Westport Pelagic was too awesome!



Ilya and I went down to Westport for a pelagic this Sunday. We had a great time as we got to meet up with friends from WA, including good friend Blair Bernson and Daniel Field from CT while seeing great birds. I ended up getting two lifers Flesh-footed Shearwater and Short-tailed Shearwater. We were hoping for Scripp's Murrelet seen the day before but no luck. We were surprised also to have no Buller's Shearwaters. Regardless it was a sensational trip with fantastic class act spotters Bill Tweit, Scott Mills and Bill Shelmerdine. The way the spotters got on the birds so quickly and made sure everyone got on the birds was wonderful. The seas were calm and birds were close so we all got crippling views of the birds, including rarities. The numbers were insane especially the Sooty Shearwaters which you can see streaming by all day from shore without a pelagic. The Captain Phil Anderson was also fantastic making sure to slow down the boat for everything and calling things out on a loud speaker and spotters and Chris his wife chummed.

We also saw Humpback Whales, Steller and California Sea Lions, a Blue Shark and a few Mola Molas.

Highlights for us were:

1 Flesh-footed Shearwater, 20 Short-tailed Shearwaters, 1 South Polar Skua, 1 Tufted Puffin, 30 Sabine's Gulls, 167 Black-footed Albatrosses, 50,000 Sooty Shearwaters and 3500 Pink-footed Shearwaters, 1 Arctic Tern, all 3 Jaegers species (3 long-tailed, 3 Pomarine, 2 Parasitic), 31 Red Phalaropes and 280 Cassin's Auklets and lots of Fork-tailed Storm-petrels all close to the boat.

In the harbour the night before we also picked up the local rarity a Bar-tailed Godwit in a massive flock of Marbled Godwits. To end of a perfect time in Westport. No Elegant Terns were present probably due to it not being an El Nino year.

I highly recommend going with Westport Seabirds to any of their pelagics. It's 145$ US per person and you meet at 5:45am and are back by 3:30pm.

More info and how to book here:

http://westportseabirds.com

We only had one camera and lens between us because Ilya's large camera and lens set up wasn't conducive to this type of photography handheld. Therefore he used mine since he's better at capturing birds in flight on a boat! There are too many to posts but you can view his amazing shots below.


Sabine's Gull on Westport Pelagic - Photo: Ilya Povalyaev
Northern Fulmar on Westport Pelagic - Photo: Ilya Povalyaev
Immature Long-tailed Jaeger on Westport Pelagic - Photo: Ilya Povalyaev
Pink-footed Shearwater on Westport Pelagic  - Photo: Ilya Povalyaev
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel on Westport Pelagic - Photo: Ilya Povalyaev


Two photos I took of the Albatross:


Black-footed Albatross - Photo: Melissa Hafting


Here are 2 videos from our trip. The first one is a Video of Black-footed Albatrosses coming into the boat for the oil slick put out by Bill Tweit. The second one is a stream of  thousands of Sooty Shearwaters flying by while we sat on the beach.



On the way home we also got to spend some time in Ocean Shores one of my favourite places to bird. Last year when I went down for the Lesser Sand Plover I found some moulting Red-throated Loons at the Ohyut Game Range. This year was no different as there were 8 again at the same spot.

We went for a horseback ride along the beach at Ocean Shores hoping to spot another Lesser Sand Plover or an Elegant Tern on the vast expanse of beach but no dice.

We did see lots of Sanderlings though and had a great time especially watching the massive amounts of Sooty Shearwaters streaming by Point Brown Jetty.

