Hello, CAL Birders,
Shearwater Journeys had two recent pelagic trips departing from Half Moon Bay.
September 22, we had a great trip with calm seas, a good SST break from 55 F to an amazing 59.8 F nearly 30 miles offshore at the Pioneer Canyon. Inshore, we found MARBLED MURRELETS and TUFTED PUFFINS. Offshore, everything about the scene said tuna except that the clarity of the water was not good. The seabirds screamed tuna though, with both BLACK and ASHY STORM-PETRELS; ARCTIC TERNS, SABINES GULLS, many BULLERS SHEARWATERS, SOUTH POLAR SKUA and all three species of jaegers. Humpback whales, Rissos and Pacific white-sided dolphins rounded out the cetaceans. It was a beautiful day with uniformly high overcast skies and very calm seas. The leaders on this date included: Alex Rinkert, Steve Hampton, Debi Shearwater with assistance from Tom and Beth Hamel. We spent the entire day in San Mateo County.
September 23, the very next day presented a whole different scene. The SSTs hovered at 54-55 F throughout the day. The high seas and northwest winds prevented us from getting out to the canyon, but we made it to the edge of the Continental Shelf which we then explored for hours. Many thanks to Monika who chummed lots of birds behind our boat, including all three species of jaegers, SOUTH POLAR SKUA, and a wonderful FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER. Note that was saw 2 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, one in each county! It was a county tick for many folks on board. The ASHY and BLACK STORM-PETRELS also put on a good show. Again, we had the odd dolphin combination with excellent views of all three species. The leaders on this date included: Peter Pyle, Scott & Linda Terrill, Tim Miller, Abe Borker, and Debi Shearwater.
Our next trip departing from Half Moon Bay is SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 with leaders Jim Holmes, Steve Hampton, Christian Schwarz, and Debi Shearwater. Spaces are available. For more information/reservation, contact: debi@... .
The complete species list for SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 SHEARWATER JOURNEYS HALF MOON BAY PELAGIC TRIP SAN MATEO/SAN FRANCISCO COUNTIES:
PACIFIC LOON- 7/0 COMMON LOON- 4/0 WESTERN GREBE- 2/0 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 2/13 NORTHERN FULMAR- 20/30 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 13/34 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1/1 SOOTY SHEARWATER- 17/31 SHORT-TAILED/SOOTY SHEARWATER- 1/0 ASHY STORM-PETREL- 7/29 BLACK STORM-PETREL- 0/8 BROWN PELICAN- 3558/0 BRANDTS CORMORANT- 47/0 PELAGIC CORMORANT- 6/0 SURF SCOTER- 3/0 BLACK TURNSTONE- 3/0 SURFBIRD- 27/0 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 1/3 RED PHALAROPE- 4/7 SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 0/8 POMARINE JAEGER- 0/7 POMARINE/PARASITIC- 0/1 PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED- 3/3 LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 0/15 HEERMANNS GULL- 22/0 CALIFORNIA GULL- 8/1 WESTERN GULL- 292/99 ARCTIC TERN- 0/7 COMMON MURRE- 200/55 MARBLED MURRELET- 5/0 RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 10/7 BLUE WHALE-4 HUMPBACK WHALE-3 SHORT-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHIN- 30 NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 4 PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 60 OCEAN SUNFISH- 10
Ive received a number of inquiries regarding the trips this coming weekend departing from Monterey on Sep. 28, 29, and 30. A few spaces are available on each trip. Please email me for more information.
Thanks to all who have joined our trip! Seabirding for Science, Debi Shearwater

DEBRA SHEARWATER Shearwater Journeys, Inc. PO Box 190 Hollister, CA 95024 831.637.8527 debi@... www.shearwaterjourneys.com www.shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com
Celebrating 43 Years of Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys Siberias Forgotten Coast & Spoon-billed Sandpiper- 25 June - 9 July 2019 Galapagos Islands: 30 October - 12 November 2019