Vanquishing a Nemesis, Cetacean Backs, Sweet Succulent Seabirds

There are some birds I have special feelings about. Some of them I've never come close to seeing (Spoon-billed Sandpiper), some of them I've been painfully close to seeing (Ivory Gull), some of them I've seen but not well enough to count (Red-breasted Chat), some languish on my heard-only list (Black Rail), and some I've seen...just not in a particular place. As many of you know, since I have been bitching about it for years, Northern Gannet falls into the latter category. I've seen them on the east coast, but there has been one in the bay area for years now, successfully eluding my attempts to see it in three (3) different counties. What the fuck? Finally, persistence paid off...on my first pelagic trip of 2016, I saw a glowing white speck way off in the distance on the side of a cliff. It wasn't really identifiable as a bird, but I knew that I had finally met my destiny. We motored closer, and it was indeed The Bird. State birds are good birds, especially when you have been pining for them for years and dipped on them over and over again.

Of course, the only reason I was on a boat looking at a gannet in California was because I was on my first pelagic trip of the year, out of Half Moon Bay. There have been a very large number of whales off of Half Moon Bay this fall. We've had no trouble getting great looks at Humpbacks.

The lumps along the lower back are an easy way to ID a Humpback. This one has a more pronounced dorsal fin than many.

Along with all the Blue and Humpback Whales, there have also been Fin Whales! Fin Whales are relatively rare in the area (I've never seen one here before this year). They are similar to Blue Whales in size and shape, but are solid gray and have a more pronounced dorsal fin. They also move extremely fast.

When there are lots of krill-eating whales offshore, they are typically accompanied by Cassin's Auklets. There were hundreds of these diminutive alcids on this day, more than I'd seen in a few years. In classic embarrassing form, a good number were too full to fly away from the boat.

We had a pair of Craveri's Murrelets next to the boat, but frustratingly I was looking at a jaeger overhead at the time and totally missed them. Even more frustratingly, I saw what was probably another one but got unsatisfactory looks. I've seen them a couple times before, but you know what? That is not enough. Need more murrelets. At least this Scripps's Murrelet was cooperative...they seem to be doing well where they breed down in the Channel Islands, so hopefully this species will be increasingly easy to see on pelagic trips.

While reviewing photos for this blog post, I came across this shearwater that at the time I just passed off as a Sooty. I only took photos of it because it was close to the boat. Funny...it doesn't look like a Sooty now...

The bird has a very small bill, whitish throat, round head, and underwing pattern that does not match Sooty. A couple knowledgeable Bird Policemen and I came to the consensus of Short-tailed Shearwater, which is an excellent bird for August; they typically do not arrive until the beginning of October, and are generally hard to find even then. I'm not the biggest proponent of birders becoming photographers (not that there is anything wrong with that, obviously) - I recommend getting a scope before a camera - but having a decent crusher can pay huge dividends on pelagic trips.

Whales were not the only marine mammals in abundance. It is always a pleasure to meet up with a pod of Pacific White-sided Dolphins.

This sea lion looking thing is actually a Northern Right Whale-Dolphin. Most people have never heard of such a thing, so if you were one of those people a few seconds ago, now you are not. NRWDs are uncommon and typically travel with large pods of other dolphins. They are mostly black and have no dorsal fin at all...they are very easy to identify but adept at not allowing themselves to be photographed well, even though they will bowride.

When you hear the phrase "birding is hard", one of the very first things that comes to mind should be jaegers. Take these birds for example. When we saw this pursuit, another leader and I agreed that the bird with a fish was a Parasitic and the other bird was a Long-tailed. What we didn't realize (which I do now, checking photos) was that the bird with the fish had just flown over the boat a minute before, and at that point we called it a Long-tailed. Balls! Looking at my photos, I am not completely satisfied with either ID...the confusing bird does not look particularly large in comparison, but the bill does not look particularly small and the back seems quite dark...but there is still some contrast in the secondaries...maybe it would have a lighter upperwing if it was older...ugh.

