Pelagic birdng

August/September is all about Pelagic birding in So. Cal:

1. Two back to back Farallons trips LINK
   DATE: Aug 12, 2017 @ 7:26pm, 12 day(s) ago
   FROM: Alvaro Jaramillo

   Hello all,     Just a quick note after two back to back trips to the Farallon Islands on Friday and today. It was a bit choppy getting out there, but slow and steady did it and we arrived eager to see some birds and wildlife. On both days the Island was fantastic, with many Tufted Puffins, really great numbers of Cassin’s Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots and a few Rhinoceros Auklets amongst the larger numbers of Common Murres. The Blue-footed Booby was there on both days, and today we also saw a Brown Booby – Fantastic. Northern Fur Seals are going like gangbusters, I gather the best season they have had there. California Sea Lions, Steller’s Sea Lions, Harbor Seals and a couple of Grey Whales. The islands do not disappoint.     We are able to get out to deep water on the way back to port (Half Moon Bay) and it was fantastic on both days. Surrounded by Blue Whales and Humpback Whales! Yesterday apart from the Sooty and Pink-footed shearwaters, and Black-footed Shearwaters yesterday a group of 4 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels along with several Ashy Storm-Petrels were great to see. Today a real highlight was a super close fly by from a Laysan Albatross. It was close enough that the photos show a red color band which we will send in to determine where this albatross came from. Ashy Storm-Petrel showed up today, Northern Fulmars etc. Both were superb days, really, really fun birding. The Laysan was in SF County, Wilson’s SP in San Mateo County.    And as Alan Hopkins reported yesterday on SFBirds, he was able to get on a Cook’s Petrel which unfortunately none of us were able to see. It was choppy and difficult that that time. Pheew, I am tired, but happy tired! Lots more trips are happening this season, see you out there. Alvaro   Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

1. Really birdy pelagic today in San Mateo County LINK
   DATE: Aug 19, 2017 @ 7:31pm, 5 day(s) ago
   FROM: Alvaro Jaramillo

   Hello all,      We had some big but rounded swells out today, relatively calm winds and a superb day out from Half Moon Bay. There has been a complete change over in the birds from last weekend, and water has warmed up quite a bit both inshore and offshore. Rare birds for us today were two BROWN BOOBIES, one adult female on the Half Moon Bay weather Buoy, and another subadult on a floating log about 27 miles offshore. There were hundreds of Buller’s Shearwaters out there today, with amazing views. Farther offshore they outnumbered the other shearwaters, we have not seen Buller’s in numbers like this for a few years now. It is great to have them back. Three Scripps’s Murrelets were seen, as well as non-stop storm petrels. Inshore there were many, Wilson’s in with Ashy and a few Fork-tails. Farther out it was mainly Ashy. All three jaegers were found, Sabine’s Gulls, and both Common and Arctic Tern. We had a poorly seen all dark shearwater, that photos may confirm is a Flesh-foot, but unfortunately it was not seen well in the field. It was non-stop birds all day, one of those superb pelagics. Photos here - https://www.facebook.com/Alvaros-Adventures-201287513297811/pnref=lhc     So it looks very interesting out there. I am frankly surprised that a Hawaiian or Cook’s petrel did not show up, as the situation looked pretty nice. We shall see what happens tomorrow out of Bodega. http://alvarosadventures.com/boat-trips/pelagics/ Good birding, Alvaro   Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com

