Summer/Fall Trips

Well, here at Oregon Pelagic Tours, we are gearing up for our fall season, offering a variety of different trips. Start making plans today to join us for an exciting day on the ocean. Please refer to the Schedule & Prices page for more detailed lists of expected bird species.

Our first trip is our only deepwater trip of  the fall, the 12 hour trip out of Newport on Sunday, August 16. This trip is our best shot for Leach's Storm-Petrel and Scripps's (formerly Xantus's) Murrelet, as well as the species mentioned on the schedule page.  Normally priced at $175, I still have two spots available at the early registration price of $160. Marine mammals, including humpback whales, Pacific white-sided dolphin, Dall's porpoise and northern fur seal seal are likely.

Two weekends later, we will run our first 8 hour trip of the late summer/fall.  This trip will also depart from Newport on Saturday, August 29 Sunday, August 30.  This trip is excellent for those wishing to see a large variety of seabirds, but not wanting to spend a full twelve hours on the ocean.Trip cost is $140.

The following weekend, on Saturday, September 5, we are proud to be part of the Oregon Shorebird Festival in Charleston.  This festival, run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, offers interesting talks and excellent land-based field trips, led by experienced and enthusiastic birders, and we highly recommend it. Our pelagic trip offers the chance for beginners and veterans alike to spend a shorter amount of time on the ocean, while still providing the opportunity to see many pelagic species.Trip cost is $85. 

Our last 8 hour trip of the season will offered on Saturday, September 19, out of Newport. This trip is at an ideal time for seeing many of the pelagic birds that visit our waters, and who knows what unexpected bird might show up?  Cost is $140, with a couple of early registration spots at $130 still open.

We end our pelagic year with a trip to an "Albatross Hotspot", so-called because 4 species of albatross have been seen at this location. The northern edge of Perpetua Bank creates upwelings that provide nutrients to forage fish and other animals that pelagic birds feed on. We will visit this spot on Saturday, October 3.  Because of the time required to get there, this is a 10 hour trip. Cost is $150 to the first 10 paid reservations, $165 after.

Panama Canal Cruise

Hi, everyone. I returned last night from an exciting "bucket list" cruise aboard the MS Noordam -- from Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver, B.C. via the Panama Canal.  The Panama Canal is a marvel of engineering, and when you think that the engineering technology that was implemented in the early 1900's is still essentially what is in use today, you cannot help but feel amazed. The seabirding from the ship varied from quite slow in parts of the Caribbean Sea and off Central America to large numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and boobies off of Mexico, and very exciting in high winds and rough seas off of California. Sea turtles were very common just off Acapulco, lots of green sea turtles (some being used as a raft by Black Terns) and a few leatherbacks. Favorite birds?  Probably the four pterodroma petrels: one Black-capped Petrel in the Caribbean, good looks at Cook's Petrels off Mexico (with poor views off of California), great views of Murphy's Petrels off of both California and southern Oregon, and finally ( and I do mean finally), good views of three Hawaiian Petrels off California. The latter species has eluded me in ABA waters on several cruises, so I am very content to have had them last week. Lastly, one of my favorite birds seen from the boat was not a seabird at all: it was one of the three Fork-tailed Flycatchers seen on fences as we transited the Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal. This cruise is one that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys cruise ships.

Two Months Until Our Spring Deepwater Trip!

Well, I have had a chance to catch my breath after last month's exciting pelagic, and now I am looking forward to our next trip, on Sunday, May 17. We only offer two deepwater trips a year, one in spring and another in the late summer. The deepwater trips are always interesting, because we never know what might be out in the "blue water". Last year, although we dipped on Leach's Storm-Petrel (normally seen on this trip), we had our first ever Ashy Storm-Petrel as an even better consolation prize. Ocean conditions last year pushed large numbers of storm-petrels up from California, and we had Ashies on every trip from May on. Of course, things could be different this year, so we'll just have to see what's out there.  We have four early registration spots still available, and then normal prices will be in place after these are filled. Come join us for an exciting day on the ocean!