Post by tmanson on Oct 1, 2006 18:36:11 GMT -8
Hi Fellow Fraser Valley Birders.
The following is a report of a pelagic trip I took this past Friday out of Tofino. Sandy McRuer of Port Alberni was our trip archivist, and he has posted a report on BCVIBIRDS. I am using his report with a few minor alterations, which I have discussed with him.
There is a bit of a story to this report, so feel free to skip this part if you're just interested in the birds seen.
This trip was organized by Brad Robson who lives in Ireland!! When he first posted on the possibility of doing a pelagic out of Tofino, he was in Ireland, and was attempting to organize the trip from there. I was initially skeptical, partly because of the difficulty of trying to organize a B.C. pelagic from there, and partly because, it seems that, for the past three years I have been trying to go on a pelagic off the West Coast, and something has always happened to prevent it from happening.
In any event, the trip was actually a go until last weeked, when it was canceled as we had dropped below the minimum number required by the Canadian operator.
I was all set to do a hike up Frosty this weekend when Brad phoned from Tofino on Wednesday, and asked if I still wanted to go. Briefly, he had taken the matter into his own hands and chartered a boat directly. Friday seemed to be the best weather day, so it was organized for then. I quickly scrambled over to Tofino, and arrived at the boat operator's office at 6:30 a.m. Friday. More complications!. An overnight wind that had been expected to die down overnight, didn't. It was foggy, and we were told to expect 2-3 metre seas. We were given the option of going Saturday with a slightly better forecast, but we decided to go for it.
The boat used was a 24 foot Boston Whaler, which is an open boat. The advantage of this kind of vessel, as opposed to a full displacement boat, is that it is very fast. It bounces and crashes a lot but is not as prone to roll or pitch; therefore better for those with queasy stomachs. Disadvantage- no shelter or bathroom facilities.
Luckily, none of us suffered from seasickness, but we all got somewhat wet in those sea conditions. I give John Ford, the boat owner, and operator, full credit for his boat handling skills, even though I kept bumping into one of the ignition keys, and turning off one of the engines!!!
We started off in the fog, and made our way to Cleland Island where there were mostly HARLEQUIN DUCKS, AND PELAGIC COMORANTS. TUFTED PUFFIN breed there in the summer, and John , the skipper, said they were pretty well gone.
However, I did see one in the water, briefly before it dove. There was tons of bull kelp in the water, and, unfortunately I was the only one to see it.
All the other birds mentioned in Sandy's report we all saw.
Although I only had one lifer on this trip; ( a juvenile LONG TAILED JAEGER ), a thrill for me was seeing these birds in B.C. waters. It seems so easy to go down to Westport, Washington, and take one of their excellent pelagics. But try to organize a pelagic in B.C.; good luck. Having met John Ford of Tofino's Whale Centre, however, I now feel confident that it is possible to organize a pelagic, with the usual proviso of weather permitting! With John's boat we were able to get right out into the middle of Clayquot Canyon; 30 miles plus out and a depth 2000 feet!!, even in those rough seas. On his GPS, he had called it " the Abyss. " By the way, after Cleland Island, the fog lifted, and we enjoyed beautiful sunny, ( almost warm ), weather, althought the seas remained rough.
Here is the rest of the list as recorded by Sandy:
PACIFIC LOON 1
RED NECKED GREBE 4
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS 4
NORTHERN FULMAR 15
PINK FOOTED SHEARWATER 8
BULLER'S SHEARWATER 5
SOOTY SHEARWATER 300
SHORT TAILED SHEARWATER 1
FORK TAILED STORM-PETREL 6
DOUBLE CRESTED COMORANT 10
PELAGIC COMORANT 40
GREATER WHITE FRONTED GOOSE 300
HARLEQUIN DUCK 25
SURF SCOTER 2
PEREGRINE FALCON 1--- hovering over the water; 20 miles out!!
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER 2
POMARINE JAEGER 2
PARASITIC JAEGER 3
LONG TAILED JAEGER 1
HEERMAN'S GULL 6
MEW GULL lots
CALIFORNIA GULL lots
GLAUCOUS WINGED GULL lots
WESTERN GULL 1
THAYER'S GULL 1
COMMON MURRE 200
CASSIN'S AUKLET 2
RHINOCEROS AUKLET 10
BELTED KINGFISHER 1
Mammals seen:
HARBOUR SEALS 2; one decapitated, probably by an ORCA, according to John, and one hauled up on Cleland Island
SEA OTTER 1 with pup on its belly; heavy on the cuteness factor
PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS; riding our bow wave- very cool
Dall's Porpoise; also riding bow wave
Fish seen: a large SUNFISH-didn't think they came this far north.
I also had a flock of about 20 SURF BIRDS at the Wickaninish Centre the next day. Shorebirding at the Tofino mudlfats was a bust.
Interesting misses; BLACK LEGGED KITTIWAKE- I was interested to see that this bird was also absent from the Westport pelagic this weekend. LEACH'S STORM PETREL; John reported that he seen quite a few this summer on his excursions over Clayquot Canyon.
I know that Roger Foxall is organizing a pelagic from Tofino, I think, around the 14th-16th of October. If you need his e-mail feel free to contact me.