This bird, the pursuer in the above photo, was not hard to ID. This immature Long-tailed Jaeger has the completely dark underwings of an adult, which Pomarine and Parasitic would never show. It's a particularly shitty photo, I know, but it gets the field mark across.

The other bird still retained the underwing of a more youthful bird. Here it is being whimsical.

No obvious white flash on the upperwing of this bird. Only three primary shafts were white, which is typically a very helpful mark for Long-tailed Jaeger, though they can occasionally have more. If I have to choose and call this bird something it would be Long-tailed, though I do not do it with great conviction or courage.

You know, when someone in a guide or leader position misidentifies a bird in the field, it often causes raised eyebrows, or if it happens repeatedly, feverish gossip. This is not so with jaegers...if someone misses a call, we all move on. No biggie. They are the great equalizer, and a group of birds that I would really like to know better.

While the experience of watching jaegers at sea lies somewhere in between maddening and great fun, watching Black-footed Albatross is always warm and comforting. Watching folks absolutely light up when they see them for the first time doesn't get old.

Brown Booby was a solid bonus rarity. Unlike last year, when they seemed to be everywhere, they have been few and far between in 2016. This boob must have been stoked to find such an excellent drum to perch on.

Mmmmm...Sabine's Gulls. Almost everyone who has not yet seen an Ivory or Ross's Gull will usually pick this bird as their favorite (also, favourite) gull, and I am not in any position to throw shade on this pick. I feel very fortunate to see them every fall.

Sabine's Gulls are heartening...nay, delightful to see in and of themselves, but generally speaking the more Sabine's you see the more terns, phalaropes and jaegers are around. If you are seeing a lot Sabine's on a particular day, chances are there will be a lot of other good seabirds around.

There is generally not a big audio component to pelagic trips other than leaders screaming about birds we are spotting. The one major exception to this rule is Common Murre; we hear lots of murre dads bellowing to their chicks, and lots of murre chicks pitifully peeping at their dads. This is a typical murre dad letting loose with a loving bellow.

September Over Cordell Bank

Well, it turns out that my October 6 boat was not my last pelagic of the year...I wam returning to Bodega Bay today for yet another boat. Why not? This time I am filling the shoes of both Steve Howell and Peter Pyle, which should be really, really easy. In case you haven't heard, I'm #7.

Cordell Bank and Bodega Canyon have amassed a long list of pelagic rarities over the years, and with this being possibly the last pelagic in the area for the year, now is the time to make something happen. Recent reports from there mention lots of albatross right now, which bodes very, very well.

But who knows what will happen...perhaps we will see nothing but Mola Molas all day, you never know. This post covers some of what was on my last Bodega trip, back on September 20.

Black-footed Albatross is often a common bird found on pelagic trips, but my last boat (October 6) somehow missed them altogether...I reckon they are concentrated offshore from Bodega Bay. Next month both adults and subadults alike will return to their breeding colonies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and get down to some serious dancing.

Dall's Porpoise are encountered on many pelagic trips...they are fickle bowriders, sometimes enthusiastic about the boat and sometimes completely disinterested. Even when they are swimming right next to you, they are bloody hard to take a photograph of...they are in and out of the water so quickly that you typically only get a picture of a big splash. Anyways...they are black and white, a very modern cetacean.

Pacific White-sided Dolphins are a little more confiding. This is often the most abundant dolphin species to be found offshore.

This photo is hella grainy...photography is hard. Anyway, it's a Pomarine Jaeger.

This is a second-year Long-tailed Jaeger. The stubby bill and slender body confirm the bird is a Long-tailed, but they generally have 2-3 white primary shafts, unlike this bird. Insert tired cliche of birds not reading field guides here.

