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.
