too which isn't unusual. We were very fortunate to have one flock of Red Phalaropes on the 14th land on the water and, under Captain Phil's excellent navigational prowess, managed some fairly close viewing. As one guide mentioned, Red Phalaropes swim very upright and seem like miniature gulls in the water!

For many, the mammals, especially on the 14th, were the main course with the birds as side dishes. The show was spectacular with no less than 4 individual Humpback Whales (12. 4) doing full multiple breaches out of the water! Nothing like seeing a huge whale (~40 feet long and ~40 tons) lift itself into the air with the accompanying mighty splash of whitewater when it comes back down. Lots of pectoral flippers flapping too! Just a total mega moment even if you've seen Humpback Whales many times before. Captain Phil was even instrumental in saving a Humpback Whale on the 14th that had gotten entangled in crab pot lines. The whale wasn't doing well as we approached and Captain Phil called the appropriate people who could help. We learned the next day that marine mammal rescue personnel had successfully cut away the lines that had bound the whale and it swam away under its own power. We certainly hope that it found nearby food and made a complete recovery.

In a word, the dolphin show was ... WOW! On the 14th we found a mixed species dolphin pod which included 360 Northern Right Whale Dolphins (NRWD) and Pacific White-sided Dolphins (140, 75)! Many of the NRWD were jumping 5 feet out of the water - a truly marvelous sight! This species is the most acrobatic of our regularly occurring cetaceans but, even for them, this was a WOW! If that wasn't enough, both species came by and bow rode much to the delight of all on board. Many pixels were used and videos filmed! Dall's Porpoises (16, 20) were also evident with multiple sightings of rooster tailing individuals paralleling the Monte Carlo. Fur Seals were encountered on August 15 with singles of Northern and Guadalupe and 2 unidentified. To me, the sighting of a Harbor Seal at 30 miles offshore seemed weird but not unprecedented.

Not to be outdone, we had multiple encounters with huge Ocean Sunfish (4, 21) on both days including one that fully breached out of the water on the 15th. Looking at how inanimate they appear in the water (other than their twitching fin), it's hard to wrap one's brain around it actually becoming airborne! Blue Sharks (2, 30) were evident too as well as jumping albacore in the deeper Arctic Tern waters.

A little asterisk should be added for the passerines of the day: a Brown-headed Cowbird on both days and a Rufous Hummingbird that zipped by at 13 miles offshore on the 15th. I don't know how many people adjusted their binocular focus from the Pomarine Jaeger and Buller's Shearwater to the Rufous Hummingbird!

The usual hordes of Brown Pelicans, 3 species of cormorants, and Heermann's (among other) Gulls met us at the outer jetties. Several Pigeon Guillemots (8, 5) were between the jetties.

Westport Seabirds thanks all of the enthusiastic participants who made these trips such rip roaring successes. Your enthusiasm (and the wildlife) is what spurs us on! Also, thanks to Captain Phil and first mate Chris for their consummate professionalism, natural history knowledge, bright smiles, and ginger cookies! Also,a big thanks to our guides Bill Tweit and Gene Revelas on the 14th and Bill Shelmerdine and Bruce LaBar on the 15th, and your trip reporter.

Even though the Westport Seabirds schedule (http://westportseabirds.com/2023-schedule/) shows all trips as full, it's always a good idea to think of pelagic opportunities for this year (last minute openings happen) and next year!

I hope to see you onboard!

Jim Danzenbaker for Westport Seabirds.

20/08/2024

Westport Seabirds Trip Report
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
by Jim Danzenbaker

Sorry for the delay in posting this report. Somehow life got in the way.

When one arrives at the dock for a pelagic trip, one usually hopes for a smooth ride with no sea spray, boat rocking, or temporary queasiness. As fate would have it, today was one of those days. The Monte Carlo departed Westport marina with a flock of enthusiastic birders under a partly cloudy sky. Although a bit bumpy over the bar, we soon started observing the species that call the close inshore waters home. Numerous Sooty Shearwaters (5001), Rhinoceros Auklets (142) and Common Murres (1451) sprinkled the waters and were a great introduction to the region's pelagic birds and pelagic bird families. An early surprise was a Manx Shearwater (3) that zipped by the bow of the Monte Carlo - a nice sighting so early on the trip and the first of three sightings for the day!

