The Homely Shearwater, Enhanced Seabirds, A Single Boob

Another season of pelagics is in the can. What to say about this year? Well, things got interesting quick with the Salvin's Albatross (BINGO) and Craveri's Murrelets in July, but in August the murrelets kind of disappeared. Hawaiian Petrels made appearances in Monterey Bay and Half Moon Bay, neither of which I saw, so I will have to wait at least another year to meet that bird, which is totally fucked. Brown, Blue-footed and Masked Boobies all put in appearances around these parts, and the infamous Northern Gannet still roosts on the Farallones, which is infuriating. A Guadalupe Murrelet in September off Bodega Bay was an excellent bird, and a boat trip I did not attend off Half Moon Bay also had a Guadalupe and Red-billed Tropicbird. A Cory's Shearwater off Fort Bragg that I would have liked to have seen was a state ***MEGA***, the only "nearshore" pelagic bird that came close to the Salvin's in magnitude of rarity. Some really good shit was found waaaaayyyyyyy offshore, but unless you are a seabird observer on a NOAA boat, you aren't going to see what lurks that far beyond the horizon.

Right. Three pelagic lifers for me this year, which is more than I could have hoped for. Here is some coverage of my last boats of the season, one out of Monterey and one out of Half Moon Bay.

With the huge mass of warm water that was up here for a couple months, there were thousands of Black-vented Shearwaters in Monterey this fall. Some were seen all the way up in Humboldt the other day, which is cray cray.

I'm just going to say it...I have difficulty talking about Black-vented Shearwaters. Out of all the tubenoses that occur off California, this is often the easiest one to see from shore. They are afraid of deep water. They like warm water, are small, and breed in Mexico. What else is there to say? They are the most slovenly-adorned shearwater I have ever seen so I'm not exactly brimming with compliments for them. For the record, I do like them and I wish them the best, it's just not a bird anyone seems to be equipped to expound upon.

Ok, I've got something. This isn't unique to the species, but Black-vents have pretty awesome feet, with the upper side of the foot and "ankle" pinkish-blue, the bottom side black. I don't understand the significance of this two-tone but it pleases me.

See that crazy white-headed thing on the bottom left? That too is a Black-vented Shearwater, albeit an enhanced one.

Speaking of enhanced birds, check out the wing pattern on this South Polar Skua. Do you see something that shouldn't be there?

It might as well be a fucking Willet. Anyone care to explain the white wing bar?

This pair of mellow Sabine's Gulls were a stone's throw from the Monterey Harbor. Hella cooperative, some of the most confiding members of their species I have come across.

So neat and dainty. Some folks were having a hard time keeping it together. Too bad the lighting wasn't more conducive to crushing, but whatever.

Can't complain about getting looks like these.

Black-footed Albatross. Pretty sick molt pattern if you ask me. Lots of new goodness coming in on the head.

A couple of Humpback Whales (the lump on the left is whale #2) with attendant murres and barnacles. I think it's weird how many people are out there who have never seen a whale up close. Y'all are missing out.

This is one of my favorite photos I took this fall. To my eye, Harbor Seal looks uncannily human, somehow.

Last year, nearshore waters were saturated with Buller's Shearwaters. They were thick, and it was glorious. This year? I think I saw less than ten. Total bullshit. It seems the warm water that washed in the Black-vents and Black Storm-Petrels washed out the Buller's and Ashy Storm-Petrels.

Like last year, I managed to see exactly one booby offshore this year (I THOUGHT I WOULD SEE TWO!!!!!!). This is it. A Brown Booby. This Brown Booby puts the "brown" in Brown Booby.

Also like last year, the boob was getting harangued by gulls. Poor beleaguered booby.

The booby was on the infamous weather buoy in San Mateo County waters, right where the continental shelf starts to drop off quickly. There are always seems to be good birding by the weather buoy.

And representing the alcids, here is a Tufted Puffin. Puffins can look very dull this time of year, but you can spot that big glowing bill from a long ways away.

What happens to people who disappear at sea? I would wager MOLA MOLA happens. Doesn't this look like something that gobbles lost souls?

Brown Wonders...Blue Intimacy...Red Feces

No longer do birders scream "SKUUUAAAAA!!! SKUUUAAAAAAAAA!!!" off the California coast like madmen. With increasingly gnarly seas and so many of our seabirds leaving our waters for their breeding grounds in far off lands, pelagic trips have ceased running for the year. But the birds are still nice to think about, even if they conduct their business in lands and waters beyond our reach.

Few brown birds receive as much love and respect from birders as the skua. Ah, the South Polar Skua, aka "The Brown Wonder". Seeing that they spend half the year in the Northern Hemisphere, I have a feeling that the more politically correct name would be "Bipolar Skua." Right?

There are exceptions, of course. There are many birders who have never seen Flesh-footed Shearwater. We leaders of west coast pelagics get a lot of requests for these birds. Behold its fantastic brownness!

Of course, the bright pink bill lends some character, and adds to the creepy first-cycle Heermann's Gull effect.

On the last Half Moon Bay boat I was on, we ran into a massive mixed pod of Humpback and Blue Whales. They were very close to the boat and made no attempt to keep any kind of distance from us. For a long time we idled in the water while whales slowly frolicked around us.

