Pelagic Recap: August 16, Half Moon Bay

On August 16 we once again headed offshore, on the neverending quest to find Vague Runts. This was my second pelagic of the season, and high seas made it unlikely we would have a repeat performance of the storm-petrel show two weeks prior, but these were good conditions for finding Hawaiian Petrel. Of course, Hawaiian Petrel failed to show and I was burned yet again...which is getting really tiring...but it was a fun and birdy trip despite the swells.

Pigeon Guillemots breed in the breakwaters at the Pillar Point Harbor, and we had quite a few of them.  Oddly, this charming bird has not made it onto BB&B before, though they are certainly deserving.  In other embarrassing news, when I started birding I thought they were actually called "guillemonts" for several years.

As soon as we left the harbor, we could see vast numbers of Sooty Shearwaters moving north in a seemingly never-ending flock. It was truly an impressive number of birds...I had not seen numbers of them like that in quite a while. We motored up to them and watch them stream by for quite a while.

Sitting next to the massive river of shearwaters was a great way to start the morning.

Here's a Sooty in more typical lighting...they look more sooty, a little less magical.

Among things that I can never cease taking pictures of are humpback whale flukes.

If you've ever been on a pelagic trip and are confused about what people are talking about when they mention a "footprint" out in the water, then this really boring picture is for you!  The patch of slick water, the footprint, is what is left on the surface after a whale dives.

Shitty photo, I know, but Flesh-footed Shearwater (bird on he left, Pink-footed Shearwater on the right) is always a nice bird. 2013 was a great year for them, but I didn't see a single one in 2014, which I suspect is strongly correlated with the fact that there were hardly any Buller's around in 2014. Rare shearwaters appear to enjoy the company of Buller's it seems.  We did have a handful of Buller's, which is a good omen for later in the season.

It's not unusual to see banded Black-footed Albatross offshore, as there have been banding programs going at several of their breeding sites for many years now.  This black on yellow field readable band is from Tern Island (French Frigate Shoals), about 2,730 miles west of where we saw this bird. I did report this band resight, and promptly got a response in two days! Way to go USGS!

Black-footed Albatross are not wary birds. Reading albatross bands is not difficult. This bird was banded in May 2010 as a chick, and will be old enough to breed in about three years.

Albatross can surf with their big feet. With the way they can move offshore you would never guess how ungraceful they can be on land.

Storm-petrels put in a modest showing, but with a robust four species representing. This Ashy made a close pass by the boat.

Wilson's almost always seem to come in close to the boat eventually. It's a nice bird to see out here regularly, they were considered quite the rarity not too long ago.

Bird of the day, as far as the most unexpected species, easily went to this Surfbird that briefly followed the boat way out in San Francisco County waters. It's the first one I've ever seen offshore, and I never expected to see one in the company of Black-footed Albatross (the bird in the background). You never know what weird migrant you might cross paths with out there.

Steller's sea lions were hauled out on this buoy just offshore from the Pillar Point Harbor. Note the blunt snout, "bear-faced" look and blonde fur. That's a California sea lion head poking out on the right side for comparison.

There you go, a nice, succinct blog post with little writing and lots of photos...had to change things up after that last post. I'm going out again this weekend, on the hunt (as always) for sweet sweet Pterodroma goodness.

Fall Vague Runts

Despite their plummeting population numbers, this has been a very good fall for Rusty Blackbirds on the west coast. This bird was near the Baldwin Creek Mouth just north of Santa Cruz, CA.

Every fall, seasonal work dries up and I find myself with nothing to do but to go birding. All the time. It's really nice.

Well, not all the time. Sometimes bourbon, punk shows, general merriment and raging gets in the way of an early morning start, you know what I'm saying? And let's face it...I'm not much of a county lister. If I was, I could NEVER STOP BIRDING.

Right. This year has been saturated with pelagic trips and some nice rarities, but as many NorCal birders are aware of, it's been a bit slow this fall. I admit I'm a bit jealous of the vagrant haul that Southern California has gotten in comparison (Blue-winged Warbler, Common Swift, some sort of Bean Goose, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Thrushes, a plethora of Scarlet Tanagers, Yellow-green Vireos, etc.)...I think if there were a tangible birding competition between Northern and Southern California this year, SoCal (BroCal) would have us easily beat. How embarrassing.

This is only the second Rusty Blackbird I've seen in my life, the last one being the infamous Goleta bird that wintered in a Costco parking lot in the nineties. This is probably the closest thing to a "relifer" I've ever had...looking at it felt hella good.

But I am grateful to have the time and freedom to go birding a lot this time of year, and the birding gods have seen fit to reward me with birds like Great Shearwater, Painted Redstart, Blue-footed Boobies, American Tree Sparrow, etc. Not everyone is so lucky.

There have been dips, make no mistake. I dipped on a Rusty Blackbird in Monterey (that was before I got the redemption you see above). Dipped on a Northern Gannet in Marin. Hell, I've dipped on Lapland Longspur, which I haven't even seen this year! In fact, my year list is thirsty for all longspur species...if I do indeed fail on these birds, this would be my first longspurless year in many years. That would be fucked up.

One of the handful of self-found vagrants I can claim this fall is Red-throated Pipit...and even that is a stretch, because I found a third individual where two were already being reported. That said, before this fall I've seen all of two (2) Red-throated Pipits, and now I'm happy to say I have been acquainted with five (5) members of the species.

Savannah Sparrows are one of the most misidentified species in North America. I found out this fall that besides being classically misidentified as Vesper and Baird's Sparrows (and occasionally as other sparrows and longspurs), Savannah Sparrows can also play the role of Red-throated Pipit. Now I don't think they play the role very convincingly, but it has happened more than once in California this year. I trust you can tell which of these birds is the pipit, and which is the sparrow.

