Our trips:
| Premier Perpetua Bank: Albatross Hotspot |
| Seabirds of Oregon: Traditional Full-Day Pelagic Trip |
| Oregon Shorebird Festival: Introductory Pelagic Trip |
| Special Deep Water trip |
|
Premier Perpetua Bank: Albatross Hotspot
Consistently outstanding! Since 1996 The Bird Guide, Inc. has led over sixty 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 on the shelf break, 27 miles off Newport. After we're satisfied here we head south 15 miles to the seaward slope of the Perpetua Bank sea mount. At this outstanding underwater feature we'll again 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. |
|
Seabirds of Oregon: Traditional full day pelagic trip
Come enjoy the seabirds of Oregon! This full-day traditional pelagic trip off the central Oregon coast is a general introduction to Oregon's seabirds. We'll spend the first hour of our trip near shore examining coastal waterbirds and marine mammals. If sea conditions permit, we'll cruise toward Yaquina Head seabird colony. Among the thousands of Common Murres in the water off the scenic lighthouse, we will locate the tiny and endangered Marbled Murrelets. While we watch for Gray Whales we will also keep an eye out for rare Manx Shearwaters--a bird we have seen several times in this area. The second part of our trip we cruise out 27 miles to the edge of the continental shelf. During this part of our adventure we're sure to encounter flocks of Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters (and during fall Buller's). This stretch of waters will also contain Rhinoceros and Cassin's Auklets as well as Red-necked Phalaropes. Don't be surprised if Dall's Porpoises join us to ride our bow wake, or you see the fins of sharks on the surface if you are lucky enough to get a calm day. You'll know we're near the third portion of our trip when cries of "Albatross!" ring out and you see these magnificent creatures gliding over the seas. At this point we'll stop the boat and chum Black-footed Albatrosses and Northern Fulmars to the boat for great photo ops. Here in deeper water we could see all 3 species of jaegers (Long-tailed in August), perhaps South Polar Skua (fall), Sabine's Gull, Arctic Terns, and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels. The return trip to port of two-and-a-half hours is generally without break. There is ample time to study the unique flight style of each shearwater species. Scan the waters ahead for a better looks at the auklets or maybe spot a species you missed earlier. It is not unusual to see Humpback Whales on the return. But often, this is a time to commune with your fellow birding comrades and reflect on the unique experience of being at sea. Study the Seabird abundance bar chart!
|
|
Special Deep Water trip: Leach's Storm-Petrel and Xantus's Murrelet search trip
Search for Oregon's rarest and remotest birds! We'll ride on board "Crackerjack" or "Gracie K," smaller, faster boats that will get 23 seabirders out beyond 60 miles and back in a 12-hour trip. Please note that this trip is for experienced seabirders only! We will not stop for common birds near shore. We may travel most of the 4 hours out to 60 miles (and back again) without stopping, unless briefly for unusual birds. Once we get 60 miles offshore we'll slow down and have 4 hours of quality birding time in deep water. The route is nearly due west from Newport. We'll spot and call out lots of the common seabirds as we travel. About 2 hours into the trip, and 30 miles offshore, we travel over Daisy Bank, the underwater mountain also called Nelson Island. Though it might have been an island thousands of years ago, the top is currently 67 fathoms (402 feet deep) below the surface. Still, it interrupts deeper ocean currents and we may see the first Black-footed Albatrosses and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels as we pass over it. For the next hour we pass over Newport Sea Valley, a trench about 600 fathoms (3600 feet) deep. This is an excellent area to search the water for Xantus's Murrelets. Both the Scripps's form that breeds on the Channel Islands off southern California, and the Baja breeding nominate hypoleuca race, can occur. These may be considered separate species in the future. On the outside of the Newport Sea Valley, 45 miles offshore, we travel over the north end of an unusual underwater feature called Hydrate Ridge. This undersea mountain range, rising to 317 fathoms (1902 feet deep), contains significant amounts of frozen methane. As soon as we cross the summit of Hydrate Ridge the bottom drops away. It is here, 60 miles offshore, where the Pacific tectonic plate slips under North America, that we reach the Abyss--the deep ocean more than 1400 fathoms (more than a mile and a half deep). Now we slow down and search for Leach's Storm-Petrels. There are very few individual birds out here. In summer we expect the "Deep Water Six": an occasional Black-footed Albatross, Sooty Shearwater, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Red Phalarope, Long-tailed Jaeger, and Arctic Tern. Any other bird out here is likely to be something rare... No other species are expected, but several are possible. Cook's Petrel, Hawaiian Petrel, Murphy's Petrel, Black Storm-Petrel, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Wilson's Storm-Petrel, and Red-billed Tropicbird seem reasonable to consider. Anything else is a dream... Oregon has one accepted record of Juan Fernandez Petrel from June 50 miles offshore. There have been several summer reports by non-birders of unidentified frigatebirds out here, which may be Great Frigatebirds or Magnificent Frigatebirds. Though Oregon has no records yet, Great-winged Petrel, Bulwer's Petrel, and Craveri's Murrelet are possible. |
Questions? Greg Gillson