Our trips:
| Premier Perpetua Bank: Albatross Hotspot |
| Manx Shearwater search: Half Day Pelagic Trip |
| Oregon Shorebird Festival: Introductory Pelagic Trip |
|
Premier Perpetua Bank: Albatross Hotspot
Consistently outstanding! Since 1996 The Bird Guide, Inc. has led over fifty trips to Perpetua Bank and the phenomenal number of albatrosses found in the eddies around this under water sea mount. Black-footed Albatrosses are found here all year and are common from March to October. Laysan Albatrosses are found in low numbers on about half of our trips from October to May. Short-tailed Albatrosses are rare, but increasing. We have seen singles from October to March, and expect to see them occasionally. Perpetua Bank has proved to be a magnet for rare albatrosses. Our first trip here in 1996 recorded Shy Albatross. We spotted another in 2001. We were amazed to find Wandering Albatross in 2008. These southern hemisphere albatrosses are not expected anywhere in the North Pacific! Our trips aren't just for albatrosses, though. We have refined our route and timing to detect the most species and highest number of birds, including rarities. We encounter commercial fishing boats frequently that attract hundreds, and even thousands, of seabirds, which we leisurely scrutinize at point blank range! Marine animals, including whales, dolphins, seals, sharks, and fish are often spotted. Our expert seabird guides help you spot and identify all the birds and marine life present. Your fantastic trip starts in Yaquina Bay with abundant waterbirds and chance for rocky-type shorebirds on the jetties. Then, on the large, 56-foot charter vessel, you move along shore briefly, viewing Marbled Murrelets, Pigeon Guillemots, and other nearshore specialties, including Gray Whales. Soon we're heading offshore, while your pelagic guides point out birds flying by or sitting on the water ahead. Our first chum stop is in a canyon on the edge of the Newport Sea Valley, 33 miles off Newport, where deep water rarities are possible. After we're satisfied here we head south 10 miles to the seaward slope of the Perpetua Bank sea mount. At this outstanding underwater feature we'll chum albatrosses and other birds right up to the boat for you to observe and photograph! Take a Virtual Perpetua Bank Pelagic Trip!
|
|
Oregon Shorebird Festival: Introductory pelagic trip
Especially for beginners! The Bird Guide, Inc. is proud once again to host the pelagic trip for the Oregon Shorebird Festival. This shorter trip on a large 50-foot boat should allow all to get a taste of a typical pelagic trip, while offering quite a few of the seabirds possible on longer trips. Expected seabirds include Black-footed Albatross, Parasitic Jaeger, Sabine's Gull, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Sooty & Pink-footed Shearwater, Northern Fulmar, Pomarine Jaeger, Red-necked Phalarope, Cassin's Auklets, and more! As with all our trips, on-board guides will point out birds and other marine life and describe identification and natural history. You do not have to participate in the Shorebird Festival in order to attend the pelagic trip. Contact Dawn Grafe of the US Fish & Wildlife Service for more information or surf the Oregon Shorebird Festival web site. |
|
Manx Shearwater search: Half day pelagic trip
Shearwater and alcid extravaganza! Exciting, non-stop birding! This trip has been designed to eliminate the long run inherent in most pelagic trips. This allows for a shorter, less expensive trip, at a more leisurely pace, with abundant seabirds in view at all times. Typical birds should include the local breeding alcids: Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Marbled Murrelets, Cassin's Auklets, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Tufted Puffins. In early spring we may find Ancient Murrelets, as well. We'll encounter most of these as we travel just offshore along several miles of very scenic coastline. Then we'll loop out a few miles into shearwater habitat to find flocks of Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters. In spring we may find Short-tailed Shearwaters; in fall we may find Buller's Shearwaters. Our target bird, spring and fall, is Manx Shearwater. This rare visitor has been seen with increasing frequency this past decade. This trip spends its entire time in prime Manx Shearwater habitat--from shore to about 8 miles offshore. Other possible species include: Brant, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Red-throated Loon, Western Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Northern Fulmar, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Black Oystercatcher, Wandering Tattler, Surfbird, Black Turnstone, Red-necked Phalarope, Mew Gull, California Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Heermann's Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Parasitic Jaeger, and Pomarine Jaeger. Marine mammals will likely include Steller's Sea Lion, California Sea Lion, Harbor Seal, Harbor Porpoise, Dall's Porpoise, and Gray Whale. This is a perfect trip for new seabirder initiates, the budget conscious, and photographers, but is by no means a "beginners only" trip. We'll search for closer-to-shore rarities including Manx Shearwater, Black-vented Shearwater, Thick-billed Murre, Long-billed Murrelet, Horned Puffin, and other seabirds for which traditionally longer pelagic trips to deeper waters are not well suited.
|
Questions? Greg Gillson