A Monterey Pelagic

Sea Otter

On the road and with a mission in mind, I flew to Monterey to meet up with Debi Love Shearwater to find 4 target birds, the Flesh-footed and Buller's Shearwater, Black-footed Albatross and Pigeon Guillemot.

This would be my one and only trek out to Monterey for the rest of my life.  In some ways, it's sad to imagine and yet I still have many many more birds to find in so many different places. I have one more pelagic out of Northern California/the Pacific Northwest that I must make next year. For now, it was about finding a handful of shearwaters and perhaps an albatross or two.

Black-footed Albatross

Pelagics are not easy when it comes to photography.  The boat is constantly spinning around the hilly waters while this birder, me, is trying to keep his hand steady on the lens.  Of course, it begins with the naked eye on the horizon searching for flight patterns.  Then the binoculars to focus.  Once we have the ID, it's a quick grab for the camera to capture that moment!

My first lifer, the Black-footed Albatross, flew across the bow of our ship and delighted the crew as it searched for a little squid snack.

I am in my element.  I love the cool winds and rough waters as we continue searching together for these amazing ocean birds.

Alex Rinkert focuses on the horizon

A Humpback Whale slaps its' tail up and down on the ocean waters with a lot of energy. We also notice birds flying around this amazing creature.

Debi shouts out, "BULLER'S SHEARWATER!  BULLER'S SHEARWATER AT 11:00 CROSSING THE BOW!"

Buller's Shearwater on the move

This shearwater stands out among the rest as it has beautiful gray, black and brown shading on its' wings. 

 At this point, I am loving the shearwater show. It's incredible!

I feel at peace.  I am happy.  I watch birders speak about ticks and checks on their lists.  I remain hidden on board happy to be alone.  Only Debi knows me.  I watch her do her job in an amazing fashion.  She's direct and to the point.  I like her.  I like how she operates. And the birders on board are very nice people.

Sea Lions

For the first time on one of my pelagics, there is no chumming(feeding birds from the boat) allowed. It was now illegal to do so because it has become a protected marine sanctuary.  It made our work a little more difficult, but we accomplished our goals.

Everyone is alert in the morning, but by the afternoon, people start feeling tired or getting seasick.  I was getting tired and forgot that I had packed a bunch of goodies in my backpack.  It seemed to do the trick.

Pink-footed Shearwater

My trek out to California was a smart idea.  I had become tired of the Arizona birding scene and this little adventure recharged my spirits.

Some birds are difficult to find in the US.  Such is the case with the Flesh-footed Shearwater. This bird made an appearance several times during our trek to the delight of many birders. Debi, as her last name suggests, sure knows her shearwaters:)

Flesh-footed Shearwater

This was probably the most difficult bird to get photos of during our trek thanks in part to the rough waters. At one point, I fell on my keister:)

Harbor Seals taking a nap

It was so much fun birding with Debi.  I had made plans for the weekend so I couldn't bird with Debi the next day but hopefully we'll get a chance to do some birding down the road.  Thank you Debi for an awesome day out on the Pacific Ocean.

More to come.....

The Shearwater show!  FIVE species of shearwaters that day.  From left to right starting with the left side.
Top to Bottom, Pink-footed Shearwater, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Buller's Shearwater
Right side, Black-vented Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater

Overboard!

Western Gull at sunrise

I had been looking forward to this one and only pelagic this year off the coast of California with Magill. This ten hour journey was intense but VERY worthwhile.

We, along with 88 other people(can't even get away from the people offshore!), went with Pacific Nature Tours to find lots of great birds.  The ocean weather was hot and I.....overdressed:) My mission?  To study jaegers, shearwaters, storm petrels and auklets. 

Sooty Shearwater

Surprisingly, I was able to move around the boat without too many people getting in the way.  The hierarchy of birders was also evident. I think we had everyone from beginners to the pros on this trip.  Our ebird reports certainly show the depth of reporting that had occurred!

