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

Hi all
Island Packers has spots left on an Island Scrub-Jay pelagic trip on the Vanguard out of the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard on Saturday March 4. The trip leaves at 8:00 am and returns at 5:00 pm. We will run from Oxnard to Santa Cruz Island where we will disembark at Prisoners Harbor and spend approximately an hour looking for the endemic Island Scrub-Jay. On the way to the island and back, we will be looking for pelagic birds and other marine wildlife. Late winter trips can be good for alcids, shearwaters, Red Phalaropes, and a variety of other species. I have been out of San Diego and Orange County in recent weeks and there are numbers of alcids around. We normally see Scripps's Murrelets, Cassin's Auklets, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Common Murres on this trip. A trip out of San Diego a few weeks ago had a Tufted Puffin and a recent passage to the islands from Ventura had a pair of Marbled Murrelets so you never know what will turn up. We are also planning to cruise along Anacapa Island where we may get lucky and find a booby roosting among the cormorants and pelicans.

The trip costs $125 and leaves from the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard (not the Ventura Harbor in Ventura). You can register at: https://islandpackers.com/trips/whales-and-wildlife-cruises/birding-excursions/
Hope to see you there
Dave Pereksta Ventura

On Saturday Oct 1, we ran our annual fall pelagic trip with Island Packers from the Ventura Harbor. We had a great forecast and a nice setup of sea conditions so we left the harbor with a game plan and a sense of optimism. That didn't last very long after we heard radio chatter that the Navy was firing a missile at some point during the morning, which closed off most of the waters south of the Channel Islands. Our hopes that this exercise would be done by 0930 dragged on through the morning and we had to adjust our route with the severe limitations imposed upon us. It is tough to stay focused when the radio in the wheel house is blowing up with constant communication between the Navy and the fishing fleet; the latter of which was violating the boundaries of the closure so frequently that the launch had to be delayed again and again. With our hopes of visiting Santa Barbara Island and it's booby colony becoming more unrealistic by the minute, we adjusted and here is how the day went...
After leaving the harbor we started the trip with an unusual surprise when we found rafts of thousands of Black-vented Shearwaters sitting on the water right past the breakwaters. The birds must have been feeding all night as they were piled up on the water and not as skittish as they might normally be. We had great looks, which included several leucistic birds, and then moved on to Anacapa Island. The crossing was slow bird wise, but Anacapa provided our first thrill of the day after we found a Brown Booby and then a Masked Booby perched below the lighthouse on the east end of Anacapa. These two birds just sat there giving everyone on board great views.
Our original intention from here was to run west-southwest before eventually turning towards Santa Barbara Island. With the missile launch still pending the Navy told us we couldn't go south and we had to stay with a few miles of the islands. We adjusted and moved west on the south side of Anacapa and Santa Cruz. We were rewarded with nearly 30 Craveri's Murrelets behind Anacapa and as we headed west into Santa Barbara County waters we had great looks at a few close Ashy Storm-Petrels. This run was slow but we did have a few jaegers of all three species and the three expected species of shearwaters (Black-vented, Pink-footed, and Sooty) among other birds. We had hoped we would be cleared to move south somewhere along this route but it did not happen so we continued to the Santa Rosa Passage where we checked Bird Rock and found a Peregrine Falcon and a pair of Bald Eagles sitting on a midden on the adjacent part of Santa Cruz Island.
Moving into the Santa Cruz Canyon, we encountered some small flocks of Pink-footed Shearwaters that had other birds feeding with them and then somewhere off the east end of Santa Rosa Island, the day went haywire. Not long after finding Curtis Marantz his long-awaited Santa Barbara County Craveri's Murrelet, we had a few shearwaters in front of the boat when one of our sharp-eyed passengers said, "there is a white-headed Pink-footed in this flock." Linda Terrill said that I leapt off the deck at this point, but among a series of expletives flowing from my mouth were the two words I have only ever yelled once before in unison from a boat...STREAKED SHEARWATER!!!!!! Among a ton of out-of-control emotions and ensuing panic of birders, we just stopped the boat, started getting everyone on the bird, carefully evaluated our ID to make sure we weren't looking at a white-headed Pink-footed Shearwater, and then spent an extensive amount of time with this bird. Finding rare seabirds is often tricky business as some birds fly by the boat quickly or a bird flushes, never to be seen again. Many times only a few people on board see the very rare ones. However...Captain Joel Barrett managed the boat impeccably and everyone had incredible views of this mega rarity (Only the 20th for the state and the second off southern California). Although it flushed a few times, the low winds had the shearwaters settling back on the water so we had repeated looks at it. We quickly forgot about the travel restrictions imposed by the Navy which had ultimately and serendipitously led us to this bird. There it is...rare bird found, a boat full of satisfied birders, day is done...hardly!
The Navy pulled their restrictions, but we would not have time to head to SBI. We followed the shearwaters south along the eastern part of the Santa Rosa Flats and the number of birds increased ultimately revealing a few Buller's Shearwaters. A few birders got their life Streaked before their life Buller's...life is not fair. While still working the Streaked we found a Nazca Booby sitting on the water; our third booby of the day. We also had another interesting bird flash by that may have been a Wedge-tailed Shearwater. The winds were increasing so the birds were becoming more mobile. We did gather some photos of distant flocks on the water where we believed this bird briefly settled so we will see if we can find it after-the-fact. They were not very cooperative.
Our run south and then east into the deep waters of the Santa Cruz Basin continued to produce birds and we started finding storm-petrels including Black, Ashy, and Least. Our jaeger numbers were increasing and as we traversed the basin we had impressive numbers of Long-tailed Jaegers with decent numbers of Pomarines and a few Parasitics. Here and elsewhere starting at the Santa Rosa Passage, we also found a few South Polar Skuas. Along our run east we continued to encounter Craveri's Murrelets which were often clumped by pairs in loose groups of as many as 10-12 birds in view at a time. We will see what our eBird reveals, but we certainly had somewhere in the ballpark of 50-100 for the day. They were the most abundant alcid by far, but we did have a few Cassin's Auklets and Rhinoceros Auklets. The jaeger show continued with a few flocks chasing groups of Common Terns and Sabine's Gulls. Careful inspection of the tern flocks found us a few Arctic and Black Terns as well. The number of birds in the Santa Cruz Basin was awesome and our ride back was filled with jaegers, terns, shearwaters, murrelets, and phalaropes.

