With at least two or three of the several northbound "repositioning" cruises having now taken place this spring between s. California and Vancouver, I thought I might share some info I have on potential future cruises and on the current situation. I have been taking these cruises now for well over 10 years and have logged 20+ of them during spring and summer, although I did not go on any of this year's trips.

Clearly there were plenty of Murphy's Petrels and a moderate number of Hawaiian Petrels offshore this year. With perhaps average numbers of Laysan Albatrosses. But very few Cook's Petrels. Cook's is often a "feast or famine" species, with large numbers some years in late April and early May, and then very few/virtually none during others. The numbers of the other pterodromas also vary from year to year, but not seemingly with as wild the swings, and they often vary due more to how many sharp observers are on board and, especially, on how much wind there is on a given a cruise (typically the more wind the better for all three species!). One windy cruise this spring had a total of 550 Murphy's, a new single-cruise record, beating last year's new record of ca. 350.

I also heard that the trip with all the Murphy's (and ca. 15 Hawaiians) also had as many as 80 birders on board. These numbers can get unwieldy, especially if there is limited good railing space due to wind and lighting making some sites unusable at times. Trying to get everyone corralled, not having them block the passage of all the non-birding cruise guests wishing to use the same deck for walking/jogging, and trying to coordinate list totals, photos, and details via shared eBird lists just gets more and more difficult. With the increasing popularity of these trips for a good chance at comfortably seeing numbers of Hawaiian, Murphy's, and Cook's Petrels, Laysan Albatross, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Tufted Puffin, etc. etc., such crowds have steadily been increasing on some of the sailings for a number of years. And these birder crowds are likely to get even WORSE in the near future for the following reason: Some or all of the cruise lines seem to be reducing the number of such cruises that go non-stop between SanDiego/Los Angeles and Victoria/Vancouver, and are adding stops along the way, which reduces time spent well offshore during daylight and also adds days and cost to these trips. Not a good trend!

So, I would suggest that folks look at the VARIETY of April and May offerings from a variety of cruise lines from either Los Angeles or San Diego. If you care about exactly which counties' waters you pass through during daylight, then the port of choice may well be important. Otherwise, either one is equally likely to produce those desired species mentioned above, and other factors such as the weather conditions during the trip, having some sharp-eyed observers on board, or simple luck are all going to be more important factors. Almost all birders to date have taken either Princess from Los Angeles or Holland America from San Diego (where one also sees Black Storm-Petrel and Scripps's Murrelet the first afternoon), but one might also wish to look into any offerings from (mostly Los Angeles) on Celebrity, Norweigan, or Disney cruise lines--and in that case you will have the railings mostly to yourself. I would also suggest, for those with a few more days available, looking into the 10-day or 12-day round-trip cruises on Princess from either Los Angeles or San Francisco up to southeast Alaska and back--doing so in May or early June for these same species--which go northbound even much farther offshore (up to 150+ miles out off n. OR to s. BC, where Mottled Petrel is possible in May), and come back southbound along the same repositioning route, in reverse, that the shorter, one-way trips do. So, you get almost double the amount of offshore time.

One other issue I'd like to mention on these cruises is the somewhat distressing amount of mis-called, mis-identified species (and numbers), or mis-plotted locations, that get reported on an all-too-often basis. This makes the situation really tough for regional editors, eBird reviewers, etc., who have to wade through the masses of reports after the trips are completed. With so many birders on board, theres no way to share
checklists across so many folks, and honestly thats not appropriate
anyway, given the fact that people
come and go, move from one side to the other, etc. Many sub-groups on the boat are basically separate sampling units
with their own biases and skill levels. But even without those issues, there seems to be a high level of "pressure" to see these desired birds, and on a regular basis it is fairly easy to see folks cutting corners and pulling the trigger too quickly on some distant and incompletely seen species that should be left unidentified. Too much "conventional wisdom" applied to species which "should" occur in those waters but which may be rare or absent some years (e.g., Cook's Petrel). We've also seen visiting first-timers on these West Coast cruises who are not accustomed to cruise-ship birding and/or who are skilled in another part of North America or the offshore World and assume they are therefore skilled here and then make regular mistakes--especially if they do not appreciate, at the time of the sighting, the proper STATUS & DISTRIBUTION of these species at the various seasons and along the various stretches of these routes. And the conditions can be challenging at times, depending on the weather and how close or far the birds are away from the ship, which varies a lot from day to day and trip to trip. Some of the most regularly mis-identified species are distant arcing Pink-footed Shearwaters being called Hawaiian Petrels, distant arcing or just plain poorly seen Sooty Shearwaters being called Murphy's Petrels, distant Bonaparte's/Sabine's Gulls or even Red-necked Phalaropes being called Cook's Petrels, Cassin's Auklets with plenty of pale on the belly being called Parakeet Auklets, and poorly/incompletely seen Rhinoceros Auklets being called Tufted Puffins.