Pacific Nature Tours

Pelagic photography is some of the hardest thanks in part to a moving boat, rocky waves, overcast(or bright) conditions and lightning fast birds.  And of course....maneuvering around people when a rare bird was seen:)

Pomarine Jaeger

Jaeger fest was a success!  We had all 3 Jaegers show up around our vessel.  I really had a great time studying the VERY slight differences between the three species. I now know some of the field marks, and hopefully I should be able to ID these jaegers down the road by myself.  Well in theory:)

The Pomarine Jaeger is a bulky tank with wings.  The Long-tailed Jaeger(below) is as elegant as it is beautiful.  But why isn't this a Parasitic Jaeger?  Well it's duller in color, but that's not a good field mark to go by. The best field mark? We were able to see the tail which was flat and not pointed.  This bird is also more tern-like in flight. It has a flight pattern similar to that of an Elegant Tern....slow with deep wing flaps. Observing the behavior was key here.  The Parasitic and Long-tailed Jaegers can be difficult species to separate when they are in their basic plumage. 

2nd Year Long-tailed Jaeger

Also along for the ride were many Common Terns and a few Arctic ones as well.

Common Tern

During the course of the day, we saw many of the very brown Parasitic Jaegers.  At one point, one chased a Common Tern!  Very exciting. 

Parasitic Jaeger chasing a Common Tern

The Parasitic Jaeger did not get the tern.  But the flight for life action happened for a good couple minutes. 

There were a few birders on board who have seen most of the birds in the U.S. and only needed ONE special bird to complete that goofy artificially created American ABA list. They were looking for the endangered and rare, for the U.S. at least, Craveri's Murrelet.  Our adventure would take a "tern" for the worse as a birder lost his balance and hit his head on a metal rail. He went out like a light! And I could hear groans from both sides as he went down....literally. 

The guy on the right is one of the several lead ebirders on board recording accurate distance and taking bird counts. We were not to submit our own reports as this company would do it for all.  No complaints here and THANK YOU!  That let us really bird.  And the ebird reports were stunning!

Unfortunately, according to the rumblings, this man did not plan well for the pelagic journey and forgot to take his diabetic medication. People went to help him and he did recover.  The Coast Guard was called and we were ordered to return back to port.  For the birders searching for the elusive Craveri's Murrelet, they lost their chance. There were a lot of angry birders.  Some vocal.  Some not.  Who was more selfish? The birder who didn't plan well?  Or the birders who paid good money to find a rare bird?  I'll let you all be the judge.  It is the price we pay when we all bird together in large groups.  If it's one thing I've learned this year from Mexico and now this pelagic, it's that I prefer to bird with a small group of friends or alone.  But sometimes you can't avoid the crowds...especially on a pelagic. 

Black-vented Shearwater

Eventually my eyes blurred from the intense sun and blue ocean.  I began to get a headache from straining my eyes into the distant horizon.  There were smaller birds like the Cassin's Auklet. 

Photo by Justyn Stahl

The world is such a complex place. I visibly see things changing.  Our planet is changing.  And global warming is real.  We read or hear about it in the news.  But I actually see it!  I don't know how I feel about it all.  I am just an observer in this short lifetime. 

My action shots of this relatively small bird:)

Some birds are taking advantage of this climate change while others face extinction due in part to their food source disappearing or moving to another area.  This year alone, the Pacific coastline has seen a massive die off of the Cassin's Auklet and other sea birds. 

I am constantly in deep thought about this planet. Eventually my brain shuts down and my eyes give out. And so I just focused on the moment and art of the Western Gull.  Lifebirds are challenging.  When there aren't new birds to find, I just relax and enjoy the moment. That's when my art can happen. 

I'm watching this beautiful dolphin jump and then am startled to find a microphone up my backside! I mean....let's have a drink first buddy! Geez! A very large man hung his body over the side of the boat to capture their sounds and crunched me into a tight space where I almost lost my balance.  SO RUDE!  I left.  If I could swim, I would have jumped in with these dolphins to get away from some of these goofy people. 

We found so many species of dolphin and whale.  On our trek we had migrating Blue and Humpback whales. 

When all was said and done, we got back into our rental car and were glad to go back to our open spaces in Arizona.  

I'm naturally claustrophobic but on our trek into California, I was reminded why I moved away from this state so many years ago.  There were TOO MANY people. Everywhere. 

Eventually someday, I will have to bird areas with even higher concentrations of people.  I'm thinking Japan here.  I'm a giant and I know how crammed their country can be:)  Birding does not come without challenges.  But again, that's what is exciting about it all. 

It's fun getting old and cranky:)  Life is good.  This pelagic trek netted me several more life birds.  I am now 4 short of 700. Where will the life bird adventure lead us now?  Stay tuned for more.