Nov/Dec Monthly Report
Long-beaked Common Dolphin
Long overdue, I have decided to merge November and December into one report due to my lack of getting out of the harbor this time of year. Pretty much most of December has been filled with harbor cruises, and November was rather slow due to some pretty bad weather and nasty fires. In fact this report is going to just basically be an announcement for the 2019 pelagic birding trip dates.
The biggest bird news is that the Masked Booby continued on the cliffs of Anacapa Island for the first part of November, but I never managed to connect with it personally during that time. A few late fall migrant/vagrants appeared on the Channel Islands in November but again I never crossed paths with them, just reports from others. Almost all of December I was running evening Christmas Caroling Cruises in the harbor so no luck getting out offshore to see what was moving about.
So for those of you interested in doing some pelagic birding this coming year (2019) Island Packers has locked down a few dates.
March 9th, 2019
The trip is scheduled to depart from the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. We will travel aboard the motor vessel Vanguard for an 9-hour event. Typically, we skirt the edge of the Hueneme Canyon on our way to Anacapa Island. We often encounter a variety of seabirds including, Cassin’s Auklets, Scripps’s Murrelets, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Black-vented Shearwaters. We will motor along the coast of Anacapa Island and look at the groups of seabirds congregating for the nesting season. Later we arrive at Prisoner’s Harbor on Santa Cruz Island where we disembark for an hour or so to observe the Island Scrub-Jay and other terrestrial birds. On the crossing home, we will have a good stretch of water to cover with more pelagic birding opportunities. Boat departs the Channel Islands Harbor/Oxnard at 8:00am and returns to the dock at 5:00pm.
Island Scrub-Jay
July 14th, 2019
Brown Booby
This 12 hour , offshore, deep water, pelagic trip allows you to get out to the offshore waters beyond the reach of most day trips. You will have a chance to see a number of outstanding pelagic birds and marine mammals. Our intention is to go south from Ventura towards San Nicolas Island and the banks, knolls, canyons and other productive features in the area. This will give us a chance to look for sought after species like Red-billed Tropicbird, Least Storm -Petrel, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Townsend Storm-Petrel, Guadalupe Murrelet and Craveri's Murrelet. We will decide what our offshore destination will be after reviewing oceanographic conditions at the time of the trip, which will help determine where the birds and other marine life may be. Boat departs the Ventura Harbor at 7:00am and returns to the dock at 7:00pm.
October 5th, 2019
This 11 hour, offshore, deep water, pelagic trip will cover waters south of the Santa Barbara Channel. You will have a chance to see a number of outstanding pelagic birds and marine mammals. Our intention is to go south from Ventura towards San Nicolas Island and the banks, knolls, canyons and other productive features in the area. This will give us a chance to look for concentrations of Shearwaters, Storm-petrels, and late fall migrants through our area. Sought after species like Red-billed Tropicbird, Least Storm -Petrel, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Townsend Storm-Petrel, Guadalupe Murrelet and Craveri's Murrelet are other possibilities. We will decide what our offshore destination will be after reviewing oceanographic conditions at the time of the trip, which will help determine where the birds and other marine life may be concentrated. Boat departs the Ventura Harbor at 7:00am and returns to the dock at 6:00pm.