1. AUG 4 & AUG 6 PELAGIC TRIP REPORTS LINK
   DATE: Aug 7, 2017 @ 2:16pm, 17 day(s) ago
   FROM: DEBRA SHEARWATER

   Howdy, Birders, Shearwater Journeys’ trips departing from Monterey Bay, August 4th and Sausalito to the Farallon Islands, August 6th, encountered extraordinary numbers and variety of seabirds and marine mammals. And, yes, “it’s all about food”— my favorite saying. Monterey Bay is teaming with bait fish and some krill. The area surrounding the Farallon Islands, out to the edge of the Continental Shelf was floor to ceiling in krill. The marine life associated with the prey items was divided accordingly! Both trips enjoyed flat, calm seas with visibility up to 10 miles. Highlights of our August 4 Monterey Bay pelagic trip included: BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS (8, excellent views), SOOTY (30,000+) and, PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS (34), ASHY STORM-PETREL (2, distant views), RED-NECKED (121) and RED (19) PHALAROPES, LONG-TAILED JAEGER (1, distant view), SABINE’S GULL (including 2 early juveniles, sitting on the water, excellent views), COMMON MURRE (1,025, many dads with chicks), and RHINOCEROS AUKLETS (62, good views). All birds were in Monterey County. Marine mammals included: BLUE (2), FIN (1), HUMPBACK (12) WHALES; RISSO’S (30) and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED (100) DOLPHINS, DALL’S PORPOISE ( 8, bow-riding on the head of a blue whale). Other highlights included: MAKO (1, excellent views) and BLUE (4, great views) SHARKS. We retrieved 6 mylar balloons, but could not pick up the floating refrigerator (future potential booby habitat!) Highlights of our August 6 Farallon Islands pelagic trip included: MASKED (thought to be a sub-adult, hundreds of images), BLUE-FOOTED (1 on Sugar Loaf), and BROWN (1 sitting next to the Blue-footed) BOOBIES , BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS (2); NORTHERN FULMAR (1), SOOTY (10) and PINK-FOOTED (24) SHEARWATERS; RED-NECKED PHALAROPE (2700), and TUFTED PUFFIN (25), CASSIN’S (7000) and RHINOCEROS (10) AUKLETS, COMMON MURRE (18,000). Most birds were in San Francisco County, including the Masked Booby. We looked for the Parakeet Auklet, but did not find it. The Masked Booby flew across our bow shortly after leaving that location. Our excellent captain chased the booby and we had a chance to see it plunge-diving. Hundreds of images were made. A Common Murre was very vocal about this booby’s presence! Marine mammals included: GRAY (2), BLUE (4) and HUMPBACK (44) WHALES, HARBOR PORPOISE. We stopped the boat and were surrounded by tail-slapping, head-slapping and breaching humpback whales for 360 degrees. The fish finder showed krill from top to bottom along the shelf break. The albatrosses, shearwaters and fulmar flew in while we were sitting around taking photographs. The rather tattered fulmar swam right up to the gunwales. It was a magical marine scene that few will ever encounter. The weather was so good that we headed up to the north islands of the Farallon Island group— something I’ve only done once before. Spaces are available on the following trips: (leaders may be added to many of these trips) MONTEREY BAY: Aug 25 with Alex Rinkert, Jim Holmes, Debi Shearwater Sep 1 with Nick Levendosky, Mary Gustafson, Debi Shearwater Sep 7 with Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Jim Holmes, Mary Gustafson, Debi Shearwater Sep 8 with Mary Gustafson, Jim Holmes, Debi Shearwater Sep 10 with Mary Gustafson, Debi Shearwater Sep 14 with Debi Shearwater, TBA Sep 22 with Christian Schwarz, Hannah Nevins, Debi Shearwater Sep 23 with Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Jim Holmes, Steve Tucker, Debi Shearwater Sep 24 with Nick Levendosky, Jim Holmes, Debi Shearwater Sep 30 with Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Scott & Linda Terrill Oct 8 with Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Scott & Linda Terrill HALF MOON BAY: Sep 2 with Mary Gustafson, Debi Shearwater Sep 3 with Peter Pyle, Steve Tucker, Mary Gustafson, Debi Shearwater Sep 15 with Christian Schwarz, Dave Pereksta, Debi Shearwater Sep 16 with Steve Hampton, Debi Shearwater Oct 7 with Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Steve Hampton Many thanks to the wonderful folks, birders and birders-to-be, who joined us on these two fine pelagic trips. The leaders on August 4 included: Nick Levendosky, Abe Borker, Scott Terrill, Will Brooks, John Garrett, Debi Shearwater. The leaders on August 6 included: Gerry McChesney, Alex Rinkert, Christian Schwarz, John Garrett, Will Brooks, and Debi Shearwater. It IS all about food! Shearwaters Forever, Debi Shearwater DEBRA SHEARWATER Shearwater Journeys, Inc. PO Box 190 Hollister, CA 95024 831.637.8527 debi@... www.shearwaterjourneys.com www.shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com Celebrating 42 Years of Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys

