[CINC] Whales, Sea Lions, Bald Eagles and Chimpanzees

[Bernardo Alps]

Hi all.

This was the second time that Dr. Jane Goodall went whale watching on the Condor Express, and, like her first trips some six years ago, it was spectacular.

Bird numbers were on the low side. 

There are surprisingly few Western Grebes around; I saw none in or near the harbor and only two near the Painted Cave. The numbers of Black-vented Shearwaters went from above average to really low over the past couple of months. I saw none today. Found one Sooty Shearwater and 11 Northern Fulmars, more than I have seen in a while. Interestingly, almost all the fulmars were in a single group. I had decent numbers of Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murres and Cassin's Auklets, but far fewer than on recent trips to the Ventura Flats.  

There were a few scattered Pacific Loons around and we saw one Pomarine Jaeger.

Most Pelagic Cormorants are in their breeding plumage now, making it easy to distinguish them from the similar Brandt's Cormorants by the white rump patches. Unfortunately they don't show the white patch during most of the year and it can be a challenge to tell the two species apart. In spite of their name, Pelagic Cormorants are usually seen close to the islands while Brandt's Cormorants are the more common species offshore.

The Bald Eagle sighting was a treat. I am going to respectfully disagree with Bart regarding the sex of the birds. Sexual dimorphism in Bald Eagles is very subtle (females are slightly larger than males) and the sexes cannot be told apart in the field. In my opinion it is more likely that the two are a mated pair. They did have light blue wing tags, indicating that they were probably handled by the Institute for Wildlife Studies and either released on the Northern Channel Islands or hatched there. One of the tags had the number 49 on it and I am trying to find out more about these birds. The IWS website has a wealth of information about Bald Eagle on the Channel Islands (and tons of other stuff) http://www.iws.org/index.htm .

My complete bird lists are below.

Take care,

Bernardo


Santa Barbara Harbor, Santa Barbara, US-CA

Jan 5, 2013 10:09 AM - 10:15 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.55 mile(s)
Comments:     Whale watching trip aboard the Condor Express.

14 species

Bufflehead  30
Horned Grebe  4
Eared Grebe  10
Double-crested Cormorant  50
Brown Pelican  120
Black-bellied Plover  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Willet  1
Whimbrel  1
Marbled Godwit  10
Sanderling  10
Heermann's Gull  10
Western Gull  25
Rock Pigeon  1

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12511107

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)


Pelagic CondEx Islands, Santa Barbara, US-CA
Jan 5, 2013 10:15 AM - 2:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
72.0 mile(s)

Comments:     Whale watching trip aboard the Condor Express. From Santa Barbara Harbor to the west end of Santa Cruz Island, halfway into the gap between SCI and Santa Rosa Island, back to the Painted Cave and across the channel to Santa Barbara.

18 species (+1 other taxa)

Surf Scoter  4
Pacific Loon  15
Western/Clark's Grebe  2
Northern Fulmar  11
Sooty Shearwater  1
Brandt's Cormorant  300
Pelagic Cormorant  50
Brown Pelican  200
Bald Eagle  2
Black Oystercatcher  1
Heermann's Gull  100
Western Gull  100
California Gull  500
Royal Tern  2
Pomarine Jaeger  1
Common Murre  20
Cassin's Auklet  5
Rhinoceros Auklet  90
Common Raven  2

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12511137

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)



Bernardo Alps
www.photocetus.com
Whalephoto at earthlink.net
310.597.0449
P.O. Box 1667
San Pedro, CA 90733