[CINC] Condor Express Birds om 6-7-12

[Bernardo Alps]

Hi all.

While the whale sightings are just off the charts, birds are kind of scarce in the channel right now. I went on the "Condor Express" last Thursday (I know, I need to get these reports out sooner) when we never got closer to the islands than about four miles. We went straight to the middle of the Santa Cruz/Santa Rosa gap, headed west for a couple of miles, then east until we were almost in line with the cave and then north to Santa Barbara. 

It was choppy and windy but it was surprising not to see any alcids. There were about a dozen Sooty Shearwaters a couple of miles from the coast and then very few in the channel. We found a few hundred feeding with pods of long-beaked common dolphins along the escarpment near the islands. A single Black Storm-Petrel was near mid-channel.

I saw a single Heermann's Gull and a single first year Glaucus-winged Gull in the harbor and only Western Gulls anywhere in the channel. The Glaucus-winged Gull is very ratty looking and might spend the summer. The only terns of the day were two Royal Terns with one of the feeding pods of dolphins.

Easily the most interesting bird of the day was a South Polar Skua (there might have been a second one but I didn't see it well enough to be sure). This relative of the jaegers is also a kleptoparasite that steals food from other birds at sea. It is a visitor from the southern hemisphere and breeds on the Antarctic continent. A few individuals are seen in our area between April and September, but usually outside of the islands.

A single Pacific Loon was flying west a few miles from the coast. While most loons migrate past our area in April, the migration never really stops. There are a few stragglers throughout the month of June, and in July you get the first early south bounders.   

Take care,

Bernardo


Santa Barbara Harbor, Santa Barbara, US-CA
Jun 7, 2012 10:04 AM - 10:10 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments:     Whale watching trip aboard the "Condor Express."

9 species

Double-crested Cormorant  60
Brown Pelican  75
Great Blue Heron  1
Snowy Egret  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Heermann's Gull  1
Western Gull  25
Glaucous-winged Gull  1
American Crow  5


Santa Barbara Channel--west channel (SBA Co.), Santa Barbara, US-CA
Jun 7, 2012 10:10 AM - 2:35 PM
Protocol: Traveling
65.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Whale watching trip aboard the "Condor Express." Wind 10 - 15 kt, sunny, 4 - 6 foot swells. Headed to the middle of the Santa Cruz/Santa Rosa gap turned west about 4 miles north of the islands for about three miles then traveled east for about 8 miles then back to Santa Barbara.

8 species

Pacific Loon  1
Sooty Shearwater  550
Black Storm-Petrel  1
Brandt's Cormorant  3
Brown Pelican  5
Western Gull  60
Royal Tern  2
South Polar Skua  1