September 7 Newport Pelagic -- Trip Report

This trip report was written by Dave Irons, guide. Enjoy this detailed description. 
On Saturday,  7September 2024, 33 of us (4 guides and 29 participants) enjoyed another fabulous day of sea birding aboard the "Misty" out of Newport. In advance of this eight-hour trip, the offshore forecasts had a few of us worried that we might be in for a bumpy ride with washing machine-like sea conditions. We ended up being pleasantly surprised by a very manageable mixed bag of swells and wind waves, which seemed to change about every hour or so over the course of our voyage. As is typically the case when inland temps have been in the high 90's and above, a heavy marine layer and some locally dense fog and fog drizzle greeted us when we arrived on the outer coast just before dawn. Thankfully, we did not have to endure heavy fog or any rain once we left port. The winds and wind waves were modest, and spray was less of an issue than some of us had anticipated. During the trip back to port the ocean laid down to near flat calm and the sun finally broke through. During exceptionally smooth sailing a catnap or two may have been taken. 
We started out by cruising the nearshore waters just south of the jetties looking for Marbled Murrelets and were not disappointed. We found numerous pairs, that included getting to hear a loudly begging chick. We tallied 18 murrelets (a great count) during the 10-15-minute span before we started motoring westward. Pigeon Guillemots were even more abundant inshore and were in view no matter which direction one looked. All that I saw were juveniles, suggesting that breeding success was good this summer. Our total of 26 on the first offshore checklist was surely a significant undercount. Rhinoceros Auklets were in abundance as well, foretelling a day that would be rich with Alcids. Our first small groups of Red-necked Phalaropes were on the water just offshore and we continued to run into modest flocks throughout the day. Only a few Red Phalaropes were picked out, and none were seen particularly well. 
As we headed out into the open ocean, we started encountering Sooty Shearwaters almost right away and continued to enjoy lots more Rhino Auklets, Common Murres, and Pigeon Guillemots. Eventually a few Pink-footed Shearwaters entered the mix, ultimately replacing Sooty as the most numerous shearwaters as we got farther offshore. We also began to run into small groups of Cassin's Auklets and continued to see them in small flocks of up to 15 birds over the next several hours. Remarkably, our first jaeger/skua of the day was a South Polar Skua that Jim Danzenbaker spotted sitting on the water. It took flight and provided reasonable views for most on the boat. We would find another skua just a few minutes later that was really close to the boat, serving up even better views and great photo opportunities. 
Overall, jaegers were surprisingly few, as evidenced by the fact that South Polar Skua was far and away the most numerous (4 birds) identified Sterocorarid. Otherwise, we had only one Parasitic Jaeger and would have missed Pomarine Jaeger had it not been for the subadult that we found using a young California Gull as a punching bag just a few miles out on our way back to port. A handful of distant jaegers went unidentified to species. We were utterly stunned to find zero Long-tailed Jaegers. What made the absence of Long-taileds so confounding was the almost constant presence of Arctic Terns and Sabine's Gulls during the middle section of the trip (20-32 miles offshore). Arctic Tern in particular seems to be a favored target of Long-tailed Jaegers looking to make some bird gack up its lunch, with Sabine's Gull running a close second. When you find fall flocks of Arctic Terns and Sabine's Gulls, Long-tailed Jaegers are almost always nearby. 
The Arctic Tern and Sabine's Gull show as one of the trip highlights. On most early fall trips both species will be seen in modest numbers, typically in small and somewhat distant flocks that are on the move. Yesterday was quite the opposite. Both species appeared in strong numbers, with many making close approaches that allowed everyone aboard to get great studies of these beautiful birds. I personally cannot remember a trip with so many up-close looks at Arctic Terns. Late in the day, we had a Common Tern fly past the front of the boat, and it stood out as different and instantly recognizable as such after all the great views of Arctic Terns. Normally, even the most experienced observers have to work to be certain of their identifications when sorting out "Commic" Terns. On the day we saw well over 100 Arctic Terns and at least 75 Sabine's Gulls.