New nickname for DD

Adding to 'Master '(Sandy Komito!)

After that 1.6 mile hike slugging along Rio Hondo last Sunday to find a rare shorebird like Baird's Sandpiper..

'There's more birds'

That repeated phrase struck a terror in my heart!

Marantzian tome!!

Haha, aptly put.

1. eBird issues this Fall LINK
   DATE: TODAY @ 12:24pm
   FROM: Kimball Garrett

   Birders,   Fall migration is in full swing. The rate of use of eBird by Los Angeles County birders continues to skyrocket, with the obvious benefit of much denser information about our avifauna, but also with the drawbacks of continuing and even accelerating issues with data quality.  So here’s another in a series of occasional messages intended to improve the eBird database for our area.  If you know eBird users who are not on this list serve, always feel free to share these messages with them.  This mini-rant will cover three issues:  (1) Adding descriptions; (2) dealing with subspecies options; and (3) improving metadata in the “Comments” section.   DESCRIPTIONS This could be subtitled “There is a happy medium between Curtis Marantz and the average eBird user.”  We all know it is now easy (and desirable) to upload photos and audio files to one’s eBird checklist.  But when you are asked to document a flagged record, PLEASE keep in mind that such evidence is only part of the documentation that should support unusual records.  I am constantly amazed at how many eBirders will attach a photo (or 2 or 3…) to their checklist to document a rarity and will not write a single word about the sighting.  In many cases the photos are less than ideal, and might not even help support the identification; so we rely on the added value of a written description.  This is where Curtis comes in…..  you don’t have to write a Marantzian tome of 4000 words to document a rarity (though such detail is helpful).  But please add information about the circumstances of the sighting and any characters (e.g. size and structure, movements, other behaviors, plumage, voice, etc.) that are not evident from the photos as well as amplification of what is shown in the photos. And indicate how similar species were considered and eliminated.  I fear that the simple art of writing a good description of a bird to document a sighting and confirm its identification is disappearing from our birding culture. I largely blame the apparent need for instant gratification through smartphones and apps – why not jot notes down in the field (they have these things called pens, pencils and notebooks) and then add a thoughtful and detailed description based on these notes when you’re home sitting at your computer  Yes, it takes time.  But the alternative is having what might be a perfectly good record questioned or even invalidated by a reviewer. And as I have mentioned before (let’s call this section “Sandwiches I have Eaten While Birding”), concentrate on relevant points in your description and leave the irrelevant things out.    SUBSPECIES I strongly urge eBirders to enter data ONLY at the level of species, except in the few cases where well-marked subspecies are (usually) readily identifiable in the field; species with field-identifiable subspecies or subspecies groups in L. A. County include but are not limited to: Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Green-winged Teal, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Northern Flicker (and intergrades), Bell’s Vireo, Hermit Thrush, White Wagtail, Red Crossbill (call types), Bell’s Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco.  In some of these cases only one subspecies (or none) occurs regularly. In some other cases, observers with extensive experience and good studies of the bird in question can also reasonably determine subspecies (e.g. Orange-crowned Warbler, Marsh Wren, Song Sparrow, Canada Goose, Cackling Goose, Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Red-breasted Sapsucker).  There is nothing to be gained by indicating a subspecies based ONLY on your locality – so it’s preferable to enter “Osprey” rather than “Osprey (carolinensis)” even if you can be 99.9% certain that a local Osprey is of the North American carolinensis subspecies. An exception would be if you were able to study the bird well enough to rule out the other Osprey subspecies based on actual characters rather than locality.  A lot of the subspecies entry issues seem to arise from the use of smartphone apps, so when entering data via such an app be sure to select the full species rather than a particular subspecies (unless you can document the subspecies).  To the novice birder, some of the subspecies names might seem completely appropriate, even though they’re not.  A recent example is a birder who entered “Willow Flycatcher (Southwestern)” on the assumption that a Willow Flycatcher in the “southwest” should be that subspecies.  In fact, of course, the “Southwestern” Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) is known from Los Angeles County in recent years only by a very few possible breeding pairs, with essentially no documented records of migrants.  So 99.9% of Willow Flycatchers in L. A. County will be what eBird calls “Willow Flycatcher (Northwestern) (Empidonax traillii brewsteri/adastus), even though Los Angeles County is hardly “northwestern.”  Why not just enter as “Willow Flycatcher”   METADATA AND INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS When you enter an eBird checklist you can make comments about that birding event in the Comments section on the second screen (“Date and Effort”).  It is unfortunate that eBird does not require users to enter information about conditions, but until they institute that capability, you can use the “Comments” section to add information on, for example, sky conditions, wind conditions, precipitation, temperature, tide, and other physical environmental conditions that can greatly impact your bird list.  Indicate how you covered the area (route, areas of concentration, etc.). Also a description of the habitat, any disturbances or other conditions that might impact your bird list, names of birding companions (these show up automatically only if the list is “shared” with them), condition of vegetation and food crop, and anything else that seems relevant.  Sure, you could even mention what kind of sandwich you had for lunch.   All of the above must seem like “work,” but I suspect a large number of you use eBird for the common good as a thorough avifaunal record rather than simply for an accounting of your sport-listing accomplishments.  Joseph Grinnell and other “early” naturalists in California might have spent hours writing in their journals about each of their field outings, and that information is invaluable to researchers today.  Can’t we, at least in some small part, try to do the same   Kimball   Kimball L. Garrett Ornithology Collections Manager Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007 USA (213) 763-3368 kgarrett@... http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/ornithology

