At Sea off Baja California
We continued migrating south today, moving steadily southeast toward La Entrada, the wide entrance into Magdalena Bay, our destination for the night. We encountered other migrants on the way. A few Bonaparte’s Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Northern Fulmars rode the ocean’s winds. They were escaping the ice that has already engulfed their northern breeding grounds. A single Common Murre flew by, far from its nesting area (probably off the coast of California), and providing a significant distribution record for this far south in Mexico.
Also found was a group of 3 humpback whales. They seemed determined to get to the warm, tropical waters off Los Cabos, the southern tip of this desert peninsula. Where had they come from? Marine researchers have been looking into this question for many years, identifying individual humpbacks by the unique patterns on the underside of their tail flukes. It now appears that the whales which spend their winters breeding off the coast of Los Cabos spend their summer months feeding along the Pacific coast from California to British Columbia.
The Baja sun broke through today, giving us the warm temperatures we were hoping for. A smooth ride (ocean swells and brisk breeze at our stern) made for a memorable day. Informative slide presentations – on the geological history of Baja California and on the ecology of seabirds – provided welcome breaks from the hot sun and set out new concepts for us to ponder.
In between, we busied ourselves trying to identify 2 and maybe 3 species of delicate storm-petrels…Black, Ashy and Least…the latter being the smallest seabird in the world and nesting almost exclusively here in Baja California. A sea turtle rested on the surface and remained there as the Sea Bird cruised close by. It was host to a benign “passenger,” a remora. Also logging some quiet time at the surface was a sleek striped marlin. As we passed by, it showed its speed and agility by leaping repeatedly high above the swells.
A new bird added to our growing list today was the Magnificent Frigatebird. The individual pictured here, an adult female, is likely from a huge breeding colony in Bahia Almejas, at the southern end of Magdalena Bay. In recent years, some 6,000 breeding pairs have made up this colony. Now totally protected, the future looks good for this big bird. Also known as the Man-o-War because of its kleptoparasitic feeding behavior, it is estimated that only 15 percent of the members of this colony feed by chasing and stealing from other birds.
We will be looking for more birds tomorrow, and may even find a gray whale…an early arrival to this important whale breeding lagoon.
We continued migrating south today, moving steadily southeast toward La Entrada, the wide entrance into Magdalena Bay, our destination for the night. We encountered other migrants on the way. A few Bonaparte’s Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Northern Fulmars rode the ocean’s winds. They were escaping the ice that has already engulfed their northern breeding grounds. A single Common Murre flew by, far from its nesting area (probably off the coast of California), and providing a significant distribution record for this far south in Mexico.
Also found was a group of 3 humpback whales. They seemed determined to get to the warm, tropical waters off Los Cabos, the southern tip of this desert peninsula. Where had they come from? Marine researchers have been looking into this question for many years, identifying individual humpbacks by the unique patterns on the underside of their tail flukes. It now appears that the whales which spend their winters breeding off the coast of Los Cabos spend their summer months feeding along the Pacific coast from California to British Columbia.
The Baja sun broke through today, giving us the warm temperatures we were hoping for. A smooth ride (ocean swells and brisk breeze at our stern) made for a memorable day. Informative slide presentations – on the geological history of Baja California and on the ecology of seabirds – provided welcome breaks from the hot sun and set out new concepts for us to ponder.
In between, we busied ourselves trying to identify 2 and maybe 3 species of delicate storm-petrels…Black, Ashy and Least…the latter being the smallest seabird in the world and nesting almost exclusively here in Baja California. A sea turtle rested on the surface and remained there as the Sea Bird cruised close by. It was host to a benign “passenger,” a remora. Also logging some quiet time at the surface was a sleek striped marlin. As we passed by, it showed its speed and agility by leaping repeatedly high above the swells.
A new bird added to our growing list today was the Magnificent Frigatebird. The individual pictured here, an adult female, is likely from a huge breeding colony in Bahia Almejas, at the southern end of Magdalena Bay. In recent years, some 6,000 breeding pairs have made up this colony. Now totally protected, the future looks good for this big bird. Also known as the Man-o-War because of its kleptoparasitic feeding behavior, it is estimated that only 15 percent of the members of this colony feed by chasing and stealing from other birds.
We will be looking for more birds tomorrow, and may even find a gray whale…an early arrival to this important whale breeding lagoon.
