California (1 Viewer)

Arnel what are the pelagic birding trips like ?? What seabirds could be expected in August?

Pelagic birding....

Hi Swift,

March and November are typically slow months for pelagic birding, but the rest
of the year can be pretty exciting. Monterey Bay is one of the best places to go
seabirding, since the Monterey Seavalley brings deep water within a few miles of
the coast. This means the more open-water, pelagic species can come within
5 to 10 miles of Fisherman's Wharf. Also working in Monterey Bay's favor is the
especially rich coastal upwelling that provides ample food for the seabird's prey
species.

August is a transitional month, where the summer seabirds (notably the
Black-footed Albatrosses) begin to decline in numbers, while the fall seabirds
begin increasing in numbers substantially. Generally, you'll see a lot of
shearwaters - especially, Sooty and Pink-footed, with lesser numbers of
Buller's and Black-vented. You will also see all the summer alcids (Common
Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Tufted Puffin), and you may also see the first of the
more pelagic larids, such as Arctic Tern and Sabine's Gull. Incidentally, whales
begin to increase in number during August, as well, and there's a good chance
you will see at least a few Humpbacks.

Two outfits catering to seabirds operate out of Fisherman's Wharf in
Monterey. The oldest and most famous of these is Shearwater Journeys,
led by Debbie Shearwater. The link to that site is:

http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/

I've birded with her before, and she and her tour leaders are excellent. The
other outfit is Monterey Whalewatch. They've been around for a few years,
but their tours are almost as good as Debbie's and not quite as expensive.
However, they don't go out as often as she does. Anyway, their link is:

http://www.montereyseabirds.com

I'm not as familiar with seabirding in southern California, as I haven't done
any seabirding down there (yet). Maybe someone else on the BF who has can
chime in with some of their experiences there.

Anyway, hope this helps!


:t:


Arnel Guanlao

Oceanic Society Expeditions out of San Francisco does 8 hour trips out to the Farallon Islands. The islands are a Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, so you cannot actually step onto the islands. The Farallons host 12 species of nesting seabirds, including tufted puffins, every spring/summer. The trips run from June thru November most every weekend, I believe. The best times to go are during the summer. Many trips see shearwaters and albatross, with the occassional petrel/other rarity thrown in. The islands are beautiful, the captain is great at balancing respect for the creatures observed with meeting the participants' desire to observe and learn; the naturalists are all very experienced and all come from some kind of biology/natural history profession. A wide variety of marine mammals, including humback and blue whales, are regularly seen throughout the season. While very rarely seen, the waters around the islands are home to white sharks in the fall. There are some great calm boating days, but there are some pretty choppy days and swelling seas as well. OSE is a non-profit organization. There website is

http://www.oceanic-society.org/pages/wwd.html

Thanks for mentioning OSE, Lewis! I had forgotten to mention
them! And August is a good time to be out at the Farallons -
the Tufted Puffins should still be in full breeding plumage then,
and you can usually see a few fluttering around.

- Arnel Guanlao

Arnel thanks for the info that sounds great.

No problem, Swift.....

More California seabird information can be found at the following
link, which provides an abundance calendar for various pelagic
species that can be seen off the southern California coast:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca5/pelagics/CALENDAR.html

... And the Los Angeles Audubon Society offers regular pelagic tours out of L.A. Good chances for Craveri's and Xantus' Murrelet as well as the other CA pelagics. Some of their trips go 'way out; others visit Santa Cruz Island for the endemic jay. They're here.

PS: they've a complete list of species seen from each itinerary.

I've been out on dozens of the LAAS southern California pelagics in different seasons over a period of several years, and they're all very good.

The Condor Express out of Santa Barbara (90 miles north of LA) is the best of the bunch, though, as it's a big, high-speed, stable catamaran that can get to deep water FAST, giving you more time to stay on the offshore birds. All three of its captains, too, are expert at bird and cetacean IDs, even if there aren't guest experts/naturalists on board.

Have also been out twice to the Farallons off San Francisco, and it's a spectacular trip not only for birds but for whales. One trip we stopped counting at over 200 blue and humpback whales just inside the Continental Shelf, which is just beyond the Farallon Islands themselves. Oh, and about 10,000 common murres covering one of the islands. These were both through Oceanic Society Expeditions in San Francisco.

Never been on a Shearwater trip but I've heard wonderful things about the spp they see. Monterey Bay is tough to beat with its deep-water canyon coming almost to shore. One year, a short-tailed albatross was seen FROM THE BEACH!

Katy

Thanks for the information, guys. I guess I'll have to make some extra time for a pelagic trip the next time I visit southern California.

And, yes, I concur with the trip to the Farallons. That trip has to rank as one of my all-time favorites.

Arnel Guanlao

Shearwater Journeys has had some pretty exciting field trips of late; they've posted some trip reports on their web site. Since they give some idea of what it's like to go on a pelagic trip in California, I thought I'd post the following links to a couple of these reports:

http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/mb030725.html

http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/cb030727.html

Arnel Guanlao