Another very useful mark for Long-tailed Jaeger is the significant contrast of the secondaries with the rest of the upperwing...it's pretty obvious on the bird's right wing. Unfortunately, I think I have already seen my last Long-tailed of the year.

By the time people are spending more and more time contemplating what they Halloween costume is going to be, Sabine's Gulls have just about finished migrating through California...Black-legged Kittiwakes might be more likely small gull offshore now. Winter is coming...Nothern Fulmars are here, and Short-tailed Shearwaters have just begun to show up.

This South Polar Skua has an eyering, and is adept at shitting.

Just a Pink-footed Shearwater. I like that strange, plated bill, but that eye is something else. It's blacker than black. It has no depth. It is the eye of a creature that knows a fundamental truth that I will never, ever come close to knowing.

Whales have been in abundance this year. This is a Humpback. Whales are great, but they are surprisingly easy to ignore if there are a lot of birds around. This understanding comes with a high GBRS score; other people (and birders) cannot begin to fathom how this could be.

It should be noted that this whale was mortally harmed by the force of me crushing it so hard. Shortly after this photo was taken, the flukes crumpled and fell off it's tail.

The Blue Whale show offshore has been great this year. The seas are loaded with corpulent krill consumers.

Blue Whale flukes are clean, trim and streamlined compared to the rest of the whale's body. For whatever reason they rarely seem to have as much shit hanging off of them as Humpbacks.

Of course, the real highlight of this trip was the storm-petrels...more Fork-tailed than I have ever seen, and more Ashies than possibly ANYONE had ever seen...but I'll leave that for another post.

MEGAGREAT SHEARWATER and Other Half Moon Highlights

Just brutal. BB&B is getting really bogged down and backed up...too many pelagic trips! So much chimping remains to be done. I like that I haven't posted a photo of a passerine in weeks, other than the controversial Nutmeg Mannikin (which has been added to the ABA Checklist, as I prophesied).

So after a fairly slow outing out of Monterey, I led 2 more Shearwater Journeys trips out of Half Moon Bay early in the month. On September 8, we pulled off the incredible feat of relocating the Great Shearwater that Alvaro Jamarillo's trip had found the day before. This is a MEGA in California, with currently only 8 accepted records by the Bird Police. Of course, since it is such a good bird, my photos of it were atrocious, but at least I got much better ones less than a month before in North Carolina.

The bird made a single pass up the port side of the boat and then disappeared...it was not part of any feeding flock or raft of birds, so I think it was plain old amazing luck that we were able to find it again, less than a mile from where the bird was seen the previous day.

One of my best California birds this year, without a doubt. We did another trip out there the day after seeing this bird, but could not relocate it. It's a big ocean out there. It still astounds me that the bird paid us a visit...chasing pelagic vagrants successfully is not something to be taken lightly.

It was a good weekend for Scripps's Murrelets. A big body of warm water was reachable on those days, which the murrelets love. Sadly, no Craveri's or Guadalupe Murrelets accompanied them.

Interestingly, at least half the time I've seen these birds on northern California trips, they are spotted off the bow flying directly away from the boats, unnervingly not revealing any field marks except their back color and flight style. They look a lot like Cassin's Auklets when they do this (which is surely their intended way to thwart birders), and I bet many SCMU get missed this way.

Buller's Shearwater are beloved. It is the bird on a pelagic trip that leaders will call out again and again and again, no matter how many have been seen already. I had no idea they had two-tone pink and gray feet until I looked closely at this photo...it's a nice touch.

Although the big dark "M" across the upperwing is the default ID mark for these birds, I find their gleaming white underwing and underparts to be even more useful to spot these birds at a glance.

Here is the iconic back pattern.

Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets are similar at first glance, particularly when you see a distant bird on the water and have no way to gauge its size. The comparatively small bill of a Cassin's isn't always obvious, but it's a great field mark besides the overall diminutive size. The differences in head shape (rounded on Cassin's, flat and blocky on Rhino) are also reliable.