In recent weeks, warmwater offshore currents have been pushing water temperatures up into the low 60'sF and even into the "tuna water" range–generally 65F and above–off Oregon. Several species of birds typically found only well to the south of us will follow these warmer currents northward. One of these most expected wanderers is Scripp's Murrelet, a small, slender black-and-white Alcid normally found off NW Mexico and southern California. During our 25 August trip we found three Scripp's and yesterday we had at least four more that were close enough for good views and photos, plus another pair of fly-by alcids that a couple of the guides suspected to be Scripps's Murrelets. Seeing these birds off Oregon is a rare treat. Prior to our two most recent trips, it had been six fall seasons since Scripp's was last seen during a conventional pelagic trip off of Oregon. Incredibly, a single Scripp's Murrelet was found inside the Columbia River mouth near Warrenton last week. Much farther offshore, research vessels have been recently finding Guadalupe Murrelets–even rarer this far north–in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia waters. Formerly, Guadalupe and Scripps's were considered subspecies under the heading of "Xantus's Murrelet," but they were split into separate species in 2012.  
We enjoyed a nice mix of tubenoses but unfortunately none that was out of the ordinary. Once we were about 15 miles offshore Pink-footed replaced Sooty as the most abundant shearwater species. We had a smattering of (fewer than 10) Buller's Shearwaters, with a couple of those coming right past the boat for spectacular views. We only tracked down two drag trawlers, neither of which was attracting the sort of albatross escorts that we witnessed two weeks ago. We saw fewer than 50 Black-footed Albatrosses and no big flocks. Conversely, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels put on a great show with well over 100 seen, including a flock of about 35 that flushed off the water right in front of boat early in the day. Throughout the middle part of the day storm-petrels (all Fork-tailed) seemed to be almost constantly in view with many close approaches to the boat. I'm sure some of our participants got scalding photos. On the way back to port when the ocean was glassy and near flat, we found multiple large groups (100-200 birds) of mostly Sooty Shearwaters sitting on the water. Try as we might to cull a Flesh-footed or Manx from these flocks, we came away empty-handed. We had a couple of Short-tailed Shearwater candidates, and participant photos may reveal that we did have one or two, but none of the guides saw anything we could confidently call out as a Short-tailed. Sooty v. Short-tailed Shearwater is one of the most challenging identifications we North American birders face.  
In addition to birds, there are lots of other marine creatures that we enjoy seeing, with whales usually getting top billing. It's hard to imagine that anyone aboard yesterday would tell you any of birds or other creatures we saw outperformed the Humpback Whale that came completely out of the water about 300 yards from the boat. The capacity of these mammoth creatures to generate the speed required to jump entirely out of the water seems to defy physics. Just a few seconds later this playful leviathan blasted up out of the water again, this time with a half twist, exposing its huge ventral fins just before is crashing back into the water. We spotted several distant whale spouts that appeared to be humpbacks, and had a closer pod of about 6-7 more that spouted a bunch of times before one-by-one they sounded.
Other marine mammals included a single Minke Whale seen by some of the participants late in the trip, multiple pods dolphins/porpoises that included at least one group of Dall's Porpoises, a group of Pacific White-sideed Dolphins, a few scattered harbor porpoises near shore, and some distance splashing pods that went unidentified. We saw lots of fur seals (presumed Northern) laying on the surface holding their fins in the tell-tail "jug handle" pose and many sea lions and harbor seals as well. Blue sharks were again in abundance on this trip, although we did not see quite as many as we did on 25 August.  
One of the things we discussed before leaving the docks was the possibility that we might have a passerine or two while at sea. When persistent east winds and high temps inland generate heavy coastal fog, as has been the case over the past several days, migrant songbirds often get disoriented during nocturnal migrations and find themselves well offshore when dawn breaks. Sadly, many never make it back to shore before becoming exhausted and perishing at sea. Often times these weary birds will land on boats and sometimes its passengers. Given the conditions, we expected to see multiple songbirds offshore and were almost surprised to have only one passerine fly by the boat yesterday. This bird never landed, but after initially flying away from the boat it circled back close enough to be identified, with the help of photos, as a Black-throated Gray Warbler. Past Oregon Pelagic Tours trips have encountered a variety of passerines, but this seems to be a new species to add to the long list of birds we've found over the years.
All in all, another fun and fruitful day, especially for the 7-8 aboard who were doing their first pelagic trip. Hopefully, yesterday's experience will have them yearning for more. We have several more scheduled trips this year, culminating with our annual early December trip which has traditionally provided the best chance to see Short-tailed Albatross. All have open spaces available. We hope some of you can join us.