Here are a couple shots I got:
 
Red-throated Loon in moult at Ocean Shores, WA - Photo: Melissa Hafting
Sanderling doing what they do best... walking up the beach and down the beach at Ocean Shores - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Comments

  1. michael winstonSeptember 5, 2017 at 4:41 AM

    you inspired me to book a trip there! great pics and post mel

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Dowitcher Identification

Image
Birders notoriously find it difficult to tell Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers apart. I have got a request to do an identification explanation on them so here goes, I hope it will be helpful. Short-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed look so similar. Using their habitat is helpful but not diagnostic. Short-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer Salt water and brackish water and Long-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer fresh water. However, I have OFTEN seen Short-billeds in freshwater and Long-billeds in brackish and salt water. Therefore, DO NOT rely on habitat. Another feature many people will tell you to rely on is spotting on the side of the flanks of Short-billeds and barring on the side of Long-billeds. Usually this is a mark that you can use but it is not always as distinct as you like. I have seen Short-billeds with a barred appearance to the flanks. It is only at the side of the breast where you have to look for this diagnostic feature for the spots on a Short-billed and t...
Read more

Hawk Identification Tips from every angle (Sharpie vs Cooper and Red-tailed Subspecies)

Image
I get several questions about the difference between accipiters. The most common ones are between Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks and between Cooper's Hawks vs Northern Goshawks (to a lesser degree). Next, I get many questions dealing with a certain race of buteos the Western Red-tailed Hawk and Harlan's. So I thought I would do a post on these to help answer those questions. I will deal with Cooper's and Sharpies and not Goshawks because they are much more common here and look much more alike. My friend John Reynolds inspired me to write this up. COOPER'S AND SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS EYE COLOUR - YELLOW OR ORANGE? RED? Normally a juvenile Cooper's hawk has a bright yellow eye and a Juvie Sharpie has a orange eye but some cooper's can have a dull yellow eye that looks a bit orangish. Cooper's Hawks usually only transition to the orange eye colour when they are sub adults, so in good light, it's a very very reliable feature. However you ...
Read more

STINT IDENTIFICATION

Image
As per request, here are some tips that I hope will be helpful in identifying and differentiating Red-necked Stint from Little Stint. I will also do a brief intro on Long-toed and Temminck's Stint... if you build it they will come right?😉 Red-necked and Little Stints look very much alike in worn breeding plumage. The amount of Red on the face, throat and breast in Red-necked Stint is vary variable). They look even more alike in non-breeding plumage, that is why it is essential to learn structural differences to separate the two. They are similar to Semipalmated Sandpipers as well as Sanderlings. Both species are often confused for Red-necked Stints. Little Stints rarely get confused with Sanderling because they have a hind toe which helps differentiate it from this species. Sanderlings in breeding or worn breeding are usually confused with Red-necked Stints but they are much larger than Red-necked Stints. Let's first start with Bills in this complicated ID proces...
Read more

*Updated - The most famous Red-tailed Hawk is eating fish on the ground just like a Bald Eagle!

Image
Update - There are plans in the works to make a documentary film on this young Red-tailed Hawk who thinks he's an Eagle. You can read the latest news about that on CBC HERE . Watch this incredible footage of the little Red-tailed Hawk who grew up in a family of three Eaglets and 2 Bald Eagle Parents. He is imprinted now on Bald Eagles. He looks and acts just like one, as you can see here in the video below. He is standing over a large salmon carcass, just like a Bald Eagle would and he's eating the decaying flesh. Red-tailed Hawks like to eat voles and rabbits etc. not fish! Imprinting is usually irreversible according to raptor expert David Bird. However, I hope it's reversible so that he doesn't attempt to mate with a Bald Eagle, as the Eagle would kill him because it would view him as a Hawk. Eagle expert David Hancock said that the bird will likely starve and get killed by an eagle. He said this possibly can be prevented if someone grabs it and takes it to O...
Read more

1 year since I lost my father

Image
My dad and I whom I miss terribly. One year on since I lost him. Today would have been my mother's bday. Her name was Valerie and it is also the first year anniversary of the death of my beloved father, Arne. There is not a day that goes by where I don't think of them. Now for ever more the day of his death will be connected to her birthday, a very sad day but in a way that connection is beautiful to tie them together. My beautiful family before we lost both parents. I put flowers down at their grave to celebrate them both today. I hate that it is one year since I told him I loved him and hugged him. I miss him so very much. I miss his voice, his love and guidance and support. The ground for me feels shakier without his guidance and safety. I hate I will never see him again or talk to him again. Can't believe how quick time passes. This is why it is so important we treasure every single day to the fullest and tell those we love them. I will never forget the day he passed aw...
Read more