LM's 6th BY, 2021 - in search of consistency, with better photography

[lmSA84]

258. White-tailed Kite, Point Lobos SNR, August

 

[lmSA84]

259. Black Oystercatcher, Point Lobos SNR, August

 

[lmSA84]

260. Brandt's Cormorant, Point Lobos SNR, August

 

[Galana]

A great collection and building nicely.

It takes real skill to get shots like those of  White-throated Swift and Brandt's Cormorant.

[Kitsafari]

wow! good shot of the cormorant! it looked as if it went "plattt" on the waters. 

[TonyQ]

Some really beautiful birds in this last batch 

[michael-ibk]

Agreed, some very cool species!

[xelas]

Nice diversity of birds!

[PeterHG]

Great collection of birds!

[lmSA84]

@Galana, @xelas, @michael-ibk, @TonyQand @Kitsafari- thank you all for the kind words. 

 

Now it's on to my first pelagic birding trip. This trip was a real dive into the deep end for me. I'm not a natural sailor and this was an 8hr trip which took us 32 nautical miles offshore to the Monterey Canyon. For half the trip I was desperate to get off - it was punishing trying to stand and photograph with the boat rocking and it turns out anti-nausea medicine only goes so far - but I also loved much of it!

 

In total, we saw 37 species of which 20 were lifers. We also had great views of Humpbacks, Sea Otter and jumping Orcas. On a separate trip, the day before with my family we also had great views of Blue Whale.

 

261. Belted Kingfisher, Monterey Bay, August

 

First up - Belted Kingfisher in the harbour

 

 

     

[lmSA84]

262. Black Turnstone, Monterey Bay, August

 

Then as we pulling out of the harbour Black Turnstones and Pigeon Guillemots 

 

 

263. Pigeon Guillemot, Monterey Bay, August

 

[lmSA84]

264. Red-necked Phalarope, Monterey Bay, August

 

Not long after we found groups of Red-necked Phalarope

 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by lmSA84

[lmSA84]

265. Northern Fulmar, Monterey Bay, August

 

We only found one of these but he came close to inspect the boat

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by lmSA84

[lmSA84]

266. Rhinoceros Auklet, Monterey Bay, August

 

Ranging from about 5-20km off the coast we found Auklets and Murres 

 

 

267. Cassin's Auklet, Monterey Bay, August

 

 

268. Common Murre, Monterey Bay, August

 

[lmSA84]

269. Sooty Shearwater, Monterey Bay, August

 

Without a doubt the most common bird was the Sooty Shearwater 

 

 

 

[lmSA84]

270. Pink-footed Shearwater, Monterey Bay, August

 

Sooties weren't the only Shearwaters around as in amongst them was the occasional Pink Foot and in the deeper water we found Buller's Shearwater  

 

 

 

271. Buller's Shearwater, Monterey Bay, August

 

 

[lmSA84]

272. Red Phalarope, Monterey Bay, August

 

The Red-necked Phalarope's seemed to be confined to relatively near shore and after about 5-7kms offshore they were replaced by Red Phalarope's 

 

[TonyQ]

A great start to the Pelagic!

It is difficult to photograph from a moving boat.

I think you had a Belted Kingfisher earlier on, perhaps Florida.

[lmSA84]

273. Black-footed Albatross, Monterey Bay, August

 

One of the absolute highlights was seeing these guys. In total we probably saw about 6 different individuals

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by lmSA84

[lmSA84]

274. Sabine's Gull, Monterey Bay, August

 

This was another bird found frequently but only in the deeper water

 

[lmSA84]

Next up two set of birds that I found really hard to tell apart. First the Storm-Petrels

 

275. Black Storm-Petrel, Monterey Bay, August

 

There are two common Storm-Petrels off the coast of Monterey, the far more common is the black...  

 

 

276. Ashy Storm-Petrel, Monterey Bay, August

 

...and the other is the Ashy, which we saw frequently but is now considered Endangered due to a steep decline in breeding numbers 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by lmSA84

[lmSA84]

277. Long-tailed Jaeger, Monterey Bay, August

 

This one I'm confident in...

 

 

...but these next two are I'm really uncertain on. I think this is a Pomarine Jaeger

 

278. Pomarine Jaeger, Monterey Bay, August

 

 

 

This next one is my guess for a Parasitic Jaeger but I'm not particularly confident

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by lmSA84

[lmSA84]

279. Elegant Tern, Monterey Bay, August

 

This one I am confident in - the last new bird of the trip on the way back in to port. 

 

[PeterHG]

Looks like you had a very good pelagic trip! Many interesting species.

[lmSA84]

22 hours ago, TonyQ said:

A great start to the Pelagic!

It is difficult to photograph from a moving boat.

I think you had a Belted Kingfisher earlier on, perhaps Florida.

 

@TonyQ- right you are! There is no getting past you