California - Vancouver, BC Trip ~ April 28, 2015

At dawn, I loaded a couple single-serving cereal boxes, a couple apples, and a bag of Twizzlers into my backpack. Why? The breakfast hours didn't start before the birding did and you have to be afraid to leave during the day for fear of missing the best bird(s) of the trip. So, I grabbed my backpack, bins, and scope and headed to the deck to scan the ocean with about ten other birders. We were in California waters all day.

We saw a few Pomarine Jaegers with nice "spoons" at the tail tips. Unfortuantely, I only got a documentation-grade photo of one of them.

Lines of Common Murres streamed close by the ship, allowing great views.

Great numbers of Sabine's Gulls were flying north. My first Murphy's Petrel was seen off Point Reyes, California.

My 'life' Cook's Petrel was seen a little farther north, off Jenner, California.

Other birds seen that day included Common and Pacific Loons, Black-footed Albatross, Northern Fulmar, Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters, an Ashy Storm-Petrel, numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes, Arctic Tern, Parasitic and Long-tailed Jaegers, and Rhinoceros Auklet.

At sunset, we dropped our gear off in the stateroom and headed for the dining room where I proceeded to more than make up for missing breakfast and lunch.

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California - Vancouver, BC Trip ~ April 29, 2015

The same routine as yesterday was used again. We were in California waters in the morning but spent most of the day in Oregon waters. As soon as I got on deck, Paul told me that there were Leach's Storm-Petrels flying right along the ship on the other side. I walked over there and easily found several of them. I had seen one on the October 2014 pelagic trip out of San Diego but never counted it because it was so far away that I never got to see any of its identifying marks. Later that day when the lighting was much better, I got some fairly good photos of them.

One of the many Black-footed Albatrosses came close enough for photos.

About 24 miles off Cape Blanco, Oregon, I spotted my 'life' Hawaiian Petrel. It was fairly close, giving me pretty nice look at all the details unlike the very poor looks I had at two previous ones. Unfortunately, I was so intent on watching it that it was pretty far out before I thought about trying to get a photo.

About 50 miles off Newport, Oregon, a Laysan Albatross also came in close enough for identifiable photos.

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels were now becoming more common as we continued north.

Some of the normally arcing and twisting Murphy's Petrels were coming close enough and flying with the ship to allow for some half-decent photos.

Late in the day, a group of 14 Long-tailed Jaegers were seen.

And of course, there were many, many Sooty Shearwaters passing by all day long.

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California - Vancouver, BC Trip ~ April 30, 2015

By the time it got light, we were already heading into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so pelagic birding was pretty much over. We passed by Cape Flattery and its lighthouse on Tatoosh Island.

Soon after, we passed Neah Bay, Washington, a place where many rarites have been found because of its geographic location.

Pairs of Rhinoceros Auklets were present in the strait.

We docked in Victoria, British Columbia and had the afternoon to go ashore. I decided to walk the few miles along the shore to Clover Point Park. Along the way, a Black Turnstone rested on a rock.

My hope was to get photos of Harlequin Ducks. Several cooperated at Clover Point.

Black Oystercatchers were also there on the same rock formations.

Several Savannah Sparrows worked the grassy areas by the rocks.

The real surprise came when a breeding-plumaged Lapland Longspur popped up on one of those rocks.

A Glaucous-winged Gull and a 'Black' Brant also allowed me to get a photo of them.

I then hoofed it over to nearby Beacon Hill Park. There, I spotted Chestnut-backed Chickadees.

On the way back to the ship, the clouds lifted just enough to expose the Olympic Mountains across the strait in Washington.

A Glaucous-winged x Western Gull hybrid, also known as a "Puget Sound" Gull, was along the seawall.

A few Pigeon Guillemots swam around a restricted area of the dock. One came out into open view just long enough to get a photo.

We all had a very formal dinner before returning to our rooms and packing for our early morning departure in Vancouver.

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California - Vancouver, BC Trip ~ May 1, 2015

We disembarked the ship before 7:00 AM, walked over to the train station, and boarded a train to the Vancouver Airport. I took Air Canada back to Philadelphia by way of Toronto. The only issue was getting through customs in Toronto. Rumors were that there was some kind of labor dispute going on, which caused a huge backlog. They were pulling travelers out of line according to flights and, luckily, holding their planes until they got there. I got to my plane with two minutes to spare.

Despite this minor blip, it was a great trip. I got four life birds among the 140 species. Thanks goes to Paul Lehman for his amazing ablilty to find and quickly identify most of the birds we saw on the cruise. All photos from the trip can be found in my California - Vancouver, BC Photo Album.

