I Wish They All Could Be California Gulls

First proper post, and I steal someone else’s joke for the title (Hi Mez). Typical. And if I’m being factually correct, then I wish they all could be Heermann’s Gulls, which are the nicest gulls ever.

I visited the West Coast of the USA for the first time in September 2006. The primary purpose was to get out onto the sea, something that, despite living inland all of my life, I feel the need to do from time to time. Before I came to the States I’d read about Shearwater Journeys’ pelagic trips (in Ian Merrill’s California trip report – he of the aforementioned joke) and the idea stuck. Since arriving in Arizona I’ve made friends with ex-pat Englishman Bruce Barrett, a long time resident of San Jose, California. Bruce and his wife Brenda kindly put me up, fed me and ferried me around, and I had a great time.

I took my first pelagic with Shearwater Journeys from Bodega Bay and it was, as I’d hoped, memorable. I saw my first Humpback Whales (on many previous boat trips I’d never really been in range), plus my first Dall’s Porpoise, California Sea Lion, Stellar’s Sea Lion, Northern Fur Seal, Northern Elelphant Seal (an adult male with an impressive trunk), and loads of birds. The least expected was a Xantus’s Murrelet, closely followed by a late Tufted Puffin. The list carried on with Rhinoceros and Cassin’s Auklets, Pigeon Guillemot, South Polar Skua, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Pink-footed, Buller’s and Sooty Shearwaters… great stuff!

The trip I planned this year was pretty much the same thing again. One change was the date, late August, and another change was the location, Monterey Bay. The reason was to increase my chances of just about the only thing I didn’t see last time: an albatross. I did see the infamous Albert Ross many years back, a Black-browed Albatross which took up residence on the Shetland Isles for several decades. Albert was asleep, on a distant cliff. Which doesn’t really count, so I was after my first flight views – and first “proper” views – of an albatross. I also liked the idea of clapping my eyes on a Blue Whale for the first time, and late August offers probably a one in ten chance. Of course, I ended up experiencing failure in roughly my seventeenth such one in ten shot. So I figure, next time, I’m due…

I arrived in San Jose on Wednesday afternoon, August 27th. I’m used to the heat of Arizona now, but I confess I was looking forward to a little respite in the cooler climes of Northern California. Wrong! It was hotter than Tucson! Still, I hung around Bruce and Brenda’s garden and the nearby park in the heat of mid-afternoon taking butterfly photos and harrassing woodpeckers. Mad dogs, etc.

On Thursday, which was almost as hot, we pottered around San Jose, taking in Almaden Lake Park and other local sites, getting a few photos and attempting to add to my burgeoning California list. I love photographing birds on water and catching the reflections and patterns, and the low morning light made for some interesting pictures. The squirrels were friendly too.

Friday 29th August was the big day, the Monetery Bay pelagic. Bruce and I were greeted by the leaders, all friends of Bruce’s, and surrounded by Western, California and Heermann’s Gull (as we were all day), off we went, into the more typical coastal fog. The fog was to prove a problem for photos for most of the day, but given what was out there in the fog, I didn’t really care. Within a minute we had racked up (not literally; that’s presumably illegal) Sea Otters, California Sea Lions, Common Murre, Long-tailed Duck and Belted Kingfisher, all in the harbor. It wasn’t too long before the first shearwaters started to appear. Sooties were the most abundant but soon the first of an almost constant stream of Pink-footed Shearwaters passed by.

Then the cry went up, the one I’d been waiting for – ALBATROSS! I didn’t dare lift the camera, as I wanted to take in my first view properly. It was a Black-footed Albatross and gave a reasonable fly past. Then there were two of them, and then they were all over, sailing right by, landing near the boat, and generally showing off. Nice birds. Big birds! In all, we managed a total of 19.

