A Promising Spring Interrupted

Over the past year I have tried to do more seabirding as I near species number 600 for North America. Towards the end of May I scheduled three different pelagic trips, two out of Fort Bragg (Noyo Harbor) and one out of Eureka (Humboldt Bay). My first trip was with Rob Fowler, a prominent Humboldt County birder who runs a regular schedule of pelagics out of Eureka. I persuaded my pal Michael Morris to join me for this one and I had one target bird that I needed to get on this trip. Murphy's Petrels are not common but they are somewhat regular off the north coast at this time of year. Also, there is always the remote possibility of a Short-tailed Albatross appearing mixed in with the many Black-footed Albatross we see off the coast of California. The seas were relatively calm for us as we motored through Humboldt Bay and out to sea. Overall bird numbers were lower than I expected but we ended up with a good mix of species. Both Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters, a fair number of Northern Fulmars, many Black-footed Albatross, and a surprising 8 Laysan Albatross. The star of the day was my target bird Murphy's Petrel. 8 were counted for the day most at some distance from the boat, however at our last slick of the day a couple came in close enough for decent views. We saw a total of 42 species on the day and as always, it was a joy to spend time birding with Michael.

My second trip was less than a week later on May 30th out of Fort Bragg with Noyo Pelagics. These trips are always fun because of the great group of Mendocino County birders who frequent them. Ocean conditions were predicted to be pretty rough and they did not disappoint. The thing is, the rougher the conditions and the higher the wind the better the conditions for Pterodroma. We saw fewer total species (38) than earlier in the week in Humboldt County but we saw many, many more birds and a couple of real stunners. By far our most counted species of the day was Sooty Shearwaters with over 4,000 of them passing within view. We also had excellent views of Murphy's Petrel with close to 30 individuals counted, many coming close for great views. For me it was a day with 3 new life birds making the challenging rough conditions well worth it. Peter Pyle who organizes these trips and boat captain Richard Thornton took their time in positioning the boat as far out as we needed to go to get us into the best position to see our hoped for birds. The first to appear was a Manx Shearwater that crossed our bow and did not stick around for good looks. This is a smaller shearwater with a dark back and white underparts and I got good enough looks through bins to help with the ID. I was not on the bow myself but halfway up the side and I immediately went to the front to confirm what I saw with those on the bow. My next lifer of the day was Hawaiian Petrel. Again these two birds did not stick around for good views and I only got the briefest of glimpses, however Roger Adamson was on the bow and got some diagnostic photos so we were certain of the id. Strangely enough, I was the first one on our boat to spot the real star of the day. I was on the bow with Tim Bray and Chuck Vaughn, two long-time Mendo birders. I was facing towards the rear of the boat, they towards the front as we chatted. I looked up to see the unmistakable form of a Booby passing over the boat from north to south. I shouted out, "Booby!" Tim spun around, got a look and shouted, "Nazca Booby!" and for a few minutes the boat was treated to the spectacle of this very cool bird. Nazca Boobies are common from Mexico to Peru and they show up occasionally off the California coast, however mostly Southern California coast. I believe this bird represented only the 4th Mendocino County record. What really made this bird special is that it was Chuck Vaughn's 400th Mendocino County bird, a real achievement for a really good guy!

But we weren't quite done yet. A little while after the Booby came by, Logan Kahle came running up from the back of the boat calling out a Least Tern, a bird that was a new county bird for most on board. We had fleeting glimpses of it as it made it's way north going who knows where.

Other good birds on the day were Laysan Albatross, Fork-tailed, Ashy and Black Storm Petrels, Northern Fulmars, Elegant Tern, Sabine's Gull, and a single South Polar Skua.

I was excited for my third and final pelagic trip of the spring with this same crew out of Noyo Harbor!

That was not to be as my birding/adventuring season came to a crashing halt, literally.

While finishing up a regular Sunday bike ride with the boys I had a pretty serious crash that resulted in a concussion and a fractured pelvis. I am now officially on the shelf as I slowly recover from this setback. I now sit at 594 North American species. I had thought that with the Montana trip to fish with my friend Brian Kelly I might get over that 600 mark but that will have to remain a goal. Here are a few images of our off-shore adventures.

Nazca Booby (Tim Bray)

Murphy's Petrel

Hawaiian Petrel (Roger Adamson)