Adventures at Sea!

This last week was the Tofino shorebird festival, during which I went on two birding trips as part of the celebration. 

The first was a trip to Cleland island.  I was sponsored by Jamie’s Whaling Station and saw 6 new birds! (see list, at http://birdymcbirdface.blogspot.ca/2016/04/2016-list-of-birds.html

The next day I went on an Ocean Outfitters 9-hour pelagic trip, 30 miles offshore, to Clayoquot, Loudoun and Barkley canyons, where you could barely see land, but you could see: albatross, shearwaters and northern fulmars eating the by-catch from a prawn dragger; a few Cassin’s auklets scooping up plankton from the surface; three red-neck phalaropes sitting in the deep water; the occasional fur seal thermoregulating, (sunning their flippers, to maintain their body heat); my first ever sperm whale, and – another first! – the second biggest whale in the world, the fin whale! Now I am at 119 birds – just one away from my original goal!

I am very thankful to Jamie’s Whaling Station, https://www.jamies.com Ocean Outfitters https://www.oceanoutfitters.bc.ca/ and Mark Maftei www.harbourliving.ca/event/event/pelagic-seabirds-of-the-bc-coast-mark-maftei/2016-03-03/ our guide for both trips, who helped me a lot.
Also thank you to Marla Barker for these photos:

Here are a few and more are coming soon.

Just leaving Tofino

Birdy Mcbirdface in action