Nothing against Black-footed Albatross, which is an impressive bird, but what I really wanted to see was one of the “classic” albatrosses, with incredibly long, thin wings, and more gliding, less flapping. You know the sort of thing: something like a…

LAYSAN! I couldn’t believe my luck as a stunning Laysan Albatross skimmed by the boat and performed well for the camera. Wow!

Next up came the Buller’s Shearwaters, surely one of the most attractive seabirds. Ashy Storm-Petrels were out there in the fog in small numbers, and skuas (South Polar) and jeagers (mainly Pomarine) became evident. At one point when a particularly smart adult Pom flew by I got a few funny looks for a genuinely admiring – and perhaps louder than I intended – outburst of “ooooh, nice spoons!”. I should keep my mouth shut more often. I really should.

And then came the mammals, with Humpback Whales up first. I had closer views last time when they were circling the boat, but this trip gave me my first classic Humpback flukes. I managed to screw up the money shot in my excitement but got a few reasonable consolations.

We had wonderful looks at Risso’s Dolphins as they carved through the swell, and Pacific White-sided Dolphins as they rode the bow. Northern Right-Whale Dolphins and Dall’s Porpoises were seen well but only fleetingly, and a young Elephant Seal was a cute bonus. A fine Blue Shark was attracted to the chum and was fed fish head after fish head for several minutes.

The birds were rounded off with a few Sabine’s Gull, many Red-necked and a few Red Phalaropes, Rhinoceros and Cassin’s Auklets, Pigeon Guillemot, and a few Elegant and a single Black Tern.

On our return the fog lifted for a while, and I had fun with the gulls following the boat and Brown Pelicans back in the harbor.

Back on dry land after another fabulous Shearwater Journeys trip, the excitement continued around the harbor’s edge, with a Harlequin Duck, unusual this far south in winter, let alone all summer long as this one had been, posing on the rocks. A pair of keen-eyed Dutch birders picked it out as we got off the boat (good shpot, very nishe!), and they also mentioned a “performing” dolphin and calf that had been around for a few weeks from the next pier over. Sure enough, every thirty second a female Long-beaked Common Dolphin appeared, always copied in a humorously inept way by junior. It seemed to me that they’d picked a good spot, sheltering in shallow water and using the human presence – they continually surfaced near passing boats and kayaks – as a shield. They’d been doing it for weeks and seemed remarkably happy.

Also on the pier, Black Turnstones and Surfbirds were very approachable, as were a few Seal Lions.

With a few hours of daylight still ahead, we headed up the coast, and into the fog again, to Moss Landing. What a great place this is! The area reminds me of certain coastal parts of north Norfolk in England. Especially in the fog, I could have been standing next to a muddy creek at Snettisham, but for the birds. And the Sea Otters. Without doubt the most adorable creatures I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Their unbelievably cute antics only add to the package, and when you have a group of 47 in front of you, all floating together, rolling around and pulling faces, I think you can be forgiven for making gooey noises and saying repeatedly “I want one.”

We bumped into a few good birds at Moss Landing. We were a little early for Loons, so not seeing any on the pelagic was no great surprise. However, finding a Common Loon and a Pacific Loon on the same small patch of natural harbor was. There were plenty of shorebirds around, including a few Snowy Plovers and close Marbled Godwits. A Savannah Sparrow landed right in front of me for less than a second, but I was already focused on the exact spot and fired off two shots before it flew.

And to round off the day, a close look at a hilarious Sea Lion colony on a (I suppose former) boat jetty, followed by the best fish and chips I’ve had in years, with the sound of the bickering Sea Lions drifting over the marshland dusk as the backdrop. A perfect day.

I flew back to Tucson on Saturday, after a quick visit to another park in San Jose where we’d seen Bobcats last time. None this time, but the Wrentit I put in hours to see previously gave itself up as the first bird (still no photo, though). Four Wild Turkeys were an odd sight crossing a field of tall yellow grass.

Another stunning trip. Thanks of course to Bruce and Bren for their kind hospitality, which was partly repaid a few days later…