Flocks of diminutive Red-necked Phalaropes (274) became more and more common as we ventured further. Soon, Pink-footed Shearwaters (457) joined the Sootys and allowed for good side by side comparisons as they winged by. I was thrilled to be able to yell my favorite word on any pelagic trip - Skua! The bird winged right over the boat which gave everyone incredible views. This was the first of 8 South Polar Skuas (8) for the day! One eagle eyed participant pointed out a few distant Sabine's Gulls (13) but, unfortunately, throughout the day, none of these beautiful birds came close to the Monte Carlo. Cassin's Auklets (128) bounced their way along the water and a few Red Phalaropes (31) were seen by those on the bow. Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels (192) also started to appear much to the delight of some of the out of state birders who most wanted to see this species. Surprisingly, Leach's Storm Petrels (85) also appeared before we were even close to the edge of the shelf. This species is usually found only over deep water so this was unusual.

Although apparently featureless to us, the birds know where the shelf edge is and the species variety increased as we neared that invisible mark. The call of "albatross" is always eagerly anticipated and we watched several Black-footed Albatrosses (33) fly by on 6.5 wingspan on their multi day foraging runs from the leeward chain of the Hawaiian Islands.. No Westport trip is complete without an albatross. Whew, glad they found us or was it we who found them? A Parasitic Jaeger (2) or 2 were in the area as well as several Northern Fulmars (7). Our time over deep water didn't net any different species although it was great to see so many Leach's Storm-Petrels. For the day, a total of 85 were seen - an impressive number indeed!

On the return to Westport, more highlights awaited - several more Parasitic Jaegers, a Pomarine Jaeger (1) with maximum spoonage, a floating log with 3 Arctic Terns (we watched then from fairly close for ten minutes which was unusual), Short-tailed Shearwater (1) which was photographed by those on the bow, and a great sighting of a Flesh-footed Shearwater (2) which flew by the bow and joined a second one! A single Marbled Murrelet (1) was found about a half mile offshore - a species not often found on a Westport seabirds trip!

On a Westport Seabirds tour, birds take center stage but other non-avian highlights are always seen. A breaching Humpback Whale (12) at about 150 yards drew applause throughout. Dall's Porpoises (8) and Pacific White-sided Dolphins (110) cut the surface but didn't come in for the hoped for bow riding extravaganza. Blue Sharks (7) and several large Ocean Sunfish (2) had all of us looking down as well as keeping our eyes and ears skyward. Marine mammals and fish are always the icing on the pelagic cake!

Between the tips of the jetties, a feeding frenzy yielded a Manx Shearwater and another Parasitic Jaeger amid the numerous Heermann's Gulls, Brown Pelicans and several species of cormorants. A few Pigeon Guillemots (6) were in the area. The jetty produced 5 Black Turnstones.

Westport Seabirds thanks all of the enthusiastic participants who make these trips a success. Also, thanks to Captain Phil and first mate Chris for their consummate professionalism, natural history knowledge, bright smiles, and ginger cookies! Also,a big thanks to our guides Bill Shelmerdine, Scott Mills, and your trip reporter.

Even though the Westport Seabirds schedule (http://westportseabirds.com/2023-schedule/) shows all trips as full, it's always a good idea to think of pelagic opportunities for this year (last minute openings happen) and next year!

I hope to see you onboard!

Jim Danzenbaker for Westport Seabirds.
--
Jim Danzenbaker
Battle Ground, WA

20/08/2024

Westport Seabirds Trip Report
Saturday, August 17, 2024
by Cara Borre

We closed a busy week for Westport Seabirds on Saturday, August 17th with an enthusiastic group of new friends mixed with familiar faces aboard the Monte Carlo. We left the coast behind with bright sunshine at our backs during the morning, gradually fading to gray, and eventually to rain as we returned to port after a productive day at sea.