Apologies for the long-winded report. Cheers. Thor
Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.
thormanson@telus.net.
The following is a report of a pelagic trip I took this past Friday out of Tofino. Sandy McRuer of Port Alberni was our trip archivist, and he has posted a report on BCVIBIRDS. I am using his report with a few minor alterations, which I have discussed with him.
There is a bit of a story to this report, so feel free to skip this part if you're just interested in the birds seen.
This trip was organized by Brad Robson who lives in Ireland!! When he first posted on the possibility of doing a pelagic out of Tofino, he was in Ireland, and was attempting to organize the trip from there. I was initially skeptical, partly because of the difficulty of trying to organize a B.C. pelagic from there, and partly because, it seems that, for the past three years I have been trying to go on a pelagic off the West Coast, and something has always happened to prevent it from happening.
In any event, the trip was actually a go until last weeked, when it was canceled as we had dropped below the minimum number required by the Canadian operator.
I was all set to do a hike up Frosty this weekend when Brad phoned from Tofino on Wednesday, and asked if I still wanted to go. Briefly, he had taken the matter into his own hands and chartered a boat directly. Friday seemed to be the best weather day, so it was organized for then. I quickly scrambled over to Tofino, and arrived at the boat operator's office at 6:30 a.m. Friday. More complications!. An overnight wind that had been expected to die down overnight, didn't. It was foggy, and we were told to expect 2-3 metre seas. We were given the option of going Saturday with a slightly better forecast, but we decided to go for it.
The boat used was a 24 foot Boston Whaler, which is an open boat. The advantage of this kind of vessel, as opposed to a full displacement boat, is that it is very fast. It bounces and crashes a lot but is not as prone to roll or pitch; therefore better for those with queasy stomachs. Disadvantage- no shelter or bathroom facilities.
Luckily, none of us suffered from seasickness, but we all got somewhat wet in those sea conditions. I give John Ford, the boat owner, and operator, full credit for his boat handling skills, even though I kept bumping into one of the ignition keys, and turning off one of the engines!!!
We started off in the fog, and made our way to Cleland Island where there were mostly HARLEQUIN DUCKS, AND PELAGIC COMORANTS. TUFTED PUFFIN breed there in the summer, and John , the skipper, said they were pretty well gone.
However, I did see one in the water, briefly before it dove. There was tons of bull kelp in the water, and, unfortunately I was the only one to see it.
All the other birds mentioned in Sandy's report we all saw.
Although I only had one lifer on this trip; ( a juvenile LONG TAILED JAEGER ), a thrill for me was seeing these birds in B.C. waters. It seems so easy to go down to Westport, Washington, and take one of their excellent pelagics. But try to organize a pelagic in B.C.; good luck. Having met John Ford of Tofino's Whale Centre, however, I now feel confident that it is possible to organize a pelagic, with the usual proviso of weather permitting! With John's boat we were able to get right out into the middle of Clayquot Canyon; 30 miles plus out and a depth 2000 feet!!, even in those rough seas. On his GPS, he had called it " the Abyss. " By the way, after Cleland Island, the fog lifted, and we enjoyed beautiful sunny, ( almost warm ), weather, althought the seas remained rough.
Here is the rest of the list as recorded by Sandy:
PACIFIC LOON 1
RED NECKED GREBE 4
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS 4
NORTHERN FULMAR 15
PINK FOOTED SHEARWATER 8
BULLER'S SHEARWATER 5
SOOTY SHEARWATER 300
SHORT TAILED SHEARWATER 1
FORK TAILED STORM-PETREL 6
DOUBLE CRESTED COMORANT 10
PELAGIC COMORANT 40
GREATER WHITE FRONTED GOOSE 300
HARLEQUIN DUCK 25
SURF SCOTER 2
PEREGRINE FALCON 1--- hovering over the water; 20 miles out!!
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER 2
POMARINE JAEGER 2
PARASITIC JAEGER 3
LONG TAILED JAEGER 1
HEERMAN'S GULL 6
MEW GULL lots
CALIFORNIA GULL lots
GLAUCOUS WINGED GULL lots
WESTERN GULL 1
THAYER'S GULL 1
COMMON MURRE 200
CASSIN'S AUKLET 2
RHINOCEROS AUKLET 10
BELTED KINGFISHER 1
Mammals seen:
HARBOUR SEALS 2; one decapitated, probably by an ORCA, according to John, and one hauled up on Cleland Island
SEA OTTER 1 with pup on its belly; heavy on the cuteness factor
PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS; riding our bow wave- very cool
Dall's Porpoise; also riding bow wave
Fish seen: a large SUNFISH-didn't think they came this far north.
I also had a flock of about 20 SURF BIRDS at the Wickaninish Centre the next day. Shorebirding at the Tofino mudlfats was a bust.
Interesting misses; BLACK LEGGED KITTIWAKE- I was interested to see that this bird was also absent from the Westport pelagic this weekend. LEACH'S STORM PETREL; John reported that he seen quite a few this summer on his excursions over Clayquot Canyon.
I know that Roger Foxall is organizing a pelagic from Tofino, I think, around the 14th-16th of October. If you need his e-mail feel free to contact me.
Apologies for the long-winded report. Cheers. Thor
Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.
thormanson@telus.net.