Young Rhino Auklets (right) lack the white brows and whiskers of adults, giving them the chance to be confused with both Cassin's Auklets and juvenile Tufted Puffins.

Pacific White-sided Dolphins are frequently found on boats out of Half Moon Bay, Monterey and Bodega Bay. We had an enormous pod this day, with lots of shearwaters fishing with them. Even the most cold-hearted, diehard lister should be happy to run into dolphins on pelagic trips, because they usually have a lot of birds with them.

Of course, Pacific White-throated Dolphin or Pacific Gray-sided Dolphin would be a better names, but I don't think mammalogists are as prone to tinkering with names as bird folk are. Very cool and distinctive animals, regardless of humanity's poor descriptions. They are more than happy to come visit boats, and occasionally have Northern Right Whale Dolphins tagging along with them.

It's been a good fall for Humpback Whales. We've seen hella. Brilliant creatures. Much more pelagic coverage to come soon.

Another Half Moon Bay Pelagic

Nothing cuts a profile like a Black-footed Albatross. Albatross are good luck to the ancient mariner and dedicated seabirder alike.

In early October I got a surprise invitation to go on a Shearwater Journeys boat out of Half Moon Bay, CA, which I gladly accepted. This was my third and final boat trip of the year (a November trip got cancelled due to weather) that started out slow, but got a lot more interesting as we approached the Farrallon Islands. No gannet detour was made (bummer), but it was a good day even without the celebrity sulid. No real rarities, but lifer Leatherback Sea Turtle, hundreds of Buller's Shearwaters and hearing a Marbled Murrelet call for the first time in years were definite highlights. If I am free next fall (which is usually the case), I hope to make it on a lot more bird boats.

Here's the first batch of photos, more to come.

Double-crested Cormorants, Brown Pelican, Brandt's Cormorant. These are some of the most noticeable harbor-loving birds on the California coast. Note the lefthand cormorant, which is sporting a white gular fringe in the style of a Neotropic Cormorant.

Brandt's Cormorant. Their eyes stand out like sore thumbs...beautiful, emerald blue sore thumbs.

Marbled Murrelets are dependable on boat trips out of Half Moon Bay. There are usually a couple pairs on the water just south of the harbor, and on this day I watched a (calling!) bird fly into Pillar Point Harbor as well.

Like storm-petrels, Marbled Murrelets aren't big fans of big boats, and being Endangered, we don't get too close to them on the water.

A Black-footed albatross buzzes a little shearwater flock. Rafting behind it are Pink-footed and Buller's Shearwaters, and a Heerman's Gull doing its best Flesh-footed Shearwater impression. Considering their penchant for impersonating jaegers, Heerman's Gulls are really versatile birds.

After the albatross cruised by, a small parade of Pacific White-sided Dolphins made a pass by the shearwaters.

Pacific White-sided Dolphins are easy to identify, with their strongly curved dorsal fins and lack of the typical dolphin snout. They look more like porpoises.

Pacific white-sided Dolphins are one of the more animated cetaceans found in California waters. Like most dolphins, they really like being dolphins.

Buller's Shearwater (year bird). I finally managed to get some shots with their signature back pattern. On my previous pelagic trip out of Monterey Bay, we saw about 4. On this day, we saw hundreds! Whole flocks of them! That will dilate the pupils any day.

It's been a warm water year off of California, with big numbers of Black-vented Shearwaters making it all the way up to northern California for much of the fall. This isn't a bird to expect this far north most years. 

Pacific Loons are not hard to see from shore, but its pretty rare to get very close to them. Boats off California encounter many in late fall and winter. Note the good posture on this bird, Red-throated Loons slouch their necks. Lazy bastards.

A Tufted Puffin (year bird) in its infrequently-seen basic plumage. This one still sports a big orange bill, but has dropped its tufts and white facial patch. From a distance, it reminded me of a male Surf Scoter.