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PERSONAL TRIPS
Monterey Bay 11-29-03
As part of my 40th birthday present, Cricket surreptitiously
arranged a pelagic birding trip for the two of us on one of
Debi Shearwater's Monterey Bay boats. We took every precaution
to avoid seasickness, but we both managed to fall victim anyway.
Cricket got it worse than I but in the end she came away with
12 life birds so I think it worked out pretty well! I hope
she will come to agree... She said she wasn't eager to do
a pelagic trip again, but I'm hoping I can convince her otherwise.
My goals have been the same for a while: Yellow-billed Loon,
Short-tailed Albatross or any of the Pteradromas that are
found far out to sea. We didn't see anything particularly
rare on this seven-hour trip but we encountered vast numbers
of common pelagic species, such as Shearwaters and Fulmars.
Other birds were logged in small numbers such as various Alcids,
Jaegers, Black-legged Kittiwake and Red Phalarope. Upon returning
to land, we enjoyed some delicious clam chowder on the dock
and checked into the wonderful hotel which Cricket had also
arranged. Later we had dinner at the Blue Moon which was very
nice. The seared Ahi was absolutely perfect after an exhausting
day at sea.
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Eared Grebe
Aechmophorus species
Northern Fulmar
Buller's Shearwater
Pink-footed Shearwater
Flesh-footed Shearwater
Short-tailed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Pelagic Cormorant
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Surf Scoter
Harlequin Duck
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Peregrine Falcon
Black Turnstone
Red Phalarope
Pomarine Jaeger
Heermann's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Mew Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Forster's Tern
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Xantu's Murrelet
Ancient Murrelet
Cassin's Auklet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Belted Kingfisher
Marine Mammals:
California Sea Lion
Harbor Seal
Risso's Dolphin
Northern Rightwhale Dolphin
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Orca
Humpback Whale
Special Fish:
Pacific Sunfish
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