Westport Washington Pelagic

On Dock 10 at 5AM

 When I relocated to Washington state, something kinda weird happened. I stopped doing as much local, in state exploring as had in California. I didn't stop enjoying roaming about, but when I moved here almost 7 years ago, there was SO MUCH needed doing it got me out of  my nomadic ways. I hereby declare my stationary days are over, damn it! 

Decided to go on an all day Pelagic Birding trip with Westport Seabirds in Gray's Harbor County. It's 3 hours south and It was fun viewing the local folk... some with red glowing eyes....

I arrived in Westport, WA early Friday afternoon, stymied when GPS insisted my motel was in the center of a cluster of Industrial buildings. Called the hotel, and they kindly told me where they were hidden. After setting up my hotel room, I scouted out where the boat pier was so I would not freak out at 5 AM, searching for where one boards the birding boat. 

The boat wasn't gigantic (kind of a plus!) and there were maybe 16 co-birders plus the crew, captain and more importantly, 3 pelagic guides. The Guides' jobs were to spot the cool oceanic birds and get us 'onto them', i.e., point out where the birds were so we could get our binoculars onto them. 

It was a beautiful day, lots of sun, although the waters seemed gray much of the day. I hoped to see two new lifer birds - Parakeet Auklet, and Manx Shearwater. 

A Manx Shearwater, unseen by 'moi'

No Parakeet Auklets showed up. Where the EFF are they hiding? We weren't a half hour out of port and a Manx Shearwater, 2 of them were seen... sadly, not seen by me.  

One thing learned in birding is you can neither make birds show up because you want to see them, and even if they show up, you personally may not manage to see them. I stared where the guides pointed as they called out 'ABOVE THE HORIZON AT 1 O'CLOCK!' and BELOW THE HORIZON AT 3 O'CLOCK!" Despite the helpful shouts I could not 'get on the bird' with my binoculars to save my life. Oh well. Some times the magic works, and sometimes the magic doesn't work. *sigh* 

Here's a few birdies I managed to see and photograph.

Herring Gulls

Black-footed Albatross

Black-footed on the lam

Sabine's Gulls

Common Murres

Flotilla of Common Murres

Common Murre

Yes, even more Common Murres

Any pelagic birding outing can turn into a Whale watching opportunity. Early in the trip Gray Whales were seen, and *sigh* I missed seeing them. But the gods were with me for two other species. 

HUMPBACKS!  This one is headed into a dive...

That means it's TAIL UP! 

This Humpback has mostly dark flukes, with slight white markings at the ends. Betcha if this photo were sent out on line, there's a registry of individual  humpbacks based on their fluke patterns.

Bye bye!

YAY! A small pod of Dall's Porpoises popped up. I bet it's been 20 years since the last time I saw any. Used to see them on various pelagic trips to the Farallon Islands out of San Francisco. Dall's are shaped like big fatties and are slightly faster than the speed of light. Ok, almost that fast, lol. 

Dall's Porpoise (headed left)

Hoped they'd 'ride the bow' but they did not. One did swim past quite close and was able to look to see one of these speed demons zip by about 15 feet below me. 

Dall's Porpoise

Fun has to end at some point, and mid afternoon, the good ship Blitz headed back  towards dock ten. First we passed buoys loaded down with boys & girls of the Steller's Sea Lion persuasion. 

Headed dock-ward, Double-crested Cormorants were on hand. Note the Double-crested have orange skin on their faces. On the right top is a Brant's Cormorant on its nest - it has blue skin on its face. 

Cormorants sunning and nesting on harbor marker

The cormorant below is a Pelagic Cormorant. They have skinny necks and long thin-ish bills. Some of the year they have white flank patches (normally how I identify them). If you can see it, this species has a little red skin around the eyes and bill. Can't see that on this one. 

Pelagic Cormorant

Now here's a weird thing. There are no Brown Pelicans where I live and I'm not very far from the Pacific Ocean, and am smack on the San Juan Straits. Still, no pelicans and wow, do I miss them. Thought they would be common here, but not so. They show up maybe one at a time, once in a bit. But they are totally common around Westport, south to Mexico. Such graceful and greedy giants. 

Brants Cormorant on the wing

Double-crested Cormorant, and you can see the double-crest on its noggin

Heading back into port, as we neared the dock, folks lined the pier because today is officially CRAB DERBY day! 

And as the Blitz headed into its pier, bubbles floated over the bow. You can see the bubbly source in the short vid below.