The situation is made even worse by some observers writing somewhat "canned" descriptions of what they think they have seen. I have read too many reports of distant Cook's Petrels in April-May which include details such as "arcing very high in the sky as this species does" and "bold dark 'M' across the upperwing." Well, very, very few of the Cook's in spring do these things on these trips!! They are almost all in substantial molt here in spring, and they look very messy (mottled) above, with some brownish tones and NOT showing a bold M; and even under windy conditions they mostly stay fairly low to the water and in a rapid, somewhat twisty flight. If one sees Cook's later in summer, once they have completed molt, then they do look fresh and with bold dark 'M's" across the upperside, and they do tend to arc up more.

These trips are great social fun and a great opportunity to see species that are difficult to see comfortably, or at all, elsewhere. But some of these trips could be too popular, so observers are encouraged to try to "spread the wealth." And please make extra efforts to report one's sightings with care.

--Paul Lehman, San Diego

The northbound Holland America ("Eurodam") cruise-ship pelagic from San Diego to Vancouver, April 25-29, produced some 500+ Murphy's Petrels, 7 Hawaiian Petrels, 140 Cook's Petrels, and 20 Laysan Albatrosses. Very windy on April 26, but light winds on April 27, but still crazy numbers of Murphy's both days. These are record high totals for Murphy's, Hawaiians, and Laysans for a single trip. April 26 daylight ran from western Santa Barbara County to southern Marin County (brief). April 27 from northern Humboldt County (brief) and Del Norte County through much of Oregon. This trip, like most of them, runs about 42-53 miles offshore of CA, and slightly less off Oregon, most of the time right along the shelf edge. Photos taken of many of these birds will appear in eBird reports at some point soon. Here is the county breakdown of the (approximate) totals:

26 APRIL
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: 2 Hawaiians, 2 Murphy's, 1 Laysan
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY: 1 Hawaiian (continuing), 4 Murphy's, 35 Cook's, 2 Laysans
MONTEREY COUNTY: 5 Murphy's, 45 Cook's, 6 Laysans, 2 Tufted Puffins
SAN MATEO COUNTY: 2 Hawaiians, 45 Murphy's, 70 Cook's
SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 2 Hawaiians, 125 Murphy's, 3 Laysans
MARIN COUNTY: 10 Murphy's, 1 Laysan

27 APRIL
HUMBOLDT COUNTY: 1 Hawaiian, 10 Murphy's
DEL NORTE COUNTY: 22 Murphy's, 1 Laysan
OREGON: 260 Murphy's, 6 Laysans

--Paul Lehman (San Diego) and 25 birders (mostly from out-of-state)

Twenty-five birders aboard the Holland America Eurodam departed San Diego late afternoon on the 25th and spent the 26th between waters off w. Santa Barbara County and extreme southern Marin, and then just a couple hours the morning of the 27th off northern Humboldt and Del Norte. The 26th was characterized by strong North winds up to 30 knots right on the bow which clearly was a factor in the incredible number of pterodromas seen during the day in every county covered. And the boat just cut through the nasty waves like a knife through butter and so was a very comfortable ride.
Six Hawaiian petrels was a record for one day, as were the 210 Murphy's petrels, with a good total of 140 cooks and 13 laysans. Then additional 20 or so Murphy's and a one Hawaiian and a laysan in Del Norte and Humboldt the next morning. A detailed county by county breakdown of numbers of the better birds will appear in the next couple days.
Paul Lehman and 25 others, San Diego