I joked that when life gives you lemons, you spike the lemonade with tequila and have the kind of day we ultimately had at sea. While we reflected that the day would have been great even without the Streaked Shearwater, we are not trading that one in. We will remember this one for a long time. Many thanks to Joel Barrett and Island Packers for supporting our pelagic trips and working with us to consistently provide great pelagic experiences. I also want to give a shout-out to our leaders who busted their butts all day...many thanks to Jon Feenstra, Peter Gaede, Hugh Ranson, Bob Schallmann, and Wes Fritz. Among the kind words I received as we wrapped up was sentiments from one very seasoned pelagic birder and dear friend who said she was impressed at how well people worked together and that there was a pleasant vibe on the boat throughout the day. One for the ages...
Dave Pereksta Ventura

Three Buena Vista Audubon sponsored pelagic trips out of San Diego are being offered in April, May, and June 2022. All are aboard the 80-foot "Legacy" out of Seaforth Landing in Mission Bay. Passenger loads are limited to 55, with several leaders.
April 24, 2022 . This is a 6- hour Sunday trip to the local canyons and banks off San Diego. A shorter trip than others but which still allows for coverage of inshore waters frequented by many seabirds and other marine life. Expected species include Scripps's Murrelet, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklet, Northern Fulmar, Pink-footed, Sooty, and Black-vented Shearwaters, Black Storm-Petrel, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, Red Phalarope, and Brown Booby.

May 14, 2022. This is a 10-12-hour Saturday trip that will likely extend west to the farthest reaches of San Diego County waters, and we may enter briefly into Los Angeles Co. as well. The "on the water time" here allows for a more thorough coverage of the various banks and deeps, for both the expected and less numerous species also found slightly farther offshore. Expected species include all those from the April trip, plus Ashy Storm-Petrel and Sabine's Gull, and gives us a better chance at possible species such as Black-footed Albatross, Red-billed Tropicbird, and South Polar Skua, with a slight chance for Laysan Albatross.