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California - Vancouver ~ April 25 - May 1, 2015
1) 'Black' Brant (CA)(BC)
2) Canada Goose (BC)
3) Mallard (BC)
4) American Wigeon (BC)
5) Greater Scaup (OR)
6) Harlequin Duck (BC)
7) Surf Scoter (CA)
8) Bufflehead (BC)
9) Red-breasted Merganser (WA)
10) Gambel's Quail (CA)
11) California Quail (CA)
12) Mountain Quail (CA) (heard only)
13) Red-throated Loon (WA)
14) Pacific Loon (CA)(WA)
15) Common Loon (CA)(WA)
16) Laysan Albatross (OR)
17) Black-footed Albatross (CA)(OR)
18) Northern Fulmar (CA)(OR)
19) Murphy's Petrel*** (CA)(OR)
20) Hawaiian Petrel*** (OR)
21) Cook's Petrel*** (CA)
22) Sooty Shearwater (CA)(OR)(WA)
23) Pink-footed Shearwater (CA)(OR)(WA)
24) Leach's Storm-Petrel*** (CA)(OR)
25) Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (OR)(WA)
26) Black Storm-Petrel (CA)
27) Ashy Storm-Petrel (CA)
28) Brown Booby (CA)
29) Double-crested Cormorant (CA)
30) Brandt's Cormorant (CA)
31) Pelagic Cormorant (WA)
32) Brown Pelican (CA)
33) Great Blue Heron (CA)(BC)
34) Snowy Egret (CA)
35) Great Egret (CA)
36) Turkey Vulture (CA)
37) Bald Eagle (BC)
38) Cooper's Hawk (CA)
39) Red-tailed Hawk (CA)
40) American Kestrel (BC)
41) Black Oystercatcher (CA)(BC)
42) Spotted Sandpiper (CA)
43) Marbled Godwit (CA)
44) Black Turnstone (BC)
45) Red-necked Phalarope (CA)(OR)
46) Red Phalarope (OR)
47) Black-legged Kittiwake (WA)
48) Sabine's Gull (CA)(OR)(WA)
49) California Gull (CA)(WA)
50) Glaucous-winged Gull (WA)(BC)
50a) Glaucous-winged x Western (Puget Sound) Gull (BC)
51) Western Gull (CA)(OR)(WA)
52) Arctic Tern (CA)(OR)
53) Royal Tern (CA)
54) Elegant Tern (CA)
55) Pomarine Jaeger (CA)(OR)
56) Parasitic Jaeger (CA)
57) Long-tailed Jaeger (CA)(OR)
58) Common Murre (CA)(OR)(WA)
59) Pigeon Guillemot (BC)
60) Cassin's Auklet (WA)
61) Rhinoceros Auklet (CA)(OR)(WA)
62) Tufted Puffin (OR)
63) Rock Pigeon (CA)(BC)
64) Eurasian Collared-Dove (CA)
65) Mourning Dove (CA)
66) White-winged Dove (CA)
67) Greater Roadrunner (CA)
68) White-throated Swift (CA)
69) Black-chinned Hummingbird (CA)
70) Costa's Hummingbird (CA)
71) Anna's Hummingbird (CA)(BC)
72) Acorn Woodpecker (CA)
73) Nutall's Woodpecker (CA)
74) Downy Woodpecker (BC)
75) Northern "Red-shafted" Flicker (CA)
76) Western Wood-Pewee (CA)
77) Black Phoebe (CA)
78) Say's Phoebe (CA)
79) Ash-throated Flycatcher (CA)
80) Western Kingbird (CA)
81) Loggerhead Shrike (CA)
82) Bell's Vireo (CA)
83) Warbling Vireo (CA)
84) Steller's Jay (CA)
85) Western Scrub-Jay (CA)
86) Northwestern Crow (BC)
87) American Crow (CA)
88) Common Raven (CA)(BC)
89) Barn Swallow (BC)
90) Cliff Swallow (CA)
91) Oak Titmouse (CA)
92) Mountain Chickadee (CA)
93) Chestnut-backed Chickadee (BC)
94) Verdin (CA)
95) Bushtit (CA)(BC)
96) Red-breasted Nuthatch (BC)
97) White-breasted Nuthatch (CA)
98) Brown Creeper (BC)
99) Canyon Wren (CA)
100) Cactus Wren (CA)
101) House Wren (CA)
102) Black-tailed Gnatcatcher (CA)
103) Western Bluebird (CA)
104) American Robin (CA)(BC)
105) California Thrasher (CA)
106) European Starling (CA)(BC)
107) Phainopepla (CA)
108) Orange-crowned Warbler (CA)(BC)
109) Nashville Warbler (CA)
110) Yellow Warbler (CA)
111) Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warbler (CA)(BC)
112) Black-throated Gray Warbler (CA)
113) Hermit Warbler (CA)
114) Townsend's Warbler (CA)
115) MacGillivray's Warbler (CA)
116) Wilson's Warbler (CA)
117) Yellow-breasted Chat (CA)
118) Spotted Towhee (CA)(BC)
119) California Towhee (CA)
120) Black-chinned Sparrow (CA)
121) Lark Sparrow (CA)
122) Savannah Sparrow (BC)
123) Song Sparrow (CA)(BC)
124) White-crowned Sparrow (CA)
125) Lapland Longspur (BC)
126) Western Tanager (CA)
127) Black-headed Grosbeak (CA)
128) Blue Grosbeak (CA)
129) Lazuli Bunting (CA)
130) Tricolored Blackbird (CA)
131) Brewer's Blackbird (CA)
132) Great-tailed Grackle (CA)
133) Hooded Oriole (CA)
134) Bullock's Oriole (CA)
135) Scott's Oriole (CA)
136) House Finch (CA)
137) Lesser Goldfinch (CA)
138) Lawrence's Goldfinch (CA)
139) Evening Grosbeak (CA)
140) House Sparrow (CA)(BC)


(CA) = California
(OR) = Oregon
(WA) = Washington
(BC) = British Columbia
*** = denotes life bird.

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Merlin from the yard and Harris's Sparrow at the Koch farm! ~ April 24, 2015

I did a double-take today when I notice a small raptor perched on the neighbor's snag and saw that it was a Merlin! Luckily, it stayed there until I retrieved my camera and let me get these photos.

Later in the day, I drove over to Arlene Koch's house and got some photos of her Harris's Sparrow that was now starting to molt into its breeding plumage.

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