Sent from the all new AOL app for Android

Hi All,

To start the Spring pelagic season off, I will be leading a May 8th pelagic out of Bodega Bay to Bodega Canyon, Cordell Bank and possibly the Continental Shelf (assuming weather permits). Thetrip will be on the New Sea Angler (65 ft. Coast Guard approved vessel) with Captain Rick Powers,a 40+ year veteran of the open ocean and someone who has been runningpelagic trips for over three decades. The goal will be to get offshore as quickly as possiblein order to maximize time for spring specialities such as Hawaiian Petrel, Cook's Petrel and a variety of offshore birdsheaded north to the Arctic to breed. Other possibilities are Leach's Storm-Petrel, Parakeet Auklet (a species we were able to see last year around this time), Murphy's Petrel (another species we saw this time last year), any species of booby and of course we always hope to find a Short-tailed Albatross. Spring is a time of year not often covered by pelagic boats so who knows what we may discover out there.

Compared to last spring, wind has been quite mild this year so Rick and I are much more hopeful of running these boats than we were last year andwe think that this trip could be quite calm. That said, if you are interested, please let me know ASAP. The cost of the trip will be $150 per person.

Good Birding,

Lucas Corneliussen

Leonie Batkin and I were on aHolland America Line ( New Amsterdam )reposition cruise from San Diego to Vancouver.

Sightings below are from San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Mateo, San Francisco, Sonoma

and Del Norte Counties May1-3.

May 2

Santa Barbara County

Murphy's Petrel ( 3 )

San Luis Obispo County

Murphy's Petrel ( 1 )

San Mateo County

Murphy's Petrel ( 1 )

Laysan Albatross ( 3 )

San Francisco County

Murphy's Petrel ( 1 )

Sonoma County

Murphy's Petrel ( 1 )

May 3

Del Norte County

Murphy's Petrel ( 1 )

Hawaiian Petrel ( 1 )

( 2 ) Murphy's Petrels were inCurry County not long after crossing into Oregon.

Other birds noted in Californiawere ( 53 )Black-footed Albatross, (41 )Northern Fulmars,( 300 )Sooty Shearwaters,

( 30 ) Pink-footed Shearwaters, ( 520 ) Leach's Storm-Petrels ( Del Note Co.), ( 34 )Black Storm-Petrels ( San Diego Co. )

( 28 )Red-necked Phalaropes,( 1 ) Red Phalarope, ( 12 )Pomarine Jaegers, ( 2 ) Parasitic Jaegers, ( 1 ) Long-tailed

Jaeger ( San Mateo Co. ),( 183 ) Sabine's Gulls,( 1 ) Arctic Tern (Santa Barbara Co. ), ( 2 ) Marbled Murrelets,

( 2 ) Scripp's Murrelets ( San Diego Co. ), ( 6 ) Cassin's Auklets, ( 1 ) Rhinoceros Auklet, (7 ) Eurasian Collared

Doves together on board with a Brown-headed Cowbird.

We had heard oftwo other birders on board, but were not able to track them down. So there may be some additional

sightings.

Ron Thorn

Redwood City, California

Leonie Batkin and I did a Holland America Line cruise from San Diego to Vancouver.

The number of birds and diversity were at the low endthrough-out California.

All species were noted, but below are justthe highlights.

April 9

Santa Barbara County

Cook's Petrel ( 3 )

San Luis Obispo County

Laysan Albatross ( 1 )

Monterey County

Laysan Albatross ( 1 )

Cook's Petrel (2 )

Sabine's Gull ( 6 )

San Mateo County

Laysan Albatross ( 1 )

Cook's Petrel ( 1 )

Ashy Storm-Petrel ( 1 )

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel ( 1 )

Sabine's Gull ( 1 )

San Francisco County

Laysan Albatross ( 1 )

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel ( 2 )

April 10

Del Norte County

Leach's Storm-Petrel ( 500 )

Wenoted noMurphy's Petrelsuntil crossing into Oregon waters.

Ron Thorn

Redwood City, California

The northwest-bound (San Francisco to se. Alaska) "Grand Princess" was well off Humboldt and Del Norte Counties from 6-10 AM on 09 May, before continuing on into Oregon waters. Highlights were a total of 25 MURPHY'S PETRELS (18 Humboldt, 7 Del Norte), as well as an Arctic Tern and a group of 3 Greater Scaup heading north some 107 km west of Trinidad, HUM.

As we departed San Francisco on 08 May, we had a FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL only 1 mile outside the Golden Gate Bridge, and still well "inside" Land's End/Cliff House/Sutro. No surprise given the widespread incursion off central CA since April.