June 12, 2022. This is a 10-12-hour Sunday trip, with a similar general route as the May trip. Expected species are much the same as for the May trip, with a somewhat lower likelihood of Scipps's Murrelet but the possibilityof picking up the first of several summer species such as Craveri's Murrelet and Leach's Storm-Petrel, and with a slight chance for Cook's Petrel.

For further details and to see the July-October 2022 schedule, go to sandiegopelagics.com

You may book directly online at www.sdwhale.com (be sure you are on the Legacy Whale Watch site). Hit the red "BOOK NOW" button, which leads to the boat's schedule (both whale-watching and birding). Then scroll down to the date you wish to book. Hit "CLICK HERE" then "BOOKING."
You can also call Seaforth Sportfishing Landing during regular business hours: (619) 224-3383.
Thanks, and we hope we will see you onboard!

--Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Paul Lehman, San Diego

Hi all
We had an 11-hour pelagic trip out of Ventura with Island Packers yesterday (Oct 2). It was a beautiful day with low winds and nice seas, and we encountered a lot of birds and other sea life. We went from Ventura to Anacapa Island and then to Santa Barbara Island. The highlights were:
A huge feeding frenzy near Anacapa Island has thousands of birds including big numbers of Black-vented Shearwaters. We had our only Common Murre of the day in the channel before the frenzy.
A large flock of oystercatchers (30+) on Anacapa with three white-bellied birds. We could not get too close due to divers in the water and need to review photos to see if we can determine if any were Americans. The ones we could see well from the boat looked like hybrids and we did not get to see many fieldmarks like spread wings or rumps.
The waters from Anacapa to the Pilgrim Bank in Ventura County had lots of birds and common dolphins. We had a "skua slam" over the course of a few minutes, finding Parasitic, Pomarine, and Long-tailed Jaegers; and South Polar Skua. We also had decent numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters, a few Sooty Shearwaters, Sabine's Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets, two Brown Boobies, and an Ashy Storm-Petrel that sat on the water near the boat. However, the highlights of this stretch were 21 Craveri's Murrelets and several large rafts of Black Storm-Petrels that numbered around 1,200 birds or more.
The stretch from Pilgrim to Santa Barbara Island was less eventful, but Sutil Rock provided and incredible Booby show. We had 146 Brown Boobies, two Blue-footed Boobies, and two Red-footed Boobies!! This is the first time we have seen Red-footed Boobies perched on Sutil. Two birds perched together in vegetation makes you wonder what they are thinking. There was another booby that was either a juvenile Blue-footed or the hybrid Blue-footed x Brown from last year. Photo review of that is pending.
We left SBI and checked the Osborn Bank before heading back north on a line over deeper water than our southbound track. We continued to see Craveri's Murrelets and a variety of other species including Red and Red-necked Phalaropes, Sabine's Gulls, shearwaters, and jaegers. The highlight of this stretch was a cow/calf pair of Bryde's Whales that mugged the boat several times and swam along the side with their bellies turned upward. A "life" mammal for most on board. As we continued north back into Ventura County we continued to see a variety of birds and lots of common dolphins. The bird highlights there were our most photogenic Sabine's Gulls and Craveri's Murrelets of the day. We had 40+ Craveri's for the day!
Thanks go out to Island Packers for another great trip and all they do to support pelagic birding in southern California. Captain Joel Barrett, Laurie Van Stee, and Paige Knowles were awesome as always. In addition, the trip was expertly led by Todd McGrath, Ryan Terrill, Deven Kammerichs-Berke, Wes Fritz, and myself. Everyone's efforts led to a great day on the water.
We are also proud to announce that big year birder Tiffany Kersten picked up numbers 699 (Craveri's Murrelet) and 700 (Blue-footed Booby) for her lower 48 big year. Congratulations to her for an amazing milestone!
We have an 8-hour trip out of Ventura on Oct 23. Visit Island Packers website for more details.
Cheers
Dave Pereksta Ventura

Hi all.