My year list now sits in the low 670's, which is a highest year list I've ever had, by a wide margin. Considering I've only birded Costa Rica and two U.S. states in 2013, it's a number I like. Of course 700 is a number I like even more...but getting there in less than a month and a half is going to be a struggle. Funds are limited, and gas must be conserved. I fear the worst...but there is always next year.

The Napa Hudsonian Godwit. This was a state bird, and only the second I've ever seen. This late in fall, there aren't many California birders out scouring the shorebird flocks for precious precious rarities...most have moved south. That said, there is probably still a Bar-tailed Godwit lingering an hour to the south of where I live, so those who exercise CONSTANT VIGILANCE are bound to be rewarded. Eventually.

Not quite a rare bird, but I'm happy I saw hella Flesh-footed Shearwaters this fall, including five in one day. Gotta put in a lot of boat time to see many of these. I got a lot better this year at plucking these birds out at great distance, which sent my GBRS score up to a roiling boil.

Brown Booby is not the rarity it used to be...the state's Bird Police took them off the review list years ago, but they are still a quality find in the northern half of the state. I found this bird on a Shearwater Journeys boat in October off of Bodega; it's only the second record for Sonoma County. We also had the bird in Marin County waters.

These are all random musings, to be sure. A big weather system has been dumping rain on the bay area since yesterday, so here I sit indoors, reflecting on how to improve on my bowling technique. In an act of sheer idiocy, I recently dropped my camera onto a sidewalk (the Blackrapid strap disconnected from the mount while I was standing there looking at a fucking Golden-crowned Sparrow) and so I'm crossing my fingers for my lens to be fixed and returned to me before heading to Modoc at the end of the month...heading into the frozen wastelands of the north without a crushing device is a dubious proposition at best.

I Love Rafting (And Fleshy Feet)

Rafts. I love them. Not that cowardly river rapid stuf, I'm talking about rafts of tubenoses...storm-petrels, in this case. There are very few people in the world who are brave enough to pick through these things.

I've had the pleasure of running into several big carpets of storm-petrels recently. It's been a great year for storm-petrels off the coast of California, particularly Half Moon and Bodega Bays. This enormous flock of ~8,000 birds (mostly Ashy Storm-Petrels) was off Half Moon Bay back on September 8.

It's difficult/impossible to capture the size and width of these rafts in photos. This is just a tiny chunk. A tiny taste.

Ashy Storm-Petrel is a relatively rare bird....a previous estimate puts their total population at 10,000, but with the numbers we've seen this fall that figure is too low. This is yet another bird that is almost endemic to California.

This particular raft contained good numbers of Wilson's and Black Storm-Petrels as well. It was a glorious day. I haven't seen that many storm-petrels at once in many years.

Of course, nothing increases the Glory one experiences like running into a Flesh-footed Shearwater. They are semi-unusual this time of year, not completely expected but not at all unexpected. As is the case with many seabirds, California is the by far the best and easiest place in the country to bump into this wonderful brownness.

Flesh-foots can hide remarkably well with rafts of other shearwaters on the water, but they are very distinct in flight.

And despite their resemblance to young Heermann's Gulls, thankfully people do not get them confused.

One of the places Tufted Puffins go to repuffin the world is the Farallon Islands, not far from Half Moon Bay. This frazzled bird has fried tufts, and looks a bit shabby. The breeding season has been long and this bird is about ready to drop its garish makeup and get gross. It wants to look homely and spend months eating small fish.

Here is a basic Tufted Puffin. Debi (Shearwater) thought it could be a second-year bird, which is entirely possible but I can neither confirm or deny.

California Gulls are one of the few gull species that are following boats this time of year...Herring, Glaucous-winged, Thayer's and Olympic really haven't arrived yet. Young birds like this one are pretty sharp-looking.

Young California Gulls come in a rainbow of browns and grays, which bring great and disgusting pleasure to the Larophiles.

Just when you think you're out on the open ocean, as far from civilization as you can get, YANG MING comes along and keeps it real.

Half Moon Bay Pelagic Part 1 (Life's Too Short To Have A Job)

Buller's Shearwater. 

Last month I went on a Shearwater Journeys trip out of Half Moon Bay....although not particularly birdy, we did have calm seas and a great diversity of species. Since I am a poor seasonal biologist (financially, not spiritually), I don't go on many pelagics...so I was pretty happy to be out there. Unfortunately, I was unable to witness anyone vomiting. Maybe next time.

If you have the misfortune of never going on a pelagic trip off California, consider yourself a sorry son of a bitch. On the bright side, you have so much facemelting tube-nosed goodness to look forward to. Here is the first part of a suite of pictures from last month.

Lastly, thanks to everyone for checking out BB&B...last month we had more blog traffic than ever! The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive tries to take all the credit for this, and he may be right....I hate him.

Elegant Terns.

Norther Fulmar, the world's grossest seabird.

Short-tailed Shearwater. Yet another good bird with a bad name. Thanks a lot, forefathers of birding.

If you do not know this is a Brown Pelican, you are a bad person.

California Sea Lions. I wonder if there is a technical term for what they are doing here. I assure you they are not frolicking. Boiling maybe?

Common Murres. Any guesses on what that gull is?

Cassin's Auklets are terrible fliers, but strong runners.

I'll leave you with this terrible Flesh-footed Shearwater photograph. It's only the second one I've seen. Obviously, I need to be able to afford more pelagic trips.