As Captain Phil had his sights on several fishing boats offshore, we moved quickly west past the usual inshore species, and this is where we encountered most of our Sooty Shearwater for the day. We always “brake” (no brakes on a boat) for anything of interest, and we took a beat to watch two Gray Whale surfacing several times close to each other and us. Not long after this sighting, we got to compare the mottled, fin-less, but “knuckled” lower back of the Gray Whale to the characteristic dark gray “hump-finned” back of a Humpback Whale. We would see an additional 4 Humpbacks during our trip. We also had a visitation from several Dall’s Porpoise who accompanied us briefly on our way further west, then again later in the day.

About 2.5 hours after our departure we saw two shrimp boats on the horizon. Motoring ever closer, we could see at least one was surrounded by birds. It was fortunate that we arrived at about the time the boats were hauling in their nets. Nearly 1000 birds awaited some discarded scrap. We scanned the group and began shouting out the species we found. The majority of this mixed flock were Pink-footed Shearwater (800 at boats - parentheses numbers at boats), followed by California Gull (100 - most juvenile). Thirty Black-footed Albatross were joined by smaller numbers of Sooty Shearwater (4), Short-tailed Shearwater (5), and an exciting find of a single Flesh-footed Shearwater among the sea of Pink-footeds. A couple Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, along with Northern Fulmar rounded out the assemblage of tubenoses. Sabine’s Gull (8) and Arctic Tern (3) patrolled the sky at times dropping to the surface to feed. All this activity does not go unnoticed by the pirates of the pelagic bird world and we got epic views of South Polar Skua (1). Our alcid tally at the boats consisted of Rhinoceros Auklet (12) and a very close and cooperative, breeding plumaged Tufted Puffin.

In the process of moving to and from an unproductive chum stop, we added both Red and Red-necked Phalaropes, Long-tailed and Parasitic Jaegers, and Cassin’s Auklet as well as swelling our numbers of Sabine’s Gull (61 - day total) and Arctic Tern (73 - day total).

Since time allowed, we deviated south to intersect a different group of three shrimp boats. The mixed flock here was quite similar in distribution to what we had 3 hours earlier minus the Flesh-footed Shearwater and Tufted Puffin, but we had larger numbers of Sabine’s Gull and Arctic Tern and the opportunity to closely examine an Ocean Sunfish. While we had no “rock birds” on the jetty upon our return, we had a Wandering Tattler circle the boat twice far offshore at these shrimpers.

After leaving the shrimpers and starting the journey back to port we had several goals in mind. We had scanned the massive shearwater flocks all day for a Buller’s Shearwater to add that beauty to our list. As a light rain began, we managed to find a Buller’s in flight and got the majority of our participants on this passing bird. Adding Buller's gave us the “5 in Fall” Pacific Northwest shearwater collection, we would next seek the long shot Manx Shearwater to complete the “6 in ALL” achievement. Spoiler Alert, we continue to dream of a shearwater “6 in ALL” one day. However, we did complete the Skua Slam, with a poor showing from a couple of uncharacteristically shy Pomarine Jaeger. As a disclaimer, Skua Slam is a widely known pelagic birding phrase and if you use it, birders will think you’re a veteran. Conversely if you discuss “5 in Fall” or “6 in ALL” birders will look confused and ask for further explanation as these aren’t universal phrases, just a fun way of talking about the shearwater possibilities off of Westport particularly in the fall.

Thanks to everyone who joined us, Captain Phil Anderson and Firstmate Chris Anderson for making this outing possible, and fellow spotters Scott Mills and Charlie Wright for getting everyone on the birds and sharing your knowledge with us all.

Cara Borre
Gig Harbor

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Videos

Humpback Whale, tail slapping the water. Off Westport, WA, 9.24.17

Northern Fur Seal

Pacific White-sided Dolphins bow riding. 8/6/16 - video by Ryan Shaw.

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