We did not find any mega rarities on our eight-hour pelagictrip aboard the Pt. Sur Clipper last Sunday (9/12) but we again had a steady stream of birds throughout the day, great looks at most species, and favorable weather conditions and sea state.
Buller's Shearwaters have been a bit erratic this year, the five-day Searcher trip didn't find any last week and neither did we on our previous two trips, but this time we hit the mother lode, over 150 birds. We also had at least one, but likelythree, Short-tailed Shearwaters, a species that appearsto be making its way down from the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska earlythis year. We had Sooty and Pink-footedShearwaters in good numbers and several cooperative Black-footed Albatrosses. Our only three storm-petrels were Ashys and we had a few NorthernFulmars.
The jaeger show was spectacular, especially Pomarine and Long-tailed Jaegers of which we had over a dozen aroundthe boat several times. The victims were mostly Sabine's Gulls this time as numbers of both Artic and Common Terns were lower than during previous trips. Numbers of California Gulls continue to increase. We found a few Cassin's Auklets, including a very cooperative one, as well as high numbers of the expected Rhinoceros Auklets and Common Murres. All phalaropes were Red-necked. And one pelagicTownsend'sWarbler was running the gauntlet of Western Gulls.
Thank you to co-leader Bill Hubick. In my last report, I forgot to thank co-leaders Eli Gross, Don Roberson, Mark Kudrav, and Joshua Stacy.
We have a couple of spots open on our eight-hour trip this coming Sunday and we have three more trips coming up in October, https://www.montereyseabirds.com/ . The Short-tailed Albatross was in the Bay on Wednesday, will it stick around
Take care,
Bernardo
--
Bernardo Alps
Wildlife Biologist California Whales & Wildlife www.photocetus.com
whalephoto@...
310.597.0449
P.O. Box 1667
San Pedro, CA 90733

Hi all.
Thebest bird of our Monterey Seabirds 8-hour pelagic birding trip on the Monterey Bay last Sunday was again a Manx Shearwater; unfortunately not as cooperative as the one on our previous trip and not seen by everyone. We had a good jaeger show with all three species well represented and seen well. The victims of the jaegers, Arctic and Common Terns as well as Sabine's Gulls were also present in good numbers. A handfulof Red Phalaropes were seen in addition to numerous Red-necked Phalaropes. And again several Black-footed Albatrosses put on a good show. Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters were present in large numbers. A single Pigeon Guillemont, a handful of Cassin's Auklets, and a couple of dozen Rhinoceros Auklets rounded out the alcid show with the abundant Common Murres.
Mammals were represented by a small pod of Baird's Beaked Whales and many HumpbackWhales, a couple of which called attention to their presence close to the Pt. Sur Clipper with a spectaculardouble breach.
A quick not on sea surface temperature. Unlike on our previous trip, on Sunday we couldn't identify any areas of warm water within reach. And while we covered very similar tracks on both trips, the difference in temperatureshowedin some of the species observed. For one, after the storm-petrel bonanza two weeks ago, we had none on Sunday. Two weeks ago, we had eight fur seals, three of which for sure and probably all were Guadalupe Fur Seals. Last Sunday, we saw approximately 25 fur seals, six of which for sure and probably all were Northern Fur Seals.
Next Sunday's trip is sold out, but we have space on our upcoming trips on September 19, and October 3, 10, and 17, https://www.montereyseabirds.com/ .
Take care,
Bernardo
--
Bernardo Alps
Wildlife Biologist California Whales & Wildlife www.photocetus.com
Whalephoto@...
310.597.0449
P.O. Box 1667
San Pedro, CA 90733