--Paul Lehman, San Diego

A cruise-ship pelagic with ca. 20 birders aboard the "Coral Princess" between Los Angeles and Vancouver was between southern Monterey and central Mendocino Counties on 3 May. Highlights included:

HAWAIIAN PETREL: total of 5, with excellent views and photos (1 San Mateo, 2 San Francisco, 2 Mendocino)

MURPHY'S PETREL: total of at least 7, ditto views/photos (1 Monterey, 2 San Francisco, 1 Marin, 3 Mendocino)

LAYSAN ALBATROSS: total of 2 (San Mateo, Mendocino)

But zero Cook's Petrels, following two April cruises with moderate numbers in virtually every county traversed during daylight.

Also, a flock of 7 Arctic Terns in Monterey and still good numbers for spring of both Fork-tailed and Leach's Storm-Petrels along most of route.

Lost a few hours of the day to dense fog, mostly in AM.

Paul Lehman, San Diego

A Holland America "repositioning" cruise from San Diego to Vancouver,
departing 22 April with some 30 birders on board, was off central
California on 23 April and off northwest California for part of 24
April. Highlights included:

23 April (fair, windy): 3 Hawaiian Petrel (1 SLO, 2 SF)
4 Murphy's Petrel (4 SF) 37 Cook's Petrel (8 SBA, 17 SLO, 5 MTY, 2 SM, 5 SF)
38 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel including 4 in SLO where they are rare; good numbers in all other countries. 2 Laysan Albatross (MTY) 1 Long-tailed Jaeger (SF)
24 April (overcast); morning only before reaching Oregon: HUM: 1 Cook's, 11 Murphy's, 1 Laysan, 1 LT Jaeger DN: 6 Murphy's

--Paul Lehman (and Barbara Carlson), San Diego

A Princess cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver with about 15 birders aboard had the following species off California between s. Monterey and Mendocino Counties on 8 April:

GREAT SHEARWATER: 1 (right off bow in southern San Francisco County; photo obtained)

Laysan Albatross: 11 (1 MTY, 4 SF, 2 MRN, 1 SON, 3 MEN)

Murphy's Petrel: 9 (1 MTY, 5 SM, 1 SF, 1 MRN, 1 MEN)

Cook's Petrel: 77 (well spread all entire route; 28 MTY, 33 SM, 13 SF, 1 SON, 2 MEN)

Long-tailed Jaeger: 2 (very () early arriving adults: 1 off MTY and 1 off SF())

Also:

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel: 1 southerly off MTY

Leach's Storm-Petrel: 4 (scattered)

Misc totals: B-f Albatross: 27, N. Fulmar: 45, Sooty Shearwater: 475 (arriving), Pink-footed Shearwater: 35

Red-necked Phalarope: already 200 have arrived along entire route, on time or slightly early for moderate numbers

Sabine's Gull: 105 (fairly well spread out; would have been "early" just a few years ago, but no longer)

alcids: very low numbers

Brown Booby: 1 (adult in Port of Los Angeles on 7 Apr as we departed)
--Paul Lehman, San Diego

On 12 May, a group of birders were aboard the Grand Princess on the first full day of our San Francisco to southeast Alaska and back round-trip. This cruise goes direct from SF to Juneau, thus goes through deep, very offshore waters--to the tune of 200 miles out off northern OR, WA, and s. BC. The day started at dawn already 45 miles off Arcata and quickly headed NW even farther offshore and entered OR waters just two hours later. Much of the time spent way off Oregon is over level "abyssal plain" waters, so overall diversity and numbers (except for the ubiquitous Leach's Storm-Petel) is often--but not always--fairly limited. Species seen in numbers closer to shore can be pretty scarce this far out. Totals for the day were as follows:

LAYSAN ALBATROSS: 2+ (off Curry/Coos Cos., OR)

Black-footed Albatross: 19

Northern Fulmar: 1

MURPHY'S PETREL: 4 (2 Del Norte, 2 Curry)

HAWAIIAN PETREL: 2 (both Curry; about 75 miles offshore)

Pink-footed Shearwater: 3

Sooty Shearwater: 63

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel: 1

Leach's Storm-Petrel: 545

Red-necked Phalarope: 3

Pomarine Jaeger: 1

Parasitic Jaeger: 10 (all adults; perhaps a surprisingly high total this far offshore, with birds out to 140 miles)

Common Murre: 2

Rhinoceros Auklet: 5

Herring Gull: 1 (105 miles out)

Eurasian Collared-Dove: 5 (go! go! go!)

