mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (09/19/90)
Last Saturday I took my very first pelagic trip out on Monterey Bay. We had excellent weather with fairly calm seas, although I took some Bonine beforehand, just in case. Before we even left the dock we could see Western and Heermann's Gulls, Double Crested Cormorants, and Brown Pelicans. As we moved out beyond the breakwater the kelp beds attracted Red Necked Phalarope, Pelagic and Brandt's Cormorant; not to mention the Sea Otters, one of which was cuddling a young pup on her stomach. We started out into the bay, nearly running over a Blue Shark, one of a handful that we saw that day. Further out we started to run into Sooty Shearwaters. Though I had seen shearwaters from shore before, and presumed that they were sootys, I could never positively identify them, and this trip allowed me to get my first good looks at this bird (and to add it to my life list). A little later we came upon a small bird sitting on the water. It turned out to be a winter plumaged Rhinoceros Auklet (my 500th ABA area life bird). It sat there contentedly while we circled it from about twenty yards. The trip leaders remarked how unusual it was for the bird to allow us to get this close. We chased after some rooster tail sprays that were noticed in the distance and they turned out to be Dall Porpoise. They couldn't be enticed into bow riding, so we headed north towards the submarine canyon. Along the way we had flybys of Northern Fulmar, Pink Footed Shearwater, Pomarine Jaeger, and Long Tailed Jaeger. Common Murres were scattered about everywhere and Elegant Terns made an occasional appearance. Somewhere over the middle of the submarine canyon the birding just died. However, when we reached the north rim of the canyon, it picked up with a vengeance. Here we found some large rafts of Sooty Shearwaters and storm petrels. The leaders instructed us to look at the wingbeats of the storm petrels to distinguish them; those of the Black Storm Petrel being deep and lanquid, while the Ashy Storm Petrel's were shallow and rapid. Chumming out the stern of the boat brought the birds in pretty close, and I was able to get decents looks at Northern Fulmar, Sooty and Pink Footed Shearwaters. A couple of Sabine's Gulls were also enticed by the chum line. The north rim of the canyon also sported some interesting mammals, as we saw Northern Fur Seal, Pacific White Sided Dolphin, two beautiful male Orcas, and Humpback Whales. On the way back it was mentioned that Moon Glow Dairy, along Elkhorn Slough, was currently entertaining California's first state record of Smith's Longspur. I stopped there with the friends I was with and we marched down the levee to where the large group of people with scopes were congregating. After waiting for some time, the bird finally came out of cover and fed on the open ground along the levee. Also at the dairy were two Ruffs and a Baird's Sandpiper. By the end of the day I had tallied nine new life birds. Mike
wander@csa2.lbl.gov (ADRIAN WANDER) (09/19/90)
In article <49431@olivea.atc.olivetti.com>, writes... > > Last Saturday I took my very first pelagic trip out on >Monterey Bay. > Just a few quick additions for anyone going out into Monterey bay. On saturday a few other interesting birds were also present. The shearwater flocks also held several short-tailed shearwaters and one flesh-footed shearwater, while the storm-petrel flocks had 4+ least storm petrels. There was also an interesting dark headed Murre sitting on the rocks below the Aquarium which may have been a thick billed although we couldn't get close enough to be certain. I've also heard that a pelagic out of Washington at the weekend had a Cook's petrel. Adrian.