Hi all.
This is a belated report for Monterey Seabirds' August 22 pelagic birding trip, with apologies.
Highlights were a Manx Shearwater in a flock of Sooty Shearwaters that spent a few minutes within view, long enough to be seen by everyone on board, and a Tufted Puffin that circledthe Pt. Sur Clipper several times at close range allowing for great views and photos.
A few more species were unusually cooperative, including a Scripps's Murrelet that spent a considerable amount of time not only close to the boat on the water, but in a perpendicular orientation allowing for great side-on views. One of a handful of Cassin's Auklets also allowed closer-than-usual approaches, and a few of the Black-footed Albatrosses made close passes.
The weather and sea conditions were favorable and there were good numbers of birds in sight at all times. Our only jaegers were a couple of Parasitic Jaegers, but we had good numbers of Sabine's Gulls and Arctic Terns, with a handful of common terns. We had over 100 Ashy Storm-petrels, some in rafts of about a dozen each, and a couple of dozen Black Storm-petrels. Other species seen in good numbers include Red-necked Phalaropes, Sooty and Pink-footedShearwaters, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Common Murres. We also had three Northern Fulmars.
The mammal show was also spectacular. We had multiple humpback and blue whales, a couple of minke whales, multiple groups of Pacific white-sided and Risso's dolphins, as well as bow-riding Dall'sporpoises. We also had killer looks at three different Guadalupe fur seals.
There are still spots available on our upcoming 8-hour trips, including this Sunday, September 5. More info at https://www.montereyseabirds.com/ .
Take care,
Bernardo
--
Bernardo Alps
Wildlife Biologist California Whales & Wildlife www.photocetus.com
whalephoto@...
310.597.0449
P.O. Box 1667
San Pedro, CA 90733

Hello all, Belated trip report, it has been a busy week. Yes, the season has turned, the late season birds are here. Overall the weather was a bit less amenable than the forecast had suggested, this meant we had to go a bit farther north into the weather to get offshore. It worked, and were able to drive south in a following sea through the Pioneer Canyon and then stayed off the continental shelf until we had to head back to port. We started off nicely with a pair of Marbled Murrelets close to shore as well as a couple of Parasitic Jaegers. Heading offshore I did get a very troubling feeling, there was little to nothing other than Common Murres as we went out, it took a long time to see a shearwater! In fact I saw an Ashy Storm-Petrel before I saw a Sooty Shearwater on this trip. But once we arrived at the continental shelf things began to sort out with Sooty, Pink-footed, and Bullers shearwaters, Black-footed Albatross, as well as Rhinoceros and Cassins Auklets. It was a good day for Rhino Auklets, lots out there. Perhaps associated with these numbers we found two Tufted Puffins, a juvenile and a non-breeding adult; puffins at this time of year are very neat to see, so different from the summer. Heading south we picked up more Ashy Storm-Petrels, many Black Storm-Petrels and a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel. South Polar Skua, two Long-tailed Jaegers (together) and Pomarine jaegers gave us the skua-jaeger grand slam. We picked up Blue Whales, which have been hard to find in central CA, we were able to share this information with Monterey Bay Whalewatch who are working with a TV/Film crew (BBC) and they have been looking for Blue Whales, fortunately our magic spot worked for them a couple of days later and they were able to get some footage that we may see in a documentary in the future! On our way back more Bullers Shearwaters showed up, and a flock of Sooty Shearwaters had an individual that was flying around with a darker underwing, a Short-tailed Shearwater. As well, about 10 miles offshore our first of the season Black-vented Shearwater showed up and a few more in the next 20 minutes or so. All jaegers and South Polar Skua, three species of storm-petrels and 5 species of shearwater, diversity is up! We have two spots on Oct 18, and a few more on the 24 th remaining. https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Also, I am doing a Big Walk for Rhinoceros Auklets a walking big day next week where I am asking for donations to Oikonos for the Ao Nuevo Island project, restoring habitat and monitoring Rhinoceros and Cassins Auklets on the island. Hopefully I can break 110 species on foot power, and will likely walk about 20 miles assuming I survive!! Please donate more details here: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/oikonos-ecosystem-knowledge/alvaro-jaramillo-1 good birding! Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hi All

This
is a reminder that Island Packers is offering an 11-hour deepwater
pelagic trip from the Ventura Harbor at 7 am on Saturday October 3 and we still have some tickets available. This
trip will allow us to get to offshore waters beyond the reach of most
day trips where we will
have a chance to see a number of outstanding pelagic birds and marine
mammals. The waters around the northern
Channel Islands can be very productive during the fall when hundreds
(sometimes thousands) of shearwaters crowd into the inter-island gaps.
We will be looking through flocks of Black-vented,
Pink-footed, and Sooty Shearwaters for Buller's, Flesh-footed
(uncommon),
and Manx (rare) Shearwaters. This is peak season for seabird diversity
so in addition to the species already mentioned, Black-footed Albatross,
Black and Ashy Storm-Petrels, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets, and
Pomarine and Long-tailed Jaegers are all possible. It is also a good time of
year for South Polar Skua (we had seven last year), Sabine's Gull, and Arctic Tern. Recent trips to Santa Barbara Island have seen a Blue-footed Booby among the large numbers of Brown
Boobies there and we intend to visit the island on this trip. The Blue-footed bred with a Brown Booby and I saw a hybrid fledgling there earlier in September. There is also a potential for sought-after species
like Cooks' Petrel, Least Storm-Petrel,
Townsend's Storm-Petrel, and
Craveri's Murrelet. The last few years have been exceptional for Craveri's