Savannah Sparrow: 1

--PAUL LEHMAN, San Diego

Hi Birders,
About 28 birders were aboard the Ruby Princess for 2 days of deep water birding 4-5 May. On the 4th we were off southern Monterey County at daybreak, and ended the day off northern Menodcino County. Conditions started off calm, but ended with blustery north winds and sea fog. On the 5th we started in southern Curry County and our last checklist just barely got into Clatsop County. Conditions were rough, with 50 knot headwinds and big seas. I did eBird checklists every half hour for the two days, and all of those are in now and shared. Highlights were a slug of Pterodroma petrels that included 2 Hawaiian, 32 Cook's, and 18 Murphy's, the majority of which were found beginning in San Francisco County and continuing up through Marin, with scattered Murphy's the second day throughout Oregon. I think I've loaded in all my identifiable photos of these, but still have to load photos of common migrants. Parakeet Auklets were seen by one observer in Oregon waters, and those will be added independently by him since the rest of us missed them.
Here are some of the highlight checklists:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklistsubID=S29435292
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklistsubID=S29435309
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklistsubID=S29451212
Trip Summary:
eBird Checklist Summary for: May 4, 2016, 4:20 AM to May 5, 2016, 11:30 PM
Number of Checklists: 53 Number of Taxa: 41
1 Pacific Loon 1 Common Loon 2 loon sp. 4 Laysan Albatross 451 Black-footed Albatross 40 Northern Fulmar 18 Murphy's Petrel 2 Hawaiian Petrel 32 Cook's Petrel 1 Pterodroma sp. 136 Pink-footed Shearwater 3895 Sooty Shearwater 48 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 402 Leach's Storm-Petrel 55 Ashy Storm-Petrel 9 storm-petrel sp. 4 Dunlin 30 peep sp. 24 Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 452 Red-necked Phalarope 80 Red Phalarope 59 phalarope sp. 1 shorebird sp. 1 South Polar Skua 12 Pomarine Jaeger 7 Parasitic Jaeger 2 Long-tailed Jaeger 19 jaeger sp. 165 Common Murre 71 Cassin's Auklet 50 Rhinoceros Auklet 12 alcid sp. 234 Sabine's Gull 18 Western Gull 2 Herring Gull 1 Glaucous-winged Gull 6 gull sp. 8 Arctic Tern 2 Common/Arctic Tern 1 tern sp. 1 Eurasian Collared-Dove (road the boat for the whole first day)
Checklist Locations: Checklists included in this summary: (1): 35.7941x-122.1718 - May 4, 2016, 5:57 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 5:57 AM (2): 35.9275x-122.3139 - May 4, 2016, 6:30 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 6:30 AM (3): 36.0288x-122.4304 - May 4, 2016, 6:57 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 6:57 AM (4): 36.1827x-122.5630 - May 4, 2016, 7:33 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 7:33 AM (5): 36.3443x-122.7072 - May 4, 2016, 8:11 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 8:11 AM (6): 36.4694x-122.8023 - May 4, 2016, 8:38 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 8:38 AM (7): 36.5631x-122.8752 - May 4, 2016, 8:58 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 8:58 AM (8): 36.7546x-123.0254 - May 4, 2016, 9:38 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 9:33 AM (9): 36.8633x-123.1068 - May 4, 2016, 10:01 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 10:01 AM (10): 36.9995x-123.2126 - May 4, 2016, 10:29 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 10:29 AM (11): 37.1376x-123.3179 - May 4, 2016, 10:59 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 10:59 AM (12): 37.3246x-123.4624 - May 4, 2016, 11:39 AM Date: May 4, 2016, 11:30 AM (13): 37.5285x-123.6214 - May 4, 2016, 12:22 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 12:10 PM (14): 37.5847x-123.6652 - May 4, 2016, 12:34 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 12:34 PM (15): 37.6934x-123.7496 - May 4, 2016, 12:58 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 12:58 PM (16): 37.9116x-123.8752 - May 4, 2016, 1:41 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 1:41 PM (17): 38.0271x-123.9324 - May 4, 2016, 2:05 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 2:05 PM (18): 38.1549x-123.9958 - May 4, 2016, 2:32 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 2:32 PM (19): 38.2723x-124.0544 - May 4, 2016, 2:57 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 2:57 PM (20): 38.4158x-124.1262 - May 4, 2016, 3:28 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 3:28 PM (21): 38.5518x-124.1842 - May 4, 2016, 3:57 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 3:57 PM (22): 38.6986x-124.2448 - May 4, 2016, 4:27 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 4:27 PM (23): 38.8920x-124.3226 - May 4, 2016, 5:10 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 5:10 PM (24): 38.9920x-124.3621 - May 4, 2016, 5:33 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 5:33 PM (25): 39.1189x-124.4048 - May 4, 2016, 5:59 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 5:59 PM (26): 39.2764x-124.4532 - May 4, 2016, 6:30 PM Date: May 4, 2016, 6:30 PM (27): 42.2154x-124.8933 - May 5, 2016, 6:04 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 6:00 AM (28): 42.3154x-124.9039 - May 5, 2016, 6:30 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 6:30 AM (29): 42.4338x-124.9123 - May 5, 2016, 7:00 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 7:00 AM (30): 42.5558x-124.9229 - May 5, 2016, 7:30 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 7:30 AM (31): 42.6747x-124.9332 - May 5, 2016, 7:59 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 7:59 AM (32): 42.8072x-124.9431 - May 5, 2016, 8:29 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 8:29 AM (33): 42.9487x-124.9496 - May 5, 2016, 9:00 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 9:00 AM (34): 43.0857x-124.9609 - May 5, 2016, 9:30 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 9:30 AM (35): 43.2335x-124.9702 - May 5, 2016, 10:01 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 10:01 AM (36): 43.3741x-124.9795 - May 5, 2016, 10:30 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 10:30 AM (37): 43.5298x-124.9884 - May 5, 2016, 11:00 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 11:00 AM (38): 43.6834x-125.0002 - May 5, 2016, 11:30 AM Date: May 5, 2016, 11:30 AM (39): 43.9165x-125.0144 - May 5, 2016, 12:16 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 12:16 PM (40): 43.9911x-125.0204 - May 5, 2016, 12:31 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 12:31 PM (41): 44.1383x-125.0325 - May 5, 2016, 1:00 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 1:00 PM (42): 44.2849x-125.0397 - May 5, 2016, 1:30 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 1:30 PM (43): 44.4270x-125.0489 - May 5, 2016, 1:58 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 1:58 PM (44): 44.6066x-125.0613 - May 5, 2016, 2:34 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 2:34 PM (45): 44.7716x-125.0731 - May 5, 2016, 3:06 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 3:00 PM (46): 44.8839x-125.0805 - May 5, 2016, 3:28 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 3:28 PM (47): 45.0362x-125.0932 - May 5, 2016, 3:59 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 3:59 PM (48): 45.1868x-125.1024 - May 5, 2016, 4:28 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 4:28 PM (49): 45.3464x-125.1137 - May 5, 2016, 5:01 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 5:01 PM (50): 45.4737x-125.1217 - May 5, 2016, 5:28 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 5:28 PM (51): 45.6154x-125.1356 - May 5, 2016, 5:57 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 5:57 PM (52): 45.7684x-125.1430 - May 5, 2016, 6:29 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 6:29 PM (53): 45.9707x-125.1587 - May 5, 2016, 7:10 PM Date: May 5, 2016, 7:00 PM

