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.