This pair of blues spent a lot of time very close to us. It was not quite exhilarating but something very, very close to that.

Blue Whale nostrils are large. Especially up close. The explosive exhalation of a Blue Whale is really something to hear, especially when the seas are so calm the only things you can hear are squabbling gulls and other distant whale blows. What a fucking awesome experience.

Blue Whale flukes! There's a couple other surfacing whales in the background.

Humpbacks were plentiful as well. They have (proportionally) larger flukes than Blues and often have big white patches on the ventral side. The undertail pattern is how Humpback researchers can often tell individuals apart.

For your viewing pleasure...whale shit! Wish I could ID it to species. No, that's not bloody stool, that's digested krill remains.

Of course, seeing whale shit is one thing, but any real biologist will want to take it to the next level. We took some poop aboard and Liz #1 did some science on it with her tongue. Marmot assists.

Despite the abundance of Pink-footed Shearwaters offshore, they only breed on three islands off the Chilean coast. Hella vulnerable. A strange thing to consider when they are often the most abundant tubenose to be found offshore.

One of the thousands of things I like about tubenoses is how sleek their lines are when they tuck their feet in and are in cruising mode. They look completely built for flight, much like how I am completely built for birding.

A California Gull is no match for a Pomarine Jaeger on the hunt, even if the gull is the same size as the jaeger. You can actually make out the fish being disgorged in the photo. If only I could have all my food first swallowed by someone else...a boy can dream, right?

Mola Molas can often be spotted near the surface with a handful of attending gulls, hopeful to pick some parasites off the large fish. This is a first year Western Gull.

Molamolamolamolamolamolamolamola

This is a zombie mola. Note the unseeing eye and facial scars of the undead.

Buller's Shearwaters were particularly common this year, with large numbers foraging relatively close to shore. For a few weeks it was even a bird you could see from land, which is not at all typical. The ocean is a fickle thing, and so too are it's birds.

Most Buller's crushes feature the m-pattern on the top side of the bird, but I reckon the stark white underwing is ajust as engaging.

As fall slips into winter, the hordes of Elegant Terns that pillage nearshore baitfish populations retreat south to Mexico. There they will stay until it is time to make sweet sweet tern love again.

All photos taken today are from September and October Half Moon Bay trips with Shearwater Journeys.

Pelagic Part Deuce: We Look For Signs In Nothing

Long-tailed Jaeger juvenile. Long-tailed Jaegers are widely regarded as the best jaegers...they make your eyeballs pop.

Black-footed Albatross, the B-52 of Californian seabirds. 

Common Murres raft just offshore from Half Moon Bay.

Marbled Murrelets, an endangered species (an end species? an angered species?), are uncommon and local off central and northern California. Looking for them on the water is far less complicated than looking for them in the old growth redwoods where they nest, albeit more expensive.

A California Gull is outclassed by a juvenile Parasitic Jaeger.

This Northern Fur Seal is lounging in classic weird fur seal position.

Sabine's Gulls have won the hearts and minds of many a birder....they are true Winners. 

Sooty Shearwater in water-shearing position.

This immature Western Gull doesn't know what to think about this little Mola Mola pile that it came across. Weird fish are weird fish.

Not One More Word Tonight

I was hoping to see an Ivory Gull perched on this Mola-mola. This event did not occur. Arroyo Grande, CA.

It is my honor, and privilege, to announce that I now number amongst the courageous few who have seen the Brown Shrike....or, as some call it, the Humboldt Brown Rain-Shrike. This species would normally be found on western Pacific islands this time of year, or mainland India, but we birders were lucky enough to have one come our way. (Stereo)Typically, what's bad for the bird is good for the birders. It will (hopefully) at least know to go north again if it makes it through the winter, but there is no way to say if it makes back to its homeland, which is likely someplace in Siberia.

A drake American Wigeon. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

Which is a bummer. It's impossible to say how many passerines (songbirds) meet their doom far out at sea during their long migrations, with no land in sight. But to underestimate the ability of any given bird to navigate and travel vast, almost inconceivable distances would be a grave mistake. So I have faith in the Rain-Shrike. And no, I did not even bring a camera of any sort with me to see this bird. From past experience, having no way to document such a marvelous, crippling rarity would substantially increase my chances of getting a good look at the thing. I highly recommend attempting this method, as it "showed well".

Immature Red-shouldered Hawk, lurking outside the PRBO office. Surely it was hunting the many small and timid birdwatchers coming to and from the building. Schoellenberger Park, Petaluma, CA.

Along with the Brown Shrike, I also picked up Pacific Golden-Plover, Rough-legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk and Tundra Swan as year birds, snapping my long drought of new bird species seen in 2010. If I was from the south, I would tell you that I'm happier than a pig in shit right now....but being San Franciscan, I will say I'm giddier than a cokehead at Delirium. That's pretty giddy right? You San Francisco people know.

So let's just get down to The Heart of The Matter. Brown Shrike. Rarest bird I've seen in California in years. Good job team.

A Pelagic Cormorant keeps an eye to the sky. Morro Bay, CA.

Speaking of San Francisco, you may be surprised to learn that Mercury 'turns' wetland birds homosexual. Who knew?