This trip summary was created using the eBird app for iPhone and iPad. See eBird for more information.

--
===========
Brian L. Sullivan

eBird Project Leader
www.ebird.org

Photo Editor
Birds of North America Online
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA
-------------------------------

Over 25 birders were aboard a Holland America cruise-ship between San Diego and Vancouver, May 2-4. On May 3rd, we were off CA from southern San Luis Obispo County to southern Mendocino County--with mostly light winds. What a difference a week makes...this time only ONE Cook's Petrel (plus only 1 Murphy's and 0 Hawaiian) off CA. The light winds may have played a role, but clearly the numbers of Cook's had dropped way off from the previous week when 170 were seen. We did have a dozen Murphy's the following day (May 4) off Oregon and s. Washington, as well as some Parakeet Auklets just north of the CA border, plus Laysan, late-ish Ancient Murrelet(s), another early-ish South Polar Skua, etc. Overall numbers of birds offshore were largely rather lackluster both days. Highlights in CA waters on May 3 were:

Laysan Albatross: 3 (singles in MTY, SM, and SON/MEN)

Murphy's Petrel: 1 (only 1, off s. MEN)

Cook's Petrel: 1 (only 1, off s. MEN)

Ashy Storm-Petrel: 7 (all off s. MEN)

Great Egret: 1 (flying in from west, some 60 km off MTY...)