Murrelet off southern California so our
chances to find this elusive species may be good. We saw approximately
32 Craveri's Murrelets on this trip last year! In
addition, a multi-day trip I led out of San Diego a few weeks ago had Nazca Boobies on four consecutive days. Remember that this trip in 2018 had all five North American boobies in a single day! We
will decide what our offshore destinations will be after reviewing
oceanographic conditions at the time of the trip, which will help
determine where birds and other marine life may be present.

While I would normally go on more about the birds we might see, I am
going to focus on safety related to the COVID-19 pandemic and how we plan to
run the trip to minimize risk to everyone on board. First, we are running at a
reduced capacity to ensure that passengers can sit/stand 6 feet apart. Masks/face coverings are REQUIRED
at all times while on the boat. If you do not believe in wearing masks for some
political, religious, or other reason, then this is not the trip for you. The
exception is to eat or drink. We ask that when you are eating or drinking to
distance one's self 6 feet away from other people not in your party. When
eating and drinking remove your mask only sparingly, replacing it between
drinks, or bites of food (use your best judgement). We also suggest bringing a
few spare masks as you may want to put on a fresh one after several hours. Make
sure you can comfortably wear the mask for extended periods of time. In
addition, all the tables and handrails will be disinfected before boarding and the
restrooms will be disinfected on regularly scheduled intervals. The handrails
along the perimeter of the boat are marked at 6-foot intervals to help maintain
social distancing while aboard.

The trip will be on an ultra-fast catamaran that features a spacious
and comfortable cabin, galley, and excellent viewing from both the upper and
lower decks. A full contingent of outstanding seabird leaders will be present
to make sure we see all that is out there. The Captain and crew know how to run
birding trips and are enthusiastic and helpful. In addition, we work hard to
creep up on birds and get them in the right light...photographers will not be
disappointed!

Trips can be booked over the phone by calling (805) 642-1393 or online
at www.IslandPackers.com by clicking the Reserve Trip tab, select the Special
Trips tab, and select your desired departure. The cost of the trip is $170 per
adult.