Who's who in California birding

http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/CAwhoswho.html

Life list update

Los Angeles, California	362	245	40
Orange, California	181	128	55
San Diego, California	174	118	62
Riverside, California	118	60	11
Imperial, California	81	76	14
San Bernardino, California	70	38	13
Clark, Nevada	57	43	0
Floyd, Georgia	57	57	0
Davidson, Tennessee	57	57	0
Maricopa, Arizona	47	0	0
Cleveland, Oklahoma	44	44	0
Ventura, California	34	0	0
Oklahoma, Oklahoma	24	24	0
Cobb, Georgia	18	18	0
Yuma, Arizona	12	12	4
Fulton, Georgia	3	3	0
Tarrant, Texas	2	2	0
McClain, Oklahoma	1	1	0

Added more to SD and OC! Maybe I can get those to 200 species.

Why SD county is king

From ebird:

Top Counties

• BY SPECIES

Updated ~12 hr(s) ago.

1	San Diego	540
2	Los Angeles	536
3	Santa Barbara	500

So close yet so far!

Pt. Loma area(down to Cabrillo) really is exceptional. Maybe because it's along migratory path.

The reason why SD boasts the most bird species seen, trumping Los Angeles!

However hard LA county experts like the Garretts(not related), Feenstra, Dowell, Tiller etc. try, SD experts like McCaskie, Lehman, Bruin, Nunn, Sadowski, Christensen, etc. will invariably discover yet more species! Even a novice like me found an alternate plumage adult male Cape May Warbler at Famosa slough.


Kern county seems quite exceptional as well: should explore the area!

Kern county birding

Did not know it is THIS good.

http://ebird.org/ebird/subnational2/US-CA-029?yr=all&m=&rank=mrec



Worm eating and Kentucky warbler last month?!! Should add this county to my ebird alert..