South Ploar Skua: 1 (slightly early, off MTY)

Scripps's Murrelet: 8 (4 pairs--1 off SLO, 1 off MTY, and 2 off SM)

Tufted Puffin: 1 (off SF)

Eurasian Collared-Dove: 1

--Paul Lehman (and fellow crew), San Diego

Over 25 birders were aboard a Holland America cruise-ship between San
Diego and Vancouver, May 2-4. On May 3rd, we were off CA from southern
San Luis Obispo County to southern Mendocino County--with mostly light
winds. What a difference a week makes...this time only ONE Cook's Petrel
(plus only 1 Murphy's and 0 Hawaiian) off CA. The light winds may well have
played a role, but clearly the numbers of Cook's had dropped way off
from the previous week when 170 were seen. We did have a dozen Murphy's
the following day (May 4) off Oregon and s. Washington, as well as some
Parakeet Auklets just north of the CA border, plus Laysan, late-ish
Ancient Murrelet(s), another early-ish South Polar Skua, etc. Overall
numbers of birds offshore were largely rather lackluster both days.

A Princess ship the very next day (May 4) in the same waters had more wind and more pterodromas off n. CA!!
I'll let folks on that boat summarize their findings.

Our highlights in CA waters on May 3 were:

Laysan Albatross:  3  (singles in MTY, SM, and SON/MEN)

Murphy's Petrel:  1  (only 1, off s. MEN)

Cook's Petrel:  1  (only 1, off s. MEN)

Ashy Storm-Petrel:  7  (all off s. MEN)

Great Egret:  1  (flying in from west, some 60 km off MTY...)

South Ploar Skua:  1  (slightly early, off MTY)

Scripps's Murrelet:  8  (4 pairs--1 off SLO, 1 off MTY, and 2 off SM)

Tufted Puffin:  1  (off SF)

Eurasian Collared-Dove:  1

--Paul Lehman  (and fellow crew),  San Diego

About 18 birders were aboard a Holland America sailing from San Diego to Vancouver from April 23-26. Strong head winds and seas off California and southern Oregon meant we had a slow down and ran late, and ended up with more time in several CA counties, less in others. Was mostly about 40 miles offshore. April 24 was from west of San Miguel Is. in Santa Barbara Co. to very southern San Mateo Co. (brief, before dusk). April 25 was from central Mendocino Co. to Curry Co. OR. Highlights were a good showing of 170 Cook's Petrels, seen in numbers in every CA county traversed in daylight up to extreme southern Humboldt. The total of a dozen Murphy's was lower than the past couple years, with by far the best views off Humboldt, Del Norte, and Curry. The single Hawaiian (Dark-rumped) Petrel was distant. Four Long-tailed Jaegers. On April 26 we were off Washington and had 10 Parakeet Auklets, plus a Laysan and a dozen Long-tailed Jaegers. Overall, numbers and diversity well offshore were rather sub-par.

APRIL 24

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

Murphy's Petrel: 2

Hawaiian (Dark-rumped) Petrel: 1

Cook's Petrel: 31

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

Laysan Albatross: 2

Murphy's Petrel: 1

Cook's Petrel: 31

Arctic Tern: 1

MONTEREY COUNTY

Murphy's Petrel: 1

Cook's Petrel: 75

SAN MATEO COUNTY

Cook's Petrel: 12
APRIL 25

MENDOCINO COUNTY

Cook's Petrel: 20

Ashy Storm-Petrel: 1

HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Murphy's Petrel: 4

Cook's Petrel: 1 (northernmost bird of trip was SW of Punta Gorda)

Arctic Tern: 3

DEL NORTE COUNTY

Laysan Albatross: 1

Murphy's Petrel: 3

Long-tailed Jaeger: 3

CURRY COUNTY, OR

Laysan Albatross: 1

Murphy's Petrel: 2

-- Paul Lehman, San Diego