Hope to see you at sea!
Dave Pereksta Ventura

Hello all, We had an amazing pelagic out of Half Moon Bay yesterday in sunny weather. The storm-petrelpalooza continued, and numbers were even higher than on Saturday. We estimated 1600 Black Storm-Petrels during one hour long transect, with 60 or so Ashy Storm-Petrels, and 7 or so Wilsons Storm-Petrels. This is the highest number we can find for San Mateo county waters, ever. A record haul! What was just fantastic was that we not only found flocks, but the birds were coming very close to the boat when we sat and idled, with opportunities for great photography. I am sure that more fantastic photos will be uploaded to the list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73349525 Again, it is difficult to put into words how fantastic the experience was. Just non-stop storm-petrels, multiple views. Over and over, and you could really see the flight style differences between Ashy and Black storm-petrels. We are all still going through our photos, as hundreds if not more were taken by each person there with a camera! Some of the Black Storm-Petrels were in San Francisco county, but the big numbers were to the south in San Mateo. We found three Tufted Puffins, many and close Black-footed Albatross, an abundance of Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, Pink-footed and Sooty shearwaters along with other common seabirds. Finally, jaegers were found in larger numbers, and all three species were seen including a fantastic adult Long-tailed right over our boat by Juan Pablo Galvan. Thanks for that spot! We were all looking at storm petrels, great that someone was looking up. The Humpback Whales put on an amazing show once again, with a group of feeding whales foraging right by the boat, putting on quite a show. We are heading out of Monterey on Saturday the 12 th , and return to Half Moon Bay on Monday Sept 14. There are 4 spots remaining for our Monday trip. You can reserve and book directly here: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Good birding to you either on land or out on the water! Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hello all, I had gone to sleep seeing 17 knot winds offshore on the computer, and wondering what things would be like in the morning. Well, winds were down to 10 knots, the sky was cloudless and suddenly what was an impending poor weather trip was going to be fine. It was better than fine, it was wonderful. As has been the norm recently Common Murres were in the harbor, and masses of Elegant Terns were fishing the anchovy that are trapped in the harbor by the millions. We headed out and the first good sign was that an Ashy Storm-Petrel was seen about 10 miles out, closer than we usually see one. In fact on the way back in, there was one 3 miles from shore, definitely a record for us. Closer to shore than we ever see them. As is typical the line of Sooty Shearwaters was out there a few miles out, and lots of Common Murres with a single remaining (they leave early) Pigeon Guillemot. As we reached greater distances from the coast we found Pink-footed Shearwaters, a few Northern Fulmar and Rhinoceros Auklet. When we arrived near the Half Moon Bay weather buoy, things picked up, more shearwaters, Black-footed albatross and a nice fly by Laysan Albatross! What we assume was the same Laysan came back and gave even better views about 40 minutes later. Wilsons Storm-Petrel caused a thrill, as one came close to the boat. Little did we know that we would see several before the days end. Most storm petrels were Ashy, but eventually we found a Black Storm-Petrel, and from there on in, they took over the show. Progressively more common on each section of the trip as we headed south. Eventually we had an hour period when we tallied over 400! Some coming in for great views. Some photos here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73241708 The numbers do not do justice to the experience. For hours Black Storm-Petrels were constantly in view, so were many Ashy, and a few Wilsons here and there. Comparison between Ashy and Black was possible repeatedly, the bouncing flight of the long-winged Black Storm-Petrel is something we looked at so intently today, and on so many individuals that we will likely see those images as we fall asleep tonight. It was truly a great trip to really learn this species. Amazing! Another superb experience was spotting the Laysan Albatross, presumably the same one as earlier, and then Dorian Anderson yelling that he had just seen a second! Eventually, the two birds sat together at a distance from us, confirming two Laysan Albatrosses at the same time. To think that at one time it was thought that San Mateo County was not good for pelagics! It is fantastic for pelagics. Return to port surprise was a Tufted Puffin that buzzed the boat. Several Humpback Whales were enjoyed, including some lunge feeding individuals. We hope to replay some of this, with the caveat that things can change on a dime in the ocean, on Monday. Weather is forecast to be pretty calm on Monday and we can assure you that it will be cool out there. So if you want to try your luck with seabirds, and escape the heat, we have 4 spots left: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html take care, Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hello all, The trip started out slowly, with nearly nothing over the continental shelf on our way offshore. I was getting a bit worried, an Ashy Storm-Petrel about 15 miles offshore was a good sign though. Then we got to the continental shelf edge and it was just crazy, thousands of birds, and masses of Humpback Whales. Maybe 40 or so whales within a mile, and perhaps during the day we saw over 5-10% of the population of Pink-footed Shearwaters, thousands! They were at times much more abundant than the Sooty, just the perfect setup for a super rare shearwater to show up in. Our meter (the sonar) wash showing solidly 300-500 feet of solid bait fish below us, can you even imagine how many millions of anchovy that is Black-footed Albatross were a constant sight, and near the Half Moon Bay weather buoy we found a gorgeous juvenile Laysan Albatross in San Mateo county ( https://ebird.org/checklist/S72967622 ), this is the first Laysan of the year for us. Ashy Storm-Petrels were in both San Mateo and San Francisco counties, while Black Storm-Petrel was only in San Mateo, and Fork-tailed was in San Francisco ( https://ebird.org/checklist/S72967503 ). The jaegers, terns and Sabines are still largely missing, we wonder if they have not moved south yet or if they are going well offshore Lots and lots of both Red and Red-necked phalaropes. The numbers of Common Murres were huge, with nice looks at Rhinoceros Auklets and a bonus Tufted Puffin in San Mateo on the way back. Big surprise was a Lucys Warbler that flew around the boat and did not land. In the gray skies offshore it was tough to get a good handle of the ID, particularly since the bird had a dark looking throat from wet feathers there. But eventually when looking at the photos in the cabin it became clear that it was a Lucys, in San Francisco county, and this explained why it looked so tiny https://ebird.org/checklist/S72967568 . It was flying with a Brown-headed Cowbird which weirdly enough would go and fly to it when the warbler became more distant, like it was trying to flock with it. Blue Sharks, and Mola mola were enjoyed along with the bird and whales. But definitely the super abundance of shearwaters and murres out there was what will be remembered. We have a few spots open still for the trip on Saturday. Monterey Albacore grounds on the 12 th is also open still. https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

