Cute or gross? Sea Otters are both at the same time.
In my last post I showed you a Pelagic Cormorant, so here is the Brandt's. Note the thicker neck and just altogether brawnier look. Apparently they nest right on the harbor break wall.
Dawn the rosy fingered.....
Common Murres were really living up to their namesake. They were everywhere. We had to beat them back to get out of the harbor.
I just noticed a Heermann's Gull in this picture.
The break wall was hosting a group of Surfbirds which Debi says is unusual. First impressions of Debi Shearwater were that she was as big a personality as she is portrayed in the Big Year Movie. I think she was played by Anjelica Huston in the movie but in real life she is a blond and has an infectious enthusiasm for birds which rubs off on all the passengers. In the movie they made her out to be curmudgeonly, like a Pelagic Soup Nazi, but she was not like that at all. I believe this is her 40th year running these Pelagics which is crazy because she gives off an aura of someone much younger than she probably is. I feel blessed to have been part of one of her trips.
Here you can see the lighter colored throat patch of the Brandt's Cormorant.
Once less than half a mile out of the harbor we immediately began seeing Shearwaters everywhere. Such a big contrast to East Coast Pelagics where it takes time to get out to the birds.
In this picture we have Black-vented Shearwater (center), Pink-footed Shearwater (right side) and lots of Sooty Shearwaters.
It seems all the West Coast birds have "footed" in their name. This is a Pink-footed Shearwater, almost looks like a West Coast version of the Cory's Shearwater. Well, maybe not, they are very different, but it helped me to remember it that way. At least in terms of the light colored bill.
Whales were everywhere but I was always a second or two too slow on the draw. Perhaps the birds were distracting me. I think we only saw Humpbacks.
Sooty Shearwater - chocolatey goodness.
Humpback Sputum
Parasitic Jaeger - you are just going to have to trust me on this one. He/she was hassling an Elegant Tern.
I guess this is why they are called Humpbacks.
Black-vented Shearwater - note dark bill.
See the black vent? So pretty. A smaller bird than the others and kind of reminds me of Audubon's.
Ahhhh so that's why they are called Pink-footed. The dark underwing on this bird was more extensive than the one above. Wonder if they have sub-species like the Cory's does.
Red-necked Phalaropes - note the streaky backs.
Rhinoceros Auklet!
Zoom in to see it's Rhino horn. Apparently they use them to dig burrows in breeding season. This time of year they are worn down to a nubbins.
Debi was flipping out over the behavior of this Humpback, it was deliberately coming up into a large kelp raft. Maybe there was sardines under it or maybe rubbing off parasites?
Northern Fulmar!! They can look slovenly this time of year, molting and generally looking gross, but I thought this one was dapper.
Black-footed Albatross!!!! They were quite plentiful which did take away some of the novelty, but I still would rather seeing them regularly than certain other species.
Pink-footed Shearwater
Red Phalarope!! This completed the Phalarope Hat Trick. Don't worry I got better looks than this.
Long-tailed Jaeger - note the cleanly delineated cap and smaller bill. They just look cooler than the other Jaegers. The cool jizz is literally dripping off this bird.
****Disclaimer for my non birder readers, Jizz is a totally acceptable word for a bird's general Gestalt. Shoot sorry, I used another weird word to describe an already weird word. But that is why weird words are created, to explain something that is difficult to explain. Gestalt means - something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts; broadly : the general quality or character of something.
This fits Jizz perfectly too. You can describe certain parts of a bird all you want, but to be a good birder, you have to understand how all those parts fit together and give a general impression of a particular species. That being said, I hate when I ask someone how they know a Long-billed Dowitcher is in fact a Long-billed Dowitcher and they reply "it just has the jizz of one". That is not very helpful.
Northern Fulmar - Look at that tube nose! Probably has a better sense of smell than a blood hound.
I could take pics of Albatrosses all day.
WTF! Wilson's Storm-Petrel. I had no ID problems on this one. Apparently this Atlantic species is being seen more in the Pacific every year. Anyhow it is pelagic and flies all over the place so I see no reason why not.
In this shot you can even see the diagnostic long legs sticking out from the tail.
Yeah, get used to these pics, I love an Albatross.
We had multiple Ashy Storm-Petrel sightings but this is the only shot I managed. They are much more shy than our East Coast Storm-petrels.
Red-necked Phalarope on left and Red Phalarope on right.
SKUUAAAAAAAA!!!! Debi screamed at the top of her lungs. I almost pooped myself at that blood curling sound. It took me a while to realize she was calling out a South Polar Skua and not being stabbed by a disgruntled passenger. It worked though, everyone got on the bird.
Such a powerful bird.
Pomarine? We saw a bunch of Pomarine Jaegers but I am not sure about this one. I think so though. Look how beefy he is and see the many white shafts in the wing tip. I think a Parasitic would only have 3-4 white shafts. This completed the Jaeger Hat Trick.
Sabine's Gull!! The one in the back not the one in the front. Unfortunately the one drawback to Shearwater Journeys pelagics is that there is too many people on the boat and I was struggling to look over someone's shoulder to see this ABA first bird. I did see them in Costa Rica this year so it wasn't too horrible. However it was impossible to get a decent pic.
Such an awkward photo - but I assure you it's a Sabine's Gull.
We did have a quite large assortment of gulls following our popcorn chum slick, but to be honest I didn't think to really ID any of them. Hard to concentrate on them with all the other birds around. I think the above bird is a California but there was Western Gulls too.
Adult California? I am so bad at gulls on the West Coast.
Gooneybird coming in for a landing.
Proper Pomarine Jaeger with some spoons.
Black-footed Albatross
Pink-footed Shearwater
Northern Fulmar
Look at that wingspan!!!
And that wrapped up my first West Coast pelagic! Pretty awesome and as Debi said this was an unprecedented time with the El Nino conditions.
Of course my flight back was not until 11pm so I had some more time to mess around.
Brewer's Blackbird
Female Brewer's doing a Wrentit impression.
Western Gull
Lovers? Brothers? Sally Strothers?
I am going with lovers.
Since I had missed Yellow-billed Magpie on Thursday, I thought why not give it another go. This time I went to Laguna Rd. which is a road off the 101 north of Gilroy that has farm fields.
White-tailed Kite! I love these birds, one of my top 10 favorites.
It didn't take long, Bingo!
Yellow-billed Magpie - unfortunately he was a little shy and never came very close. This is a cropped image.
Not sure if this was Heckle or Jeckle.
Tricolored Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
White-tailed Kite - I counted about 4 in this one field.
What an amazing trip. Then on the red-eye I was sandwiched between a gangster from ATL and some other big dude that did not believe Deodorant was necessary. I have developed a nasty cold that I attribute to getting no sleep and being crammed into a sardine can. But it was all worth it.
Cheers.
amazing photos
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