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FYI Pelagic trips out of Ventura CA: July 12, August 24, October 10 (1 Viewer)

wimvdam

Well-known member
FYI Pelagic trips out of Ventura CA: July 12, August 25, October 10

See below for information about three upcoming summer and fall pelagic trips out of Ventura, CA.

- Wim


Trips can be booked over the phone by calling (805) 642-1393 or online at www.IslandPackers.com by clicking the Reserve Trip tab/Reserve a trip, Select the Special Trips tab, and select your desired departure.

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Attention birders:

Island Packers is officially announcing its summer and fall Pelagic Birding trips. There are three trips on the books that met with grand success last year so we are aiming to repeat it in 2015.

Channel Islands and Beyond: SB Channel, Interisland gaps, and deep waters south…
July 12th (Sunday)
12 hrs 7 am-7 pm
$195 per adult

Previous year highlights include: Blue-footed Booby, Scripps’s and Craveri’s Murrelet, South Polar Skua, Common Tern, Leach’s, Ashy, and Black Storm-Petrels, Sooty, Pink-footed, and Black-vented Shearwaters, Northern Fulmar, Cassin’s Auklet, and Red-necked Phalaropes. Also locally Manx Shearwater has been sighted the past few years in mid July.

SBI Special: Anacapa Island, Pilgrim Bank, Santa Barbara Island, Osborn Bank, Santa Cruz Basin
August 25th (Tuesday)
10 hrs 8 am-6 pm
$125 per adult (Includes a camper drop off at Santa Barbara Island)

Previous year highlights include: Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Booby, Scripps’s and Craveri’s Murrelet, Nearly 10,000 Black-vented Shearwaters, Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters, Cassin’s Auklet, Red-necked Phalarope, Black Storm-Petrel, and Northern Fulmar.

Santa Barbara Channel inside and out: Fall Migration
October 10th (Saturday)
10 hrs 8 am-6 pm
$170 per adult

Previous year highlights include: Blue-footed and Brown Booby, American Oystercatcher, Craveri’s Murrelet, Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaeger, Cassin’s and Rhinoceros Auklet, Red and Red-necked Phalarope, Pink-footed and Black-vented Shearwater, Common/Arctic Tern and Common Murre. Other possibilities include Buller’s and Flesh-footed Shearwater, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird, and Sabine’s Gull.


The winter of 2014-2015 and spring resulted in numerous encounters with a variety of species usually associated with warm water movement into Southern California including; Eastern Tropical Pacific Killer Whales, Bryde’s Whales, By The Wind Sailors, and Pelagic Red Crabs. The Pelagic Red Crabs, not seen in these numbers since the last big El Nino of 97-98, are washing ashore at the islands and the birds love them. These are all indicators that warm water is pushing up and over our normally cooler region. As of this writing the predicted El Nino event is 90% certain for the summer period, and there is over an 80% chance it will continue into the winter.

What does this mean for Pelagic Birding? Many times El Nino events cause food crashes to the south of us and birds leave their normal ranges to find more productive waters. We don’t know if this will happen for sure, that’s why we want to get these trips filled and on the water to find out! In 2014 moderate movement of warm water extended the range of some birds from Mexico well into our area. With more warm water on the way we can hope to expect sightings of great birds like Blue-footed Booby, Brown Booby, Craveri’s Murrelet, and Red-billed Tropicbird. Of course we will be looking hard for something really epic!

As you may know these trips can also yield a wide variety of Shearwaters, Alcids, Gulls, South Polar Skua, Jaegers, Terns, Phalaropes, and Storm-Petrels that reside or migrate through these off shore waters. All trips are staffed with friendly and knowledgeable leaders and crew. Birds are spotted from one of two decks aboard our 64’ high speed catamarans with inside seating, a galley, and restrooms.

Pick a trip that suits your budget, or try them all to increase your odds of meeting up with your target birds. Additionally why not seek out the endemic Island Scrub-Jay while you’re in town. There are several trips to Santa Cruz Island both before and after each of the above dates.

Trips can be booked over the phone by calling (805) 642-1393 or online at www.IslandPackers.com by clicking the Reserve Trip tab/Reserve a trip, Select the Special Trips tab, and select your desired departure.

See you on the boat,

Joel Barrett
Island Packers
Ventura, CA
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