Hello all, My apologies for sending to various groups all at one time. But, this Saturday we did our first offshore pelagic of the season, from Half Moon Bay (San Mateo County). We have been doing trips to the Farallon Islands, but those have a limited time in deeper water, so I thought folks would be interested in knowing what is out there in the central CA offshore waters now. In short, it is pretty interesting and diverse with element suggesting this will be a warm water year with elements of the south moving north, and it is a season that is amazingly abundant as far as ocean productivity goes. We saw four species of storm-petrels, with groups of Ashy, and a scattering of Fork-tailed, Wilsons, and Black storm-petrels. The Black are always of interest to us, since they do not always make it to our latitude, being dependent on what the conditions are like farther to the south. The weather was choppy, with a flatter ocean we would likely have found more and larger flocks of storm petrels. Where we found them, the water was warmer and more translucent, offshore water. We did find all three jaegers, as well as South Polar Skua which was early. There are good densities of Cassins Auklets out there, we found a gorgeous adult Tufted Puffin as well as the more expected alcids including Marbled Murrelets at the coast. Good numbers of Black-footed Albatross and nice densities of Pink-footed and Sooty shearwaters, earlier in the season Bullers showed up (again early). Sabines Gulls are heading south, including our first juvenile of the season. Right now tens of thousands of Sooty Shearwaters are close to the beach in Half Moon Bay, this is a year with lots of anchovy, lots of krill and also squid. Abundance is the word. There is so much krill out there that the Cassins Auklets are trying to pull off a second brood due to the abundance of food. Meanwhile the Rhinoceros Auklets are feeding on 100% anchovy. The real oddity in the region has been the arrival of Bluefin tuna off Monterey, and Half Moon Bay. Big ones, averaging over 150 lbs each. This is not the norm, but is super exciting as it suggests northward movement of southern critters. Similarly, we had a good look at a Guadalupe Fur Seal offshore a little known marine mammal that seems to be found in warm water years. Warm offshore water has been peeking close to Monterey Bay recently. The combination of potential for some warm water birds offshore, and lots and lots of food closer to shore is great! We have consistently found awesome feeding congregations of Humpback Whales about 10 miles offshore. On this last trip we also found Fin Whale where the Cassins Auklets were (krill feeding we assume), and a super pod of hundreds and hundreds of Pacific White-sided Dolphins with a good number of the always dapper Northern Right Whale Dolphin. Blue Whale has been seen this year, but not this last weekend. It is early in the season and it is already pretty awesome offshore. I think this is going to be a great year for pelagics, and unfortunately not that many people are going to be able to enjoy it. We have a full schedule of trips out of Monterey and Half Moon Bay, Morro Bay is sold out, but are going with half or less of the boat capacity. On the trips we are encouraging people to be outside, in the breeze, social distance and to wear masks. As such, on the various trips we have done people have felt comfortable and safe. Key is to consider that the science clarifies that being outside, in the breeze, and in humid and salty air is a low risk situation. Crew are diligently disinfecting the boat, and ample sanitizer is available. One of the net benefits is a lot more room on the boats this year, and in Monterey keep in mind that the boats are much larger allowing for good spacing of birders and naturalists. Particularly this year, being out on the ocean is special, with nature abounding and away from the news, it is invigorating and good for the soul! Our next trip is an offshore Monterey trip on Aug 14, we are hoping to get into the real deep waters on this day and see if we can find some offshore murrelets and other goodies. The upcoming Farallon island trips are sold out. Our schedule of trips is here: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2020.html See you at sea! Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com