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Post by kestrel on Oct 10, 2019 19:53:40 GMT -8
Last weekend, Larry, my dad, and I drove down to Westport in Washington State to go on an excursion with Westport Seabirds. This was Larry's and my first-ever pelagic. The first half-hour or so was pretty quiet bird-wise. It wasn't until we got out to the waters at the edge of the continental shelf that the trip started to get birdy. The biggest concentrations of seabirds that we saw were near shrimping boats like this one: shrimping boat by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr As well as at a couple of chumming stops, where Northern fulmars often came right up to the boat: Northern fulmar by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr Black-footed albatrosses were almost everywhere: Black-footed albatrosses by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr Shearwaters were also in abundance. Pink-footed shearwaters: Pink-footed shearwater by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr Pink-footed shearwater by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr And Sooties: Sooty shearwater by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr Another highlight was this Glaucous gull: Glaucous gull by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr In addition to all the birds, we also had a handful of marine mammals like this Northern fur seal: Northern fur seal by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr Between us, Larry and I got 19 lifers. I definitely want to go on another trip in the future.
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Post by Randy on Oct 10, 2019 20:31:38 GMT -8
Awesome! I've never done a pelagic and have always been a bit nervous about rough seas. How was the water?
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Post by kestrel on Oct 10, 2019 21:35:46 GMT -8
It was a bit rough on the way out, but not so much going back. There were 5- to 6-foot swells at times.
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Post by ed on Oct 10, 2019 22:09:29 GMT -8
Awesome Joel! I’d be interested in a list of lifers if you don’t mind?👍🏻 Great pics as well!
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Post by kestrel on Oct 11, 2019 15:29:16 GMT -8
Thanks Ed!
Here are the lifers:
- Black-footed albatross - Northern fulmar - Pink-footed shearwater - Buller's shearwater - Sooty shearwater - Short-tailed shearwater - Fort-tailed storm-petrel - South Polar skua - Pomarine jaeger - Cassin's auklet - Rhinoceros auklet - Sabine's gull - Western gull - Glaucous gull
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Post by birder1942 on Oct 13, 2019 7:46:48 GMT -8
Hey Joel. It sounds like you and Larry had a great trip out of Westport! And, what an impressive list of Pelagic birds for your life list! Keep up the good work. John Vooys
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Post by paulos on Oct 14, 2019 15:34:38 GMT -8
Nice trip Joel! I was thinking of doing that this year, but then moved away from the coast. I may have to make a trip of it next fall.
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